The Common Bream

Abramis brama

The bream’s body is laterally flattened. Younger specimens have lighter color (their scales are silver), whereas the older ones are yellowish and bronze. The bream prefers slower rivers, lakes, and backwaters. In Hungary, it can be found in the Danube, the Tisza River, and the Körös rivers. Large bream stock lives in Lake Balaton, Lake Velencei, and Lake Tisza.

With its trunk like mouth, it searches for food in the sludge, mainly snails, smaller mussels, and bloodworm larvae. The latter is the most effective bait to catch them. As its undershot mouth suggests, it mainly feeds on the bottom, however, in still waters, it can often be found in mid-water. Sometimes it comes up to the surface of the water, especially at dawn. Its senses are excellent. It can detect the smell of groundbait from a distance. The bream likes sweet flavors, but especially in the spring, you can catch a lot of bream if you put some salt into your groundbait. It spawns in May and June in the weed of the margins. In the hustle and bustle of the spawning period, the back of the fish can be seen quite often, which makes them easy prey for birds and mammals living near the water. It grows quickly in waters where there is enough food source. It can reach 40-50 cm and 4-5 kg.