THE BREAM. 281 



other fish. The bait should be as near the ground as 

 possible, and it is often found that bream will take it 

 when dragging some inches on the bottom itself. Almost 

 all the baits used for roach, perch, and barbel will kill 

 bream, but certainly in the Thames none are better than 

 the tail of a lobworm, the favourite bait of so many Thames 

 fish. When the angler is trying almost exclusively for 

 bream, he should strike on the slightest indication of a 

 bite, for, as I have just said, the bream is a most delicate 

 biter : but I must notice that a great authority says that 

 you must give the bream plenty of time, because he loves 

 to such a bait in his lips before he really takes it, and 

 because also he has a small mouth and prefers big baits. 

 Groundbait of broken worms, carrion gentles, and bran 

 should be used in bream-fishing, and thrown into the 

 hole or swim overnight. If possible the poles to which 

 the boat or punt is to be moored the next day should be 

 fixed at the same time, so that the spot can be approached 

 quietly. The bream is most sensitive to the vibration of 

 sound, and, like other fish, to no vibration more so than 

 to that produced by the feet on the floor of a boat or 

 punt. I would therefore advise bream anglers to wear 

 goloshes or list slippers, as I have advised in big carp 

 fishing. Loud talking has not half the bad result as 

 the vibration of sound conducted by the boat or punt 

 into the water, the effect of the former partly passing 

 away into the air. Let the bream fisherman, therefore, 

 lay it down as a golden rule that quietness is a sine qua 

 non for successful " breaming." Large takes of bream 

 are often had in the Bedfordshire waters and the Norfolk 

 Broads ; but bream are almost as uncertain as barbel as 

 to their being " on/' though carefully groundbaited for ; 



