Big bream

[Anderoo]

Steve reckons the current crop of huge bream in Wingham are the ones he stocked as Fry so it will be interesting to watch the development of this year class.

 

Yes, he reckoned that the really big ones are the ones stocked at 3lb, and these smaller ones are the ones stocked as fry. Who knows what this second year class will top out at.

 

Richard's description is perfect - a skimmer but 10lb bigger! It had that colouration that bream often get at about 3lb when turning from silver to bronze, not the really deep bronze of the bigger ones.

 

Rob, did you get any more fish or liners?

[Steve Walker]

Well done with the bream, even if you were tenching! Chris Yates has a whimsical theory that fish can somehow sense when they are being fished for, hence the inevitable bite when you are concentrating on a nice cup of tea and not on catching fish. He also says, in Falling In Again, that the secret of his success in angling is;

 

"Whenever I go fishing, I always tell myself that I'm after gudgeon, even if I'm using floating crust on a size 4 hook"

 

[Rob Ward]

I had another Tench 8lb 4 in the morning, same rod, time and spot as the 8lb 6 the previous day but on Corn this time.

 

I lost another two later on, both just off the Egg Box, as a result of a line break and a hook pull. Line parted near the rod tip for the first one, must have been a weak spot damaged by the gravel as I wasn't putting a lot of pressure on. The second was a hook pull near the net, entirely my own fault; trying to land the fish without interfering with another line - looked like another 8.

[Rob Ward]

I actually think the larger Bream use the Tench as feelers and follow them in on food if all's well. I would imagine large bream will shoal with the larger tench on occassions.

 

I'll agree with that, going back to my match fishing days I was always taught that the smaller fish feeding will attract the larger ones. I think that theory can be applied here just on a bigger scale (no pun intended!).

 

I think you can attempt to be selective but I don't see the point at Wingham, when I'm there I fish for Bream and Tench although I do adjust my tactics slightly at night when there's a better chance of a Bream.

[Guest tigger]

I'll agree with that, going back to my match fishing days I was always taught that the smaller fish feeding will attract the larger ones. I think that theory can be applied here just on a bigger scale (no pun intended!).

 

I think you can attempt to be selective but I don't see the point at Wingham, when I'm there I fish for Bream and Tench although I do adjust my tactics slightly at night when there's a better chance of a Bream.

 

 

It's probably much the same as large river roach very often shoal with chub.

[Anderoo]

It seems like no-one else is that surprised by all this - which surprises me

 

To me, this is like Isaak himself appearing in my bivvy door and handing me a massive folder full of information!

 

More dots on the map, and things get an awful lot clearer.

[Kappa]

It seems like no-one else is that surprised by all this - which surprises me

 

To me, this is like Isaak himself appearing in my bivvy door and handing me a massive folder full of information!

 

More dots on the map, and things get an awful lot clearer.

 

The only bit that surprises me is where you caught it! I had pretty much deceided that the only certainty is that they didn't like that area of the lake as no-one had ever caught one from there, it was pretty much the only place without a dot!

 

Rich

[Rob Ward]

Budgie caught his a bit further up off the Grass Bank.

 

Thinking about that it makes sense that if they come up the river bank after a wind then they'll use the margin which is deep and there's a lot of bars and humps in the middle of that section of Lake which they'd probably avoid.

[Big Easy]

Can I say before I add my input what a fascinating and well informed thread this is. I am a ‘Wingham newbie’ and have dutifully followed Steves ‘instructions’ to read and digest this and the Ultimate Bobbin threads. I hope I can add something to the discussion.

 

1) SB – I have fished a number of waters (typically gravel pits) where bream have grown to a large size. Not ‘SB’ size but in the 12 – 15lb range. I believe they grow to this size as a result (generally) of low (bream) stock density and tend to term them as Low Stock Density (LSD) excuse the pun, rather than ‘SB’. The conditions that allow them to grow to these proportions tend to follow the same lines of all round low stock, light angling pressure, lack of predation, good food sources etc. All conforming to Steves general principles. My point is that LSD bream probably act in similar ways to SB, if not all the time certainly whilst they are progressing through the stages, which may be of benefit to the discussion. I am thinking along the lines of small groupings, seemingly random(ish) location, feeding patterns etc.

 

2) Eels and LSD bream – I was fishing a Nene Valley gravel pit 4 years ago and frequently (well enough to be noteworthy) caught eels and bream in the same night. The water, as most modern gravel pits, was not loaded with features like Wingham but the bream/eel combination existed. It was often eel, eel ……….. followed by a solitary bream. The swim was a near bank silt gulley (10 yds max cast) and I used 3 – 4 pints of maggots a night introduced by catapult. Don’t get me wrong there were many blanks but as long as you were prepared to work through the eels bream could be caught. Braid hooklink of course was a no no but ‘animal’ baits could be used at the expense of inconvenience. The landing of eels did not seem to deter the bream.

 

3) Undertow – I recall reading Tony Miles when he was fishing Startops in its roach heyday. He would cast an unbaited swingtip rod into various swims in the reservoir and would not fish until he encountered some undertow. Apparently even on a bowl type water like Startops the undertow was difficult to predict.

 

Ian

[Anderoo]

Hi Ian, welcome to AN

 

And well done for reading this whole topic!

 

Interesting about the eels. When you're recasting after an eel, are you generally casting a long way and/or using heavy leads? Do you tend to stick with maggots/worms and put up with the eels because you think they're the bait most likely to be taken by bream?

 

Looking forward to meeting you at Wingham, and good luck

 

EDIT: sorry, just re-read your post and saw the 10 yards comment. The reason I ask about the heavy lead is to do with spooking, it sounds like you're fishing 'matchman' style which is intruiging, and something no-one's mentioned before. Fishing these closer in spots it is of course possible to feed that way...

Edited June 2, 2009 by Anderoo