How to Catch Bream When All Else Seems to Fail

Bluegill

Have you gone fishing in a pond that you know is full of bream and other panfish and you can't seem to get them to bite? Try this simple trick and you'll be pulling them in left and right!

Things You'll Need

• Box of Crickets; bream buster; red worms (wigglers) and wax worms.

Instructions

1. If you know the areas where they usually bite, that is great. But you should also ask, if not your pond, if the owner of the pond knows where there are brush piles or places that the bream can hide. Or any bedding spots. Of course, if they are on the bed it is very difficult to catch them. If you know where the brush piles are, or fish the cool spots ( docks or logs in the water) then you'll have a hands up on the fish.

2. Once you have a notion of where they are, you need to make certain they are there. If your water is not clear enough to see them swimming around, or if it is a deep area... just take a box of crickets and throw a few on top of the water. In a few seconds or minutes you'll know if they're in that area. They'll come up quickly and pop those crickets right out the water! If the crickets have enough time to swim to safety, then it's time to try another area. Be sure not to stand to close to the edge of the pond, because you can spook the fish.

3. If the bream do go for the crickets, use the crickets. Often times you can also try different baits to see if they bite. For this you'll need a good bream buster or light gear tackle... depending on how big the bream or bluegill are in the pond. Use the crickets at different depths. I find that the bigger bream are at deeper depths, and the pesky little ones are closer to the top of the water. If they don't bite, try using something with a little more action...like "wigglers" or red worms. They usually will spark an interest in the fish and stay active on the hook much longer than crickets. The final bait that I recommend highly is wax worms. Pan fish LOVE these little white worms! One great thing about wax worms is that two or three on the hook will last on a hook a long, long time... unless they get chomped on!

Tips & Warnings

• If you use wax worms, make sure to bring extra line, hooks and supplies, because of my experience, catfish also love these little treats. I have had them straighten out my bream buster and pop the line... yes, even though the wax worms are very small, they'll attract even large catfish. Good Luck!