tench

Tench

The tench or doctor fish (Tinca tinca) is a fish of the Cyprinid family, and is one of the commonest and most widely spread freshwater fishes of Europe. It thrives best in enclosed, preserved waters, with a clayey or muddy bottom and with an abundant vegetation; it avoids clear waters with stony ground, and is altogether absent from rapid streams.

The tench is distinguished by its very small scales, which are deeply imbedded in a thick skin, whose surface is as slippery as that of an eel.

The largest Tench are often found in gravel pits, although equally at home in waters with a clayey or silty bottom where there is an abundance of vegetation; dislikes rapid streams. (UK Tench record: 15.03.06 Darren Ward Sheepwalk, Feltham June 2001)

They are usually distinguished by their olive green skin (although various shades are often found) and small distinct red eyes. All the fins have a rounded outline; the short dorsal fin is without a spine, but the males possess a very thick and flattened outer ray in the ventral fins. The mouth is rather narrow and provided at each corner with a very small barbel. They live on small animals or soft vegetable substances, which they root up from the bottom.

The albino variety especially, which is known as the golden tench, can be recommended for ornamental waters, as its bright orange colours render it visible for some distance below the surface of the water. This variety, which seems to have been originally bred in Silesia, is not less well-flavoured than the normally coloured tench, and grows to the same size. Tench are very strong fighters when caught on a rod.