Instant bookingAxopar 37 cabin with AC and 600 hpFree cancellation up to 1 day beforeFrom €1,700
Fishing with AndyFree cancellation up to 1 day beforeFrom £80 per person
Instant bookingKestrel warrior fishing trips Full refund if weather cancelsFrom £30 per person
A black bream is deep and flat sided, grey to almost black on the back, with a small mouth. Shoals nip at worms, small crustaceans and baits rather than engulfing them, so the bite is a quick rattle and the hook has to be small. On light tackle a good one circles and dives all the way up. The males dig and guard nests in gravel, and the fish are excellent eating, so most crews keep a few and let the rest go.
Bream on light tackle in the Channel
Both English boats posted bream catches in November 2025. Off Eastbourne, Kestrel Warrior had a calm, foggy morning with plenty of black bream on live bait. Its trips from East Sussex are two hour shared sessions from 08:30 for up to 10, with rod hire, a small tackle shop on board, free coaching and free gutting.
Further west, Fishing with Andy took six novices out of Plymouth to reef and wreck ground on hire tackle, and they came back with bass, pollock and plenty of black bream, keeping only a few bream. These are full days, roughly 07:15 to 17:00, for up to 8, and a lone angler can book a single seat.
In Malta, Adele II, a fast Axopar 37 from Floriana with an air conditioned cabin, runs 12 hour days from 08:00 for up to 11. Bream are a fish you meet there while bottom fishing for dentex, scorpionfish and grouper, so tell the skipper if you want a spell on small hooks.
Questions and answers
Short answers to what people ask before they book. Anything else, ask the captain in chat.
Can I keep black bream on the Sussex and Plymouth trips?
Yes, a few. Kestrel Warrior guts and cleans the fish you keep at no charge. On Fishing with Andy's November 2025 trip only a few bream were kept and the rest released, so expect a couple for supper rather than a full bag.
Do I need my own rod for a black bream trip on these boats?
No. Kestrel Warrior hires rods and has a small tackle shop on board, and Fishing with Andy's novices caught their bream on the boat's hire equipment. Bream want light rods and small hooks, so ask the crew to set you up that way.