Anthony78
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Posts posted by Anthony78
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Email sent! Just have to keep my fingers crossed now :-).
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Cracking fish Anderoo. Isn't it good when a plan comes together. Great read too, thanks for sharing.
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Similar circumstances here so I share your pain. Sorry to hear of your loss and my best wishes go out to you and yours.
Ant
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my nephew has been trying so hard with lures over the past few months since he found out he enjoys it more than watching a boring float but he's still yet to connect with a pike on a lure so i took him to the canal today and i fished for roach and perch, trying to get a fresh roach dead bait.
didnt wait too long but still long enough that my nephew took to rolling down a freshly cut grassy hill
so put on the fresh "Deadbait" roach under a float ledgering would have been difficult with the amount of weed at present. an hour later nothing, so we got it cast out a little further near the canal wall as it had slowly started to drift in toward us.
it only took a matter of seconds before the float zipped under at breakneck speed and and away from one canal wall to the other, he walloped in to this loverly little 3lb'r
played it like a pro too. he got all the adrenaline rush we often get with big pike, i wish i still got that excited over a 3lb pike.
Well done to you both. He looks very happy with his little esox and I'm sure your just as made up as he is.
Ant
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I must admit that I downloaded the pic, blew it up and still can't see enough to be sure just what it is. Two factors that help identify silver bream are the actual lateral line scale count and the number of rays in the anal fin - at the moment I can't determine either accurately. It does look like a stunted fish - the large eye, apart from a common silver bream feature, is also a feature of stunted fish as the eye seems to keep growing even though the fish itself only grows very slowly. Most tiddler silver bream that I've caught have been like silver bottle tops, ie much deeper in the body.
Hi Mark,
Not sure if it helps but I also took the below pic which should help with a scale count. I got it to 48/49 scales?
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Looks like a silver to me, although the characteristic blue sheen on the sides is not visible in the photo.
Anthony 78 Are these fish slimy? - or not?
A very noticeable feature of silvers is their lack of copious slime. Very obvious when you catch and handle them.
The smaller fish appear to have very little slime but when they get near to the pound mark they do tend to have quite a bit.
Ant
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Our club lake has been producing these little bream for nearly 10 years but we've never had them over 1lb. I have a suspicion that they may be silver bream based on the size of the eye but I've never fished anywhere else confirmed to hold these so I'm not sure.
What do you guys think?
Thanks
Ant
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Posted on behalf of beanie89. Please add all replies to this thread:
I personally haven't used this mix but I do think all commercial method mixes work well this time of the year. The important thing is to mix them correctly. I don't class myself as a specimen hunter but do tend to target the larger fish and even I carry a fine groundbait riddle to ensure that the water added has been evenly distributed throughout the mix and that there are no large lumps. Riddling the mix also adds air which helps it to break down when on the lake/river bed.
Regards
Ant
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small point re silicone, a lot of 'silicones' in the diy market are low modulas and take a while to cure. They are also very expensive and contain much fillers to pad them out. Commercial silicone can be purchased that is high modulas and cures rather quickly and contains a high amount of silicone. There are silicones that cure underwater.
Hi Barry,
I played it safe and took the advice of my local aquatics centre and bought some Geocel Aquarium Sealant which requires 48 hours to cure. Hopefully this will do the job.
Ant
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Try a strong storage box from QD/Wilkinsons, they're what I use for transfers. Better surface area to volume ratio than a bin too.Similar to Renrag 39, I use this when I need to transfer or treat sick fish.
http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/plastic-stora...4t9gBa9qg%3D%3D
Thanks both, I'll pop out today and get one of these as it'll make future movements so much easier.
Ant
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Should be fine as long as the dustbin is clean. Do not use any detergents, just give it a good scrub with a 'new' scourer and warm water to prepare.
Drain half the tank into bin, put heater into bin. Wait 10 minutes, then transfer fish. Drain rest of tankwater into bin. Connect existing filtration unit if possible. If not, no longer than 72 hrs in bin! Aeration a must in this case though.
