Big bream

[Anderoo]

I think thats where are approaches differ Anderoo. As i said somewhere in here before, i believe large areas of bait to be counter productive as it can be slow to get bites, but not line bites and I'm convinced bream that have been caught before on baited areas will be reluctant to feed on this.

 

The amount of groundbait going out is quite a lot, but there's virtually nothing in it to eat - a handfull of micro-pellet, a tin of corn, and a pint of maggots. And that's split between 3 or maybe 4 areas. The only real thing to eat is my bait and the contents of a PVA bag.

 

So, quite a lot of 'bait' but no real 'food'. I want them to come in and be convinced the bottom is think with food, only to find they have to really look for anything worth eating.

[Dick Dastardly]

I'm convinced bream that have been caught before on baited areas will be reluctant to feed on this.

 

So taking your thoughts Brian maybe we should be once again looking more to location and trying to find these smaller or "pinch"areas that weve spoke of before where we know the bream will be in a very tight area so there is no need to put in larger beds? Locating and ambushing rather than baiting an area to try and draw them in?

 

My only Wingham fish did come to this aproach (ie a few pouchs of corn as feed in a small area over a gap in a bar) but it just worries me that there are quite a few of these areas and only so many fish!

 

Its just hard for me to stop doing what has worked so well for me in the past but I feel I must.Im sure my lack of sucsess at Queenford was because I couldnt adapt and leave the "shoal bream" tactics at home!

[Anderoo]

Anderoo your now seeing what I have found to be one of the hardest "technical" problems with big bream fishing. Without a boat its just so hard to bait up in the desired way at any range.I think its no coincidence that my best results have come when I have been able to use a boat or be able to fish under 30m when it can be "balled" in.

 

Ive had similar problems when using mass particle baits at diostance for carp.Yes there are some great bait delivery systems but they all create small mounds of bait or as in the case of the spod and "dry mix" leave you with no control!

 

I think your on the right lines though with either the "sinking spod" or Richs ideas about different consistancy groundbaits. Coarse mixes can be dampened to make them heavier and therefore sink quicker but you have to obviously bear in mind coarser mixes could defeat the whole point by providinbg too much food. Something that can be introduced in a relatively coarse/heavy form but breaks down very quickly would be worth looking at (?).Do you remember those things the carp lads were using a short while back? Something along those lines crushed down a bit first?

 

Im really struggling here as its stopping me from either A) feeding the longer range swims like I want to or forcing me to fish closer in to be able to bait like I want to.

 

At the moment I plan to give the closer in but balling in with an "active" mix aproach another go.

 

I think it's much more frustrating for you and others who have more experience of this, as you've been able to use boats in the past. I never have, so while I can see the huge advantages it doesn't bug me too much. Hopefully we'll be able to come up with something that works adequately well.

 

I've always been a close-in kind of angler, but this year I'm making myself get better at distance fishing. I'm getting the hang of it, slowly. I'm now competent up to 65 yards, which has opened up new areas for me. If I can get good at 80 yards, that would be great, and the absolute limit of my tackle. I don't want to use any heavier gear than I'm using now.

 

At the weekend it took me well over an hour of spodding into the wind to bait my first spot. The next spot was 15 feet out, and I lobbed all that out in 3 minutes Fishing close in has huge advantages, but as you say, big disadvantages too.

 

I'm really hoping the 'sinking spod' works!

 

I don't remember those carp lad things, what were they?

 

Out of interest too (not just directed at Budgie), what size baited spot would you try to achieve for these big bream?

 

I was talking to a member towards the end of the fish-in and he suggested picking a spot where the bream may pass through, and putting all your eggs in one basket, feeding a line right across that route - rather than picking 3 or 4 spots and baiting separately. It's an interesting idea. With the really tight pinch points, feeding one spot is fine, but in the wider channels, if you bait one edge and the pass down the other edge, they could be 70 feet away. With a line they'd have to pass over it somewhere...

[Guest tigger]

I'm not too worried about spooking them Lutra, I'll be baiting up at about lunchtime and then leaving it until late afternoon before casting.

 

 

Sounds like a very large open end feeder would best suite your needs, and let it hit bottom so you get the attractant exactly where you want it. A spod seems the wrong tool for the job.

[Anderoo]

Sounds like a very large open end feeder would best suite your needs, and let it hit bottom so you get the attractant exactly where you want it. A spod seems the wrong tool for the job.

 

That's going to end up with lots of little piles of bait, Tigger - with a spod emptying in mid-water, it would come to rest on the bottom in a fine, even layer over a wider area.

[Guest tigger]

with a spod emptying in mid-water, it would come to rest on the bottom in a fine, even layer over a wider area.

 

 

Yeah but in deep water with a good tow on it that will certainly be quite a wide area. Don't forget when a feeder is sinking in water of any depth and your grondbait isn't to stiff you do get bait spilling out on it's way down so your still gonna get a good spread of bait.

[Steve Walker]

You could count a feeder down to depth and strike to empty it. A sinking spod with Den's design to connect to the nose would do the same thing and probably fly better, though.

[Anderoo]

You could count a feeder down to depth and strike to empty it. A sinking spod with Den's design to connect to the nose would do the same thing and probably fly better, though.

 

It's the lack of a controlled sink that puts me off a feeder, as well as the fact that even if you could avoid creating little piles of groundbait by striking, 1 spodful = at least 5 feeders full. No, I think a slowly sinking spod is the way to go.

[Stuart Wright]

Not sure if its any help, but something I have done in the past when I have forgotten my spods is to use large, solid PVA bags (as suggested above). However, rather than using them in conjunction with a spod, I attached the bag to a large lead on a 3ft length of mono beneath a marker float. The heavier the lead the better, as this allows the PVA bag to sink to the required depth before melting.

 

I was using maggots and wanted a 'spread' rather than 'piles' of maggots, and although I couldn't see the lake bed, my results on that occassion seemed to suggest it worked!

 

I know this would be an expensive approach, but I'm sure you could look into bulk buying PVA, which might help to bring cost down a little??

[Guest tigger]

1 spodful = at least 5 feeders full. No, I think a slowly sinking spod is the way to go.

 

 

You could customise a spod by removing the bung at one end and adding your own weights to suite the conditions.