How to catch bream

[rich66]

Yes I know, but someone has too!
I get the odd skimmer but never seem to be able to hold a shoal.
I’m fishing tomorrow morning unless something cocks my day up and thought I’d try a new lake that’s supposed to have a decent amount of skimmers.
I’ve got dead reds, sweetcorn and various pellets

Running line only I’ve not got any poles

Any tips, particular methods to try or how much groundbait to use .

Cheers

 

[David Rogers 3]

If it's anything like one of my local club waters, no amount of groundbait will hold a shoal of bream for long. You can catch several in the space of a few minutes, but then have to wait, on average, half-an-hour for the next shoal to come along. Most of the bream anglers use maggot or pellet feeders, re-cast at 10-15 minute intervals and have learned to accept the quiet spells in between catching.

 

[sylvanillo]

I'm gonna transfer my get-to-know-bream over to you and you do what you want with it! And, probably, much better!

Steps:
1) Read the forum anytime, especially at work
And
(When feeder fishing, on a natural venue)
2) Identify good spots - places where bream tend to come over and over again, looks like circuit for them, a bit like the M25 Junction 8 for a London everyday driver. You can ask to people on the bank, at the shop, or you will find them with time.
3) Identify good timing. I was amazed how bites may suddenly start at night time (that was back in summer and autumn)
4) I used groundbait mixed with hard pellets. Since I'm a beginner in bream, I think the groundbait will disperse and the hard pellets will stay on the bottom for ages, so that gives quite a good stable feeding area for a shoal.
5) Baits that have worked super well for me (on hair):
- Swim stim match minis from Dynamite
- Swim stim soft hookers from Dynamite
- sweet corn
- a combination of the above

That gave me endless sessions where bites would last for hours, until I had to go.

More recently, I also had using a combination of bread pellets and Dudules.

Other things I noticed:
- No bite => a very long hooklink (6 ft!)
- No bite anymore => moving the feeder makes them react; throwing a few small balls of groundbait with noise makes them react as well.

Have fun!!!

 

[mikench]

In my experience fish deliberately for other species and you’ll find bream. I find using a method feeder with corn or mini boilie to be popular. Pineapple, choc orange and F1 flavoured micros attract them.

 

[rich66]

In my experience fish deliberately for other species and you’ll find bream. I find using a method feeder with corn or mini boilie to be popular. Pineapple, choc orange and F1 flavoured micros attract them.

Cheers Mike, I find they turn up when I’m not fishing for them ? It’s like the slimey buggers know lol
I just thought I’d target them for a change

 

[mikench]

I’m not fussy at 5he moment what I catch as long as it’s not covid 19.:

 

[barbelboi]

It's a hard choice between catching the virus and snotties................................

 

[john step]

This will probably not apply to your lake if its small or even tomorrow being short notice but I thought this may be interesting to tuck away in the back of ones mind for bigger lakes and/or the new river season if we are allowed out of our homes! This has worked for me in Ireland, lakes and rivers, The Trent,The Nene and stillwaters here.

Soak up and cook a large amount of wheat. Flavouring is not necessary. I am talking about a gallon plus here which is cheap as chips.
Catapult it all in the evening prior to fishing. Come back before someone else chooses your swim and bag up.

The wheat will be spread about and the bream will stay for longer than is usual because they will not be able to clear all those small particles as quickly as traditional groundbaiting. Worm and bomb works well.

Pearl barley works as well but more expensive and so does rice although those alternatives will not be able to be catapulted as far.

Finally dont forget to take a towel !

 

[mikench]

Great tips Pete but altogether too much effort to catch a bream.

I'm happy to catch them but never by going to any effort. I was thrilled by my first bream but recall the feeling of disappointment years later, after a strong strike , initial struggle and then that indefinable total capitulation as you reel in.

I should never have to say/think " oh no it's a bream"

 

[rich66]

I’m happy to say I caught one the other day.
I’ve plenty of wild bird seed soaked boiled and froze so I’ll give it a try. I won’t be able to pre-bait so may try it in a cage feeder.

