Bream on nymph

[chiro]

Hi,

This winter I spend some time in coarse fly fishing with some special interest in breams.

Finding the right place where I could spot some of them was the hardest task, this done, I tried lots of nymphs (color, weight, size) after fouding informations in netherland fly fishing sites where this fish is a common catch on a fly fishing rod.

After several attempts in shallow / muddy waters and 2/3 dozen of breams hooked here are my report :
- hooking spotted breams on nymph is a hard task (to me a lot harder than chub, perch, barbel, roach, rud, carp), seems to be as hard as nase ;
- crusing fish are ultra hard, most of my catches where the breams remaining still, any one in movement didn't seem to be interested in my nymphs ;
- with its mouth downward the take isn't easy to see, concentrating on the leader is a good option in order to strike at the right moment ;
- flashy nymphs size 10/12, or red buzzers hooked most of my fish ;
- breams are not hard fighting (very poor actually) but specimens around or over 50 cm are worth catching on a light rod (# 4/5).

Eventually it's not the most fascinating fish to catch on a fly but I think it's worth a try.

Other informations to share would be appreciated.

[flyfer]

I'll be soon trying for bream too.

This year we're having an ugly winter here. The only water I can fish these days has crucian carps (carassius carassius). That's what I fish for since January and also get other species. Much to everyone's surprise, fly fishing actually works for them and the more we do it the better it gets.

I use pretty much the same approach, with buzzers and chiro imitations, mostly using two flies and split shot set-ups, in order to catch fish you have to stay on the bottom. The tippet has to be as close to invisible as it can get, or they won't strike. It's not sight fishing, i just search deep water until I find them. I believe there are lots of takes and I only catch a small part of the takers. I get some on small shrimps too.

Flies are fished static, with very slow movements or with the current. Nothing fancy. The hard part is to be able to detect the strikes. They just stop the line for a bit. Most times if you have to cast far you cannot see that movement and sinking lines are useless, you just have to see the take.

I'm planning on quiting a bad habit and learn to use an indicator for these species. I think bream will be the hardest to catch, as they tend to rise in the water collumn as soon as they get the hook (traditional bobber fishing info).

Chiro, I could use a good look on those web sites from the Netherlands, can you help me with links? Actually, if you like to chat about this kind of fishing, I'd be very interested to exchange info via e-mail.

Regards!

[chiro]

Ok Flyfer, I'm interested in exchanging infos as well.

Here's a web site with some nymph patterns :

www.globalflyfisher.com/reports/flyfair2000/pic.php?id=1858&caller=allpics

On the same site, a few pictures with breams caught on fly :

globalflyfisher.com/reports/flyfair2000/allpics.php


I have to admit that after I'm more and more involved in coarse fly fishing. Some species are fantastic for me on a fly rod, for instance barbel & carp are better opponents than a usual trout or grayling, even better than sea trout (I never fished salmon so can't compare).

Last summer I tried nase as well, to my experience this remains the hardest fish to catch on a nymph. I had few success but much more disappointments.

After training sight fishing with those fish, ultra light nymphing for trout & grayling in summer seems to be easier to me.

My next goal : catching a tench, unfortunately never got the chance to try this fish

[flyfer]

thanx for the pictures, it's fun to see there are others on this path as well.

the flies I use for crucian carp look more like these. flyforums.proboards53.com/index.cgi?board=flytying&action=display&thread=1142514222
I also tie some with glass beds (red, black and green).

at the moment I'm under the impression that flies don't matter so much, they'll take lots of things of different colors...

a friend used to fly fish a lot for nase. he had lots of fun with small shrimps, #18 and smaller, made with dubbing and ribed condom material. not kidding here. he said it's a hard fish to catch as long as you find something to match the food he's after. once there, you're up for a good time. on his rivers, he was just looking under the rocks for the bugs of the day. I don't have nase waters here to try. I don't know anything about tench either, they're almost extinct in our waters.

have you tried for asp? not nymphing but streamer fishing, it works really great. streamers, sliders, poppers, even some wets. didn't get any over 4 pounds yet, but it's only a matter of time. lol. I came into flyfishing with quite a luggage from spinning and lure fishing and it's hard to forget predators. actually I can't wait for the pike season to begin.

I'll tell you how my bream experiences work in about a month or so, for now I just can't go try for them.

[chiro]

flyfer said:

a friend used to fly fish a lot for nase. he had lots of fun with small shrimps, #18 and smaller, made with dubbing and ribed condom material. not kidding here. he said it's a hard fish to catch as long as you find something to match the food he's after. once there, you're up for a good time. on his rivers, he was just looking under the rocks for the bugs of the day. .

have you tried for asp? not nymphing but streamer fishing, it works really great.

