Recently this spring I have been targeting a huge gravel pit with the aim of a big tench. I have had some great success banking several tench up to 11lb 3oz. That fish marked a new PB and one I thought I would never come close to for a long time. My most recent session I set up in a swim that had been producing numerous Tench. I fished to a gravel bar at around 50 yards out with 4ft of water on top. I made a mix of dead maggot, hemp, corn and Elips pellet. I spombed around 50 spombs over the top and positioned 2 rods on top. Both rods were baited with Beta'nana pop ups tipped with 4 or 5 live maggots.
Both rods were cast to the spot and just before dark I received my first take. A fish of around 6lb. I went into the night very confident and at 1am I was awoken to another take. This was a fish of around 8lb. I woke up at first light and before I could even get out my sleeping bag I had another bite. This time a real specimen of 9lb14oz. I was more than happy and shortly after repositioning and re-baiting my rods I received yet another bite. After a much longer fight I started to question if I had yet another monster tench and my thoughts were confirmed when a huge tench popped up for the net. It weighed 11lb 2oz. I was completely blown away by that morning's brace of fish. At around 3pm that same day I had a screaming run and after a hard fight taking me in and out of weed beds and on long runs I slipped the net under another monster. This fish had a huge frame but was much more hollow. The scales read 10lb 4oz.
I was over the moon. Each hookbait was dipped in the Betalin and Banana and a small PVA bag of Elips pellet was attached to the hook which I'm sure helped get quicker bites. Ive had a great spring using the Beta'nana and I hope it continues.
Tight lines.
