THE BREAM 



ABRAMIS BRAMA 



German, Der Brachsen; French, Brime 



By R. B. MARSTON 



IN the United Kingdom the bream would seem to be one of the oldest 

 of our native fish, being found in several Irish rivers and lakes, as 

 well as in the broads and rivers of East Anglia, and in many other 

 English rivers and lakes, especially in the Fen District and in the 

 Midlands. It loves quiet deep water, and is a curious, interesting and 

 handsome fish. When it is a good season the bream is a fine olive 

 brown on the back, with sides silvery grey, and grey fins. I have often 

 watched them on a warm summer day swimming about, in great shoals 

 near the surface, when a bird passing overhead, or a sudden noise, would 

 cause them all to sink suddenly — ^by noise I mean a sudden bang, for 

 mere loud shouting seems to have no effect, it must be something which 

 imparts a stronger vibration to the sound waves. In Sweden it used to 

 be the custom not to ring the bells in the bream spawning time, to avoid 

 disturbing the fish. In Russia a kind of light yellow caviare is made from 

 the small yellowish bream eggs, of which enormous quantities are de- 

 posited in May and June, on water plants and on the ground. 



The biggest bream I have any note of is that mentioned by Frank Buck- 

 land, to which his and my attention was called by our old friend, the late 

 Dr Norman, of Yarmouth. It was eleven and three quarter pounds in 

 weight, measured two feet two inches in length from nose to fork of tail, 

 and over ten inches in depth. It was set up by Mr T. E. Gunn, taxidermist, 

 Norwich, who mentioned a very interesting fact, viz.: that the age of this 

 monster was known — as a gentleman who stocked the pond, a small one 

 of half an acre, at Beeston Regis, near King's Lynn, in which it was caught, 

 said it was put in by him when very small about fifty years previously. 

 I should like to see scales from fish that size, especially from that par- 

 ticular fish, which I saw at the great International Fisheries Exhibition 

 of 1883. Mr C. T. Regan says that there is a record of a bream of 

 seventeen pounds from the Trent — ^but I do not think he considers it as 

 well established — ^neither do I. In East Anglia the bream and roach angler 

 is often bothered by the small "white bream" or "bream flat" which 

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