Black bream
Spondyliosoma cantharus · Bass and bream
Also called bream, old wife
A summer visitor to UK inshore waters, strongest in the South West and the Channel. Shoals work reefs and rough ground and come in to beaches, estuaries, piers and harbours as the water warms.[1]
How to recognise it
When and where
- Season
- Apr–Sep[1]
- Found over
- rocky ground, reefs, mixed ground, beaches, estuary, piers, harbours[1]
- Baits
- squid strip, ragworm, mackerel strip, peeler crab, sandeel[1]
- Tide
- At slack water the fish rise in the water, and they drop back towards the bottom once the tide starts to run.[1]
- Light
- Shoals come close inshore after dark and are much more active at night.[3]
Fish return to the coast in April, fishing builds through spring and summer, and inshore fishing fades in autumn as they move offshore.[1]
Sources
- Planet Sea Fishing: Black bream
- FishBase: Spondyliosoma cantharus
- Sea Angler: Sea fishing for black bream from the beach
These notes are a draft: we gathered them from the sources above and are still checking them. We don't work out best times for this fish yet. The size rules come from the same checked byelaws as every other fish.