Thread: What is a bream?

Originally Posted by SteveGibson

I've not found a fish species called bream. I guess bream is a catch-all for panfish?

Will someone enlighten, please?

YES .. there is a fish species known as a "Bream" .... but, it's a European fish, that's more "carp" than Sunfish :p

In the USA ... Bream/Brim ... however you say/write it ... is a catch-all name for most Sunfish (with the exception of Crappie & the Basses). Most folks don't know all the different Sunfish species by their name ... so they lump 'em all together under the name "Bream".

Here's what Wikipedia has to say : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bream

Consider yourself "enlightened" :D

... cp

My great uncle alway's called bluegill bream.I think alot of people think a small female bluegill is a bream.Bream is not the correct term but if you told me ya caught a bunch of them I would know what you had.I have even seen article's in fishing mag's calling them bream.

i guess it depends on where u are and who u are cause to me there is bluegill,sunperch,shellcracker,rockbass,and pumpkinseed

Panfish,bream,brim that is what this forum call's them I just noticed that.How did that happen CP?

Originally Posted by SteveGibson

What is a bream?
I've not found a fish species called bream. I guess bream is a catch-all for panfish?

Will someone enlighten, please?

This has come up before. Jack Ellis in his book The Sunfishes says it better (pg. 1 & 2) than I ever could:

Originally Posted by Jack Ellis

I still find a great deal of misunderstanding, even among native Southerners, about sunfish and their place in the ichthyological scheme of things. Adding to the confusion is the use of the vague, nondescriptive, often offensive term of "panfish" among fly fishers. I am afraid that we are forever stuck with that unfortunate appelation for these fine game fish --I studiously avoid its use in my writings, but editors invariably insist on putting it back in the text or title. To lump these diverse species together under the "panfish" umbrella makes little sense, since they vary widely not only in size and appearance, but in dietary and habitat preferences. I prefer the colloquial "bream", a corruption of the French breme, a type of European carp (Abramis brama). We probably owe the origin of the term to the early Cajun settlers in Louisiana. Even the misnomer "perch" is better than "panfish."

Originally Posted by Slipped Cork

Panfish,bream,brim that is what this forum call's them I just noticed that.How did that happen CP?

we just "lumped 'em" all together, under those "titles/names", as that's what most people call 'em :p
It also helps seperate the Crappie, from the mix ... and it doesn't specifically name every different specie of Sunfish/Panfish, since there's so many of them. And, as you previously stated, most people would know what you're talking about.
And, as we've all come to know ... even every single fish specie has a handfull of "nicknames", and some even share the same nicknames of others. Bream, or Brim, just implies "a Sunfish" that is not a Crappie or Bass.

... cp

I have been enlightened on this matter.Thank's

Thanks! That's pretty much what I thought.