With nase I had some few succes with green marabout + copper nymphs, some sort of alga-like pattern as this fish spend lots of time "sucking" weeds. Some classic goldbead worked too. But too me this fish remains changeable, I mean I could catch 3 fish in 3 casts then spend 2 hours without a take.

Sadly no asp on sight where I live (Picardy), but pike yes (even caught two small ones these year on a flashy nymph), black bass could be interested in nymphs too (damsel for instance).

If you've got the opportunity to spot barbels or carps give it a try, you won't regret it, they provide great sport. I prefer hooking a 50cm barbel than several shorter wild brownies.

[flyfer]

on the river I used to jig for zander there are lots of huge barbels. problems is location, 3-4 meters deep and a crazy current. I will try this year with a fast sinking line. but I doubt I can win the battle. those are crazy fish and big ones, from 2kg and up. I can understand why you prefer them to trout when it comes to fighting the fish. I've seen them punishing some rods.

can you tell more about bream fishing? how deep it's the water? is that sight fishing on slow gin clear rivers or you fish lakes with muddy water, as those guys in the picture seem to do.

also check your private messages pls.

[chiro]

flyfer said:

can you tell more about bream fishing? how deep it's the water? is that sight fishing on slow gin clear rivers or you fish lakes with muddy water, as those guys in the picture seem to do.

I've been lucky enough to find a place of shallow water where I can spot the breams and their reactions to the nymph. But it isn't that clear, and as soon as I hook or frighten a fish, it soons turn really mudy.

When the visibility is bad I use a phospho bead pattern which I can see underwater and lead to the breams mouth, because they don't seem to move that much to grab my flies (see on the pic above, the upper fish has still that nymph in its lip).

Sometimes it seems like breams don't give a toss about nymphs drifting towards them, in these conditions I let my nymph sink in mud and when a fish is around I start jerking it, with a bit of luck the fish is interested and taste it.

Nevertheless I did not find any miracle technique or nymph, and the blank is not unavoidable.

[flyfer]

well, you give me hope, chiro. I've got lots of lakes nearby that stock bream, as soon as the weather turns good I'll give it a try. I doubt I'll have clear water and visual contact with the fish, but who knows. I don't care about blanks as this is called fishing, not catching.

that idea with the phospho nymphs sounds new to me. I'll try it. thank you!
here's one for you, en revanche. next time you buy oranges from the supermarket, look for thoses packed in rafia nets. that is the best material I found to make bodies for dipterae larvae and various buzzers (ribbing & cheeks). it comes in lots of colors that remain the same under water and does not cost a dime. hope it's not old news. lol.

[davidr]

Awsome coarse fish are the new game fish! Ill be trying for the Barbel and carp this summer;)

[chiro]

flyfer said:

that idea with the phospho nymphs sounds new to me. I'll try it. thank you!

To gain some brightness you can let your nymphs under the light of an electric torch for a few minutes just before fishing, then you can spot your nymph in muddy waters or in big depths. I sometimes even use very heavy phospho patterns for big graylings under 2 meters of clear water, this way I can still see my nymph and strike at the right moment.

Perchs appreciate that kind of pattern too. But those kind of nymphs aren't worth trying for wild brownies, or only if you want to frighten them for the day.

[JO]

My mate had one at night on a wee double whilst fishing for Sea Trout, 7lb, like a dustbin lid. Freaked him out a bit...

[accony]

Years ago on Grafham, big bream were everywhere.
They were very often taken on lures with the "Baby Doll" [blast from the past] being the standy outy fly.

Other species were Roach, Rudd and hybrids of all 3 species. I can remember catching these on an Ivens "Green & Brown"

Colin

[Sewinbasher]

accony said:

Years ago on Grafham, big bream were everywhere.
They were very often taken on lures with the "Baby Doll" [blast from the past] being the standy outy fly.

Other species were Roach, Rudd and hybrids of all 3 species. I can remember catching these on an Ivens "Green & Brown"

Colin

A few years ago I caught two decent roach fair and square on a Size 8 l/s black and silver lure from Llandegfedd.

[birdsnest]

Never even thought of bream on a fly........................must try it. birdsnest

[steve51yhotmailcomuk]

HI I HAVE GOT A FLY FISHING ROD AND I WANT TO USE IT IN COARSE FISHING LAKES AND POUNS I HAVE ASK NOTTINGHAM ANGLERS ASSOCIATION AND THEM SAY NO FLY RODS