Bream at night

[Anderoo]

But maybe i should keep my years of first hand experience of the net and just read and laugh at inexperienced wannabees talking sh1t.

 

Well, laugh at me all you like Lutra, although I'm not sure what the joke is. Whatever it is I've done to annoy you so much I apologise, so can we just leave it at that, draw a line under it and move on please?

 

I've read the last few posts with interest. I am someone who started out using short drops and moved onto longer drops because of the issues surrounding liners. When I first got serious line bites when bream fishing, the bobbins - on a short drop - were up and down like pistons for hours and hours. Several looked for all the world like real bites, and several even took line off the baitrunner before dropping back (I think this is what Steve meant when he talked about resetting bobbins). It was messy The line simply didn't 'slip off' when the bobbin had reached its upper limit.

 

Since changing over to long drops it has been really easy to see what's a liner and what's a take.

 

I fish little bolt rigs, and my long drop swingers are quite heavy. Real bites are obvious, as are liners. It just makes life so much easier. When you may have to wait for months for a real bite, the last thing you want is any uncertainty.

 

Den, your experiences are interesting, but don't you think that as you're not fishing for bream or even catching bream (as far as I know?), they hold less weight than the opposing views of people who do successfully fish for big bream? It really isn't a case of being intentionally quirky or following fashion, they all do it for a very good reason! I'm not sure why you think they are all wrong, given that they have all the direct experience?

 

On the baiting, I don't know about the majority of big bream anglers, but for myself and the few others I know and have fished with, a huge amount of effort is taken to fish and bait with great thought and accuracy. I think it is quite disparaging to suggest all we do is heave out a load of bait, cast into the middle of it, and then sit back with confused faces wondering why we get a load of liners and no fish

 

Another fallacy worth clearing up is that we are pestered with loads of liners every session. They are actually quite rare (obviously, given the low number of bream). But this just means that if/when they do happen, you have to be able to read them properly, and not mess up your chance.

 

Thanks for posting Andy N - great to see another well respected and experienced angler contributing.

[Tigger]

Big Bream are easy to spook and for that reason I like long drops even if using heavy indicators. Continuous resistance is not a problem with liners but a fish hitting hitting a tight line is.

 

 

I can't see how a tight line would spook a fish, lets face it there are lots of solid obstacles in a water. Personally I think the idea of a tight line spooking a fish is an old wives tale. I'd say the sensation of a line running over it's body and tightening up on it's back half as the heavy bobbin falls back would be more likely to spook it.

[Dick Dastardly]

So you're agreed that there's no need for long drops with bolt rigs and hard baits then?

 

Nearly! Ive still got concerns about liners on a short drop spooking fish more than long drop which allows the line bite to "take" relatively slack line during its course. But can see the advantages with the short (or none even) drop with bolt rigs.

[Dick Dastardly]

I am still interested in hearing others views on how line bites actually occur if anyone wishes to comment?

[Anderoo]

I am still interested in hearing others views on how line bites actually occur if anyone wishes to comment?

 

I have experienced two distinct types when bream fishing:

 

1. The 'classic' long lifts and drops of the bobbins/swingers. I'm pretty sure these are caused by fish passing through or milling about up in the water, catching the line across their bodies and dragging it to one side. Having your line out of the way along the bottom as much as possible definitely helps to avoid these.

 

2. Little persistant lifts and bumps of the bobbin/swingers. I'm pretty sure these are caused by feeding fish, nosing under the line/tubing/leader/etc. along the bottom as they feed. Proper bites are usually preceeded by these and I don't think there's any way to avoid them, or in fact any need to. They can/do still occur even if you have been super-accurate with the feeding and casting, and have kept your rig to the nearside of the baited spot.

 

Depending on your set-up I suppose it's possible to have a combination of the two, with some fish catching the line in mid-water and others digging under the tubing/etc. on the bottom as they feed. I try to avoid the first as much as possible, but look forward to the second

 

I'm very interested in other peoples' views.

Edited April 6, 2011 by Anderoo

[Andy Nellist]

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.

[Tigger]

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.

 

 

 

What about when fish force their way through weedbeds ? Also i'm pretty sure fish can see any mono of the thinnest diameter quite easily.

[poledark]

Anderoo, well as I have never caught an SB, only ever caught the 9 pounders which were top of the tree in the lake I fished, I suppose I should simply shut up, not even try to add/confuse/enlighten you experts. I really have no doubts that If I were to be fishing Wingham on a regular basis, then I would probably get one or two................and then I would be sufficiently experienced to advise.

 

Not likely to ever happen now, I have given up waiting for the invite, and I am getting to old to treck around there anyway. Good luck to you though, however you fish.

 

Den

[Anderoo]

No, don't be silly, it's just in all your examples you cite experiences with tench, carp, etc. rather than bream, and it's bream that are being discussed. Just because a tight line doesn't bother carp in a pressured lake doesn't mean it equally won't bother bream in an unpressured lake, surely?

 

What happened with those 9lb bream you mention?

 

And yes, I'm sure you would catch the Wingham bream.

[chesters1]

bream are a problem at my local carp lake ,heres an example that took a 22mm boily (used to avoid the bream!) .i expect it sucked it and moved off getting the hook by accident ,gave a very slow but positive slow run and took line off the reel .

no line bites before if there had been i would have been suspicious of catfish rooting about who are another pest.

i'v caught big dark bream but never a silvery one that size hence the rare picture being taken ,i don't usually bother with fish pics .

i'v not bothered with bream for decades ,the local pond has the odd one but to deliberately fish for bream is alien to me

i use the original fox swingers with the weight half way along ,one so the rod tip being nudged by the wind doesn't effect it and theres enough weight to show a drop back ,i still use running ledgers so drop backs are pretty rare! sea fishing in lakes is alien to me as well

Edited April 6, 2011 by chesters1