RIVER FISHING TIPS | FEEDER FISHING FOR RIVER BREAM WITH ED WARREN

With the exception of barbel, no species appreciates coloured water more than bream.

That murky brown tinge is perfect for the fish to feed, and although the pole and, at times, the waggler can catch bream, nothing beats the feeder.

It puts your bait close to the feed and keeps everything still on the bottom, something bream demand. In a wind the feeder is a whole lot easier to fish than the long pole, and all in all it’s a very simple way of fishing, with easy-to-tie rigs and bites that are a doddle to spot.

PICK THE DISTANCE

Traditionally, bream favour the deepest water possible, but that’s not always the case. I’d have a few quid on them living towards the far bank, well out of the way. Water 4ft-plus deep is a good spot to base your attack around.

Find this depth by casting a leger bomb around the swim and counting how long it takes to hit bottom. A count of three or four is about right. This searching of the swim will also highlight any snags in the area. You need to be fishing on a clean riverbed, so bear this in mind.

EASY RIG

For river bream, a simple rig is best. The feeder slides on the mainline, stopped by a couple of float stops and a bead, below which I twist around 6ins of line to create a stiff boom to eliminate rig tangles.

That leaves the hooklink, and how long it should be. I’d start at 1m and be happy with this, never making it longer and only shortening it if I were catching fish that had taken the bait well down. Going to a 50cm link will show bites up quicker and mean every bream is hooked in the lip.

ALL ABOUT FEED

Chopped worm and caster is packed into a feeder capped off at each end with groundbait. The mix is 50:50 sweet and fishmeal, that pongy fish smell putting scent into the water to help the bream find the bait.

I make five quick casts to get some bait in, then rely on each cast to keep the swim on the simmer. Casts are five minutes apart. Bream won’t be eating a lot at this time of year so there’s no need to pile in the bait.

FISH DIRECT

Some river anglers like to create a long bow in the line and rely on the quivertip dropping back to show a bite. I prefer to have a tight line from rod-tip to feeder to show every small indication from a fish taking the bait.

The Avon is fairly slow-flowing so the pressure on the line from the flow won’t move the feeder. This is why there’s no need to have a bow on the go.