THE BREAM. 83 



very clear, use only a very small bait, jiist enough to cover 

 the hook. In addition to worms, sweet paste made of white 

 bread crumb, King's natural bait, a little honey or sugar, and 

 a few drops of gin, all mixed together makes a capital change 

 bait. Two or three kernels of white wheat on the hook is 

 also sometimes very attractive to the big bream of those 

 waters. 



July, August, and September are the best months for 

 bream, and if fine tackle is used it is possible to make a bag 

 during the middle of the day, although I must confess that 

 early morning and during the evening are more likely to be 

 the most successful. Three or four Hvely gentles are also' a 

 source of attraction to this fish, while a wasp grub and a cad- 

 bait will not be despised. 



And now I must say a few words on the vexed question of 

 the weather, and what effect it has on the bream, of these 

 waters. A very old bream fisherman once told me that years 

 ago he has taken bream nearly all the year round — winter as 

 well as summer and autumn — but even in those days it was 

 by no means a certainty catching them as soon as Novemiber 

 got well in. Personally I find ^\'inter fishing for bream' of 

 no great account ; now and then I have taken a few odd ones 

 when roach fishing during the depth of winter; but it is in 

 my opinion hardly worth while going specially for themi, say, 

 during the Christmas holidays, unless the weather is very 

 mild indeed. I also' think there is no fish that swims that is 

 so susceptible to sudden changes of the weather as bream, 

 and I have even fancied that they could tell what was com- 

 ing ; for I have been out on what I considered at the time to 

 be a perfect bream day, and met with no sport at all, and a 

 few hours later a stormi of cold wind and rain has swept across 

 the district. I have heard ver}' old fishermen say that the 

 bream knew better than the anglers what weather was coming, 

 and would not bite in face of a pending stormi I have proved 

 the truth of this over and over again. In the chapter on 

 roach fishing I noticed the peculiarities of water temperature : 

 when sometimes the \\^ter was very much colder than the 

 surrounding atmosphere, and at other times the water was 

 warmer than the air around. The remarks I then penned as 

 to the effects of this on roach feeding, can be applied with, 



