Zenon Bojko is no stranger to big fish, after already landing an 18lb bream in May, he began targeting specimen tench and on his first session on an old haunt, he landed a remarkable 12lb 8oz fish.
After a cancelled appointment, Zen had some time on his hands, so he decided to visit a Southern gravel pit he had fished in the past, a water he knew held some good tench.
"I thought I had an appointment with my chiropractor but got the dates wrong, so I found myself with some time on my hands," Zen told us.
"I had the remnants of a bucket of my Spomb mix in the freezer and a few jars of Mainline assorted particles, so I chucked that in the mix while I hastily loaded the van."
"Being a Thursday, the water only had a few anglers on it, so I settled into a shady swim that offered me some comfort from the heat and had produced tench in previous years."
"The lake has lots of bottom weed, so I just cast my leads out and then pulled back slowly until I felt the first couple of bumps from the gravel. I eventually found a gravelly area around 60-70 yards out."
After finding a spot, Zen got plenty of bait out in the hope of drawing some fish in over the duration of his session. A mixture of particles, smart liquid, dead maggots, and other classic tench baits were in the mix. He opted for PVA bags with pellets and boilies on each rod.
"I tie the PVA bags onto the swivel with that fine plastic-coated gardening wire... then nick the hook into the mesh to stop tangles. It's something different, but it really works," Zen explained to us.
"At 6:30, I was woken by the alarm, and I thought I'd hooked a carp. It tore off, kiting left and right."
"My knees went a bit weak when I saw it was a tench and the size of its back when it surfaced. I knew it was a big fish, so I left it to rest in the net while I got my scales."
"At 12lb 8oz, it is my third 12lb fish from this water, but it is now a new PB, a proper old tench that I am really pleased to catch," he said.
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