Only worry I would have is for the Clown Loach, the rest are tough as old boots tbh. Watch you don't catch the eye spines on the Loach though and the stress will be minimal.
Top tip- remove all plants, bogwood, rocks etc BEFORE you catch the fish. Soooooo much easier. 2 nets makes it a doddle.
Hi Renrag,
Thanks for the reply. Gave the bin a good scrub and it looked as good as new so tranferred all fish over using their original water to half fill the bin. The tank no longer has the strengthening straps across the middle (which I needed to replace anyway) so catching the fish was a doddle. Set up heater and a small internal filter I had spare to give the water some movement.
Unfortunately after about 5 hours I had one casualty and a couple of the congo tetras were up on the surface looking very lethargic so made the call to transfer the fish back to the tank. I borrowed the bin so am now thinking that my friend had used it for some waste which may have leached into the plastic and then released itself into the water which obviously effected the fish.
Thankfully I've had no more deaths but it does mean that I'll have to remove the fish again so I can re-locate the tank to it's original position.
We live and learn aye!!
Ant
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Hi guys,
I'm having a bit of a move around in the flat and want to take the opportunity to repair my tank as the plastic tensioning strips which run across the top have both broken and I don't want to risk the tank breaking and depositing the fish on my living room floor. I'm having a new carpet fitted this weekend so while I'm having to empty the tank anyway to move it I though I'd take the opportunity to add in a new tensioner strip.
I have a new piece of glass to silicion in place but it needs 48 hours to cure so my question is:
I do not have a second tank but have a large black dustbin. If I transfer the tank water to this along with the heater and filter will they be ok for 48 hours?
I have communal fish such as Plecs, catfish, clown loach, Congo tetra, silver sharks etc
Thanks in advance
Ant
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Fancied something different for opening day after some very poor running water sessions in previous years so booked up a boat on Blenheim Palace lake which keeps the traditional closes season and would, I hope, still give us that opening day buzz.
Unfortunately when we arrived it was p**sing it down and blowing a gale so not ideal conditions but hey we were there and determined to enjoy our day. We'd read that before heading down to the boat house it was worth driving to the bridge which splits the lake as sometimes the bream shoals, which are huge on here apparently, stir up the bottom and give away their position. On this occasion we could see nothing and the wind was making it impossible to look for rolling fish. From our vantage point we could see that some people were already rowing out from the boat house and most were heading for the far bank and tucking themselves under cover to get away from the elements.
We were one of the last to leave after loading our gear into the boat and decided to go in the oposite direction to everyone else and check out the dam end of the lake where, on a recent visit to the palace and gardens, I recalled some large lilly beds. Rowing was hard work against the wind but when we arrived at this beautifully calm bay surrounded by lillies we realised that it was well worth the effort.
We manouvoured ouselves into the lillies and threw the mud weights on to the bank so we were basically fishing from a floating platform with lillies to our left and right and the main body of the lake out in front of us. The plan of attack was to margin fish against the lillies at either end of the boat. Cliff chose to fish a float but I decided to drop a bolt rigged maggot feeder down my margin as I fancied fishing a slider float out into the lake for the bream which we hoped would move over our large bed of pellets, dead maggots and corn.
We fished our socks off for over 8 hours without a touch even though there were obvious signs of feeding fish like this shot below where Cliff had tench ripping up the bottom looking for his red maggot but he tried everything and couldn't buy a bite.
Just after 3 pm Cliff turned back to look at his float only to find that it was no longer where he'd left it. An exploritory strike met with resistance and straight away we though that he'd hooked one of the tench that had been feeding in his swim but when it surfaced we realised that it was a very big perch. He landed it without too many problems and after unhooking it we went about the weighing and getting a few photo's of Cliff's new pb perch of 3lb 7oz (below)
As Cliff was slipping back his perch I noticed that the rod that he'd just landed that fish on was bending very alarmingly. I dived for the rod and gave it back to Cliff and after a short spirited fight it was obvious that the previous perch had a friend which took a liking to the worm hookbait still attached to the rig that we'd just taken out of the first fish and had dropped over the edge of the boat. It looked like his twin brother but was 3oz bigger which meant that Cliff had broken his pb for the second time in about 5 minutes with this 3lb 10oz beauty.
