“You get a line and I’ll get a pole and we’ll go down to the fishing hole” is a favorite line in a popular song from the past and we practiced that frequently during my youth. Last week I took my daughter Mikayla Giles on just such a trip.

Mikayla put a cricket on her hook and cast into a bream bead. The cork twitched and then disappeared in a flash. Mikayla tightened up her line until the slack was gone and let the TCB rod drive the hook home. As the bull bluegill felt the hook it quickly bore down toward deep water before going into a frenzy. But the bream was no match for Mikayla and her new “favorite” spinning rod made by B’n’M Poles. The new TCB casting rod was made specifically for panfish sized trout, crappie and bream but is equally good for small bass and the rod actually helps set the hook without the power needed by many anglers. If the fish took the bait into their mouth it was over. Mikayla didn’t miss a fish after she got the hookset.

Quality equipment

I’ve always believed in having quality equipment and tackle and that means dependable rods and reels that will do the job. That doesn’t always mean the most expensive either. By keeping fresh line and sharp hooks on your poles and reels you won’t miss many fish. Many people overlook their fishing line and hooks and that’s a mistake. Without strong line you’re sure to have a few breakoffs and possibly miss the fish of a lifetime.

Hooks

When it comes to bream hooks look no further than Tru-Turn hooks. I prefer the long shank red Tru-Turn bream hooks. The key here is that the hooks have just the right angle on them to get a good hookset every time when the fish close their mouths on them. A good pair of Bill Dance or Bass Pro hook removers will help you get that lure unhooked from the small mouths of the bream with ease. If you don’t believe hooks make a difference, then try the Tru-Turn hooks and see if your catch rate doesn’t go up. They are that good on bream.

Going deeper

After an initial frenzy of catching a few good bream the small ones started biting and even then, the bite slowed down. It doesn’t take the bream long to figure out what’s going on. We employed an old trick that I learned in my youth as well. To get away from those bait stealers I simply took the peg out of the cork and let Mikayla cast out and let the bait go to the bottom. She cast out past the smaller bream and got to the area where the bigger fish were.

By leaving the cork on the line free floating it holds the line in a straight angler and you can see when the bream take the bait as the cork often just twitches and sometimes it starts moving sideways.

As Mikayla watched the cork twitch she started reeling in the rig and hooked a huge bream. The harder the fish fought the deeper the hook went into the fish. The rod bent just enough to play the bream, but it also drove the hook deep causing a good hookset.

It didn’t take long for her to get the hang of it and before long she was catching and releasing bull bluegill bream.

Bait

You just can’t beat crickets and red worms for bedding bream. The fish love the crickets but if you don’t watch it, they’ll steal that cricket off the hook in the blink of an eye. Eventually Mikayla put a couple of worms on the hook and cast further out and started catching even bigger bream on the rig. Seemed like the worms stayed on longer and gave the fish time to suck them down deep insuring a good hook set.

While a plain cane pole or Zebco rod n reel combo will work the B’n’M Pole company from West Point has made a selection of poles from their small lightweight bream poles to the new TCB rod and Mossy Oak Brushcutter pole that works equally well for bream or crappie. If you’re looking for a fun time on the water grab a few crickets, worms and your favorite pole and head outdoors today. It’s time for fun right now!

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.