Tench

Name in dialect: tenca.

Tench have a stocky body, with green back and flanks, a yellowish orange belly, small scales and are covered in slime. The mouth is provided with a pair of short barbels; the eyes are a red to orange colour. The fins are rounded in shape and the males have more robust, longer ventral fins. They can reach lengths of 60 cm and weights of over 6 kg.
This species is typical of still or slow-flowing waters, rich in plant life, with muddy bottoms. It is present in all the natural lakes along the foothills in the Province and in slow-flowing watercourses with aquatic vegetation. It can tolerate low amounts of dissolved oxygen.
Tench are omnivorous and feed on plants, worms, crustaceans, insects on other organisms found on riverbeds. They are solitary and hibernate in winter in the mud. They spawn between May and August, according to water temperature. In this period tench move in shoals to the banks where there is plenty of underwater vegetation on which each female lays tens of thousands of small greenish, sticky eggs. The fry hatch after one week.
Tench are an important species for commercial fishing on Lake Garda, where they represent 3-5 % of the total annual haul (around 15 – 30 tonnes). When game fishing using a rod, polenta is traditionally scattered in the water as ground bait.
Tench have a robust constitution and can survive for a long time out of the water if they are kept wet. They are a lean food fish, which is highly prized by gourmets. If they are caught in ponds, they are not cooked straightaway but left for a few days in clear, running waters to remove the earthy flavour.