Two bream for over 30lb

THE decision to fish over a large bed of bait paid dividends for Tim Gulliver with the capture of two bream for a combined weight of 30lb 12oz.

His huge brace - which featured a new personal best of 16lb 12oz and a 14lb specimen - were taken from an ultra-tough southern gravel pit which is home to a small population of very large slabs.

And throwing caution to the wind, the Daventry-based rod used a small boat to row out 20kg of corn and Blake’s Baits Ellipse pellets which he fed with a catapult to create a carpet of feed at the end of a weedbed 80 yards from the bank.

It proved to be a wise move and both fish came to simple rigs tied with 12lb ESP Strip Teaze hooklinks and size 10 Gardner Mugga hooks baited with three or four pieces of imitation corn.

“Fishing is all about confidence and I just got a feeling that a big bed of bait was the right method for this session – and thankfully I was right,” Tim told Angling Times.

“When you’re baiting up with a boat the temptation is to overdo it and just dump the lot over the side. I like to feed with a catapult, though, to produce a more evenly distributed bed of feed.

“This gives these fish, which can easily eat vast volumes of particles, quite a wide area to graze over confidently.”

Tim also revealed that he hooked into a fish that he believes was even bigger than his new personal best, but unfortunately he lost it in the weed as it approached his landing net.

“I was gutted when the hook pulled and I watched it swim off through the weed, but it just makes me want to come back and keep trying,” he added.