The Tench (Tinca tinca)

Scientific Name of The Tench: Tinca tinca
Maximum Weight: 15-16lb (6.8-7.3kg)
Maximum Length: 24-26in (60-66cm)
Average Size Caught: 3lb (1.4kg)
Life Span: 20 Years

The Tench prefers still or gently flowing waters with a muddy bottom and rich aquatic plant growth in the lower courses of rivers, in pools, , ponds, lakes and reservoirs. It displays great resistance to a shortage of oxygen. It seeks food among plant growth, its diet most frequently consisting of insect larvae, molluscs, and worms. The Tench grows relatively quickly, the female somewhat faster then the male, usually growing to a length of 30-40 cm and a weight of 1-2 kg, in exceptional cases up to 60 cm and 7 kg. Tench tend to live in small shoals. Spawning takes place from May to July. The 80,000-827,000 eggs are laid in 2-3 batches with intervals of up to fourteen days between. If the water temperature drops below 5 C the Tench shoal withdraw to deep places, waiting out the winter motionless and without food just above the bottom or buried in mud.

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