Tinca tinca - Tench
Phylum: Chordata - Class: Actinopterygii - Order: Cypriniformes - Family: Cyprinidae
Ponds, canals and slow-flowing rivers with muddy beds and plenty of weed are ideal habitat for Tench. They are cyprinids - members of the carp family.
Tench fishing is a summer pursuit, as these are warm weather fish and in winter they tend to become dormant. They vary from bronze through olive green to almost black, depending upon habitat. Golden Tench have been bred selectively and in the wild they are very vulnerable to predatory birds.
The British rod-caught record Tench, caught in 2001 from an undisclosed location in southern England by Mr Darren Ward, weighed 15 lb 3oz (6.9kg). Tench do not usually live as long as carp and they tend to grow more slowly, but specimens more than ten years old are quite common. They feed almost exclusively in the sediment, taking chironomid larvae, worms and other mud-dwelling creatures.
Acknowledgements
This page includes pictures kindly contributed by Dr Nick Giles.
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