“It looks like the tench will spawn at any time now on the Hampshire estate lake that I’ve been targeting this spring, so I was delighted to catch this cracking 11lb 2oz fish on a recent trip.
“At the end of my previous session I’d introduced a big bed of hemp, hoping to hold fish in the area, and four days later I returned to find lots of fizzing taking place over the spot. Rather than introduce more bait and risk possibly spooking the fish, I just cast two open-end feeders, filled with hemp and groundbait, over the top. My hookbaits were trimmed-down 10mm boilies and, within minutes, one of the rods was away.
“The fish tried to reach every weedbed and patch of lilies on the way in, and when I finally slipped the net under it I knew it was a special one! I believe it’s a repeat capture of the 10lb 12oz fish I had in early May, but it’s clearly been packing on the pounds. Now I’ve got to try and catch a bigger one!”
