EARLY SEASON BREAM

    With my river season fizzling out like a wet firework and the canals proving both unpredictable and unproductive I settled on a short campaign after a big roach. The average stamp of roach in Jubilee has been creeping upwards and the number of pound plus roach that have come my way, usually while carp or tench fishing has likewise grown to the point where I feel a pound and a half plus specimen is only a matter of patience away.

    

I had two methods in mind as I usually do these days and whatever method I choose will always be tempered by a desire to fish light and with traditional tackle, at least as regards rods and reels. By choice when after roach, I prefer float fishing and pole fishing in particular. If the weather is dry with little wind I choose the pole every time. Throw in a little more awkward weather and I will go with a float rod and centrepin reel. If the weather is downright unpleasant, I will sit back under my brolly and watch a couple of bobbins.

So far this spring, the pole has stayed at home and I began using my favourite roach rod, A Flick'em centrepin loaded with 4lb line gives me the option of using 3 lbs hooklengths or occasionally 2lbs. 14 and 16 hooks are my go to sizes and my preferred bait is bread, either a pinch of flake or if more subtlety is required, punch. There is little to beat an inverted quill with a bright red top to make everything picture book perfect.

I'm not at all convinced about commercial groundbaits. I tend to use liquidised bread, a mix or white and brown with small amounts of crushed hemp, whole hemp, tares and corn added. Any commercial groundbait that I do add is there to bind it together for throwing. My usual is Sensas Gros Gardons but I doubt if anything else would be better or worse and ordinary brown crumb would probably be just as good and a lot cheaper. Price is not a great issue as I use very little anyway and a kilo bag lasts me a month or more.

    

 It has been a difficult start, the weather has been alternately miserable and more miserable as has the fishing. Most mornings I have resulted in one or two proper bites at best and maybe a few tiny liners, but the first trip paid off handsomely. I sat there for five hours without a bite before the float just disappeared and I caught a lovely roach. It all looked very promising but since then I have caught one bream of 3-8 and that has been my lot. Fortunately I live in hope and if things are slow, I can always just sit back and admire the rod and reel, you can't do that with dull, miserable black carbon.