BREAMING & DREAMING
The SAA team head off to Start Point in search of some black bream
The hunt is on for black bream.
With the summer finally making itself felt and the weather looking perfect for a Saturday evening and Sunday day session, the Sea Angling Adventures team were looking forward to targeting a few black bream.
Accompanied by Gav Cuthbertson and Rob Yorke, I decided to hit a venue on the South Devon coastline to target a few fish. The choice was the Start Point area, which can produce some fantastic sport for
anglers targeting black bream. However, it’s normally for a very short spell over some tides when anglers catch this species up to and over the 4lb mark. A fish of around that weight is a fantastic specimen for anglers fishing the club scene.
When it comes to black bream, Gav Cuthbertson has landed fish just short of 5lb and has fished for them in many parts of the UK. Thankfully, he has generously shared a great deal of his knowledge about this species with me.
For instance, bream tend to feed close in to the shoreline around rocky mixed to rough ground areas. As a result, when it comes to the rig preference you don’t want anything that fishes close to the seabed because this would certainly see your bait being presented right into the rougher ground.
This species tends to feed at different depths, and using such nuggets of practical knowledge is very much the key. Fishing a very long rotten-bottom is the best way to keep your bait up high in the tidal flow. This way, the longer rotten bottom will drop down into the rough, allowing your rig to present your bait higher above the rocks where the bream will be feeding.
BREAM HUNT
With the weekend approaching and having the Friday daytime off, I decided to head down to a local rock mark close to Hope’s Nose, in Torquay, and feather out some fresh mackerel for the Saturday night bream hunt.
Many locals know it is a real hotspot for mackerel and, with that in mind, all I took with me was a float rod. Once I caught a fresh mackerel I would try for a big garfish, while using a second rod with feathers to get some fresh bait for the bream.
Over the years I’ve made this trip many times with a 100 per cent success rate. This trip did not go to plan. I was accompanied by SAA’s Josef Raynesford, who was looking forward to targeting a few garfish after spending a few evenings on the South Devon coastline with me chasing rays with great success – but that’s another story.
There we were heading down over the cliffs, with the sun blazing down on us. Reaching our chosen destination, we found someone already fishing and ventured a little further back along the coastline. We started to cast out feathers in search of a few fresh mackerel before getting the float gear out for gars.
To cut a long story short, we spent the best part of four-and-half-hours casting without any sign of any mackerel. I really could not believe it because I would have put money on us bagging-up. It was a complete nightmare.
As we were due to leave for Start Point on the Saturday afternoon, it was going to make it hard to get out again to catch some mackerel. There was nothing for it but to contact a few local fishermen on the Saturday morning to source some fresh bait. Luckily, after a couple of phone calls, I managed to get 12 fresh mackerel from a local fishmonger in Newton Abbott. Arriving at the store, the shop owner had the fish ready bagged. At the till, the man said: “That is £36 for those 12 please sir.” My jaw hit the ground. I could not believe the price of mackerel had gone up so much over the last 12 months. However, we needed the fresh bait, so I had no choice.
SPECIMEN BREAM
Soon it was time to get the gear ready and drive down the coastline to meet Rob and Gav in Kingsbridge and then head off to spend the evening in search of a specimen bream. Just in case the bream didn’t play the game, we’d all brought a few spare reels to fish for bull huss and wrasse.
Even though we’d heard that some of the local Torbay anglers were out in search of bream, we were surprised to find the car park at the venue was empty. We were very happy to have our chosen spot to ourselves.
With bags on our backs, we made our way along the road, over the wall and down the cliff, where we all started to set up.
It was 6.30pm and, with low water due three hours later, we were hoping that over the dusk period we would winkle out a few fish. Soon we all stepped forward and cast out for the first time that evening.
Our chosen area is a reef around 100 yards out, and a very long cast is required every time to reach the target. Anglers who have seen rewards from here will tell you that it seems to be that only one particular area holds the fish. Accurate casting is required, and if your baits are not in the right place you won’t see the bream.
After an hour we were about to see the first fish of the night as Rob’s rod tip pulled straight over and nearly took the rod from the tripod. He was straight on his feet and started to gain line as his rod tip arched over. I made my way down over the rocks with the landing net and, as I looked up, I could see that Rob was keeping the tip of his rod high to stop the fish from diving down into the rougher ground. At the same time he tried to guide the fish around the crab pots, which seemed to be everywhere.
The fish was staying deep, but darted to the right with the tide as it neared to the rocks. I had to jump over a gully to my right and out on to a small outcrop of rocks, from which I netted the fish. As I made my way back up the rocks I could see that the fish was definitely the species we sought. On the scales, the bream went 2lb 3oz – a great start.
fantastic buy
As the night moved into darkness, the fishing was very slow. Gav and me caught only a pouting each and Rob managed a bull huss just under double figures. As the tide flooded, we found ourselves starting to drift off to sleep.
It was about four o’clock in the morning and tiredness was really taking over. Out came the pullout beds, a handy purchase from Go Outdoors and ideal for such sessions. For the sake or £15, the bed is a fantastic buy. It wraps up into a small holdall that fits perfectly into a tackle box. Once the bed is unwrapped, all you need to do is lift it towards the wind and, once the wind has taken control and filled the bed with air, you then simply fold over the end and wrap the bed over and clip the straps and you are good to go.
I drifted off to sleep, but my dreams were interrupted when I felt myself falling into the floor. Rob had undone my bed and let out all the air. A classic prank., but, as it was 8.35am, I got up. Gav had been fishing for the past hour and Rob had just joined him. The tide was near low water, so it was time to put my baits out once again.
Rob and I loaded fresh mackerel and squid on to our hooks and stood side by side as we blasted the baits to the horizon and placed the rods in the tripods.
The sun was blazing down once again as we prepared some breakfast. It was a team effort as Gav cooked the bacon, I buttered the rolls and Rob made the coffee. Soon we sat down to eat our bacon sandwiches and looked out over the Skerries Banks at the boats going out for the day.
Breakfast over, we spent the rest of the day putting out bait after bait with no reward for our efforts. That’s fishing! ■