We often hear of coarse species like carp and pike being caught using fly fishing tactics, but in recent years, anglers have been targeting a much wider variety of species in an effort to keep their fishing fresh and exciting. Fly fishing enthusiast Ethan Rush is a passionate advocate for catching coarse fish on the fly, having landed everything from small roach to 20lb+ carp and plenty in between.
However, it was his latest capture of a brace of tench that may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with this unconventional but increasingly popular style of angling, further proving with a little effort there are lots of ways to catch our favourite fish!
IF YOU WANT TO GIVE THIS A TRY, VISIT ONE OF THESE EXCELLENT TENCH VENUES!
"When fly fishing I like to stay mobile and active, while you can catch fish by chance, it is much better to locate them and present the fly as naturally as possible. It is also incredibly exciting when you get to see the fish take the fly!" Ethan explained to us.
"On this particularly session I took a more relaxed approach as I hadn't seen much apart from an odd tench milling around," he added.
"However as the afternoon rolled on, I spotted a few fish rooting around in the silt on the top of a platuea."
IF YOU AREN'T CONFIDENT USING THE FLY, HERE ARE SOME GREAT TIPS TO CATCH TENCH MORE CONVENTIONALLY!
Despite casting to the feeding tench, the fish spooked from the area which he put down to less-than-perfect presentation. Undeterred, he continued his way around the lake in search of other opportunities, and before long, he came across another shoal of tench, this time feeding much more confidently.
"After a couple of casts, I got the fly on the right line and pulled it across the eye line of the tench and it slammed into really aggressively."
"This was followed by a great scrap on the light fly rod, you can feel every thump from the fish in their bid to shake the hook!"
After releasing the fish, Ethan had a break before continuing round the lake. By now, the light levels were beginning to drop, and as is often the case, it encouraged the tench to start feeding with far less caution.
"As before, I saw a few fish feeding and finally saw a fish that was feeding confidently. However, this time the fish was really close and I just had to lower the fly in front of the fish."
"It is an incredibly exciting way of fishing as you see everything that's going on, in this case I watched a wary tench inspect the fly before accepting it," he said.
"Again it fought like crazy on the fly gear but managed to slip the net under it. All in all just a nice day wandering around and catching a couple of nice tench," he concluded.
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