AFTER launching a bream campaign on a new venue, Oxfordshire angler Paul Scowen had a tricky start, landing only small fish in his first few nights.
But after finding a spot 160 yards out, he used an underwater camera to look for signs of fish and realised they were behaving more like carp than bream.
“The fish were cruising alone or in small groups, occasionally dipping their heads, taking a single mouthful of feed and moving off,” he told us.
“I’d been using traditional bream tactics, but after seeing the way they fed, I knew I’d need something more visual to give myself a chance. My solution was to adopt carp tactics and fish a yellow pop-up tipped with worms so my hookbait stood out among the loosefeed. The change worked, and I had a 13lb 6oz female and a 9lb 7oz male.
“Returning the following week, I got in the same swim and took the 15lb 15oz fish at first light.”
