76 THE BREAM. 



need never despair if, after baiting a swim known tO' hold 

 breami, they fail to come on in a reasonable time. An 

 authentic instance of breami shifting their quarters was given 

 me a short time ago by a friend : " Some few years ago a 

 gentleman of Newark invited a Sheffield angler for a day ot 

 two's fishing in the Newark district, and accordingly baited 

 a well-known breami swim' called " Foottits Hole," a few miles 

 below the town. Commencing at daybreak one August 

 morning, they fished more than half the day without the 

 slightest sign of a bream, in the swim, and the Sheffielder was 

 getting disgusted with the proceedings, but patience and ob- 

 servation were two of the Newark man's virtues, and in 

 studying the why and the wherefore of their non-success, he 

 happened to cast his eyes lower dow^n the river to an eddy 

 about three hundred yards away, and there he noticed bream 

 rolling and tumbling about in all directions. ' Ah,' said he,. 

 ' they are all down there ; never mind, we shall have them, 

 presently.' And sure enough such was the fact, for gradually 

 they worked their way up-stream, disporting on their journey, 

 until, arriving at their feeding ground, they gradually dis- 

 appeared ; and my friend, taking a longer swim, secured one 

 at the first attempt. ' Now w^e shall soon be among them;,' 

 said he, a remark w^hich was fully justified, for the remainder 

 of the day the bream were fairly ' mad on,' and one of the 

 heaviest takes ever made in the locality was the result of 

 their perseverance." These experiences go to' prove that 

 bream at certain seasons are very roving in their habits, and 

 the bream fisherman should keep a good look out for any 

 signs of a " flitting " shoal. 



Bream appear to me to be a fish that w^as highly esteemed 

 in the Middle Ages, and rigorously preserved, the old monks 

 who lived in some of the religious houses being great lovers 

 of them. Indeed, some of the old sheets of water that are 

 to be found in the neighbourhood of the old ruined abbeys 

 contain to this day quantities of fine bream. I cannot help 

 thinking, however, that the tastes of the reverend fathers 

 must have been primitive indeed, and easily satisfied, be- 

 cause pond bream is about the worst dish that could possibly 

 be conceived in the fish line. That they were highly es- 

 teemed seems to be a well attested fact ; for three hundred 



