Black Bream

The Black Bream

Fact File:

Common Name(s):

Black Sea Bream

Scientific Name:

Spondyliosoma cantharus

Usual Size: 35cm

UK Record Weights from rod/line:

Shore:

5lb-00oz-02dr Alderney Channel Isles M.Guilmoto 1994

Boat:

6lb-14oz-04dr Devon Wreck J.A.Garlick 1977

PBSBAC Record:

5lb 4oz to B.Short in 2004

IDENTIFICATION

Deep laterally flattened body, with large scales, that are also present upon

the head. Single long dorsal fin, who's anterior portion is composed of 11 spines,

with the posterior formed of 13 to 14 soft branched rays. The anal fin is approximately

half the length of the dorsal fin (although shorter than the Red Sea Bream),

and has 3 spines at it's anterior that is then composed of 11 to 12 branched

rays. The head is small with large eyes, and a small low set mouth. The teeth

are small and slightly curved, whilst being sharp and pointed. There is a gradation

in size of the dentition from front to back.

The top of the head and body is a darkish blue grey to black that blends into

the metallic silver grey of the sides. Six or seven dusky vertical bands are

often to be seen on the sides, along with horizontal streaks of golden brown.

Male fish go darker along the back and head, occasionally sporting vertical

dark bands or blotches.

BREEDING

Comes as far east as the reefs off the Sussex coast off Littlehampton and to

the Newhaven wrecks. Fairly common around the Isle of Wight, the Channel Islands,

Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, though is not present in the numbers seen prior

to 1975.

Spawns from mid May through to early July along the reefs of the English Channel,

off the Cornish coast. A nest builder like the wrasse, but favouring sand and

gravel patches depressions amongst boulders and rocky reefs. The male guards

the eggs until they hatch. From then on the small bream form schools over the

nest area for the first few weeks before venturing on.

The eggs are guarded by the male.

Habitat

This the second commonest member of this family, likely to be encountered in

UK waters.

A bottom to lower water shoaling fish, most often associated with rocky/weedy

ground, along with reefs and wrecks.

Seeks out rocky ground, patches of boulders and rubble, but especially shallow

reefs that work out at angles from the shore such as the Kingsmere Reef off

Littlehampton. Can also be found close to inshore wrecks in deep water and will

cross clean sandy ground on their way to new rough ground feeding areas.

Food:

Bottom dwelling invertebrates and crustaceans, along with encrusted algae and

small fish, make up the bulk of their diet.

Is a catholic feeder taking mostly shellfish from the rocks, but also small

sandeels, worms and even tiny crabs.

Range

Commonest in the South and West , until around September, although tending to

be local in occurrence. Rarely seen in the Northern waters of the UK, this is

a Summer migratory fish, that may move eastwards along the English Channel,

and arrive by mid April to the Sussex region.

Shows simultaneously in the English Channel and off the Welsh coast about late

April, but it can mid May during colder springs. Peak numbers occur during June

and July when the fish are closest to shore. They remain until the equinoctial

gales occur during late September and early October, then disappear moving southwards.

The more northern travelling fish take until late June or July to reach their

destinations, but still stay into October if the weather is mild.

BOAT TACTICS

MARKS AND FEATURE

Bream shoal best over the shallower reefs that work their way out from the shore.

Places to look for here are definite vertical shelves, depressions, and scattered

rising rocky pinnacles coming off the seabed a few feet. The shoals work through

such areas on a set beat until all the food has been cleaned out. The depths

over such ground may be as little as 20ft, even less, but the fish are not put

off by this.

In deeper water, again it's the rock pinnacles that will hold the fish around

their bases, but sometimes bream work along the edges of shingle banks and will

cross from one rock mark to another over cleaner mixed ground and will still

take baits.

To emphasis this, it's always worth fishing a single patch of rougher ground,

however small, that is surrounded by sand. If there is enough food to hold them,

the bream will be condensed over such ground and eager to feed resulting in

big catches.

Small inshore wrecks and close to shore concrete constructions will also have

their head of bream. Some large specimens show from the deep water wrecks laying

in upto 300ft of water, but these tend to be members of small schools carrying

upto maybe a dozen fish all over the 3lb mark.

It's worth remembering that bream are often concentrated in very small areas,

sometimes the shoal will be all packed into an areas roughly 30yds square. Fish

outside this and you'll think the area is devoid of fish.

TIDES

Over deeper marks with a reasonable tide run, then the bream feed best, or should

we say, are more densely shoaled during the smaller neap tides to the mid sized

tides. Spring tides over this ground will tend to produce far less fish, but

those that are caught will tend to be of a larger overall size.

Over the shallow ground, again the neaps will fish okay, but now it's the middle

sized tides with their comfortable run of tide that suit the bream best. Very

big spring tides will tend to shoal the fish up tightly in sizeable depressions

and on the downtide side of the reefs where the tide run is broken and less

strong.

Slack water periods will see bites fall away. Peak feeding times are when the

tide is running well through the middle flood and ebb tide spell. On spring

tides the early flood and ebb will fish better than the stronger middle hours

of the tide.

Bream will lift higher off the seabed as the tide run eases, but be tight to

the ground during periods of peak flow. AS you'll see in the paragraphs on rigs,

this last point is important for keeping the bait in the feeding zone.

