A lot of it can be put down to lack of time

A lot of it can be put down to lack of time. My last two efforts at catching a big fish have both occurred when outside pressures have limited my fishing time. There is no doubting though that big tench can be a law unto themselves and can be a real devil to catch. The main problem, as with so many other species, is that we tend to be fishing relatively sparsely populated lakes, which have huge natural food larders. Catching ANY fish from these lakes can be difficult, let alone trying to target a small population of big fish. Finding the fish in itself can be a real nightmare. At least this is not a problem for me this year as the tench are showing on my chosen water. You will normally have to be at the water a lot though before it is possible to build up a picture of where to find the bigger fish. Choosing a swim becomes the next problem. The glib answer is to fish where tench are seen to be rolling, but often this is not possible for several reasons. Firstly, tench move around an awful lot and they often roll while moving. So there is no guarantee that the tench will be rolling in places where they will be willing to feed. Secondly, tench often roll over dense weed. This can make fishing for them extremely difficult, if not impossible. Finally, you will need to learn to distinguish the size of the tench that you see rolling. Like most species, tench tend to be found in groups of about equal size, so if you want the bigger fish, find where they live. Swim choice depends a lot on the water in question. Most gravel pits will have features of some description and all have a margin so there is a wealth of features to look for. On some lakes the margins are by far the best place to fish, while on others they are almost a waste of time. In my experience, it is the first drop-off which is important. For example, on the water that I am currently fishing this drop-off is some distance out in the lake, hardly margin fishing, but to the tench the feature is the same. Islands are a very obvious feature and tench will patrol around them on some waters. The trouble tends to be that they are difficult to fish effectively. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that tench will always be at the bottom of the drop-off. At different times they will be found at different levels in the water and being able to fish up the slope is important. On most islands this is really difficult, as the margin drops away rapidly and a lead will roll to the bottom of the slope.

Much easier to fish are submerged bars. Unlike islands, it is possible to cast to the back of the bar and then draw the rig back into position. This give you the opportunity to not only fish at different depths, but also to fish two different drop-offs. As conditions change, you well might find that different sides of the same bar produce at different times. It is also worth looking for depressions on top of bars as the fish will naturally use these to cross the shallow water. Similarly, look for areas where the bar is made up of different materials. All of these factors are worth bearing in mind, but all take a long time to collate. So you can see why I feel that time is such an important commodity when fishing for really big tench. It is not simply a case of falling asleep behind the rods, but a slow battle of attrition learning the behaviour of the fish.