The fish used to be found extensively in the English Channel  as far east as the reefs off the Sussex coast and to the Newhaven wrecks. Fairly common around the Isle of Wight, the Channel Islands, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, though not present in the numbers seen prior to 1975.

The fish appear in early summer and stay until late September to early October. In recent years they have only been found in numbers in the Channel Islands.

Whilst WRECK FISHING  large bream were quite commonly captured whilst Conger Fishing. This has not been seen for years. However the fish appeared once again on the reefs in numbers during 2000 and 2001. 

Bream shoal best over the shallower reefs. Places to look for here are definite vertical shelves, depressions, and scattered rising rocky pinnacles coming off the seabed. The shoals work through such areas cleaning out all the food before moving on. They are voracious eaters. 

Common methods of catching both of these species is to use mackerel strips on baited feather traces used for mackerel fishing. If feeding well, it would not be unusual to catch several at a time.