Q&A

The best feeder rig for bream?

WHAT rigs and hookbaits should I be using when targeting bream from large lakes?

Grahame Forster, Wednesbury

THE easiest rig to get to grips with is a running feeder set-up, with the feeder sliding on the mainline above the hooklink and a buffer bead. This produces positive bites and rarely tangles, plus it won’t fall foul of any fishery rules.

As a starting point, use a 5lb mainline, a 4lb hooklink and a size 16 hook. The weight of feeder you choose depends on how far you need to cast and whether there’s any

undertow, but a 30g model should cover most situations.

As for hookbaits, there are two schools of thought – traditional (maggots, casters, worms) and modern (corn, pellets, mini boilies). If the lake is used by carp anglers, the bream will see a lot of pellets and boilies, so it could pay to go down that route with your hookbaits, with fishmeal groundbait in the feeder. Alternatively, try a traditional approach with a worm and caster cocktail hookbait and a sweet groundbait mix incorporating chopped worm, casters and dead maggots.

You can attach the hooklink using a standard swivel with a rubber bead over the top, or you can use one of the new breed of beads that houses a quick-change mechanism for the hooklink. By using a quick-change clip on the run-ring holding your feeder,...

NATURAL ATTRACTION Bream adore worms, and a section of dendrobaena on a size 14 or 16 is deadly for bream to about 5lb. For bigger bream, use a larger worm and size 12 hook.