RIG 2 – RIVER BREAM FEEDER RIG

CHANGE YOUR HOOKBAITS

During a session you will hit upon the best bait to put on the hook. This could be a worm, three maggots or even a piece of corn – but when things go quiet, the answer can be something as simple as changing baits. Therefore, having plenty of options on the bait tray is a must for bream fishing.

HOOKLENGTHS

The general length of hooklink for river bream is around 18ins, but this can be lengthened or shortened as the day wears on. Going shorter is normally a remedy for missed bites, whereas a longer link can catch if the fish show signs of taking the bait as it falls through the final foot or so of the swim.

FEEDER TYPE

Old-fashioned plastic open-end feeders still catch lots of bream but there’s been a move in recent years to cage and rocket-style models. A wire cage is brilliant on slow-moving, shallow rivers, allowing the feed to release quickly and create a bit of a cloud, while weight-forward rocket feeders cast easily in any wind and will travel a long distance.

BRAID IS BOSS

There’s nothing wrong with using mono for your mainline, but braid is now extremely popular for showing up bites positively, casting easily and reducing the amount of drag placed on the line by the current. Use braid as your mainline with a shockleader of 10lb mono (around three rodlengths is enough) to take the force of the cast and cushion the strike.

FIXING THE RIG

There are two popular ways to tie a bream feeder rig for running water – free-running or sliding inside a loop on the mainline. A running rig won’t tangle and is easier to tie, but the loop approach creates a kind of self-hooking set-up. When dislodged by a fish taking the bait, the feeder slides until it hits the end of the loop, the shock helping to set the hook.