KAYAK FISHING BLOG | CORNISH KAYAK ANGLER
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Information Guides
    • Choosing a Fishing Kayak
    • Choosing A Paddle
    • What to Wear
    • Essential Safety Equipment
    • Paddle or Pedal Kayak?
    • Installing A Fish Finder
    • How to Anchor A Kayak
  • Kayak Modifications
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • Places to Fish
    • North Cornwall
    • West Cornwall
    • South Cornwall
  • UK Fish Identification
  • Photos
    • 2013 Photos
    • 2014 Photos
    • 2015 Photos
    • 2016 Photos
    • 2017 Photos
  • Marine Life Photography
    • Fish
    • Cnidaria
    • Echinodermata
    • Mollusca
    • Crustacea
  • Links

Kayak Fishing Blog

Catching Couch's Bream

16/10/2017

 
Catching Couch's Bream from the Kayak
Couch's Bream have increased in numbers across South West England in the last few years. A relatively rare species, these fish are now becoming a viable target at a number of locations in Cornwall. A number of shore anglers were reporting good catches so i decided to put a few sessions in to try and catch my favourite bream species. 

Couch's Bream Fishing 

Couch's Bream (Pagrus pagrus) is a bream more common to the warmer waters of Southern Europe and the Mediterranean. Once a rare catch in british waters, their numbers have increased over the last 5 years or so across the South West. Several large specimens between 3-8lb are now being caught each year from deep water reefs, whilst a number of estuaries in Cornwall and Devon are now home to good numbers of juvenile populations. This is a great sign and they are now a viable target for shore, boat and kayak anglers alike for those prepared to put the time in. 

I have previously caught two stunning Couch's Bream from the boat weighing 4lb 11oz and 4lb 14oz, and these larger specimens came from offshore reefs. Shore anglers were reporting good catches of smaller individuals and i had a couple of marks that were worth a try for adding one to my species count for this year. 

Almost a Bream Blank...

My brother had caught a few from the shore at one particular estuary mark so i put in a few hours on a flood tide to try my luck. Despite plenty of action from mini species, the Couch's Bream appeared to be absent and were perhaps feeding somewhere else in the estuary system. It wasn't a complete bream blank though as a juvenile Black Bream showed up! ​
Black Bream from a cornwall river estuary

Persistance pays off...

The next session a few weeks later in October proved to be much more successful. The weather was stunning and things just felt right. I launched and headed down river to my mark. Anchor down and out went two lovely ragworm baits presented on a running ledger rig using some new hooks from Newtown Angling Centre, aptly named the 'Bream Special' hooks. Short shank, strong wire design, offset point and super sharp. Perfect. i was using light lure rods and braid so i was in for some fun should i hook one. For several hours though not a knock or nibble came my way. Hmmmm. I was confident i was in the right place. I was bored though so went for an explore further down the estuary. 

I found a nice little rocky gully at the edge of a beach that screamed mini species. It was worth a go to see if i could bump up my species count with a few gobies or blennies. It was tight. A 16ft kayak in a 18ft wide gully! The gentle swell and waves knocked me from one side to the other and the kayak was getting a bit of a bashing. It was bloody shallow too, no more than 50cm deep and full of weed and boulders. I dropped my rig down beside a rock. Bites!! Fish on and it was no goby, the rod was bent right over and the fish zooming around.... it was a Ballan Wrasse of around 1lb! In fact there were a lot more there too and for the next half an hour or so i must have had 30 Ballans between 8oz and 3lb from the gully which was getting increasingly shallower with the dropping tide. If there were gobies there then they didn't get a look in amongst the wrasse! Good to see them in such abundance, especially with all the recent talk of wrasse being caught in traps by commercial fisherman to supply Salmon farms in Scotland. Wrasse have been shown to be good cleaner fish, and farmed Salmon are often plagued by sea lice which the Wrasse will eat from the fish. The people running the farms have worked out that wrasse are a cheaper and more effective solution at lice removal than chemical parasiticides, at the cost of wild wrasse populations being depleted. A practice which is completely unacceptable when using cleaner fish from wild populations. In fact the whole Salmon farming industry does not leave a clean footprint in the natural world. If you eat farmed Salmon, then you are also supporting this practice. Think before you eat!

