A tench at Neatishead Staithe

It was a warm day yesterday and pushing 23 or 24C. I didn't have a lot of time to fish in the afternoon and so I went down to my local staithe for a couple of hours. There, at least, I could sit in the shade but, being the holiday season, the dyke was full of boats and there was a lot of coming and going, so not ideal.

I found a spot between two moored boats and where it was unlikely that the moving boats would interfere with what I was doing. I float fished with mixed coloured maggots and at a depth that was as near to the bottom as possible.

It was a bit slow, I have to admit. I did the usual thing of feeding a few maggots into the swim on a regular basis. After a bit I was getting a few bites but nothing was coming up. I was beginning to wonder whether I was going to go home having caught nothing at all! Eventually, I had a decent bite and was pleased to reel in a nice skimmer that needed a net.

A bit later I followed this first fish with a decent perch that gave a good tussle on the rod. Then I had my first surprise as, after what seemed like a normal nibbly bite, I struck into something very large that just took off and snapped my line. I suspect it was a pike. Embarrassingly, my expletive was noticed by a woman sunbathing on the boat opposite.

Finally, after more slow progress and at the end of the afternoon, when I was thinking one more fish and I will go home, I caught this very nice unexpected 10 inch tench:-

This is the first tench I have caught in the open waters of the Broads (as opposed to an inland fishery) and it makes me think that perhaps there are more out there that might be tempted by, say, a bait like luncheon meat. Food for thought.

All pictures and text copyright Duncan Hale-Sutton 2016.