PB bream on fly

I could not resist dashing out after work today for a couple of hours as it was nice warm sunshine and not even a light breeze. My first thoughts was that it was going to be fantastic conditions to get some coarse fish on dry flies so i grabbed the #3 fly rod and a box of flies.

I started off with a small hawthorn imitation which is one of my favourites for coarse species as its small and black and covers most fly life. There wasn't actually that much rising only really small fish and just as i found some nice bleak i noticed underneath them something bigger lurking, i was thinking roach. I switched to a small bead head nymph and had a cast around with that but nothing took and now the fish had disappeared from sight. I thought I'd try going deeper to see what i could find inching nearer to the bottom so i added a dropper and put a slightly heavier bead head nymph lower down on the point.

This seemed to do the trick and i started to get a few plucks before everything tightened up and i had a decent fish on. I knew it was a perch and I'm really enjoying them on the fly rod, they hang deeper for longer and just plod away, a decent fish over a pound puts up a good scrap on a 6' 3# fly rod you can even get them on the reel and they pull line off, more so with the fish over 2 pound!

I enjoyed a few nice perch and contemplated switching to a better fly for the perch but still thought i stood a chance of a different species with the nymphs and they were catching the perch so no real need to change.

 

 

No sooner had i cast out again and let the nymphs sink right down and started to slowly inch them back, i noticed the line stop dead so i lifted into the fish. This felt different and it was hanging deep but zipping from left to right and no head shakes. Eventually i saw a shape and it wasn't a small one! I didn't realise at first that it was a bream, I was chuffed to bits when i realised because I'd actually been hoping for one. Ive caught them before on the fly but not at this size and its great catching something different on the fly, that's the whole point in targeting coarse species.

It didn't fight anything like your typical bream and it was actually good fun on the fly rod.

 

I hoped for some more but didn't get any so continued to enjoy the great sport the perch were supplying along with the odd roach here and there. A great little session and i got exactly out of it what i had hoped for, a few different species and a few fish that actually put up a great scrap. I love my fishing when it has some variety, i chop and change my methods, set ups, tactics and species though out the year and everything has its best time and place.