PAUL GARNER
Ignore the carp and get on the slabs for a session to remember
Make a sweet mix for bream
IF YOU’RE looking to put together a big weight of fish this spring, my advice would be to leave the carp alone for a few more weeks and find a local venue that contains a big stock of bream.
‘Slabs’, as big bream are often known, are much less affected by the weather conditions than carp, and for consistent sport they take some beating while the water in most lakes is still on the cold side. Ideally, look for a venue boasting decent shoals of fish in the 3lb to 6lb range. You don’t need many of these to make for a real red-letter day, nor do you need to use a lot of bait.
I like to set my stall out with around 10 feeder loads of groundbait, before switching to a flatbed Method feeder and then relying on the small nugget of bait this introduces to attract fish to the hookbait.
Regular small amounts of bait are much more effective than a big bed, as it is all too easy to overfeed in the still, cold water.
TOP ADDITIVE
As the days lengthen, bream will become more active and will be on the lookout for an easy meal. They aren’t too fussy when it comes to diet, but there are some additives that will definitely give you an edge.
Without doubt my outright favourite is Green Lipped Mussel (GLM) powder. This expensive ingredient is often used in the manufacture of boilies meant for carp but, if anything, bream love it even more! Fortunately many Method groundbaits already contain this smelly shellfish powder, but if you really want the fish to home in on your rig, try wetting your hookbait and dipping it in a small pot of GLM powder before casting out.
SWEET TOOTH
Bream are well known for their sweet tooth, but I think this applies more to skimmers than it does the bigger fish we’re interested in catching. That said, fishmeal-based groundbaits do benefit from being sweetened
up a little bit when after bream, as it helps to take away the bitter undertones, encouraging the fish to eat more.
Pineapple, strawberry and esterberry are all proven sweet flavours that the species loves.
TRY A TOPPER
To stack the odds even more in your favour, you can draw attention to the hookbait with a bright topper. I’ll normally use a pre-drilled 8mm pellet on the hair, and add a medium-sized piece of yellow or pink plastic corn on top.
Don’t be tempted to bury the hookbait in the groundbait on the feeder as you would when after carp. You will get more bites, and often faster too, when the hookbait is left hanging and
falls a little distance away from the feeder. I think this is because bream are a little more timid when feeding than carp, and are less keen to approach the feeder.
Occasionally, if I suspect the bream are present but I am not getting as many bites as I think I should, I’ll try switching to a chopped worm hookbait instead of a pellet. On some days this can make a huge difference, and it’s a useful tactic on tough days.
“Regular small amounts of bait are more effective than a big bed”