By targeting the silvers, a good day’s fishing can normally be had by being a little more positive with your feeding. Here are my top tips to help you put a net of commercial bream together...
Get some bait down
Hungry bream can hoover up the feed, so get a good bed of bait down at the start of the session. Then cut your feed back to make it easy for the fish to find your hookbait.
Swap your feeder
Although I begin with a big feeder, I want the fish to find my bait. Fishing a 20g XS or S-sized Slimline X-Change feeder puts just enough bait in.
Always use pellets
Pellets are vital. Dampened 2mm Mainline Cell pellets are perfect, fed with dead red maggots and corn, feeding a pinch every cast.
Switch to big baits
Starting hookbait is double dead red maggot, but once I begin catching steadily, I’ll change to triple or even four dead reds or a piece of corn.
Use a strong mix
A strong fishy groundbait is essential – try Mainline Sweet Marine and Ground Expander. This is mixed to a standard consistency so it spreads out.
Shorten hooklengths
I’m a big fan of fluoro hooklengths when the water is a bit clear and cold – 50cm will do to start, but I’ll shorten this to 30cm to catch faster.
Vary your cast times
After baiting up, my next 10 casts will be left in for five minutes at a time. If I’m struggling, I’ll cut this back to a cast every 10 minutes.
