Four preserved and cased Golden Tench caught by AE Hobbs in the River Thames on the 15th August 1900. Selected from 79lb's weight.

Hobbs was born in New Street, Henley in 1871 and lived in Henley all his life. Whilst working as an architect for Brakspear brewery in the 1930's he was responsible for designing many local pubs.

Hobbs claimed to have caught almost 900 Thames Trout, each over 3 lbs in weight, in 55 years of fishing. He fished in the non-tidal reaches of the Thames.

TENCH

Latin Name - Tinca tinca

Colour - Tench have a dark back with dark greyish green sides. The belly is a pale green colour usually with an orange tint which is stronger on the males during spawning.

Size - Its average weight is 2kg (4lb) and grows to 20-30cm (8-12in).

Characteristics - The tench is a member of the carp family. All the fins are dark, its scales are small and the iris of its eye is red. It has one small barbel at each side of the mouth. The fish uses its barbels to search by taste for food.

Diet - It feeds on worms, molluscs and the larvae of insects. Younger fish eat algae but plant food forms only a small part of the diet of an adult.

Habitat - Tench prefer still, muddy and slow flowing rivers and are tolerant of low oxygen levels.

How fished for - Anglers use a vareity of baits such as bread paste and maggots. The techniques used to fish for tench are float fishing and ledgering (when a lead weight is used to keep the bait near to the bottom of the water).

Interesting Facts - In a severe wonter tench can bury themselves in the mud and hibernate until the temperatures improve.