My story, however, wasn't as interesting with one lost fish to the lilly stems and a couple of feisty crayfish which took a liking to my worm hook baits but even so, it was a fantastic day in beautiful surroundings and we will deffinitely be back there next year if not before.
Thought I'd finish with a pic of Cliff doing some perch juggling
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Sounds good as well! Is it expensive Ant?
Hi Budgie,
Sorry about the late reply mate. Not been on here for a couple of weeks.
It cost £36 for the day. This was for, what I thought, a 3 man boat but have now discovered that all the boats are the same size so paid the extra for nothing. I know the lake can be very patchy so trying not to get my hopes too high but it looks such a beautiful late that I can't help but get excited
Ant
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It’s not long before we can once again fish as God intended so lube your ‘pins and post your plans here. I bought some breathable waders earlier in the year which makes June paddling a distinct possibility (not so with neoprenes) so I think I’ll kick off the new season at this swim on the Saturday;
Target species will be barbel, I think they’ll be there because I’ve encountered them on most occasions that I’ve fished this swim but they’re definitely winning the hooked versus landed battle.
Looks great but this year I've decided to resist temptation! I've made the decision that I'm going to ignore the rivers for the first couple of weeks mainly due to the dissapointing opening day sessions we've had in recent years. Instead I've decided to book myself and my fishing partner a punt down at Blenheim Palace. I've never fished there before and as they still have the traditional close season in place I'm hoping that we'll still get that opening day buzz.
Can't wait!!!
Ant
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I can't believe I won't be able to get my name down this year. The Wingham fish-in has been the highlight of my fishing season for the last 5 years and would love to have another go at the big tench. Unfortunately I've managed to book a holiday to Greece for the same weekend so won't be able to make it this year
if you manage to get selected then I wish you all the best and trust me if you haven't been before you will not be disappointed as wingham is a magical place holding some incredible fish.
Ant
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One thing i would say about feeding and fishing boilies for bream is in my experience is its not compulsory or that effective to feed lots of whole boilies like many do when carp fishing. Ive done pretty good in the past smashing/chopping all my boilies up into small pieces, feeding that and the only whole one that goes in being the one on my hair.
Would you spod this out or feed it through groundbait.
Ant
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Having just checked the weather I shall be heading down to my local club lake where I will hopefully get into some bream and tench. I'll have to get up early though cos I want to be back for the grand prix at lunch time. I'll let you know how I get on if I catch.
Ant
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I, like you, have progressed through fishing from a very young age. After my old man left my mum and us kids the highlight of my week would be Sunday mornings when he would pick me up and we would go along to the club water were I would join in on the odd club match. My dad used to stick £3 in the kitty for me to fish knowing that he wouldn't get a return on his money and would spend most of the time sorting my tangles out or unhooking that perch which had swallowed the hook down to his arse.
This went on for many years and all the time I was growing in conidence. My pocket money would go on fishing magazines and tackle to feed my obsession. Eventually I left school when I was 15 and started working full time, also for my old man. All my wages were spent on updating my kit and with the knowledge I'd learnt from fishing magazines/video's and my dad I was starting to win a few matches.
All this time I was living only a few hundred yards from the river teme, a shallow and fast flowing river containing loads of barbel and chub so most evenings after school/work I'd be honing my skills stalking barbel and chub in the shallows or mastering the art of trotting a float down the flow next to overhanging trees and down fast shallow runs.
Eventually I wanted more, I started walking further than most could be bothered along my local stretch of river and started looking for new challenges. On these many walks I found large roach which I caught to 2lb and a MASSIVE shoal of bream which I don't think anyone even knew existed.
With every session I was growing in confidence, knowledge and skill and pretty much every week I was winning the club matches on our waters. I'd got my name on every trophy and walked away with most of the cash. Unfortunately it started to create 'bad blood' amongst the regulars and I no longer felt welcome. I had no interest in going to the big competitions so decided to concentrate on river fishing for a couple of years until I got my driving license.
