Tench (Tinca tinca)
Current record: 15lb 3oz 6dr
Water: Sheepwalk big pit, Shepperton
The tench (Tinca tinca) has a stocky, carp-like build covered in a thick coat of mucus, giving it that distinctive slimy feel when handled. Colouring runs olive-green, darker on top and almost golden underneath, small reddish-orange eyes, a small mouth with a single barbel at each corner, and rounded fins apart from a squared-off tail. Most fish stay well under the maximum size of 70cm, the UK record stands at 15lb 3oz, taken in 2001.
They're bottom feeders through and through, working mud and silt for insect larvae, small crustaceans, and plant matter, which is exactly why they thrive in deep, still water over a clay or silty bottom with plenty of vegetation. Tench also handle low-oxygen water better than most coarse fish, a real advantage in the kind of thick, weedy, slow water they favour.
Float fishing and feeder tactics both work well, maggots, sweetcorn, pellets, bread, and worms all take fish, and tench fishing is traditionally at its best through the warmer months. Anything over a kilo puts up a proper fight on light tackle, tench punch well above their size once hooked.