Bream and bream are considered one of the main prey items in recreational fishing. Fishing for this fish is widespread throughout almost the entire territory of our country in freshwater and brackish water bodies throughout the year, both in open water and from ice. In addition to the year-round activity of fish, its prey tempts with a variety of fishing methods, which vary from float and bottom gear to spinning fishing. The opportunity to develop interesting fishing strategies undoubtedly also provides high-quality hunting results, which bring quite significant trophies in the catch, weighing a couple of kilograms in weight, which cannot but bring pleasure from such an outing.
But the terminology in the name of the fish confuses many novice fishermen, who sometimes do not quite understand what type of fish is on their list, since the fisherman mistakes bream and bream for completely different species. The material presented to the reader will help to understand what the difference is between these terms common in fishing vocabulary and whether there is a certain approach to organizing fishing trips for each trophy direction. In addition, the fisherman learns about the differences in the lifestyle of fish, its distinctive forms and food preferences, which contribute to the competent selection of baits and the preparation of effective bait mixtures for successful fishing trips.
Structure of fish
To eliminate discrepancies and eliminate intrigue, I would initially like to note that both bream and bream are the same species of fish, at different stages of their physiological development. If bream are formed and sexually mature representatives of the genus, then bream are teenagers, gaining mass on the way to transition to a full-fledged fish individual. Breams are a species of peaceful carp fish. A distinctive feature of the body shape of one or the other age group is a rounded, laterally flattened body, with a high hump on the back, which becomes more distinct as the fish matures.
The height at the base of the dorsal fin of bream is proportional to their length and is approximately one third of its size. The fish, regardless of age, is covered with small scales compared to its carp counterparts, which during its life cycle changes color from silver to bronze and golden. The scales are covered with a layer of mucus, which is clearly visible when fishing, always dirtying the fisherman even when taking the most careful precautions. In relation to the body, this representative of cyprinids has a small head, with a specific tube mouth, adapted for collecting food from the bottom of reservoirs.
Bream
Among the plumage, the anal fin is distinguished by its size, which stretches in length from the lower abdomen almost to the very tail of the fish. The remaining fins do not stand out for the grandeur of their size, varying in color from gray to distinctly black tones. Fish is not an intensively growing species. It can live up to 20 years, although in natural conditions it most often does not live more than a dozen years. The fish grows up to half a meter in length and weighs six kilograms, but even two-kilogram individuals are considered quite serious trophy specimens.
How to distinguish a white bream from a silver bream, comparison of fish
For comparison, let’s take a silver bream and a white bream of the same size.
Most of all, we have to compare the white bream with the silver bream, and not the bream with the silver bream, since the silver bream simply does not grow to the size of a bream, the weight of which is calculated from a kilogram. The debate about the size of bream continues to this day, since there is no clear definition of the weight and size of bream. An article about catching bream with a ring.
In one city, a bream is considered to be an individual weighing more than one kilogram, in another from one and a half kilograms, and in a third they can even be considered from two kilograms. In general, this opinion is subjective, and everyone can think as they want. But from the point of view of biology, such a term as bream simply does not exist, and all breams and breams are classified only as breams.
Podleschik
We've dealt with bream and white bream, now it's time for silver bream. The maximum size of the silver bream is 35 centimeters, and its weight reaches a maximum of 1200 grams. The bream has a “bigger” fate, since it can grow well and become a huge bream: the length of which can reach 80 centimeters and a weight of 7 kilograms.
There are also legends about ten-kilogram bream that were caught a couple of decades ago. And if you are comparing fish weighing 1.5 kilograms, these are probably bream.
The silver bream is leaner and bony than the white bream of the same size. The silver bream is immediately distinguished by its large hump and small head, in contrast to the white bream.
The silver bream has larger eyes and a larger pupil. The diameter of the eyes can be the length of the nose or equal to it. The pectoral and ventral fins of the bream are dark gray in color.
The pectoral and ventral fins of the silver bream are slightly reddish.
Another important difference between the silver bream and the white bream: the number of scales on the lateral line. The bream has fewer scales and their number is from 51 to 57
The scales are always covered with a thick layer of mucus.
The silver bream has much larger scales, and because of this, fewer scales can be accommodated: from 44 to 50. But there is no need to count the scales at all: if you have a silver bream and a white bream in your hands, the differences are immediately visible.
Also, the silver bream has less mucus than the white bream.
