17lb 4oz bream caught on float gear

Is this a picture of the biggest bream ever landed on a float fishing set-up?

That’s the question being asked this week after Grant Dunn slipped his net under a massive 17lb 4oz specimen from a crystal-clear gravel pit in Derbyshire.

It’s only the second bream that he has ever caught from the ultra-tough stillwater in more than 20 years of targeting it, and fell to a lobworm hookbait presented under a leger float a few rod lengths out over a bed of pellets and chopped worm.

Grant, who lives in Swadlincote, banked the new personal best on his only bite of the session, and beat it with the help of 6lb mainline tied straight through to a size 6 hook. The capture caps a successful spell for the all-rounder, who landed a slightly smaller bream weighing 16lb from the same venue just a few weeks ago.

“I’ve fished this venue on and off for two decades or more and, until recently, I’d only really caught a few big carp, eels and other bits and pieces. I’ve certainly suffered more blank sessions than I care to remember, so you can imagine how much this bream means to me,” Grant told Angling Times.

“The fish in the pit don’t see much in the way of boilies and other high-protein baits, so I decided to go back to basics and use a leger float with a light bomb attached, then fed worms and maggots over the top.”

“It seemed to really did the trick, so now that I’ve found the winning method I’m going to persevere with it. A few weeks ago when I landed the ‘sixteen’ I honestly thought that I’d never catch a bigger bream, but now that I’ve upped my pb to 17lb 4oz, it’s not ridiculous to start thinking that next time I could up that figure again by another couple of pounds. I’m sure fish of that stamp are in the pit,” he added.