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John N. Felsher's Panfish Fishing Adventures
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When most people think of bream fishing, they naturally think of
watching floats near shorelines or tossing fly tackle toward beds. To really
tempt big bream, though, people need to think deeper thoughts.
While people can catch bream along the shorelines almost all year
long, big bream go deep in the summer heat. Sometimes, anglers can
catch them along old creek channels while fishing water more than 30 feet
deep. While anglers beat the banks, many big bream remain almost
ignored in deep water.
During broiling summer heat, larger bream more readily drop into
cool, deep water. They also go into the depths to escape from people and
to hide from marauding predators such as largemouth bass. Deeper water
gives bream relatively consistent temperatures and some protection from
the elements. Moreover, in a heavily traveled lake, waves from boat wakes
pound the shorelines. In deeper water, bream find refuge from
temperatures, predators and humans.
Even in deeper water, bream may still make beds and spawn
throughout the summer. Gregarious fish, they cluster together in large
numbers. As a primary forage species for bass, catfish and other
predators, bream depend upon numbers for a degree of safety, the same
reason that wildebeests and antelopes congregate in huge herds on the
lion-infested African savannas.
Numbers don’t help them stay away from dedicated fishermen,
though. In fact, if someone catches a large bream in one deep hole, he or
she might land a limit without moving the boat. In deeper water, anglers
would less likely disturb the school with their actions, so they might catch
many fish from one spot.
Before catching a limit, anglers must find bream. Fortunately, that
seldom presents much of a problem in good habitat. Like most other
species, bream need cover to hide from prey and predators. They hang
around grass, fallen trees, brush, stumps, drop-offs or other cover that
provides excellent foraging and concealment from roving largemouths.
When hungry bass show up, they quickly dart into cover.
In warm weather, they often congregate along sloping points with
plenty of grass or lily pads. Grass not only provides excellent cover, green
plants add vital oxygen to the water, a major plus during summer heat.
Along these points, bream can move up and down to find the preferable
combination of food, oxygen and temperature.
Even in the deepest water, bream don’t require heavy or expensive
tackle, just enough line and weight to pull a bait to the bottom. Bream don’t
need much finessing either. Dangle bait in front of bream and they usually
respond quickly. To get bait into their tiny mouths, use small narrow gap,
long-shanked hooks on light line, about 4- to 6-pound test. Long-shanked
hooks permit anglers to unhook bream easier and faster if the fish swallow
the bait too deeply.
An ultralight spinning or spin-casting outfit magnifies the fun of
catching big bream. People many also use long crappie jigging poles,
bamboo poles or even fly rods with baited hooks and split-shot sinkers
instead of cork popping bugs or feathery flies.
Some people use a slip bobber or leave a hook fastener on a
conventional bobber open slightly to allow line to slip through the opening.
People can fish vertically away from the boat in any depth with this method.
A weight pulls the line slowly through the bobber until it reaches bottom
while the bobber remains floating on the surface. When people retrieve the
line, the bobber falls back toward the hook. A rubber bobber stopper could
keep the float from sinking too far, great for targeting suspended fish.
Although people can use small grubs, spinners or other lures for
bream, most people prefer live bait. Bream eat just about anything
including crickets, earthworms, night crawlers, grasshoppers, bread, small
minnows or shrimp. Using as little weight as possible, vertically drop these
temptations next to bottom contours, brush piles, deep grass beds or other
places that might hold bream.
What they lack in size, bream more than make up in pugnacious spirit
and sheer numbers. Hardly a wall-hanging lunker, an 8-ounce bream
fighting against ultralight tackle feels like a 5-pound bass. Ounce for
ounce, few fish fight harder. They typically turn sideways to use their
flattened bodies for leverage and never quit pulling.
With very little initial investment, anglers can literally boat hundreds
of delicious fish in a very short time in the right area. A great way to
introduce children or novice adults to fishing, bream nearly always bite if
one can find them.
watching floats near shorelines or tossing fly tackle toward beds. To really
tempt big bream, though, people need to think deeper thoughts.
