Big river Thames bream

Ok this blog is the first of a few retrospective looks at a couple days this summer.

Don't get me wrong... many times I've blanked this year but who wants to hear about me catching sweet FA & swearing far to much. ;)

I'm sure I'd have written my catch reports as soon as I arrived home, but all this blog malarky was just a twinkle in my eye at time.

Very early starts are needed for a Thames session & luckily I live very close this wonderful but at times very challenging river. The boats & rowers (of which there can be many) are a right pain at times & come in so close to the bank, drives me mad at times but you have to remember the river is used by so many other people, that's why very early mornings or evenings I find are the best.

5-30am...

I'm up & once again picking up my old fishing pal @dangriff75, traveling down to are favourite swim between Kingston & Hampton Court.

The afternoon before consisted of replenishing my vital bits & pieces of my tackle box, the many river snags swallow up rig after rig if ur not careful & accurate with your casting. We also had to prepare the epic amounts of my secret (just kidding) groundbait.

Down to the supermarket for 20ish loaves of the cheapest bread possible blended up in to a crumb, also purchased was 2 or 3 tins of sweetcorn just for a change of hookbait, added to the mix is 2 or 3 bags of 2kg halibut groundbait & a couple of kgs of hemp. we mixed it with the sweetcorn juice & will remix it again bankside with more river water.

I know it sounds like this an extreme amount but when the big shoals bream are really feeding hard you need to keep them interested.

I never forget the Thames can be very fickle & very hit & miss at times, but if you do hit a big shoal of "Abramis Brama" it's happy days.

As we arrive the river it's looking lovely, nice amount of flow, nether to fast or to slow, it really makes such a difference to old father Thames, if it's hammering through its so hard to hold bottom even with a large "dead cow" attached to the cage feeder, no flow & the fish just go off the feed. It's a fine line so I really try to make the most of the limited conditions at any one time, not easy with a busy job & family but if you can, make the most of it.

First job is to get the groundbait ready & get 20-ish orange sized balls out in the swim.

I fish a powerful-ish rod 1.5 or 1.75 TC, with a 5oz quivertip, 6 or 8lb mainline & a 20cm hooklength of 4 or 5lb fluorocarbon (I find it gives less tangles & good presentation) with a running cage feeder & a strong size 16 hook mounted with a juicy worm or double red maggot.
Just a simple feeder rig really.

Now the flow can vary hugely on this part of the river but u can't go wrong with the biggest feeder you've got.... 30g is fine the majority of the time, i always bring some dead cows just incase I underestimate the flow.

People may read this & scoff that "Bream don't fight hard"

Let me tell you the Thames bream DO !!

Ok the battle is never like a hard fighting barbel of course but they're strong fish & use their deep bodies in the strong flow.

Anyway I cast out midway across the river, normally there's a deeper channel created by the huge boats & regular casting every 5 minutes till the bream arrive....

Normally you start off with a few small roach or perch but once you hook the first bream of the session they normally push out all the small fish out of your swim.
It can get frenetic.... if you can, sit on your hands when you get a twitch, more often than not it's a real bite.

These bream love to bang the feeder to get at the groundbait & patience is needed...
You don't miss the proper bites when the tip wraps around & they hook themselves.... or like me you get in a right mess, I'm normally drinking a brew & the rod leaps off the rod rest, into the water.

On it's day this river is amazing & the bites come thick & fast, sometimes your tightening the line after casting & the quivertip flies round, you can't beat it 😃
Fish after fish came to my keepnet & i don't even have time to stop for lunch, its easy to take this kind of fishing for granted but i can assure you i loved every rod bending minute

Average stamp is 5lb+ & I had them up to 9lb 8oz this year which is unbelievable size for a river & the quantity of fish is just as incredible.

                     A typical sized 6lb Bream

                            A 7lb 8oz old warrior

          My biggest Thames bream of 2013

I can't imagine what's it's like down there on the riverbed when the fish feeding hard.

We'll probably never know the true potential of old father Thames but over the years I've had a few surprises including  Rudd, Crucian & a 4lb roach/bream hybrid.
I know of Sea Trout, Salmon, Tench, Sturgeon, Zander & big Wells Catfish caught over the last 10 years as well.
Talking of large Cats i know of a friend that got snapped up by a big Catfish that took a 3lb Bream !!!

If it swims in freshwater it will have been caught in the Thames at least once before.

After a 7 hour session we've had well over 30 bream each equating to 150lb+ for each of us, this happened on more than couple of occasions this summer.

My advice is to get out on the bank & hunt down those river Thames beasts of all kinds of species,because they are some very large fish out there, somewhere...