WEATHER

Bream are not really affected by changeable weather. They'll continue to feed

through calm, sunny days, overcast rainy ones and are not put off by building

seas. However, over the shallower reefs rougher conditions may force the fish

out further into deeper water where the seabed is less affected by the swell

and the same applies, say in west Wales where the water is unpolluted and very

clear. The amount of light entering the water makes it easy for predators like

tope that feed on the bream to spot them and this pushes them out into deeper

water and rougher ground for protection.

TECHNIQUE

BOAT HANDLING

Whether you're aboard a charter boat, or on your own dinghy, anchoring exactly

right to put the stern just uptide of the chosen mark, especially in shallower

water, is the make or break to getting the best catches.

You need to use the tide to drop both the baits scent and the bait itself backwards

into the fish. Get it wrong and try to position the stern over the mark and

like as not the bait will be pushed over the fish by the tide and beyond them.

Anchor well uptide and then let off spare anchor rope until you get the position

just right. If bites die away, try letting a few more yards of rope free and

you might just pick the shoal up again.

GROUNDBAITING

You'll enjoy far more sport if you draw the fish into your immediate area by

using groundbait.

The best mix of groundbait is to mince up mackerel or other fillets and add

in some animal feed bran and pilchard oil. Aim for a really well minced up mix

which disperse downtide in a cloud with just a few free floating tidbits to

excite the fish.

It's okay to put the groundbait down with the anchor if you haven't got too

much anchor rope out. If you're using lots of rope, then the groundbait will

pull the fish past the boat nd reduce your catches.

The best way to put groundbait down is off the bow using a heavy weight to

hold it in the tide. Make a basket from metal mesh and put the groundbait into

two onion bags inside the cage. The onion bags slow the release down and the

cage stops fish ripping the bags open and prematurely releasing all the mix.

TACKLE

You need only a spinning rod casting upto a maximum of 2ozs in most areas. The

rod needs to have medium fast tapered action and should not be an all through

type of blank. Some stiffness in the tip is essential to allow bites to be struck

at speed. Add a small multiplier or fixed spool reel loaded with 8lb line and

you've the perfect set up.

In deep water and fast tides you may need a rod taking upto 3ozs, but more

than this and you'll over gun the hard fighting blackie.

RIGS

Bream, as we said before, rise in the water as the tide slacks off, but are

close to the seabed when the tide is running. The rigs need to be instantly

adjustable to allow us to constantly alter the depths at which the bait sits.

Use a small plastic boom like the Avis type using lengths of supple telephone

wire to lock the boom into position. The wire is twisted round the mono and

is easily slid up and down to adjust the height that the boom fishes.

The rigs body needs to be from 25lb line and 8' long with a size 10 rolling

swivel as the main line connector. Slide on a small bead, then the boom and

another bead trapping them with the telephone wire. At the base of the rig tie

in a small loop using two overhand granny knots. Tie a weak link of line, say

5lbs to the loop and add the lead to this. A snagged lead is then lost without

sacrificing the whole rig.

The hook length needs to be upto 8' in a running tide, but cut it down to 2'

towards slack water. This should be from 10-12lb line ending in a sharp Mustad

3261BLN Aberdeen size 4, or better still the excellent 34021 carp pattern from

the same company in the same size.

This design allows the boom to be positioned from seabed level to 8' which

is the usual band the fish are feeding in.

BAITS

Cut fish strips or squid strips about 1" long and .5" wide, longer

strips of the same width may pick out the odd bigger fish working amongst smaller

ones. Other good baits are cockles, lugworm and ragworm, strips of sandeel,

and small chunks of peeler crab. Mussels can also pick up though the bream find

it easy to rip these off without getting hooked.

TACTICS

Experiment with the size of weight finding one that will just bounce off downtide

slowly without fully loosing contact with the seabed. This keeps you a tight

line which is essential for hitting fast, now you see it, now you don't, bream

bites.

Bream rattle the rod tip three or four times and you need to lift into the

fish fast, or they'll be gone. As a rule, bream do not hook themselves. This

is not lazy fishing, you'll need to work hard and concentrate to hit just 60%

of the bites.

If the lead rests on the seabed and no bites comes, lift the rod tip to get

it moving again. Bream hit a moving bait better much than a static one.

Make absolutely sure that your reel has the clutch set to give line will below

the breaking strain of the line. Bream want to run and crash dive repeatedly.

If you try and hold them you will snap more off than you land.

Small fish upto a pound can be swung in on the line, but anything over this

size should be brought in to a landing net for security.

BLACK BREAM FACTS AND TIPS

Bream make superb eating and whilst not a frequent commercial catch are highly

coveted being classed as a prize dish in top class restaurants.

Take notice when lobster fisherman drop newly baited pots. This acts as a groundbait

to the bream shoals that are then drawn in to the area to feed.

Bream are attracted by noise and by adding a rattle bead above the weight you'll

increase the number of bites you get.

Trigger fish will often swim amongst the bream shoals. If you get a stronger

than usual bream bite followed by the hook length being cut, then tie on a stronger

hook length and use an long shank hook just in case you hook into another trigger.

Acknowledgments to Mike Thrussell