Twenty nine pound bream!!

[cg74]

I've been doing a bit of snotty fishing of late, its been going well. With the top bait proving to be an 11mm pellet fished over a bed of 50% 4mm carp/coarse pellets, 20% 6mm halibut pellets, 10% 8mm Elite trout pellets, 10% mixed Elips pellets, about 10% Hemp & Hali groundbait, to cloud the water when spombing and as a feeder bung.
Best catch so far is twenty nine pound bream!

A few questions:
What is the current British record?
Any ideas on how I could tweak things to improve my results. Currently I'm putting about 3-4kgs of bait out each evening prior to overnight stints and fishing with two fairly large open end feeders, one right on the baited area and a second one just off of the bait. Normally sessions are 72-96hrs. The water is a 35 acre mature gravel pit.
Do you think that very dark (almost black) fish will be older fish, conversely would you expect dark golden (akin to barbel coloration) bream to be younger fish?

Your thoughts please.

[peter crabtree]

Do you mean 29 x 1lb bream or 20 x 9lb bream, or a 29lb bream?
If it's the latter i hope you have a picture and a witness.....

[beerweasel]

I think you must have been daybreaming.

[dangermouse]

Originally Posted by beerweasel

I think you must have been daybreaming.

Obviously nicked a set of Spider`s scales.

[sam vimes]

I think that the percentage spread of pellet sizes in your mix are simply ridiculous!

[beerweasel]

What you need is an authentic native american breamcatcher.
For a few hundred pounds I could make you one (full half refund if your not satisfied).

[Simon K]

Originally Posted by cg74

Do you think that very dark (almost black) fish will be older fish, conversely would you expect dark golden (akin to barbel coloration) bream to be younger fish?

Your thoughts please.

Well Colin, here's a pic of a 13lb river bream (obviously not a young fish) I had some years back.
Before the days of compulsory unhooking mats on the venue (and before I'd even heard of them!), so forgive the circumstances of the pic, chaps.

All of the smaller bream I caught from the same place were darker or 2-tone, this one being the exception.

Genetic? Diet or habitat based? I simply don't know.

[shaunfox]

Originally Posted by Simon K

Well Colin, here's a pic of a 13lb river bream (obviously not a young fish) I had some years back.
Before the days of compulsory unhooking mats on the venue (and before I'd even heard of them!), so forgive the circumstances of the pic, chaps.

All of the smaller bream I caught from the same place were darker or 2-tone, this one being the exception.

Genetic? Diet or habitat based? I simply don't know.

What a superb bream that is from a river - vast.

Biggest I've had are bream up to just under 9lb from the wharfe. I've had 14lb+ bream from lakes though.

Which river was it......the Thames!

[Colin Brett]

Not sure if the record is about to be claimed at 23lb but 2 bream for 41lb plus ain't a bad catch is it? It wasn't me and the 2nd one was 18lb+

Possibly in Anglers Mail tomorrow

[Simon K]

Nope, the Lea, Shaun.

It was a unique situation inasmuch as there were engineering works going on upstream and the river/relief channel drained down to 10% or so of its normal level for the day. It gradually filled back up in the evening and I commenced fishing.

I think there were a lot of (if not all) the resident fish of all species which followed the bulk of the water draining downstream and then gradually moved back up. Being out of its normal patrol route it picked up my bait while "off-guard".

This was about 10 years ago and having fished the venue every year since, I've never heard of this fish (or a bigger one) ever having been caught there since.

Put up a good scrap, too, I thought I'd caught the Mother of all chub!