 

[Paste paul]

Hi
I find bream fishing is more consistent on natural venues ..... I have a couple of favourites......
Then it’s important to be in the area they are feeding no amount of bait will help if they are not there....... it’s worth visiting the venue before hand and asking at the local tackle shop ...... also speak with the bailiff.
Location location location!!!
I don’t do anything special but I follow a few self imposed rules.
I never fish further out than I can comfortably fish.
I never set up loads of gear just one rod suited to the size of the venue.
I only use basic baits ...... pinkies/maggots.......groundbait .....worms.
I always spend time casting round with a bomb to try and find a snag/weed free area to fish.
I like to use an inline cage feeder but the minimum length of hook length is 10 inch no maximum.
I don’t throw bait I just use the feeder......mainly because our venues don’t allow throwing bait.
Kis....... keep it simple....
This is how I do things it’s not necessarily the best way but it works for me....
Remember 30 pound of bream is a pretty decent bag of fish....
Hope this helps

 

[dicky123]

:wh:wh:wh:wh:whI'd say fish for difficult carp, that's the best was to catch bream?

 

[108831]

Why wont you be able to pre-bait,fish two days running in the same peg,even if the first session is only an afternoon one,just before you pack up put a fair bit in,mini spod,groats,wheat,mixed carp pellets etc,at least half a gallon on a decent sized water,one thing is certain each water is different and need different approaches,as has been said natural waters tend to be best,but persistence is required to get the big bags,as red letter days dont happen every trip,even with the most comprehensive of pre-baiting campaigns....

 

[spoonminnow]

I don't know if anyone uses light ball head jigs and soft plastics, but I catch hundreds of sunfish of all sizes using them as well as bass, crappie, perch and even catfish.

 

[rayner]

With feeder fishing for bream, I always have two swims one 25mtr the other 40mtr. I prefer braid even on the short line with a ten pound leader. A big baitup feeder hence the ten pound leader, then change to your normal fishing feeder.
I fish the two lines straight out so liners on the long line could be fish returning over the short line.
It was said earlier that the short line is normally good for quick fish then for no reason they can back away from the feed. That's when the long swim comes in., I normally switch between the two swims.
Baits are usually maggot, micros, corn or worm for me. Hooklengths I start around 18" going up to 36" depends on the day, bream, where I fish, will sit above the groundbait showing with liners on the cast then the longer hook length is worth a go.
One thing with bream fishing they can take a while to roll up so stay patient.

 

[Keith M]

I don't know if anyone uses light ball head jigs and soft plastics, but I catch hundreds of sunfish of all sizes using them as well as bass, crappie, perch and even catfish. There must be a source near you but if not, EBay has it all.
One popular lure is the Crappie Magnet grub. I rig it on a 1/24 or 1/16 oz ball head. It looks like this:.................

Spoonminnow I don’t think that the Bream in question is what your post is about It’s about the Common Bream that are caught in the UK, and although it is possible to catch the odd one in the early spring using a very small spinner or lure they usually just move along the bottom sucking up food like herds of cattle, and subsequently you can often locate them on shallower venues by looking for clouds of silt slowly moving across the bottom. They are not like the Bream in the USA which you catch on ball head jigs, but thanks anyway for your input.?

Although I now dislike catching Bream (snotties) with a vengeance; especially the smaller ones; I haven’t always hated them as much as I do now as they can enable you to accumulate a good weight in a match, and without too many problems because they don’t put up much of a fight for their weight; but if I’m not fishing in a match then I just hate the fact that they can cover my line, my clothes, my keepnets and landing nets and occasionally my weighing mat in a horrible smelly slime that seems to drip everywhere, and their lack of fight doesn’t make up for this either.

On my local stillwaters it’s fairly easy to catch Bream by using plenty of groundbait before and after they arrive and fishing several inches overdepth with maggots, Pinkies, caster, redworm and similar sized baits. They don’t seem to object to groundbait dropping on their heads either.
However; I’ve found that catching large Bream over around 7lb upwards can be a lot different and the larger the Bream get then the harder it becomes to catch them and the less snotty they seem to get. If I started to catch 7 to 11lb Bream I certainly wouldn’t complain but usually It’s how to deter the smaller Bream from taking my bait which is my problem.

One mans meat is another mans poison and all that

Keith

 

[spoonminnow]

deleted

 

[Keith M]

Here’s some info about the common Bream that we catch in the UK and some other parts of Europe.

Bream | Abramis Brama | Description, baits and methods to catch Bream

Bream, Abramis Brama is a freshwater coarse fish of the cyprinidae family and lives in shoals. Match anglers can amass great weights catching this slimy fish. Read what best baits and methods for catching Bream.

www.fish-uk.com

Keith

 

[markcw]

Ours give one hell of a fight on a light action rod! There are 5 different species of sunfish I catch in certain lakes and they can be quite aggressive with no nonsense strikes - like today's catch.
I did a search and this appears to be it:
View attachment 9270
People eat them?

Nope we put them back,

 

[Keith M]

Nope we put them back,

And they taste like mud anyway I'm told

Keith