Fish identification

[davyboy 18]

Last week I hooked on a small feeder what I thought was a Bream it didn't move the line much but as I got it near the surface it jumped out of the water.

When netted and unhooked I noticed it wan't slimy but had quite a rough surface.

Thinking about it later I wondered if it was a roach. Pity I didn't take a snap but it was a similar shape and size as a bream of about8-10 ounces.

Any thoughts??

[bigsexydoug 10]

its one of 2 things, a bream or a bream/roach hybrid (they are sprouting up now ive noticed over the last few years,

ive had plenty of bream where the tip or float havent shifted, and i think the rough /slimy thing is because of the spawning season, but i have had them rough as sandpaper and slimy like snot too, however to say for certain d.n.a tests would have to be carried out, at the moment its being debated in the angling times etc etc as to wether the records are in fact 100% true species or in fact hybrids, however you do generally see the hump of a bream in most hybrids, that seems really dominant in hybrids compared to other features !

[dars35 10]

bream will often leap out of the water when hooked in shallow water, no one really knows the reason for this, but it's pretty spectacular & causes a huge disturbance

there are many theories as to why they do this, whether it's something to do with the water thermoclynes, whether they are coming up too fast, or even that the pole elastic people are using is too harsh

 

that last one's obviously not the cause in this instance as you were on the feeder!

 

a regards the rough feel, as bsd rightly says, bream tend to develop spots when they are in spawning season, particularly on the top of their heads, and if they have been spawning actively they'll probably have lost a lot of slime, as they clean themselves off in weeds afterwards & this removes quite a lot of their natural slime...

 

 

roach would tend to have orange-tinged fins & perhaps a bluey tinge to their usually silver flanks

also, they have proportionally larger scales than bream, but I guess you didn't have one of each to hand to make a comparisson, so forget I said that!

[charliewag 19]

Going on your description, I would say it's a roach/bream hybrid. There are quite a few in my local fishery.

[davyboy 18]

Thank you for your replies which all point to it being a bream or a hybrid.

The bream that I've caught previously have been pretty docile with no fight in them at all, so it was a surprise to see this one jump and it was a bit more energetic than usual when brought to the net.

[sheff 13 10]

I fished a reasonably shallow swim yesterday with a light elastic and perhaps 1 in 5 skimmers went airborne, I think they do it just to throw the hook it seems the more they're hooked the more they do it.

[davyboy 18]

I've just had a fantastic day's fishing (over a dozen carp all over 5 lb in five hours) which included two bream, one slimy and the other with no slime and a rough feel to the body.

It was definitely a bream so the one I described in my original post was more than likely a bream and not a hybrid.

[sheff 13 10]

Can't say I've noticed a lack of slime on Bream with spawning spots. Is there any other reason to cause fish to have rough skin or scales with no mucus ?