Bluemoon Angling Thread

Around the Norfolk Broads you can buy maggots out of a machine! They site them close to fisheries put in a few pound and you get a tube of Maggots all nicely chilled

That's modern technology for you! I love living where I do but much preferred fishing the rivers of the East Midlands and the Broads. Nice big open waters. Here it's mainly small, shallow rivers more suited to roving than match fishing. Instead of huge bream and roach shoals, it's the odd chub and barbel that usually win matches.
 
Anyone got any idea where the bream in Ireland have gone? Been going for 30 years and, after years of diminishing returns, last year 3 of us didn't have a single one between us.

The ex -pat fishermen we spoke to said the same.
 
Nearest maggots for me are an hour or so away due to the closure of so many tackle shops. Nowadays I either do my own or buy online, depending on the quantity required.
When I was a kid I'd mix up a bucket full of water with a little dish soap, throw it on the ground and voila all the worms come to the surface, rinse them off, good to go
 
Anyone got any idea where the bream in Ireland have gone? Been going for 30 years and, after years of diminishing returns, last year 3 of us didn't have a single one between us.

The ex -pat fishermen we spoke to said the same.

The bream fishing in Ireland seems to have been on constant decline for the past 20 years. Seems that gone are the days of consistant bulging keep nets full of large bream, and they are unlikely to return.
The group of blokes i know who went Ireland every year no longer bother; instead they go to Holland for big bream bags.

However, there is an old timer who still goes Ireland and he's shown me photos of recent 100lb+ bream bags.
His view is that the zebra mussels that got introduced in 90's/00's have been the main factor, as they caused a lot of the waters to become more clear. Due to this the feeding habits of the bream have changed, with them mostly feeding in early morning/late evening or through the night. Fishing for them through the day is a waste of time.

The other factor he mentions is that due to less people fishing, less food is going in, which means the bream shoals are now smaller and more dispersed. To combat this he says he uses like 7-8 times the amount of bait he used to use, and thinks nothing of spending 3 days pre-baiting waters or swims before he even drops a line in the water.

Also, a lot of his big bream catches are from private waters or from others well off the beaten track, where a 2 mile trudge across open fields is the norm.
So, the bream are still there but most people can't be arsed spending the time, effort or the expense to catch them, especially when the bream fishing in places like Holland is better/easier/less expensive.
 
The bream fishing in Ireland seems to have been on constant decline for the past 20 years. Seems that gone are the days of consistant bulging keep nets full of large bream, and they are unlikely to return.
The group of blokes i know who went Ireland every year no longer bother; instead they go to Holland for big bream bags.

However, there is an old timer who still goes Ireland and he's shown me photos of recent 100lb+ bream bags.
His view is that the zebra mussels that got introduced in 90's/00's have been the main factor, as they caused a lot of the waters to become more clear. Due to this the feeding habits of the bream have changed, with them mostly feeding in early morning/late evening or through the night. Fishing for them through the day is a waste of time.

The other factor he mentions is that due to less people fishing, less food is going in, which means the bream shoals are now smaller and more dispersed. To combat this he says he uses like 7-8 times the amount of bait he used to use, and thinks nothing of spending 3 days pre-baiting waters or swims before he even drops a line in the water.

Also, a lot of his big bream catches are from private waters or from others well off the beaten track, where a 2 mile trudge across open fields is the norm.
So, the bream are still there but most people can't be arsed spending the time, effort or the expense to catch them, especially when the bream fishing in places like Holland is better/easier/less expensive.

Thanks for that. Very interesting. And he zebra mussels are definitely having an effect on the clarity of the water which has a number of side effects i cluding weed where we ndver used to encounter it.

We bait heavily too and go out in the boat to find more remote corners. Most years we've done better than those that don't but last year was a shocker. Don't fancy night fishing as i'm purely a pleasure angler these days but will see if the boys fancy giving it a try when we go out in July.
 
Thanks for that. Very interesting. And he zebra mussels are definitely having an effect on the clarity of the water which has a number of side effects i cluding weed where we ndver used to encounter it.

We bait heavily too and go out in the boat to find more remote corners. Most years we've done better than those that don't but last year was a shocker. Don't fancy night fishing as i'm purely a pleasure angler these days but will see if the boys fancy giving it a try when we go out in July.

Good luck to you in July and i hope you have a good time.

Have you ever thought about giving Holland a try instead of Ireland?
 
Good luck to you in July and i hope you have a good time.

Have you ever thought about giving Holland a try instead of Ireland?

We have but opted against it as my dad wasn't a great traveller in his later years. And, last year, we scattered his ashes at our favourite spot on Lough Erne so can't desert him now.

Anyway, got the opening few days of the season barbel fishing on the Wye before then
 
I pike fish on the local canal during winter. Used to be an avid carp angler when I was younger but don't have the time to commit these days. Such a shame that fishing seems to have dropped off the radar for the kids of today.
My boys are 14 and 12 in a couple of weeks .
Spent many a happy hour untangling theirs and their cousins tackle. Mainly perch and roach on Gorton ressers 2 mins walk from my house.
 

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