Of all the silver fish this species has the potential to grow the largest and as a consequence is in high demand as a stock fish for small to large fisheries. Bream prefer still waters such as lakes, canals, gravel pits and slow moving rivers. They thrive particularly well in large deep lakes where they can grow to their full potential and offer match and pleasure anglers’ great sport. The British record was caught only in 2012 at 23lbs 11oz in Cambridgeshire.

A shoaling fish in the same way as roach they can be caught all year round but predominantly on the bottom. Their diet consists of bottom-dwelling invertebrates such as worms, snails and insect larvae such as chironomids. Due to their shoaling nature, bream respond to pre-baiting which can result in big nets and they therefore can contribute significantly to silver fish match weights. One of the biggest UK silver match weights was recorded in Essex in 2009 with 172lbs 4oz of skimmers caught out of a total bag of 252lbs 8oz. With the increasing popularity of silverfish only matches in commercial fisheries bream really are an essential stock fish for any coarse fishery and offer an alternative to the carp dominated matches during summer months.

The skimmers that we sell are as with all our fish of a known age. They are spawned from selected broodstock in early May and reared in the hatchery until ready to be stocked into rearing ponds outside. We typically harvest these fish from 2 years when they will be 4-10” sized fish an ideal size for stocking into fishing lakes. As with any silver fish they are handled carefully to minimise scale loss and only harvested when water temperatures are low making late autumn and winter the best time for stocking.