18-04 bream at Wingham!

[Steve Burke]

Thanks steve

 

Are the fish brought up in stock ponds at wingham or do they naturally reproduce and then get thinned out from time to time to keep numbers down to allow them to grow so big .

I suppose what im asking is, are there always up and coming fish and not just the original stock and are there bream of all different sizes to catch . How long do they live for.

Sorry about all the questions im just a bit (very) naive on these things and interested to know as i find bream fascinating fish .

cheers tony

 

There are only about 40 bream in the 40 acres, and the most we've ever had caught in a season is 10. So Wingham is very similar to former record water Queenford. Many all-round specimen hunters reckon that bream on such low stock waters are the hardest coarse fish to target. Top anglers found that they averaged just 1 bream every 15 to 20 nights, and we've found the same at Wingham. Of course the low numbers (coupled with little angling pressure) is why they've grown so big.

 

I stocked Wingham with bream in 1995. The vast majority of these fish were fry, but there were a few bigger ones up to 1 1/4lb. Recruitment has been poor with just a few younger ones making it through. For this reason I've recently asked members to get scales from all bream caught so we can age the fish. If these results show that we need to increase the number of bream, which is likely, I'll have to introduce more. This will be by growing them on, and we've already had a survey done and worked out where such a stock pond will be.

[tony tinca]

There are only about 40 bream in the 40 acres, and the most we've ever had caught in a season is 10. So Wingham is very similar to former record water Queenford. Many all-round specimen hunters reckon that bream on such low stock waters are the hardest coarse fish to target. Top anglers found that they averaged just 1 bream every 15 to 20 nights, and we've found the same at Wingham. Of course the low numbers (coupled with little angling pressure) is why they've grown so big.

 

I stocked Wingham with bream in 1995. The vast majority of these fish were fry, but there were a few bigger ones up to 1 1/4lb. Recruitment has been poor with just a few younger ones making it through. For this reason I've recently asked members to get scales from all bream caught so we can age the fish. If these results show that we need to increase the number of bream, which is likely, I'll have to introduce more. This will be by growing them on, and we've already had a survey done and worked out where such a stock pond will be.

 

Thanks steve thats a real eyeopener, i had guessed that stocking had to be on the low side in order for them to grow so big but never realised how low . I realise now just how special those 2 fish are the guys had .

Are many more tench than bream in wingham ?

[Steve Burke]

Thanks steve thats a real eyeopener, i had guessed that stocking had to be on the low side in order for them to grow so big but never realised how low . I realise now just how special those 2 fish are the guys had .

Are many more tench than bream in wingham ?

 

Yes, many more tench than bream. In fact we've had 3 day catches of up to 66 tench, although some of these are highly likely to be recaptures as I don't allow keepnets.

 

I stocked 150 mature tench between 1996 and 1998. They've bred well so there's probably about 400 now. Indeed, they've bred so well I may have to consider taking some out in the future otherwise the growth rate, although fantastic, may decline.

[tony tinca]

Yes, many more tench than bream. In fact we've had 3 day catches of up to 66 tench, although some of these are highly likely to be recaptures as I don't allow keepnets.

 

I stocked 150 mature tench between 1996 and 1998. They've bred well so there's probably about 400 now. Indeed, they've bred so well I may have to consider taking some out in the future otherwise the growth rate, although fantastic, may decline.

 

Fantastic stuff and look forward to going if im one of the lucky ones

cheers