Big bream

[Anderoo]

Heres a short piece by Tony Miles thats worth a read if youve not done so-

 

http://www.fishingwarehouse.co.uk/section/...mp;categoryid=1

 

Nice find, more food for thought. I can see this whole business escalating into quite a serious obsession...

 

It would be great to go out on a boat with a pole and look for 'hotspots within hotspots', particularly spots which have produced bream in the past. Thank goodness Google Earth is around now, at least mapping a lake is no longer the nightmare it used to be. It doesn't show everything though, I think I need to spend a lot of time with sensitive marker gear and try to find out what the bottom is like in certain spots.

[Dan Dan]

I was out fishing today, using a small PVA bag with little pellets and dead maggots with a worm on the hook for bream, nothing spectacular but a couple of taps and a couple of fish. I had some Sonusbait Fishmeal Groundbait in my bag, and after reading in this thread about "light dusting of groundbait", I wondered if pouring dry groundbait into a PVA bag would achieve the same effect. The results spoke for themselves, I managed to keep the shoal there for longer than usual on this lake, topping up the swim after 20 minutes or a fish, whatever came first. I'd also alternate hookbaits and other particles in the bag, just to keep them guessing Not sure if this is a known tactic but I thought I'd share it with you as this thread has helped me a lot!

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks for that mate.Dont think I could afford enough bags for the amount of feed I use though! Boats the best way of introducing crumb to get this "dusting" effect but not always an option. Anderoo's use of a spod to put out a near dry mix is the best Ive come across so far. Still very time consuming though.

 

Glad your idea to use the bags got you a few fish though.

[Guest tigger]

Thanks for that mate.Dont think I could afford enough bags for the amount of feed I use though! Boats the best way of introducing crumb to get this "dusting" effect but not always an option. Anderoo's use of a spod to put out a near dry mix is the best Ive come across so far. Still very time consuming though.

 

Glad your idea to use the bags got you a few fish though.

 

 

Budgie I've used dry fish meal and micro pellets mixed and got them to the bottom in a Large baitdropper. I was fishing a river for Barbs/chub not fishing for Bream but maybe it would work for them.

[thuramario]

Interesting your comment about bread as I don't think it's been used that much at Wingham. Day old crust fished fluffy side up straight on the hook has accounted for quite a few carp on "Boilie waters" when the going's been tough. I have often thought about experimenting with flavoured bread or even special "bread" made in a bread machine at home. There is also, of course, the possibility of artificial bread which overcomes the problem of bread staying on the hook for any length of time.

 

Having said all this I wouldn't disagree with the approach and baits you mention. The only things I would suggest might bear thinking about is the use of artifical maggots/corn (one or two on a hook to counterbalance it) and the inclusion of fishmeal to groundbaits for the bream. They love the stuff and I would include either fishmeal itself to groundbait or pellets to spod mixes.

 

One final thought and I am aware that some may disagree but I wouldn't include hemp in groundbait for bream. Tench , yes but bream, no. I have never seen regurgitated or excreted hemp in a keep net of bream. I will now go and stand by for the barrage of dissenting voices!!

 

Regards,

Steve C.

surely a fish would prefer propper corn and propper magot to some rubber stuff, can they not smell?

[thuramario]

I'd say your totally right there, its bad enough worrying about whether your bait is presented right when you are expecting lots of fish nevermind when you might have wait days for a bite! I'd go as far as to say confidence might be more important than bait and rigs!

 

What do you usually find with tench and bream? In my limited bream experience I've often found bream and tench in similar areas except the bream seem to feed harder overnight! I guess I'm asking if you fished a water with a reasonable head of tench would you expect to catch bream if the tench aren't feeding in your swim?

 

Rich

i have never had a tench, and have had more breams than russia has had dodgy poloticians, as a result i must contest the point that they are in similar areas. i have limited knowledge but am aware of the opinion that bream home, tench roam. feel free to put me right i have only fished for two summers.

[Dick Dastardly]

Budgie I've used dry fish meal and micro pellets mixed and got them to the bottom in a Large baitdropper. I was fishing a river for Barbs/chub not fishing for Bream but maybe it would work for them.

 

Im sure it would mate.The only propblems I could for see are the fact that you would most likely end up with little piles of bait all over the swim and the time it would take.

 

The real issue though is finding/using a method of dellivering massive amounts in the way (ie light but even "dusting" over an area) we feel will be best of bait quickly and easily. Like I said a boat (not bait boat) is without doubt the best way but not always an option.

[Dick Dastardly]

surely a fish would prefer propper corn and propper magot to some rubber stuff, can they not smell?

 

Most definately! but the problem we have here is that the abundant eel population also likes the real thing! So far the eels have tended to ignore artificial corn or maggots where the tench and carp (and hopefully the bream) have picked them up.

 

 

i have never had a tench, and have had more breams than russia has had dodgy poloticians, as a result i must contest the point that they are in similar areas. i have limited knowledge but am aware of the opinion that bream home, tench roam. feel free to put me right i have only fished for two summers.

 

I would have to say that my experiences have shown it to be more the other way around.

[thuramario]

Most definately! but the problem we have here is that the abundant eel population also likes the real thing! So far the eels have tended to ignore artificial corn or maggots where the tench and carp (and hopefully the bream) have picked them up.

 

 

 

 

I would have to say that my experiences have shown it to be more the other way around.

well so far i have come across only one eel (which scared the **** out of me to tell ya the truth) so i may as well stick to the real stuff, but if i ever come across a shoal of eels, then its worth havin some in the tackle box, i will get a couple corn, n a couple maggot. interesting this tench, bream debate. i can go to any of my local fishing spots (which is about 20) and the breams are always were they always are, weras tench (which by the way i have only seen three, none of which mine) i just cant seem to find. i have fished the two areas were the tench were fished intensively (on all the same gear n bai) to no avail, which lead me to think they must move about.

[Anderoo]

A further thought about groundbait - after reading another thread about liquidised bread, it occurred to me that this gives a really nice kind of 'dusting' effect, and would take colour and flavour well. Maybe it would be too much actual food though?

 

Also, a quick question about foul-hooking (particularly for Budgie, but anyone else who's used double hook rigs in the past) - when using double hook rigs, was foul-hooking ever a problem? Do you reckon it's better to try to get them feeding on the deck rather than picking up smaller items off the bottom (e.g. using bouyant baits/pop-ups)?