In an age of high-tech baits and exotic additives, there is something reassuringly timeless about a simple lump of breadflake. White, soft, and humble, it has tempted fish in British waters for generations. To watch it drift in the current, breaking down into a pale cloud that roach and chub cannot resist, is to witness a method that has endured not through fashion but through quiet effectiveness.

Bread has always been the bait of the everyday angler. It was cheap, easy to come by, and versatile — pinched onto a hook as flake, rolled into punch for roach, or squeezed into paste for larger fish. Many of us recall raiding the breadbin before heading out, knowing that a few slices wrapped in foil were all that was needed for a day’s sport.

The tactic in different forms can range from delicate to obscene. Fishing with bread using fine lines, small hooks, and lightweight floats can be deadly on a winter canal, involving striking that must be timed with precision in order to connect with the darting nibbles of a small roach. On the other hand, an old 50 pence piece sized bit of soft white bread folded pasty-style around a size four chub hook is downright crude in comparison… but it works!

I’ve had many a chub laid out on a frosty morning with the bread absolutely engulfed, needing a hand from my beast disgorger (designed with greedy chub in mind) to retrieve the hook after another successful bread-based capture.

Part of the charm lies in its democratic nature. Bread fishing was never about wealth or status. Anyone could do it, whether a schoolboy at the village pond or a seasoned club angler on the Thames. Its simplicity stripped fishing back to its essentials: water, fish, bait, and patience.

Even today, when tackle shops brim with boilies, pellets, and fluorescent flavours, many anglers return to bread for its purity – and it’s great to have with you if you have accidentally forgotten your sandwiches!