A Little Bit of Dorset Fenland

[DaceAce]

Time to revisit a water I fished in my youth:

[Barbelbonce]

Thank you, Mark, for another lovely, gentle, informative film.
I love old, "forgotten" waters like this drain. Plenty of them around when I lived in the Cambs Fens. Masses of small Roach and Bream, I remember from about 55 years ago.
DO, please, have a go for the Tench in that drain and take your camera! I bet that they have bred - and thrived - in there.
It would be most interesting to see what you find.
Thanks again....
Mike

[JAA]

That reminds me - I nabbed these in 2006 from the very place (if I've got the venue right).

Very solid fish, I had three bites all evening.





...with any luck they'll be quite a bit larger now. I was, as suggested, on 6lb line.

[Barbelbonce]

Thanks, Cole.
Your very nice fish are surely indicators that there should be decent successor generations still in that drain?
I don't know the potential life span of Tench. Does anyone here have an idea?
Mike

[DaceAce]

The peak for size was around the early 2000s when the 1982 stocking reached its zenith. Whether there are any still in there is another matter.

I first caught tench there in 1972 when the tench were around 10oz, a couple of years later around 1-8 and just over 2lbs a year later. We thought the hot summer of 76 finished them off as many died but despite the overgrown reedy nature of the water it was soon apparent that some had survived in 82, and these were typically around 3lbs. I have no idea who first stocked the water in the late 60s or early 70s but a pond at Norden had a lot of small tench that must also have been stocked back in this era.

[Duckett]

Enjoyed that Mark. Thanks.

Phil