34 COARSE FISH. 



to fish them ; and this searching of the water has 

 led me on many a delightful and healthy ramble. 

 I much prefer river-fishing to pond-fishing for 

 bream ; the river bream is firm and shapely, well 

 conditioned, and without much of the grey, sticky 

 slime that so much disfigures the pond or lake 

 bream. I have taken bream out of rivers without 

 a particle of slime on them, as clean and hard as a 

 carp. These river fish also give much better play. 

 Many Norfolk bream are excessively slimy, the 

 slime coming off in rags, covering line and tackle, 

 and making everything in a mess. It is better to 

 keep these slimy fish in a keep-net, slung over the 

 side of the boat ; if they are thrown in the boat 

 the mess is abominable. Although bream wander 

 about, you learn the likely spots by searching, and 

 thus have a far better chance of sport. The time is 

 well spent, not, as a rule, wasted ; though you may 

 find bream in a particular spot one day, and not 

 see a fish there on the next. My favourite plan is 

 to select a really good and comfortable spot, and 

 keep it baited. In 1896, I had a lovely little place 

 of this sort on the Wey, where I was hidden from 

 observation and could fish quietly to my heart's 

 content, any one standing even a few feet away 

 being unable to discern me. On visiting the place 

 this (1897) spring, I found, to my disgust, that the 

 floods had washed away the bank, and the eddy is 

 now not fishable from the same spot. Continuous 

 baiting, if not too lavishly exercised, does much 

 good in bream-fishing ; the fish apparently re- 

 member where they have picked up plenty of tit- 

 bits, and return, even if they leave the spot for a 

 time. 



Bream inhabit deep, sluggish rivers ; thus, the 



