Tench Fishing at its Finest - Netherwood Lakes - Phil Spinks Specimen Series

With conditions looking absolutely perfect, I decided to begin the session fishing a float rod tight to the lily pads. I knew that I would end up sitting behind the feeder rods before long so I thought I'd get started this way. There’s something really special about catching tench on the float, especially on a venue as beautiful as Netherwood.

I kept things very simple with a dendrobaena worm hookbait and spent the afternoon watching the float amongst the pads and bubbles. It took a little while for the first bite to arrive, but eventually the float sailed away and I was attached to my first Netherwood tench. It wasn’t a monster, but on the float tackle you don't need a big tench to have a real scrap.

As the temperature dropped into the evening, I switched focus towards the following morning’s feeder session. After speaking to Russell, the lake owner, I located a clay spot out in front of the swim that the tench regularly visited. Rather than disturbing the swim at first light, I found the spot the evening before, clipped the rods up neatly with marker elastic and introduced a little bait before settling down for the night.The plan was simple. Be fishing accurately from first light and hopefully intercept the tench as they move onto the area to feed.

The next morning started cold but promising. I’d already seen a few fish rolling and after introducing a few spombs of bait, both rods were fishing neatly on the spot. The first bite came on the maggot rod after a few nuisance indications from small fish. Once that first tench hit the net, the session really came alive. Fish after fish began arriving throughout the morning, with red maggots proving to be the standout hookbait. Some of the fish were absolutely stunning too, with several pushing beyond the 6lb mark.

The key to keeping the swim productive was feeding little and often. Rather than introducing huge amounts of bait at once, I kept trickling bait into the area through the feeders and occasional spombs. The mix itself was basic but effective, combining pellets, hemp, red maggots and chopped worm. Rig-wise, I stuck with a reliable inline feeder setup paired with a short fluorocarbon hooklength and a size 10 guru wide gape hook loaded with four red maggots. It’s a simple rig, but one that has accounted for countless tench over the years.

Tench can be caught using a multitude of different tactics but fishing for them on the feeder can be particularly effective on venues like Netherwood.  My setup for this session consisted of a pair of Advanta twin tip barbel rods and some Shimano 6000 baitrunner reels loaded with 12lb line. You can fish for tench a little lighter than this but in this situation where there are lots of weed and snags in the water it’s important to fish with strong tackle in order to control and safely land the fish. 

As the morning progressed, the action became quite hectic at times. The fish were charging through the weed beds and the alarms barely had time to settle before another take arrived. A couple of hook pulls reminded me how important sharp hooks are around heavy weed, but after changing the hooklinks the fish kept coming. The highlight of the session was undoubtedly a stunning tench of 7lb 11oz, an absolutely immaculate fish and the biggest of the trip at Netherwood.

Before heading home, I decided to spend one final morning on Hampool, another nearby gravel pit known for producing much bigger tench. Although the dream double-figure tench never arrived, I still managed a couple of huge bream during the session and thoroughly enjoyed exploring another water in the area. Overall, the trip was everything spring tench fishing should be. Beautiful venues, misty mornings, screaming alarms and some incredible fish along the way. Check out the full video below to see all the action unfold and don’t forget to like, comment and subscribe for more Specimen Series episodes coming soon!