Bream at night

[gozzer]

I've had very little experience of fishing at distance in freshwater, 99% of my fishing is done at 30yds or less. So I have to ask how you define a slack line, and a tight line?

From my (limited) experience, there is no such thing as a truly slack line in water. Apart from the actions of any current, and /or undertow, line moving at an angle through water has resistance, which must be felt by anything pulling on the line, or brushing against it. The way I see it there are only varying degrees of 'tightness'. A long bow in the line would create more resistance, over a longer period, from water, than a slight one. But a slight one would take/need less time to feel the full resistance from the rod/reel.

 

John.

[Dick Dastardly]

"Said with grin on face" Blimey Budgie, all you do is moan, moan ,moan lack of time, lack of fish. Lack of fish???????????? blimey mate, there are supposed to be about 40 of the buggers in there.......how many do you want....or need? I wish my lake held 40.......mutter, mutter.

 

Den

 

Its my age mate!

[lutra]

Some anglers like long drops some don't. I like to use as long a drop as I can get away with in the swim I'm fishing. In a flat swim 4ft.

 

The only solid obsticles in water are a lot bigger, more visable and therefore easy to avoid than a 1/4mm thick line. Bream certainly do spook from tight lines whereas anglers using long drops will tell you the fish will happily swim through them for hours.

So do all you bream fishing super hero's just save up your tight lines for when you are posting on the net Andy?

 

Maybe i should try a 7ft bolt rig on a slack line and just chill out watching my bobbins go up and down for a few hours.

[Steve Burke]

Apart from having to spend out a bit more I continue to see no disadvantage in using long drops, only advantages, so will continue to use them.

 

It seems then those of us who favour long drops (nearly all of the Wingham regulars) will have to agree to differ with those who prefer short ones. Perhaps we should leave it at that.

 

However I'd add that because I want the maximum chance of bream being caught on Wingham Fish-Ins they'll be plenty of long banksticks and long-drop bobbins for loan to guests.

[lutra]

Apart from having to spend out a bit more I continue to see no disadvantage in using long drops, only advantages, so will continue to use them.

 

It seems then those of us who favour long drops (nearly all of the Wingham regulars) will have to agree to differ with those who prefer short ones. Perhaps we should leave it at that.

 

However I'd add that because I want the maximum chance of bream being caught on Wingham Fish-Ins they'll be plenty of long banksticks and long-drop bobbins for loan to guests.

Just simply a case of prevention is better than a cure for me Steve. Get your feeding right and you don't get liners 99.9% of the time. To get your feeding right you need to be able to create a clean front line to fish to.

 

IMO very few anglers can do that with a spod. Add to that, inexperience, distance, wind, tow and fine baits, lots of bait,..............

 

Maybe best to stick to your plan Steve and give them all long banksticks.

[Anderoo]

I think the fish-in is a slightly different case, as most people aren't there to specifically target the bream. Many people fish for everything, and so hope to catch tench (the main reason people go I think, as they are big and plentiful, whereas the bream are very scarce) but also hope a bream comes along too. And sometimes they do! The long drops will certainly help people know what's a liner and what isn't.

 

The other thing with the fish-in is that as there are far more lines in the water than is usual for the lake, there's an increased possibility of the bream coming into contact with them as they swim about. Striking at one of these big liners (very easy to do with a short drop, I've had them take line off the baitrunner before I started using long drops) will probably mean that no-one catches one. There's no doubt that striking at liners does scare them.

 

Plus as Steve said, as far as I can see there are no disadvantages to using long drops, only advantages - at Wingham, at any rate. Don't forget that these are really enormous fish, far in excess of most bream in the country, and the line bites can be correspondingly large. If you only have one chance a year to fish the lake, I would do whatever I could to give myself the best possible chance of catching one!

Edited April 14, 2011 by Anderoo

[lutra]

I think the fish-in is a slightly different case, as most people aren't there to specifically target the bream. Many people fish for everything, and so hope to catch tench (the main reason people go I think, as they are big and plentiful, whereas the bream are very scarce) but also hope a bream comes along too. And sometimes they do! The long drops will certainly help people know what's a liner and what isn't.

 

The other thing with the fish-in is that as there are far more lines in the water than is usual for the lake, there's an increased possibility of the bream coming into contact with them as they swim about. Striking at one of these big liners (very easy to do with a short drop, I've had them take line off the baitrunner before I started using long drops) will probably mean that no-one catches one. There's no doubt that striking at liners does scare them.

 

Plus as Steve said, as far as I can see there are no disadvantages to using long drops, only advantages - at Wingham, at any rate. Don't forget that these are really enormous fish, far in excess of most bream in the country, and the line bites can be correspondingly large. If you only have one chance a year to fish the lake, I would do whatever I could to give myself the best possible chance of catching one!

I can see how there maybe more chance of someone coming in to contact with bream at a fishin (as there are more lines in the water), but not that there is a better chance of an individual angler coming in to contact with them?

 

Even if it did the answer is the same, be it long or short drop bobbins. Sit on your hands when using a bolt rig, don't strike at short pulls and wait for a screaming run.

 

Big fish therefore bigger lines, same answer. Wait for a screaming run. Long bobbins won't help that happen, but a short hook length IMO will.

 

As for disadvantages of long drop bobbins. There just a pain in the ass on a windy night and in the hands of someone inexperienced with them or asleep, could even be rod losing and maybe even deadly to a fish.

[Anderoo]

It's true they can be a pain on windy nights, which is why I made the long swingers. But then short drop bobbins are also a pain on windy nights.

 

There will be plenty of people at the fish-in who can help with setting up, if people want any help.

 

I would just like to say again that I have had liners on a short drop at Wingham that took line off the baitrunner and looked very much like a screaming run! I have also had bream that just took the bobbin up to the top of a long drop and held it there, taking no line off the baitrunner, the rod tip just nodding. After waiting to see if if it would drop back and be a liner - it didn't - I struck, and caught one. So waiting for a screamer isn't foolproof I'm afraid.

 

I'm not pretending that you won't catch the bream if you use a short drop (several people have), but at Wingham I would definitely say that the long drops make things so much clearer. It would be such a shame if someone at the fish-in has them in their swim and scares them out by striking at a liner!

[Tigger]

I can't understand why anyone needs to strike at a liner or run if they're using a bolt set up.

[Anderoo]

I can't understand why anyone needs to strike at a liner or run if they're using a bolt set up.

 

Because a bolt rig doesn't guarantee a screaming run (see my post above) and a line bite can look exactly like a screaming run if using a short drop (see above).

 

With a long drop, if your bobbin gets to the rod, odds on it's a proper bite. Easy