There are also less noticeable signs:
- Pharyngeal teeth (the silver bream has double-rowed pharyngeal teeth, while the white bream has single-rowed teeth)
- Along the rays in the anal fin (the silver bream has 19-24, the white bream has 25 to 29 rays)
- Taste (white bream meat is sweeter than white bream)
- According to diseases (the bream gets sick less often; this may be due to a protective layer of mucus that protects the bream's skin from infection).
This fishing article was written based on this fishing site.
Ivanov Vitaly Leonidovich, 2021.
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Habitat
The habitats of this species of Carp include reservoirs with good oxygen conditions and the presence of deep channel holes or uneven bottom relief of artificial origin. The bream population does not tolerate dirty and muddy water, leaving such places in search of more suitable areas on reservoirs for a comfortable existence. As a rule, bream densely populate rivers with slow and moderate currents and lakes with reservoirs that have long, clean and hard bottom water areas. Raba does not like shallow waters with a thick muddy bottom layer and thick algae.
Important! Individuals try to stay near shell banks on clay and sandy bottom plateaus with a thin layer of silt, at depths of over three meters.
Bream enter coastal shallows and sparsely overgrown algae backwaters only after the spawning period at the very beginning of summer, and then in the early pre-dawn morning hours. Another main difference from the usual habitats of many other carp fish is the ability of bream to successfully inhabit reliefs suitable for existence in brackish waters. Thus, this fish can be found in marine areas at the borders of rivers where rivers flow into them, and this is especially noticeable by the presence in such areas of the younger generation of bream in the form of large schools of underbream.
Lifestyle
The differences between bream and bream in their lifestyle are small. These different age groups of the bream population are clearly schooling fish that migrate across the reservoir in search of food in huge schools, sometimes numbering thousands of individuals. Despite large schools, bream are considered to be quite cautious and shy fish. Any suspicious changes in water bodies, which are often a direct consequence of human activity, which includes construction and reclamation work, force bream schools to leave their usual habitats and never return to these uncomfortable water areas. Flocks feed along channel edges, at the borders where clear water adjoins thickets, and also like to comb the smooth slopes from the shallows into the deep zones.
Podleschik
Young breams stick to depths of up to five meters. Seasoned bream live at depths of several tens of meters. In terms of their lifestyle, some flocks are sedentary, which is more related to lake populations, inhabiting permanent areas of the reservoir, alternately combing their areas in search of food. River shoals, for the most part, are in constant migration, moving along the deepest trajectories of the channel, stopping briefly in the areas adjacent to them that are richer in food. In winter, flocks fall into wintering pits, greatly losing activity and falling into suspended animation, clinging tightly to each other and thus enduring the hardships of the cold period.
Spawning
Bream spawning begins in mid-spring, when the water is warmed up above 11–12 degrees. As a rule, in the southern regions this is mid-April, and in the middle zone - May. The spawning period lasts for a month. At this time, each female lays up to 150 thousand eggs. The fish gather in shallow waters with sparse aquatic vegetation, performing quite noisy marriage ceremonies, splashing, turning their sides out of the water.
Important! During the spawning period, bream does not feed, but it is possible to catch bream, which, due to its physiological characteristics, is not yet ready to reproduce.
The bream will come to the spawning zones only in the 4th–5th year of their life, having already turned, in the fisherman’s mind, into a real bream ready for reproduction.
What is the difference between bream and white bream?
First of all, white bream and bream differ in their size. Fishermen call all caught fish of a given species weighing up to one kilogram "scavengers". In shape, individuals have some differences in the size of the head, which in old fish is much larger than in juveniles, and in the contour of a distinct hump on the back, which in adolescents is expressed only by smooth lines. But probably the surest sign of difference is the color of the scales. It is by the shade of the color of the trophy that one can accurately determine by eye the sexual maturity, and therefore the approximate age of the obtained trophy.
Important! White bream are distinguished by the presence of silver-colored scales, but full-fledged bream has a bronze and sometimes bright brown color, which, of course, is impossible to confuse.
The third distinguishing factor is the culinary value of the trophy. After all, a juvenile bream that loses most of its energy to increase its mass is not as fat as an already formed individual. Whitefish have less fat content in their meat and are distinguished by the bonyness of their bodies, so this catch is mostly suitable for salting. But large bream is suitable for culinary delights - smoking, drying, frying and preparing rich soups. Its carcasses are meaty and have a high percentage of fat.
Who is a scavenger?