Anyhow, it was time to leave the wrasse and go back to Plan A.... Couch's Bream. I returned to the spot i was originally anchored on and started fishing again. A knock, a few more knocks. Bait stripped. Something was feeding. Next cast and the weight had only just settled when the rod walloped over and line started pulling from the reel.... Now this feels like a bream! If you have ever hooked a bream on light gear with braid then you will know that they fight incredibly well, even small ones. I coaxed it towards the kayak and an unmistakable flash of pink showed as it darted around the kayak. It was a Couch's Bream! The fish was soon in the kayak, not big but around 1lb and absolutely beautiful....
Kayak caught Couch's Bream
The colour of these fish is just amazing. They essentially look like a pink Gilthead Bream! Vibrant silvery pink and red banding to the body with highlights of electric blue on the face and across the dorsal region. 
Dorsal fin and colouration of a Couch's Bream
The tail fin and anal fin is a lovely pink colour tipped with white...
The tail fin of a Couch's Bream Pagrus pagrus
A beautiful fish and one of my favourite species. This one was swiftly released back to hopefully grow to a grand size and produce many more bream to populate our waters. With that fish, my spirits were lifted but i had to wait another hour or so before the next bite came along. Savage takes as the fish nailed the bait followed by a searing run.... bream on! This one felt bigger to and was really tearing around all over the place. They really do bend a light lure rod in half! It was indeed a slightly bigger fish and worth a quick weigh.... 1lb 6oz and just the best colouration! 
A Couch's Bream caught kayak fishing in Cornwall
Those Bream Special hooks from Newtown Angling had worked a treat. Both Couch's Bream and Gilthead Bream have particularly bony mouths designed for crushing up molluscs, crustaceans and worms. They require the sharpest of hooks to penetrate and get a good hook hold, and bream fishing can often result in many missed hook-ups. I was happy to see that the two positive bites i had from bream during the session had resulted in hook ups. 
A Couchs Bream caught using a Newtown Angling Centre Bream Special Hook
The fish was soon swimming off back to continue on it's way. Result. It was time for me to head back in. The target species was acquired and all in balmy October sunshine. Perfect!  

A different bream! 

I returned a few weeks later in less than ideal weather conditions and tried a different spot. No Couch's Bream but one small Gilthead showed up which was nice to see. 
A Gilthead Bream caught in Cornwall from a kayak
I have not put much time into the Gilthead's this year, mainly due to my free time not coinciding with good tides. Hopefully next year will be more fruitful for this species as i'm due a big one! 
Hobie Revolution 16 at a beach on a Cornish estuary

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Liam Faisey

    Liam Faisey Cornish Kayak Angler

    SPONSORS

    palm-equipment-logo
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Navionics Logo

    Proudly associated with
    Cornwall Canoes
    Cornwall's only specialist kayak fishing shop

