How did you get on?

[mikench]

I decided why wait for next week and the warmer weather when I could go fishing today as well not as an alternative. So I ventured forth and it turned out to be a bream of a day.

I had plans for another venue and another method but a work party was cleaning the parking area so I went to an old favourite. As it was very windy and blowing from a NW direction I decided to use the feeder instead of the float. I set up the Sliverlite with the Emcast BR LT reel with a free running open feeder full of GB and with maggots on the size 16 hook. I started off on a 20 but was snapped off and switching to a B911 size 18 resulted in another carp which pulled the now gaping hook. The bream were on steroids, leaping out of the water when hooked, fighting all the way to the net and continuing to struggle in the net. Is it's hormones or something else. I caught 14 silver bream around 3lb( they could have been the same fish 14 times they looked so similar) all on maggot bar 1 on a 10mm pellet. All in all I had good sport from bream and I never thought I would ever say that. I'm glad I went. It was cold though and windy and grey.

Here's to next week and maybe a tench on the other water.

 

[sam vimes]

The bream were on steroids, leaping out of the water when hooked, fighting all the way to the net and continuing to struggle in the net. Is it's hormones or something else.

Whilst the complaint that bream fight like polythene bags can often be quite fair, it's not always the case. Even without trotting out the usual, "they go well in rivers", I've found that they can go well in some stillwaters. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why. However, I've often noticed that if you are going to see jumping bream, it's usually on stillwaters that are less than four feet deep.

 

[mikench]

These were all silver bream and in water about 4 to 5' deep. They amazed me Chris.

 

[peter crabtree]

Mike, silver bream are a separate species to common bronze bream, they are rarely caught over 2lb and the record is 3:4:0.
I suggest you were catching juvenile bronze bream ie skimmers. Got any pictures of them?

 

[mikench]

Here's one.

 

[peter crabtree]

Here’s a silver bream below a skimmer. The silver bream has distinctive large eyes set close to the top of the face, it’s scales are also bigger.
It is also a different shape.

 

[mikench]

Are those I caught skimmers then?

 

[peter crabtree]

The one in your picture is ...

 

[mikench]

They all were then. One lives and learns. Skimmers I always regarded as small swing to hand baby bream? These were not.

 

[S-Kippy]

I wouldn't personally regard any bream over about 12oz-1lb as a skimmer.What I think is clear is that what you were catching were definately not silver bream. I haven't caught a true silver for many, many years.

 

[john step]

The rivers in my neck of the woods have a good population of true silver bream. Maybe its an East of England thing.
Also a very healthy population of rudd in these rivers.

 

[sam vimes]

Skimmers I always regarded as small swing to hand baby bream? These were not.

Beyond a juvenile bronze bream, there's no strict definition of what a skimmer actually is. Some folks say any bream until they get the darker colouration. The snag is that it could be up to 3lb or so on some waters. Others say anything that can be "skimmed" in and swung to hand. Others will say up to x pounds/ounces.

 

[The Runner]

The rivers in my neck of the woods have a good population of true silver bream. Maybe its an East of England thing.
Also a very healthy population of rudd in these rivers.

Loads of true silver bream in some parts of the Thames as well. Can be very localised though.

Broadwater Pit at Harefield was full of them at one time before the gravel washing plant there closed and the water went clear and weedy. Never heard of them in any numbers anywhere else in the Colne Valley.

 

[S-Kippy]

Broadwater Pit at Harefield was full of them at one time before the gravel washing plant there closed and the water went clear and weedy. Never heard of them in any numbers anywhere else in the Colne Valley.

Broadwater was where I caught my last silver bream.....over 45 years ago ! I keep meaning to go try and find some but I wouldn't know where to start now.

 

[The Runner]

They disappeared there mid 90s. Used to get some cracking match weights of them especially along the canal bank. Mostly only up to 6oz but would get a few well over the pound early season. Record was open at the time at 1 8 I think but nobody bothered

 

[John Aston]

How did I get on ? I ended up in A and E having a size 20 hook removed from between my thumb and index finger. Thought I'd de-barbed the little f****er too ...

Not as bad as last time , when I had to present myself in studded waders and wading jacket, being unable to remove same due to having large treble on a yellow Rapala embedded in my index finger knuckle . The medical staff tried so very hard not to giggle at my plight - but failed obviously . I thought I'd de-barbed that one too.

 

[rayner]

How did I get on ? I ended up in A and E having a size 20 hook removed from between my thumb and index finger. Thought I'd de-barbed the little f****er too ...

Not as bad as last time , when I had to present myself in studded waders and wading jacket, being unable to remove same due to having large treble on a yellow Rapala embedded in my index finger knuckle . The medical staff tried so very hard not to giggle at my plight - but failed obviously . I thought I'd de-barbed that one too.

Ouch.

 

[john step]

! I keep meaning to go try and find some but I wouldn't know where to start now.

The..Fosdyke,Witham,Ancholme,Trent.

 

[rubio]

Having been gifted a couple of pints of maggot I felt obligated to try for another tench at club lake. Fed with hemp too getting a few small Rudd and roach before something pulled back. Crucian rather than tench but pleased to see it. Four more of his mates joined in, all around the pound mark. 2 of them to non-bites. Where you stare at a float tip with high suspicion for long periods, then once convinced it was nothing you lift the rod to find yourself attached. At times there's seemingly no setup sensitive enough to overcome their deft mouthing.
The tench when it came was far more committed in both bite and fight. Just one but best I have had here, tho not even 4lbs.

 

[markcw]

How did I get on ??
I didnt...
Decided to opt to go to Newlands instead of the canal.
Got there and it was blowing a gale, the waves on one pool were like a scene from the film "The Cruel Sea"
I was expecting Jack Hawkins to go sailing past looking for U Boats.
Had a look at the one i was intending to fish, not as bad but very choppy,
No matter which peg I had gone on the wind would have played havoc with my brolly.and presentation,one or two fish were rolling at around 40 yards out at the edge of the island, I wasnt prepared to do a 40 yard chuck with a feeder. Only 3 fish had been caught before I got there.
So did the sensible thing,got in the car and came home. Supposed to be on there again tomorrow, Will check weather forecast first.