male/female bream

[mickburder]

Hi chaps

I see that a lot of you put the female bream back and keep the males for eating, sounds a very sensible idea.

How do you tell the difference between them?

 

Hope to get my boat down to the coast later this week and have a go for the bream, launching at Christchurch, any tips of where and at what state of the tide is best at the moment?

 

thanks Mick

[Neal]

 

Hi Mick,

 

The male fish have a bright blue band running across the head, above the mouth.

 

However, I have read recently that after the females lay their eggs, the male fish guard the nest.

 

So are we being responsible by taking the male fish, which then leaves a nest of eggs to be eaten by predators.

 

In a bit of a quandry over this one as I always return the females but take the odd male or two.

 

Perhaps someone else can add to this.

 

Anyway - good luck on your bream fishing when you do get down.

 

Neal

[Rob]

 

Male bream have a blueish area on top of the head \ across the shoulders. If it ain't blue put it back!!! As Alun J said to me "If you are having trouble identifying it, then it is a female".

 

From Mudeford, Christchurch head along the Ledge and a couple of miles out you will see a group of boats - they will be Breaming.

 

Have a look at the forum called Fishing Marks and Club Members Chit Chat there is a sticky post called "New Member Club Marks, To help you get started".

 

Rob

[Overrun]

Bigger males are very dark, almost black tinge, the females tend much more to the silver end. Adolescent fish under 1.5-2lb are difficult to sex, look very similar.......bit like us really

Favour taking males, for no other reason than the females are invariably full of roe, but as pointed out, perhaps not the whole story. Possibly the best action is to return the breeding fish and wait until the pan sized Piranha Bream appear, trouble is they are so very nice to eat.

[Paul J]

Pictures of male and female here i think

 

http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=8750&hl=

 

PJ

[alun j.]

The relative few that most of us take isn't going to make much difference.

 

These big 'breeding' fish are full of stored food [ hence the sticky fat on the knife if you fillet them.... and why they are good to eat]. My hunch is that when they start to spawn, they go off feeding [and we don't catch them in such numbers]; males guarding nests will be focused on this and not eating !

 

I'd be interested to know if one male can fertilize the eggs of a group of females in his territory and guard several broods....... in which case our approach in returns make sense, or are the fish paired....... which might seem to negate our returns

........ unless there are more males in the population to create some competiton and natural selection [????].

 

Until better informed I'll take a few fish per trip and put back the big girls.

 

Alun.

[mickburder]

Thanks for the advice, all I gotta do now is catch 'em.

Mick

[JIMBOB]

The Bream out there now are spawning so try not to take to many, males or females ,they will be done in a month then at least they would have time to further the population!

 

The fisheries are policeing the commercial boys and protecting the stocks

This from a sea fisheries website

A total of

Edited May 8, 2009 by JIMBOB