56 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



of the fish worms may prove to be a better bait 

 than anything, lobworms when the bream are 

 biting eagerly, and brandlings when they are less 

 enthusiastic. Generally speaking, bream bite best 

 in the evening, or in the early morning at about 

 sunrise, a time which the novice will not always 

 find very convenient. If he is able to imitate the 

 lark he should bait his bream hole overnight. 



Some anglers think that bream will scarcely bite 

 in the daytime at all, but I have not found this to 

 be the case. It depends, I think, very much on the 

 tackle used. With fine tackle I have often had 

 excellent sport in the hottest part of the day. This 

 reflection brings me to a matter on which I have 

 not hitherto touched, the advisability of the novice 

 now adding to his equipment. If he is pleased 

 with his first day with the roach and bream he may 

 think it worth while to explore this kind of fishing 

 further. In the first place he will want a longer 

 rod. Very likely he will have realised this already 

 from having experienced some difficulty in swing- 

 ing his line out over the rushes with his I2ft. rod. 

 It is much easier to attack roach and bream with a 

 long rod. One is able to fish comfortably in deep 

 water, and to command a longer swim. A rod of 

 1 6ft. is not too long for the purpose; it must be 

 stiff, with a certain amount of play in the top joint, 



