THE BREAM. 



49 



are not very heavy, she will lift one or other if tied 

 down too tightly, and you find to your disgust that 

 you have drifted out of the proper swim, which 

 compels you to lift both weights, drift away, and 

 work back by the shallows to your original place. 

 It is no good trying to push the punt back with 

 pole or rypeck ; the jamming and rattling of the 

 iron will scare the bream. Get the leger to the 

 bottom as quietly as possible ; if the lead travels 

 much, a heavier one must be put on till the bait 

 rests steadily and comfortably. After baiting a 

 swim, try for a short while without further ground- 

 baiting ; should there be no sport, drop in a ball or 

 two of groundbait with a few worms squeezed up 

 in it. It is a common occurrence to take perch in 

 a bream swim when worm-baiting if the bream are 

 not there, and dace are most exasperating in taking 

 the bait. I do well with large lumps of bread- 

 paste in weirs, as eels and perch let this alone, and 

 the water is generally too deep for minnows and 

 gudgeon to give any trouble. Bream may some- 

 times be tempted by a ragged bait ; this is 

 arranged by breaking a fair-sized worm into three 

 pieces. Run the hook through the head piece 

 lengthways ; then put the hook through the middle 

 piece crosswise ; then thread on the tail of the 

 worm, and draw the three pieces together. 



I like the very early morning best for bream- 

 fishing in the Thames ; indeed, it is nearly always 

 the best time in all rivers. Fish when the mist is 

 on the water, curling about in great grey wreaths in 

 the early morning. A stout macintosh is not to 

 be despised, even on a June morning. When 

 trouting, late in April, I have had ice in the rod 

 rings when fishing in the early mornings, while 



E 



