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Bream
Common name:
Bream
Latin name: Abramis Brama
Family: Cyprinidae
Current UK Rod Caught Coarse Fish Record
BREAM (Common or Bronze) (Abramis brama) 19lb 10oz - 2005 - James Rust, Cambridge Water
Description and habitat of Bream:
Adults are deep bodied and bronze in colour with darker, sometimes
black fins. The bream has a deep laterally compressed body with a
prominent covering of protective slime. It has a long anal fin
compared with the dorsal fin, a forked tail and a relatively small
head and mouth with a protruding upper jaw. Young bream up to
approximately 8oz.are known as 'skimmers' and are more silvery in
colour but turn a darker bronze colour as they mature. Often small
bream are mistaken for the Silver bream (Abramis bjoerkna). The Silver
bream is smaller than the common, or bronze bream, and is silver in
colour with red anal and pectoral fins. An average Common bream will
be 12 - 14inches. Bream grow to 19+lb and a fish over 4lb considered a
good fish. Well liked by match anglers because bream are a shoal fish
and therefore a good chance of catching more. Large bream are
nicknamed 'slabs' or 'dustbin lids'. Found in lakes, ponds, rivers and
canals but more often found in still waters. During spawning from May
to June, the male bream develops white tubercles covering the head and
upper body. Bream often interbreed with other species, creating
hybrids such as the roach-bream hybrid. Bream are predominantly bottom
feeders, travelling in shoals, rooting around and feeding in the soft
bottom of ponds, lakes and the lower reaches of rivers. They feed
extensively on algae, plankton, insect larvae, pea mussels, crustaceans and
molluscs, also grubbing around among the bottom debris for the many
micro-organisms which live there. Once feeding, the shoal of bream
move across the bottom denuding the bottom of food. If the shoal is
large and feeding in earnest it will stir up a great deal of mud and
the gases released will carry the colour to the surface and discolour
the water. For locating bream this is worth noting. Early morning or
dusk are good times to fish as the bream move in closer to the margins
as the sunlight fades.
Fishing Methods for catching Bream:
Various methods including float, ledger or feeder but the feeder is
considered the best method. Bream can be voracious feeders mainly
feeding on the bottom. They respond well to groundbaiting so if you
can, pre-bait the area you are going to fish. Lay a bed of groundbait
using brown crumb or continental groundbait with sweetcorn, casters,
chopped up worms and some of your hook bait mixed in. Don't start
balling it in when you start catching bream, this can scare them off.
(it would you if someone started hitting you on the head with balls of
groundbait). Large catches have resulted from laying down a carpet of
groundbait which holds the shoal in the area.
Once a fish is hooked it needs to be pulled away from the shoal quickly
otherwise the shoal will be spooked and will move on. As a guide a 4
lb main line with 2.5 lb hook length and size 16 hook is adequate.
Accurate casting is essential to keep all your bait going into the same
area. Laying on (fishing overdepth - i.e. in 6 foot of water set your
float 8 foot from the hook) is a good tactic when fishing for bream.
When feeder fishing use an open-end feeder filled with a groundbait
mix with some of your hook bait mixed in and a hook length of 18 - 24 inches. When you cast in and the
feeder has reached the bottom, wind up the slack in the line then wind
in a bit more till there is a sleight bend on your rod tip. Bream
bites are noticeable when float fishing by the slow disappearance of
the float or when ledger / feeder fishing by the steady pull round of
your rod tip. Bream are not known as a fighting fish and generally
after a few 'nods' (tugs on the line as you reel in) come to the net
with little resistance.
Baits for catching Bream:
Worms, lobworms, small red worm, brandlings, bloodworm, bread (either punch,
flake or paste), casters, maggots, gozzers, pinkies and sweetcorn.
Silver Bream (Abramis bjoerkna):
Family: Cyprinidae
Description:
Similar to a young common bream and difficult to tell
apart being fairly deep bodied and silvery coloured. Not as widespread
the silver bream can be found in lakes, ponds, rivers, canals and
still waters. Silver Bream are shoaling fish.
Grows to approximately 1lb and a silver bream over 10oz considered a good
fish.
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