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Keith Arthur - enjoying some sun

Now the clocks have gone forward - were YOU the one that didn't and turned up an hour late? - anglers thoughts turn to stillwaters as the rivers are shut to coarse fishing. There's little or no doubt that those who target tench have been the most beneficially effected by the abolition of the close season on stillwaters.

The angling press regularly reports catches of 'surprise' tench in the first two weeks of March, be they from rivers, canals or the more usual lakes and reservoirs. Of course once upon a time that was the end, until June and, once the season started, it would be tench making the headlines.

Now we can quite legally fish most lakes and stillwaters in April and May we can expect catches of tench far in excess of those we 'used' to make, even in those 'hot' weeks in June. Once July appears, tench fishing is in decline, apart from an inexplicable burst of action, usually in October, that often coincides with the change back to GMT - remember, Spring forward, Fall back.

So, if you fancy a go at Mr Tinca, here are a few things to try. Gravel pits can be superb tench waters and, in many instances, floatfishing is a far better option than legering. The marginal shelf is the place to begin your quest; as the bottom slopes away from the bank tench seem to patrol the bottom of this gradient and a carefully-presented bait will fool the fish as they search for a meal.

Whilst it could be argued that red maggots catch more tench than any other bait, they seem to be more effective on reservoirs and 'natural' lakes than they do on pits; in my opinion the best bet, by miles, on gravel pits is good old sweetcorn.

Some anglers swear by colouring and flavouring the corn and red seems to work very well. Flavoured and coloured corn can be bought in tackle shops, usually red colour means strawberry flavouring and I'd rather have my corn flavoured with a caramel or maple taste so I use bait dye to generate the colour and Mainline Baits 'Activ Maple8' as the flavouring agent.

It's not only a flavour but also a food source and once fish have sampled it they seem to come back to it repeatedly. In fact I'd rather have natural coloured corn flavoured than simple coloured corn.

Obviously, as in all forms of angling, feeding is the key. Loose-feeding corn is the favoured ploy but there are some extra ways of producing a feeding frenzy. Liquidised corn can have an amazing effect and it doesn't need to be flavoured to work, or coloured for that matter.

Simply open a couple of cans and blitz it in the blender for a few seconds. Pour the resultant mass into a plastic bag and, whatever you do, DON'T drain it off! You want all the milky slop as this will cloud in the water and hang for ages. Although this can't be thrown very far - for obvious reasons - it doesn't need to be as it is rarely necessary to fish more than four or five metres from the bank, even in clear water.

As for tackle, a decent 13ft float rod and fixed spool reel - even a centrepin - loaded with 4lb mono is just about spot-on. The method is one that goes back to Mr Crabtree and is still difficult to beat: it is known as The Lift Method and it works. It's important to use it in the traditional means as well as it is honestly the most effective way.

There is nothing to beat a four-inch piece of peacock quill - a bit of broken waggler will do - but the most important thing is the shot and this must be double, at least, the weight required to 'cock' the float properly. You'll also need to fish with the rod in a rod rest.

Here's how I set the lift method up. Slide 1cm of silicone tube that will fit tightly to the float onto the line, tie on a 10cm hooklength of 3lb breaking strain and a size 14 hook. Some of the new, eyed hooks aimed at carp match anglers are ideal, Drennan Carp Match is my choice. Fix an SSG shot to the line directly above the hooklink, so just 10-12cm from the hook. The trick with the float is to fit it into the silicone tube bottom-up, so when it's on the line the tip of the float is pointing at the hook.

Cast to where you want to fish and set the float so that it JUST lies flat on the water with the shot on the bottom, place the rod in the rest and tighten the line until the float cocks, then dots, with a maximum of 1cm showing.

Hookbait should be either single or double corn, with a couple of handfuls of liquidised and a dozen or so whole grains tossed in as feed. The way the rig is set up, with the weight close to the hook, as a fish picks up the hookbait it will lift the shot and the float will rise up and, classically, lie flat on the surface.

There's no need to strike hard, just a simple lift of the rod and the fish will be hooked. It's far from over though as Springtime tench, as Matt Hayes describes the fight as: "they don't arf hang on", and he's correct.

If you're lucky enough to have a gravel pit available to fish nearby, now that daylight hours outnumber darkness, get out there and try it!

KEITH ARTHUR ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Email Keith Arthur

Dear Keith, I wonder if you could shed any light on the use of milk-based baits. The reason for this question is that one of our club members is due to raise this at our forthcoming AGM, asking for the above to be banned. Looking forward to your response. Regards & Tight Lines. Tony Metcalfe, Secretary Greenhill Angling Club, Leics

KEITH SAYS: Tony, like all baits, especially fads and gimmicks, moderation is everything but if you can't moderate then control is the answer. I believe the way forward with regard to bait is sensible limits rather than outright bans. I don't know how you would ban 'milk-based baits'. MANY boilies and pastes contain milk derivatives. How about cheesepaste? It really is a nightmare. I don't know your club, fisheries or anything else, but if I ran a fishery based around match and general pleasure, rather than 24hr stuff, I would have a simple rule with regard to baits. Depending on whether you have converted to metric or not it would be as follows:

No more than 8 pints of bait to be used, measured at point of use, and no more than 2 pints of any one bait. As an example: 2 pints of casters, 2 pints of maggots (ANY maggots, squatts, pinkies etc all come under the category 'maggots), 2 pints of hemp and 2 pints of groundbait. Paste counts as groundbait and vice-versa.

In metric it would be 5 litres of bait, no more than 1 litre of any single bait.

Of course you can revise the list to include/exclude whatever baits you like and adjust the limits to suit. The only problem I can with this system is that people tend to look on limits as targets and may use MORE bait overall. Like driving on a motorway: 70 is the driving speed, not maximum speed for most drivers.

Hi Keith, I need some advice from you, knowing you have fished all over the world. I am going to Mexico in five weeks and hope to do some fishing from the shore. I can`t take a lot of gear so am I better to pack lures rather than beach gear. I am staying in Playa del Car just down from Cancun so if you or the team have got any advice I would be grateful. Yours, Mark from Stafford.

KEITH SAYS: Hi Mark, Oh that I had fished all around the World (why do I want to sing "I-I-I" after that?): I've only warmed up so far. I've not fished Mexico actually, but I know people that have. I think your destination may actually be Playa Del Carmen. I've seen some pictures of the beach and it appears to be a lagoon contained within a reef. It also looks quite busy although you should be past Spring Break season when US college kids fill the Mexican resorts. My advice is to take lures: jigs, poppers, small plugs etc and wade the shallows. I doubt that any live bait is available but if it is shrimp will catch everything that swims. If you have any American-style bucktail jigs in the 5-15gm sizes, they will usually invite a strike if cast, left to settle, then jerked back slowly across the sandy bottom. I'd wade and see if any of the reef is accessible because there will be snapper and grouper around the coral.

There should also be some deep-sea fishing available: if you fancy that, don't miss out. My best advice is to visit the moorings when the boats arrive and see what the customers have caught and, more importantly, if they feel they have had value. The offshore sport (not that far off) can be spectacular with marlin (striped, and blue if you are VERY lucky, sailfish, wahoo and dolphin-fish (dorado) are available.

Enjoy the trip and catch plenty! Tight lines, Keith .