The bream is a fish that, like bream, belongs to the carp family, to the order Cypriniformes.
The body of the bream reaches 15–20 centimeters in length, weight varies from 500 grams. up to 2 kg. Its mouth is like a tube and can extend in length, its body resembles a flattened plate, and its scales are silver in color. The characteristic hump, like that of a bream, is absent. The height of the bream in relation to ordinary bream is 1:3.
Features, habitats of the bream
There are no particular differences in the habitats and diet of the bream. It, like bream, prefers to live in the depths of rivers and lakes, migrates before winter, and feeds on mollusks.
The main differences in fishing for bream and bream
Both age groups of bream can be caught in the same way, the only difference being the reliability of the gear and equipment due to the difference in the weight of the trophy. Among the general principles of fishing, it is worth noting the delicacy of the rigs, since careful fish do not allow the use of rough rigs, ignoring thick leashes and elements with glimpses and unnatural colors, which applies to a greater extent to hooks and feeders. Fishing with bottom gear, in particular feeder, and float rods is popular.
Less known and used in practice is fishing using spinning equipment. White bream can be caught in the shallows, which cannot be said about full-fledged bream, which must be hunted initially by selecting deep-sea areas. If the bream is caught with bait, then the bream need to be attached to the fishing site, setting baits a couple of days before the start of fishing. Complementary foods for small individuals do not require the inclusion of animal elements, the components of which, chopped worms and bloodworms, are required for catching bream. Mandatory ingredients for large specimens of fish are boiled porridge, millet and oatmeal. For small items, ground crackers mixed with store-bought mixtures are sufficient.
The most suitable attractants are sweet aromas, vanilla, cinnamon, honey, which are loved by fish of different ages. When installing bait on a trophy catch, its dimensions are increased. Catching white bream does not require large baits, and a panicle of 5–7 bloodworms can be considered an ideal working bait. Bream fishing requires careful elaboration of the strategy, advance bait and a couple of days long fishing session. Hunting for bream is quite similar to planning strategies for white fish like roach and silver bream. By following these simple tips from the article, the angler will not only be able to figure out the correct fishing names for this fish, but he will also certainly be able to get a trophy with the size and color of the scales, allowing him to say that a real bream was caught.
Methods for catching bream
An adult specimen of the carp family is of commercial importance and is caught everywhere. The white bream is not caught on an industrial scale, since its size does not correspond to the permitted size. Recreational fishing for this species is permitted, but the size of the “plywood” must correspond to the minimum size allowed for catch. In different regions it ranges from 10 to 32 centimeters.
However, if an angler aims to catch a bream, then for successful fishing it is necessary to know the characteristics of the fish. This fish is also called the “scoundrel” and this is due to its cunning, timidity and caution.
You can catch white bream using a float rod, feeder or donka. The best baits: worms, maggots, bloodworms, bread. The white bream and its older brother peck on raw lard. The best time for fishing is morning and evening.
The bream's bite is accurate; it will not grab the bait. When you see the float leaving smoothly, you need to wait intently. The bream tries the bait. Having tasted it, he will begin to eat it, and the jerks will be more active. At this moment you should hook the fish.
If fishing occurs in the winter season, then you should fish in pits with jigs. The main requirement is thin tackle. The thinner the line, the greater the chance of success. The main rule when hunting for bream is maintaining silence. You should not make noise both on the ice and on the shore in the spring. You should drill 3-5 pairs of holes, feed them and sprinkle them with snow.
Be sure to feed bream and bream. Since this fish is very neat and cautious, it will not immediately respond to bait. It will take time. It is better to use aromatic bait, based on barley, pearl barley or corn. Animal supplements of chopped worms and maggots are guaranteed to bring the bream to feed.
The most effective way is to catch bream using several fishing rods with different jigs. One should play and the other should catch. The game should be smooth, without sudden movements.
The same baits that are used as bait should be used on the hook. It should be noted that a particularly catchy bait is the so-called sandwich, when bloodworms and maggots alternate on the hook.
Since bream and bream are desirable fish for fishermen, water farms are engaged in breeding and preserving the population of this species. In the last century, commercial catch of this fish reached 120 thousand tons. These days the numbers have decreased by 3-4 times. People monitor the reservoirs where the bream lives, and in cases of threat to the population, special seines and artificial floating spawning grounds are installed. In addition, a ban on catching fish below a certain size also helps preserve the population of this fish.
