Black Bream fishing

Light weight and hard fighting. The black Bream has seen a researgence in recent years and is a prize catch and eating fish high on the list of UK sea anglers. Black bream are well worth fishing for, if you haven’t tried it or need some tips for next season then read on.

The Black Bream

The Black bream is a deep bodied fish which can reach 40cm in length. They are marked with striped silver, black flanks (normally 9 dark bars), merging to blue across the back and top of the head. The small mouth of the bream is worth noting as you need to scale your gear down to allow for the size of the mouth. It’s worth remembering that the dorsal fin has a number of spikes in it - beware!!

The other species of Bream common in our fishing waters are the Red Bream (pinkish in colour) and the Gilt head bream which lives in different environments (brackish water in estuaries etc)

Bream locations and marks

The Black Bream is normally here in numbers during late spring, when they push up from there southerly winter grounds to breed. The south of England generally holds the largest stocks of fish. Leaving for the winter grounds October time.

These fish generally hold on very broken ground with weed for cover - reefs and wrecks with plenty of cover and hiding areas are a good start. They will work cleaner ground at times, but start with good broken ground. They also hunt in shoals, with the mature fish keeping to the rear of the shoal as they work into the tide feeding.

Most baits will tempt these guys, its a matter of finding them. Baited lurse also work well to catch Black Bream. Here are a few tips to improve your Bream catches.

• Aberdeen hooks in size 10 to 4, strong in the wire
• Strong tides will activate the Bream to feed
• Lower tidal flows will push the shoals nearer the sea bed
• Try Hokkai multi lure rigs baited with fish
• Ground bait - A very successful tip for Bream fishing. Fish down tide from your ground bait and enjoy!
• Fish from a kayak or boat for best results
• Can be caught from the shore, but do your home work on your fishing mark……
• Take a range of baits - worm, fish, squid, mussel and crab, see what works on the day

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