Now I travel all over the country for my fishing and enjoy fishing a 3 rod set up for carp/tench and bream as much as I enjoy trotting a float down a chalk stream for grayling. I love fishing, where it's taken me and the people I have met through it.
I know there are people out there that will go out and buy the full carp set up including shiny rod pod and alarms with the volume set to full and I actually feel sorry for these people because they've missed out on the experience that I have but we have to remember that we all go fishing to enjoy ourselves whether we have decades of experience under our belt or whether we've just been to the latest show and bought a cheap rod and reel to go to the local carp puddle.
I just wish that those people with their alarms turned to full or casting a lead to the horizon regardless of who's swim it lands in or lines it crosses realised that they are spoiling the day for us. Unfortunately these type of anglers are on the increase so, unless I am after the specimens, I look for those nice quiet lakes where I can enjoy a nice peaceful days fishing. If they ever find these lakes then I'll just have to move back to the rivers but hopefully that won't be any time soon cos I do love my tench fishing
Ant
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I used to do some match fishing with my old man before it got too serious and I changed to pleasure/specimen fishing. I would only mix (and still do) my groundbait the evening before if I was targeting bream as I believed that they weren't fond of an active mix. If it was roach that would be making up the bulk of the catch then I would mix it on the morning of the match. Most groundbait mixes intended for roach contain grilled hemp which is a very active ingredient which floats up off the bottom and gets the roach in a feeding frenzie. If you mixed these grounbaits the evening before the grilled hemp will soak up water and would be nowhere near as active.
Generally I think it's good practice to mix groundbait the evening before a session and to be honest not many people fish exclusively for roach now.
I also use the water from my fish tank for mixing my groundbait as I've always been a little worried about the chemicals in tap water. I've never done any tests but I believe that a big part of the success I've had in fishing is based on confidence so I won't use water which 'could' deter the fish.
Ant
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One of my targets every year is a 20lb carp - for the past few years this had been achieved early in the season on the Tench gear and this year is no exeption.
The same gear used as in my crystal water thread - infact the same peg so it was just a case of cast in and sit back.
A classic bait of Bread flake was the bait choice for this short session fished over a small handfullm of 4mm pellet.
Warm wind, heavy showers, bright sun, heavy showers was the weather pattern and there was plenty of activity going on.
I took about half an hour for the waggler to disapear - just after another member had been to have a chat - he had fished peg next door in the morning and missed the only two bites he had had.
The rod arked round into a powerfull curve and the fish took line from the perfectly set clutch which sang me that tune that gets the adrenilen bubbling. It was one of them moments when you know you have a big powerfull fish on.
A thrilling ten minute battle that saw the fish go for every snag in the peg and escape the net twice powering away taking more line from the clutch, what a fight. When I eventually managed to get her in the net I knew a 20 was possible and once on the unhooking mat knew I had one.
The avons were zeroed then pulled round to 22lb 6oz by an almost immaculate apart from a small head wound Mirror carp which has double my carp tally this year and trippled it over two years from this water.
Well done Rudd. Sounds like a heck of a scrap and you did very well to get it in on light 'tench' gear. Sounds like a cracking fish. Any pics?
Ant
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Nice report Anthony, but sorry to hear you didn't get a bin lid or two.
I know a friend of a friend that had a long campaign ( a couple of seasons) for the carp on Linear and had a good few bream up to 13lb. I'm not sure if he will known of any real secrets on catching them, but if i see him i will let you know what he says.
I think if you asked 100 bream anglers how to catch bream you would like any kind of fishing get 100 different answers, but I'm happy to give you a few pointers based on my years of bream fishing and having read your report.
Although Ive fished with many times and even caught bream with sweet flavoured ( tutti fruiti, strawberry, esterberry,......) boilies, I don't rate them very highly and with experience would opt for savory/fishy. Sadly no longer available but soft frozen meaty marine was one of my all time favorites. I'm not even sure after years of using sweet additives for bream like molasses, brasem and others that bream really have a very sweet tooth.
