Why the Doctor Fish has the perfect remedy...

EVERYBODY has heard of at least one, most anglers have told stories about them, but how many are actually true? I am, of course, talking about fishing myths.

I don’t mean those usually apocryphal tales of monster fish as big as a Labrador or lakes so deep there’s a World World Two bomber hidden at the bottom – every area seems to have at least one of those.

No, it’s the stories surrounding our fish. Some of the myths about our favourite species are as old as the hills and have been handed down from one generation to the next, each teacher putting their own spin on the classic tale for their wide-eyed pupil.

The one which sticks out in my mind is that of the tench or, more specifically, its coating of slime. For generations of anglers this slime, which somehow always leaves its mark on rigs, nets, and clothing, has properties little short of miraculous.

The healing powers of this coating even gave the tench its nickname of Doctor Fish, and are so well known that you’d think those huge pharmaceutical companies would give up looking for cures in rare rainforest plants and just get themselves a pond full of tincas instead.

So, what’s the truth? This week our resident fish scientist, Dr Paul Garner, along with keen diver and top angler Rob Hughes, debunks some of fishing’s maddest myths. It seems that tench might not have healing powers for other fish as we believe, but for anglers like me, who love fishing for them every spring and summer, they’re a bonafide cure for the blues.

Check out our guide to Fishing Myths: Fact or Fiction on pages 52 & 53 this week. It’ll make you rethink those old wives’ tales…