CHAPTER III 



BOTTOM-FISHIN G continued 



The Bream The Carp The Tench The Eel The Perch Paternostering, 



etc. 



THE BREAM (Abramus brama) 



OF this lubberly carp there are two kinds known to 

 anglers the carp or golden bream and the bream- 

 flat or silver bream.* The former is by far the best 

 fish both for size and quality, the latter being of no 

 particular value for the table, and not reaching any great size, 

 seldom exceeding one pound. The bream is very widely dis- 

 tributed, and is found alike in rivers, ponds, and lakes. In rivers 

 it prefers quiet, deep holes with a loamy or sandy bottom. The 

 deepest holes in ponds are likewise those preferred. The 

 bream spawns about the latter end of May, and takes some 

 time to recover condition. Bream are gregarious, swimming 

 in large shoals, and when inclined to feed, vast numbers of 

 them may be taken, as, although somewhat of a nibbler, 

 yet if time is given to him, the bream will almost always take 

 the bait in the end. If the angler does not knoW, but is desirous 

 to find out the whereabouts of a bream haunt in a river, let 

 him watch the likely spots early and late, and he will see one 

 every now and then prime or rise up like a large roach, but, 

 from some peculiarity, the bream, when it does this, almost 

 always leaves a large bubble on the surface, which the roach 

 does not do. When the angler notes a bubble or two of this 

 sort left after the priming of large fish, let him watch the spot 

 narrowly and he may soon perhaps satisfy his doubts as to 

 whether there be bream there or no. 



Bream have very roving habits, often disappearing without 

 any apparent reason from a haunt they have affected for two 

 or three years, and taking to some other hole or eddy. In 

 my river (a part of the Colne) I see this peculiarity often 



* They are distinct species, the breamflat being Abramus blicca. ED. 



5* 



