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Common name: Bream
Latin name: Abramis Brama
Family: Cyprinidae
Current UK Rod Caught Coarse Fish Record Bream (Common or Bronze) (Abramis brama)
22lb 11oz - 2012 - Scott Crook, Ferry Lagoon, Cambridge
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. Similar to
the young Bream is the Silver Bream.
Silver Bream (Abramis bjoerkna): See here
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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