While people can catch bream along the shorelines almost all year
long, big bream go deep in the summer heat. Sometimes, anglers can
catch them along old creek channels while fishing water more than 30 feet
deep. While anglers beat the banks, many big bream remain almost
ignored in deep water.
During broiling summer heat, larger bream more readily drop into
cool, deep water. They also go into the depths to escape from people and
to hide from marauding predators such as largemouth bass. Deeper water
gives bream relatively consistent temperatures and some protection from
the elements. Moreover, in a heavily traveled lake, waves from boat wakes
pound the shorelines. In deeper water, bream find refuge from
temperatures, predators and humans.
Even in deeper water, bream may still make beds and spawn
throughout the summer. Gregarious fish, they cluster together in large
numbers. As a primary forage species for bass, catfish and other
predators, bream depend upon numbers for a degree of safety, the same
reason that wildebeests and antelopes congregate in huge herds on the
lion-infested African savannas.
Numbers don’t help them stay away from dedicated fishermen,
though. In fact, if someone catches a large bream in one deep hole, he or
she might land a limit without moving the boat. In deeper water, anglers
would less likely disturb the school with their actions, so they might catch
many fish from one spot.
Before catching a limit, anglers must find bream. Fortunately, that
seldom presents much of a problem in good habitat. Like most other
species, bream need cover to hide from prey and predators. They hang
around grass, fallen trees, brush, stumps, drop-offs or other cover that
provides excellent foraging and concealment from roving largemouths.
When hungry bass show up, they quickly dart into cover.
In warm weather, they often congregate along sloping points with
plenty of grass or lily pads. Grass not only provides excellent cover, green
plants add vital oxygen to the water, a major plus during summer heat.
Along these points, bream can move up and down to find the preferable
combination of food, oxygen and temperature.
Even in the deepest water, bream don’t require heavy or expensive
tackle, just enough line and weight to pull a bait to the bottom. Bream don’t
need much finessing either. Dangle bait in front of bream and they usually
respond quickly. To get bait into their tiny mouths, use small narrow gap,
long-shanked hooks on light line, about 4- to 6-pound test. Long-shanked
hooks permit anglers to unhook bream easier and faster if the fish swallow
the bait too deeply.
An ultralight spinning or spin-casting outfit magnifies the fun of
catching big bream. People many also use long crappie jigging poles,
bamboo poles or even fly rods with baited hooks and split-shot sinkers
instead of cork popping bugs or feathery flies.
Some people use a slip bobber or leave a hook fastener on a
conventional bobber open slightly to allow line to slip through the opening.
People can fish vertically away from the boat in any depth with this method.
A weight pulls the line slowly through the bobber until it reaches bottom
while the bobber remains floating on the surface. When people retrieve the
line, the bobber falls back toward the hook. A rubber bobber stopper could
keep the float from sinking too far, great for targeting suspended fish.
Although people can use small grubs, spinners or other lures for
bream, most people prefer live bait. Bream eat just about anything
including crickets, earthworms, night crawlers, grasshoppers, bread, small
minnows or shrimp. Using as little weight as possible, vertically drop these
temptations next to bottom contours, brush piles, deep grass beds or other
places that might hold bream.
What they lack in size, bream more than make up in pugnacious spirit
and sheer numbers. Hardly a wall-hanging lunker, an 8-ounce bream
fighting against ultralight tackle feels like a 5-pound bass. Ounce for
ounce, few fish fight harder. They typically turn sideways to use their
flattened bodies for leverage and never quit pulling.
With very little initial investment, anglers can literally boat hundreds
of delicious fish in a very short time in the right area. A great way to
introduce children or novice adults to fishing, bream nearly always bite if
one can find them.
Think deep for targeting big bull
bream in broiling summer heat
bream in broiling summer heat
Lisa Looper shows off a large bluegill she caught.
