Bream Bonanaza by Andy Loble

Earlier this year I was very kindly invited by Walthamstow Fisheries Manager Will Barnard to fish Reservoir 1 on the Walthamstow Complex for the many double figure bream. I had up until the other day lost all the photographs so could not do the fishing justice, however, I have now found the photos so thought I would do a flash back to an incredible session that I would love to repeat and improve on. It would also be fantastic if some of you reading this also get down to Walthamstow and give it ago. If you have never caught a double figure bream and it is something you would love to do then this is certainly one of the best places to do it. It was quite a social down at the venue with the likes of Dean Macey, Gary Newman, Louis Slade, Phil Morton, Grant Fear and others fishing the venue to show what Walthamstow waters are capable of producing. Myself, Grant Fear and Phil Morton were targeting the bream whilst the other anglers were after other species including eels and carp. I came loaded with bait as I was told if the fish move into your swim they can clean you out pretty quickly. My list of bait included;

• 8kg Prepared Hempseed
• 5kg 3mm Pellets
• 3kg Hinders Maize
• 5kg Hinders Particle
• Fish Pro
• Hemp Oil
• Betalin
• 6 pints dead maggots
• 8 pints live maggots with a dusting of krill and shrimp 

This was mixed in parts over the course of the 24 hour session and was the basis of my loose feed. Rig wise I was using very basic mag-a-liner set ups and single fake buoyant corn tipped with maggots on short hook links using Gardner Target Trickster in 15lb. I was then using the Gardner Target range lead clips with the kwik lok swivels. These are a little smaller than the normal Gardner range of terminal tackle and makes for a tidier presentation when using lighter lines and fishing for fish other than carp. Leads were 3.5oz distance leads, ideal for fishing at ranges over 70 yards which is what I needed to be doing. Mainline - Gardner Pro Light Blend in 12lb. Rods – Sonik SK4 XTRs 3lb tc + Sonik SK4 Spod and Marker Reels – Sonik Tourno 8000s I initially started fishing at about 60 yards where I had seen a number of fish rolling, I managed to get a bed of bait out using the ever trusty Spomb. With a rod on this spot I began to bait up the island where I had been inform most of the bream tend to get picked up by the carp anglers. I scaled down to a midi Spomb, the reason for this is you can cast much further with it and although you put less bait out each cast you can do it much more accurately and efficiently without you being quite so exhausted by the end! I initially put 25 Spomb of bait out on an area just off the island and two baits to this spot. One on the baited spot and the other to the right hand side. It was long before I started to get bites, mainly coming from the island. I noticed I was getting far more attention from the island so decided to fish all three rods to the same area. This time one either side of the baited area and the other in the middle of it. Both the mag-a-liner and maggot tipped corn were doing the business, with both baits I was dipping each in Betalin or Betalin and Black. There seemed to be no preference they just seemed to like both! Just shows how greedy bream can be! I continued to top up the swim and continued to get bites consistently. I changed my rigs fairly regularly to make sure I was fishing effectively with sharp hooks. I managed to get through most of the bait I had with me in the 24hours. Next time I think I will take more maggots and more pellet though as the introduction of both seemed to get a much faster pick up than with the hemp. I ended up with twenty bream roughly between 10.8lb and 12.13lb with a few smaller ones and then a couple of bonus carp to 24lb. I was shocked at how frantic it got and responsive the bream were. I would love to go and give the venue another go and this time go even more prepared. Walthamstow has so much more to offer than just carp fishing. The bream fishing as shown is incredible. There is trout fishing and incredible predator sport with the pike and perch. They also have the Coppermill Stream which holds carp over 20lb and Barbel well into double figures not forgetting many other species of monstrous sizes. For further information about Walthamstow Reservoirs follow this link (http://www.thameswater.co.uk/about-us/16821.htm) and/or contact Email: fishing.walthamstow@thameswater.co.uk or Phone: 07747 641 179 Andy