Why Are Anglers So Down On Bream?

[David Dalton]

I was fishing at Christchurch Quay in the summer, having a chat with a guy I knew who was fishing for mullet from a boat. As we were speaking, I hooked a bream, and his mate in the boat said "A bream - oh poor you".

That isn't my attitude to this species at all. The river bream I catch usually fight well - sometimes the Royalty fishery ones can really put a bend in your rod. They aren't even particularly slimy, not more so than eels or tench, and they can be tricky b*****s to catch sometimes, which only makes fishing for them more interesting.

I think dislike of bream by some people has been around a long time, as Peter Stone mentions it in "Bream and Barbel", which was published in the sixties.

What do you think?

 

[sam vimes]

I think you've pretty much answered your own question. Bream have a reputation for not fighting particularly hard and being "snotty". On top of that, you tend to find that carp anglers and, increasingly frequently, barbel anglers consider them to be a nuisance fish.

 

[binka]

I can't understand people disliking Bream, similar to Sam mentioned the Carp anglers on our local see them as a nuisance fish but I can understand that... not sure why ordinary pleasure anglers would want to avoid them though.

What's not to like?

 

[barbelboi]

What's not to like?

Possibly the fact that on a hot day, irrespective of how many times you dunk it, your net will attract all the bluebottles from both hemispheres

Jerry

 

[Philip]

Big ones can be a really difficult proposition ...but when you are targeting other species the small to medium ones can be a distraction at times. However I hit upon a solution ....if its obvious there are so many Bream in the swim that nothing else is going to get a look in...fish for the Bream !....I usually carry a spare rod with me and you can have allot of fun building up a bag of Bream. Cereal groundbaits in particular seem to really appeal to them.

I think they are one of those fish that seems to suffer from its own success...bit like Carp really....its not really their fault they adpt so well to so many British waters.

Give em a break I say !

 

[steph mckenzie]

I like the Bream as a fish, i can understand people who aren't targeting them getting annoyed at being plagued by them ... especially if they have you up all night (but that's your own fault for sleeping and fishing at the same time).

Bream aren't the hardest fighting of fish, but, at least you would be catching.

I will happily fish for bream, slimy or not.

 

[tiinker]

It is something that first reared its head to my knowledge in the mid 60s when I first started carp fishing . The few carp fishers that there were did not like bream at all and all sorts of stories are told about bream being desposed of in one way or other. Snotter's as they are called were the main reason for the devolopment of the boily. In rivers is were they belong and provide very good sport on the right tackle but in lakes it is another story even on match tackle they come in like a paper bag they are much loved by the match angler as a weight maker and not for the sport they give. They are to the specimen angler what minnow and bleak are to the matchman a nuisance.

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Big bream are ok but the smaller one are boring to catch , no fight and snoty (as otyhers have said)

 

[itsfishingnotcatching]

As yet not caught a river bream so not qualified to comment, in their favour, the tenuous bites can make them tricky (I always used to strike too early) and the leaping bream often adds an element of surprise. Not keen on the slime or the usual lack of fight

 

[chav professor]

River bream are fighters..... or certainly can be. they use their large surface area to good advantage.

I must admit having an affection for bream - they make a days float fishing and offer good sport on appropriate tackle.

As for double figure bream? Certainly have a sense of perspective about them.

 

[Fred Bonney]

I have to say that I had a big thing against bream for many years which started with the slime, but moved on to the total lack of action I got from one many years ago in a big gravel pit next to the M4.
It was the biggest bream I've ever seen, and it came in like a plastic bag, didn't even weigh it!

More recently I have caught them on a number of rivers, they seem to be a different fish, a bit more oomph to them, certainly any slime was minimal.

 

[the dace]

I am more than happy to catch bream all day long. I'd rather that than a blank.

Bream seem to love those carp anglers that always moan about them. I remember fishing next to a carper who caught bream all day. Every fish he caught was a bream and every time i could hear him swearing

 

[reeds]

I like bream. Fishing for shoal bream either on rivers or stillwaters can be great fun, and fishing for a handful of giants in a big pit is, in my opinion, about the most difficult and rewarding fishing there is. The carpers that moan about bream should try it, it would separate the men from the boys...

 

[dangermouse]

I don`t mind bream, we target them on the canal sometimes. Not my favourite fish for sure but I`d rather catch one than blank.

 

[tiinker]

I like bream. Fishing for shoal bream either on rivers or stillwaters can be great fun, and fishing for a handful of giants in a big pit is, in my opinion, about the most difficult and rewarding fishing there is. The carpers that moan about bream should try it, it would separate the men from the boys...

To what end Ihave had lake bream up to 12 pound + while tench fishing with a float rod and it was still a dissapointment fight wise There is only one place for bream in the river they may be big fish but they are still small on performance in stillwater.

 

[Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)]

Bream can be pretty annoying. There were a couple of occasions a few years ago when a huge shoal of them became trapped in my TV. Beats me how they got in there, but when they faced side on they totally obscured the picture and ruined my viewing pleasure.

 

[little oik]

Only on a couple of occasions a year will I fish for Bream . I do not like all the slime and what it entails .However if you get your spot right (most are River Bream plus prebaiting) you can fill your boots with them .Nothing like a full keepnet of Bream now and again. And the best of it all is that there will always be a surprise of some hybrids as well and they DO give you a scrap

 

[guest61]

I can see how the carefully laid plans of your average Carp angler could be undone by a shoal of Bream chowing down on a baited area, but isn’t this part of the challenge? Our club forum is regularly visited by Carp anglers bemoaning that they’ve caught nothing but ‘snotties’ but I’m sure if they were to ‘fish’ for Carp rather than fill their swim in with pellets and other morsels that Bream like and then sit back and wait; they may be more successful at avoiding Bream as ‘bycatch’.

Personally I quite like catching Bream when the rivers close – (no rivers near me hold Bream stocks to speak of). There are good stocks in my club still waters, using a balanced approach I find catching them very enjoyable - with a float or feeder rod, but a problem with this is due to the range that a lot of Carp anglers choose to fish on our club waters, these Bream are often feeding beyond the range of your average feeder rod set up.

One deeper still water that is devoid of Carp is particularly suited to fishing a sliding float set up with the ‘lift method’ and this is a lovely way of catching Bream but to be honest I just like fishing.

There was a nice piece on here a while back about targetting big Bream which was a pretty exacting branch of specimen fishing.

Each to their own.

 

[tigger]

Bream in my local stream are few and far between but I have had them to over 7lb. In all honesty they do figh quite hard and put the chub to shame. I think the tackle used often dictates how good a fight they put up on a lot of occassions.

 

[chefster]

Most waters that i match fish are heavily stocked with carp,so in the summer the bream and skimmers rarely get a look in,but in the winter for me personally there is nothing better than a nice net of bream/skimmers on light tackle.If you are fishing quite fine their fighting qualities can be appreciated,as opposed to Skulldragging them in on heavy specialist carp gear....Chefster