Ianpick
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2020
- Messages
- 1,005
- Reaction score
- 3,563
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Freshwater IOW
- Favourite Fishing
- Shore
Last year, the first I heard of bream showing on Yarmouth Pier was on May 5th.
I know they have been around for a good few weeks this year already, but I hadn't seen one.
I was booked for something else in the afternoon so my only chance to go and find out for myself was a trip out over low at 8am today.
The sea was smooth and I drove up to a previously fished mark about 400 yards off of the beach at Bouldner Battery. There is a ruined old stone pier I use as a guide for positioning. For the last hour and a half of the ebb I'd decided to fish shallow, around 8', a bit of an experiment, but these things have to be done.
Net result was a couple of tentative rattles and nothing else.
Experimentation is fine but experience makes the difference so at half time as the flood arrived I changed ends and dropped a bait into 24' about 50 yards further out.
Nothing immediate but soon a familiar rattle proved to be my old friend the strap conger; "No, you are not coming on my boat, flick off".
Shortly after, bingo, my day is made, "If that's not a bream I'll take up golf".
Nice fish, well over keeping size and absolutely beautiful colouration, blue, black, green red and silver, gorgeous.
Nothing for a while so I decided to experiment some more by finely chopping a couple of squid into little chunks and chucking them overboard.
Another familiar bream bite and fish number two came and said hello.
With a busy afternoon ahead of me I drove back to Yarmouth on a glassy sea, except for the bit just east of the pier which is always lumpy regardless of anywhere else.
The fish were descaled and gutted later and sure enough in the stomach of fish number two were some neatly chopped little bits of squid.
A very busy but thoroughly enjoyable day.
I know they have been around for a good few weeks this year already, but I hadn't seen one.
I was booked for something else in the afternoon so my only chance to go and find out for myself was a trip out over low at 8am today.
The sea was smooth and I drove up to a previously fished mark about 400 yards off of the beach at Bouldner Battery. There is a ruined old stone pier I use as a guide for positioning. For the last hour and a half of the ebb I'd decided to fish shallow, around 8', a bit of an experiment, but these things have to be done.
Net result was a couple of tentative rattles and nothing else.
Experimentation is fine but experience makes the difference so at half time as the flood arrived I changed ends and dropped a bait into 24' about 50 yards further out.
Nothing immediate but soon a familiar rattle proved to be my old friend the strap conger; "No, you are not coming on my boat, flick off".
Shortly after, bingo, my day is made, "If that's not a bream I'll take up golf".
Nice fish, well over keeping size and absolutely beautiful colouration, blue, black, green red and silver, gorgeous.
Nothing for a while so I decided to experiment some more by finely chopping a couple of squid into little chunks and chucking them overboard.
Another familiar bream bite and fish number two came and said hello.
With a busy afternoon ahead of me I drove back to Yarmouth on a glassy sea, except for the bit just east of the pier which is always lumpy regardless of anywhere else.
The fish were descaled and gutted later and sure enough in the stomach of fish number two were some neatly chopped little bits of squid.
A very busy but thoroughly enjoyable day.