Spodding ground bait seems to be a popular thing to do these days, but on a lake with any movement in the water knowing just where it is settling on the bottom is almost impossible to tell. 10, 20, 30+ yards away may even be more on a big windy water. How would you know and how can you fish tight to the front edge of your bait if you don't know where that edge is? The same go's for taking over other anglers pegs on busy waters, you need to know just where their bait is/was or you can end up with lots of line bites. If your ever lucky enough to get that red letter day with bream how you feed will play one of the biggest parts in the size of that catch IMO.
Better luck next time Anthony and i don't think by the sound of it you did much wrong as there can be a good bit of luck involved in finding bream on busy waters like Linear with lots of other anglers and other species of fish to avoid. It may just be a case of putting up with catch carp till you fall lucky with a bream or two.
Hi Lutra,
Thanks for this. I did take a kilo of Cell boilies in 10mm but only fed a few of these along with all the other freebies incase I wanted to try one on the hair. I think that when I go again I'll take alot more boilies and these will form the bulk of my feed along with pellets and fishmeal groundbait.
I'll also feed the groundbait in balls mainly for the reason you mention as I fed mine loose thinking that it would create a larger feeding area but as you rightfully mentioned this groundbait could have been landing yards away from the freebies I'd put in it. Secondly this should replicate my favoured method 'The Method' as the bream will hopefully get used to finding small patches of bait.
Regarding the boilies you used did you always go for fresh 'quality' bait or would you have been happy using larger quantities of cheaper ready made baits in a fishmeal flavour?
Ant
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Hi Ant
Not too fussy how long the feeder mix stays on the method feeder as long as it gets too the bottom intact. I guess you err on the stiff side to be sure.
As for setup I always use running sytems. I have 10lb mainline straight through inline method feeder. I currently am using the drennan in 35 or 50gram. The 3 pronged ones not the small commercial water ones.
I then put a rubber bead and a quick change swivel. Usual short hooklength kept on the quick change swivel with a rig boom rubber.
The swivels I use are these
Scroll down to quick snap swivel
http://www.starbaits.com/en/cat/components.78.1.html
And go here for rig sleeves I use
http://www.starbaits.com/en/cat/components.78.html
This makes for a quick change from different length hair rigs for different size baits or maggot setup etc. You can have them all made up ready for night session and change them quickly. As you know you often get a hair broken off in the net whilst unhooking and its a lot easier to tye rigs daytime.
I like a running setup at night as the big bream and tench generally hook themselves anyway so why do you want them feeling the hook going in and running off at 100mph. Almost every one of my bream for the last couple of years fishing like this have lifted and dropped lifted and dropped the bobbin at a leisurely pace.
regards
John
Hi John,
Thanks for this. I have a close water where I can catch a number of smaller bream so will give this a try along side my usual setup so I can compare.
I can also see the benefit of not having a fish feel the hook and charging through a shoal of feeding fish but on the flip side don't you run the risk of striking at line bites and having the same effect but without a fish on the bank?
I do like to have a fairly sticky mix which stays on the feeder for a while as I want to increase the bolt effect using the extra weight to set the hook.
Thanks again for the rig details
Ant
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I might do, it's an option I'm thinking about - won't be this year though. I will probably get that club book though, but more the perch potential than the tench/bream.
It's a good topic this, I hope it keeps going
Secimen bream/tench fishing is very much on the up so If this topic doesn't continue I'm sure there will be many more over the coming weeks.
Your more than welcome to join me on the water I had that perch from. I will probably leave them alone now till next winter but the old man had another fish of 3lb 7oz out of there last weekend. Not a bad average when you consider that this is the smallest of the 3 fish we've had from this water.
Ant
Wingham Fish-In dates 2013
in Coarse Fishing
Posted · Edited by Anthony78
Well the tench are awake in the midlands! Lets hope the same applies to Wingham for the weekend. Any been caught yet Steve?