CHAPTER XI. 



TEE BREAM, 



Carp Bream — Bream Flat — Habits and Haunts — Making a 

 Night of it — Baits and Ground-baits — Float-fishing and 

 Legering — The Ouse Method — Pond and Lahe Fishing. 



REAM are in shape tlie very opposite of chub, 

 being narrow across the back and shoulders, 

 and round and deep in the belly. There are 

 three known varieties of these fish in the 

 United Kingdom: First, the Pomeranian 

 bream, so rare that I may dismiss him 

 without further notice ; second, the carp or 

 golden bream, a fine fish, which grows to 

 151b. or more in weight, is often taken weighing 51b. or 61b., 

 and abounds in the rivers and broads of Norfolk, in the Eastern 

 counties, and in the lower reaches of the Thames and some of 

 its tributaries ; thirdly, the white bream, silver bream, or 

 bream flat, a silvery little fish, which rarely exceeds lib. in weight. 

 Bream spawn in May, or later, and are fished for all through 

 the summer and autumn, and are sometimes taken in winter, 

 when the water is coloured. The favourite haunts of carp- 

 bream in rivers are the deep holes at bends, where the stream 

 is slow, or almost imperceptible. The broad, deep reaches, 

 where the water hardly moves, are usually well stocked with 

 these fish. In ponds, the deepest holes are also the most likely 

 places to find bream. In very large lakes, meres, and broads, 

 it is generally best to fish not too far from the sides, near 

 reed-beds, and in holes among weeds, where the water is from 