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    February 2022
    September 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Anchor
    Anchor Chain
    Anchoring
    Anchor Reel
    Anchor Trolley
    Atom Bib
    Baillons Wrasse
    Ballan Wrasse
    Basking Shark
    Bass
    Battery
    Black Bream
    Blonde Ray
    Blue Shark
    Boat Fishing
    Bull Huss
    Buyers Guide
    Camera
    Clothing
    Cod
    Common Skate
    Competition
    Conger Eel
    Corkwing Wrasse
    Cornwall
    Couch's Bream
    Crate
    Cuckoo Wrasse
    Dab
    Diy
    Dolphins
    Drift Fishing
    Drysuit
    Equipment
    Extendable Pole
    Fishfinder
    Fish Finder
    Fishing Kayaks
    Flounder
    Footwear
    Gilthead Bream
    Goby
    Goldsinney-wrasse
    Go Pro
    Gps
    Greater Weever
    Grey-gurnard
    Grey-gurnard
    Haddock
    Herring
    Hobie
    Hobie Eclipse
    Hobie Outback
    Hobie Outtfitter
    Jellyfish
    Kayak Fishing Guide
    Kayak Review
    Kayak Surfing
    Kayak-wars
    Launce
    Launch Venues
    Leashes
    Lesser Spotted Dogfish
    Ling
    Lithium Battery
    Live Bait
    Lowrance Elite 4x Dsi
    Lure Fishing
    Lures
    Mackerel
    Marine Biological Association
    Measuring-fish
    Megrim Sole
    Mirage Drive
    Modifications
    Mother Shipping
    Mounting-board
    Oceanic Pufferfish
    Ocean-sunfish
    Octopus
    Paddle
    Paddling
    Palm
    Palm-kaikoura
    Pedal Drive Kayaks
    Penzance Kayak Fishing Meet
    Pfd
    Pilchards
    Pilot Whales
    Places-to-fish
    Plaice
    PLB
    Pollack
    Porbeagle Shark
    Pouting
    Railblaza
    Ram Mounts
    Ram Tubes
    Ray
    Raymarine Dragonfly
    Red Band Fish
    Red Gurnard
    Red Mullet
    Reef Fishing
    Review
    Revolution 16
    Rigging
    Rock Cook Wrasse
    Rod Holders
    Rod Rest
    ROKK Mounts
    RPF Master
    RTM
    RTM Abaco 420
    RTM Abaco 420
    RTM Luxe Seat
    RTM Ocean Duo
    RTM Rytmo Angler
    RTM Tempo
    Safety
    Scad
    Scorpionfish
    Scotty Mount
    Selfrescue
    Shark
    Shore Fishing
    Skate
    Slide Track
    Small Eyed Ray
    Smoothound
    Spotted Ray
    Starting Out
    Storage
    Storm
    Streaked Gurnard
    Tandem Kayak
    Team RTM UK
    Teksport Xplore 330
    Thermals
    Thornback Ray
    Tompot Blenny
    Tope
    Triggerfish
    Tub Gurnard
    Turbot
    Ugly Stik Elite Spin Rod
    Ugly Stik Kayak Rod
    Undulate Ray
    VHF Radio
    Video
    Viking Kayaks
    West Cornwall Kayakers
    Yak Attack

    Add my blog to your feed reader by clicking the button below 

    RSS Feed


    Cornish Kayak Angler - Kayak Fishing Blog

    Get blog updates via email

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    blog web counter
    Web Counter

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Kayak Fishing Videos

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Kayak Bass Fishing Video
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed Widget
    Custom feed reader powered by FeedWind

    Useful Links

    Anglers Afloat
    Cornish Shore & Kayak Fisherman
    Cornwall Canoes
    ​Palm Equipment
    ​Penzance Kayak Fishing Meet Info
    Saltwater Kayak Fisherman
    Magic Seaweed
    XC Weather

    Picture

    Choosing a Paddle for Kayaking

    Kayak Fishing Clothing

    Pedal and Paddle Fishing Kayak Pros and Cons

Cornish Kayak Angler - Kayak Fishing Blog

Popular Pages

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • Kayak Modifications
  • UK Fish Identification
  • Places To Kayak Fish

Sponsors

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Navionics UK

YouTube

Facebook

Website powered by pasties and the hope of good weather!
© 2023 Liam Faisey
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Information Guides
    • Choosing a Fishing Kayak
    • Choosing A Paddle
    • What to Wear
    • Essential Safety Equipment
    • Paddle or Pedal Kayak?
    • Installing A Fish Finder
    • How to Anchor A Kayak
  • Kayak Modifications
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • Places to Fish
    • North Cornwall
    • West Cornwall
    • South Cornwall
  • UK Fish Identification
  • Photos
    • 2013 Photos
    • 2014 Photos
    • 2015 Photos
    • 2016 Photos
    • 2017 Photos
  • Marine Life Photography
    • Fish
    • Cnidaria
    • Echinodermata
    • Mollusca
    • Crustacea
  • Links