South Coast Black Bream Fishing

The Black Bream (Spondyliosoma cantharus) has got to be one of the prettiest seasonal visitors to our shores. With it's stunning cobalt blue, silver and black markings there are few fish to rival it's beauty around our coasts. They can be found in our waters from the spring right through until the end of the summer. They migrate north from Spanish and French waters in the spring to move on to their breeding grounds.

The Black Bream happens to be a fine table fish, one of my favourites, and according to the Marine Conservation Society is on the list of fish that are within sustainable levels. This makes them a worthy quarry and there's no need to feel bad about taking a few for the pot.



The Kingmere Reef which sits a few miles off the coast of Littlehampton is a well known and protected breeding area for the Bream and every year many hundreds of anglers make the trip out there to tangle with these incredibly hard fighting fish. May/June is considered the best time to get out on the reef as the fish are shoaled up. If you catch it right then some brisk sport can be expected.

They can of course be caught from the shore too but these fish tend to be smaller, for the best chance of a real specimen then heading out to the reef is the best bet. It is quite conceivable to catch fish in the 4-5lb bracket and possibly bigger which is a cracking bream in anyones book and will give you a good run-around on the right tackle.



For their size the bream fights very hard indeed, continually crash diving and shaking their heads. Using light balanced gear is the way to get the most out of these lively critters. I would recommend a light boat rod in the 6-12lb class range if you can get away with it and a low profile multiplier spooled with 20lb braid. This will give you splendid sport.

Bream are renound for having small mouths so your choice of hook size is critical to ensuring a good days sport. If your hook is too big then the bream will simply not be able to take your bait. I favour a strong size 4 aberdeen style hook or hooks from the carp fishing market.

As far as rigs go then I favour using 1 x hook on a long flowing trace (5-6feet) on a standard sliding boom. My trace is made from 12lb fluorocarbon which is nice and discreet too. It pays to use just enough lead to be able to bounce your tackle downtide from the boat by gently raising and lowering your rod. This has the effect of allowing the bait to waft up and down which seems irresistable to the hungry bream. It's worth having your drag set sensibly too with regard to the tackle used and the breams scrappy reputation.



As far as bait is concerned then you'd be a fool to leave home without some squid, mackerel and cockles. I have found these 3 baits to be irresistable to the bream, but some days they definitely have a preference for one particular type. It's worth ringing the changes until you find what's working best on the day. Other baits worth a try are ragworm and small chunks of peeler crab.



The bites you get when bream fishing are often a series of hard taps and they can be incredibly fast. It pays to allow the bream a little time to take the bait properly, there is'nt really much point in striking at the taps, it's best to wait until the fish hooks itself and pulls the rod over. Remember, they do only have small mouths!




They may not be the biggest fish in our waters but when you consider their fighting abilities, beauty and desirable qualities for the table then Black Bream fishing is well worth a crack. If you've not tried this then I would highly recommend it. Get in touch with the skippers that work out of Littlehampton and get your name down for a trip to the Kingmere Reef in May/June time. You won't be disappointed - trust me on this one!

Happy fishing!

A couple of sessions off the Brighton shingle

Well.......the clocks have changed, it's cold, it's dark when you get up and dark when you get home. Not my favourite time of year. I'm sure I suffer from S.A.D (seasonal affective disorder). Living in practically perpetual darkness just does'nt do it for me.

Having said that, it's not all doom and gloom on the fishing front - it does mean the cod are creeping along our coastlines and the bass are feeding hard, fattening up for the lean times of winter ahead. The winds have been blowing fairly steadily from the south-west so conditions just lately have been ideal for both the aforementioned species.

I have been rather busy just lately and fishing has had to take a back seat, London and the lure of it's splendid 24 hour entertainment has sucked me in. The mother of all halloween do's and a couple of rather entertaining techno parties have been a minor distraction. They say variety is the spice of life.....and I've certainly had some good variety just lately!!

I've managed to get out fishing 3 times in the last month, the first session was on freshwater to open my account with the Sussex Pike for the season. I have returned to the running waters of the tidal Sussex Ouse this year and my first attempt was rather successful. In a 6 hour session I managed to catch 3 nice pike, the biggest was just shy of 14lbs and the other 2 were around the 5-6lb mark each. All were taken on float-fished frozen mackerel baits caught from the beach during the summer. I forgot to take the camera that day so there are no pictures I'm afraid. It was a lovely day though!

The second session was a spur of the moment idea. I had a friend, Pete, staying with me for a week as he had just finished a years contract working and living on a big yacht in the Carribbean (Lucky Git!). He had been following my blog whilst away and was keen to have a go at some fishing now he was back.

We purchased 4 x wraps of black lug and a box of squid from the tackle shop and I suggested we try locally along the shingle for the chance of a cod. We went about as locally as is possible - which if you draw a straight line from my house to the coast, ends up slap bang in the middle of Hove seafront.

It was a fairly blowy night with a good swell running up the beach, I chose to fish a single size 2/0 clipped down paternoster rig on both rods. Each was baited with 2 black lug and a strip of squid then blasted to the horizon. Pete had a go at casting, but being new to this sort of fishing did'nt do to well. So in the end it was agreed I would cast 'em out and he would reel 'em in! Seemed fair to me!

Pete reeled in around 7 or 8 whiting througout the session but the cod were not having any of it. It was'nt until bang on high water that one of the rods bounced enticingly and then sprang back with some slack line. Pete was on it in a flash and wound down nicely into the fish. It came in as a dead weight until it neared shallow water and then started plodding around a bit. I charged into the surf and scooped out Pete's prize for him in the shape of a very respectable codling and certainly dinner for 2 the following evening. I was made up for Pete as it was his first cod ever, it's a great feeling to be able to take someone fishing and actually produce the goods, so it was big smiles all round.

- Pete with his first ever cod -

The only other session I have managed to squeeze in was a bait fishing session for the bass along at Brighton. This was just last week and the winds had been blowing steadily from the south-west creating ideal conditions for fishing a big bait in close after dark. With low water at 7pm that day it was decided to fish the first 3 hours of the flood to see if there were any hungry spikeys cruising the tide line.

My companion for the session was Barry, he planned to fish worm baits at range while I concentrated on whole squid baits in the gutter. There was a distinct deeper area along the gutter which was clear to see as the white crests of the waves disappeared as they went over the gutter indicating deeper water. It was here that I felt was the ideal spot to present my bait, no more than 20 yards from my feet.

Barry managed to catch a succession of reasonably sized whiting and a couple of small schoolies as I stood biteless. It was'nt until the tide had started to push up the shingle a little that I got my first bite. The rod quivered in my hand and nodded once, it really was'nt positive enough so I let the bait remain. There were a couple of more dinks on the rod and then eventually a good solid pull. I struck this time and connected with the fish, it did'nt feel very big and was thrashing around 15 yards out in the breakers. It did'nt really fight as such, it just appeared to be panicking in the turbulent water. It was'nt until I slid the fish up the shingle I realised it was infact quite a respectable fish and as fat as a barrel! It went 5lb 6oz on the scales and was very welcome!



- 5lb 6oz of fat Sussex Spikey.

With the mild weather we've been having I predict that the bass will be around for the rest of November and possibly into december too. With the best of the cod fishing upon us now aswell, November could shape up to be a good month....Tight Lines!