Bream On Lures

[diver1]

after advice please, i need some help with catchen bream on lures please, i can catch the flattys no prob but no idea or luck with the bream, cple of questions, in plastics what size should i b useing? 2 to 3 inch? and wat wieght and size jig head? and is the retrieve the same as my flatty one? ive heard some say to slow it right down for bream as its more about fineese and patience, im just after a few ideas to get me started and going in the right direction. thanks.

[chrisg]

Mr Diver

Let me know the sort of area your fishing (Brizzy Waters?) and I'll see if I can help?

C.

[GregL]

Mate this time of year you should be throwing poppers up in the lake!

Have a go with a River 2 sea bubble pop or a NW pencil in the shallow bays that are full off weed beds down the southern end of the lake.

Cast out and let it sit for 3 or 4 seconds, then pop, pop pause retrieve back to boat.

Greg

[brendong]

I'd start with smaller lures than your typical Flatty softys for a start. Something like a like Gulp Shrimp 2', 3' Gulp minnows, Firebait's, Squidy Wrigglers in 80 mil (bloodworm my fav colour) and use as light a jig head as your can. (most of my bream palsticing occurs in the shallows sub 3 metres)

Most of these style of lures need a fair bit of action so I typically give the rod tip at least three or four whacks before I wind my wind but every day can be differnet so mix it up to see what works.

You might like to try blading as well as they are sucker for the TT's/Eco Gear's etc.

But at this time of year there is no better form of bream fishing than heading for the weedbeds, sand flats and oyster racks to throw around some poppers....you probably need a couple of pencils (Jaz make some nice affordable ones) and couple of cup face one's like Bushy's, River to Sea's or even Strike Pro's....once you get your first Bream off the surface you will be hooked for life the strikes are amazing....

just my twwo cents worth anyway.

[monch]

Is luring bream in the shallow weed beds/sand flats with poppers, soft plastics etc a low light only proposition? Or is it still possible late morning/late afternoon?

Any weed beds worth mentioning in the Port hacking/George's river that are accessible from shore?

[Raii]

Is luring bream in the shallow weed beds/sand flats with poppers, soft plastics etc a low light only proposition? Or is it still possible late morning/late afternoon?

Any weed beds worth mentioning in the Port hacking/George's river that are accessible from shore?

I too am interested, I have been trying poppers at Gunnamatta Bay baths on the left havent had much success might try there again

[brendong]

Poppering for bream in particular is best in lower light or overcast conditions, whiting you can catch all day. The Grays Point flats are worth shot either early morning or late arvo probably on a higher tide. (But they are that big I just go when ever and usually do ok). Plus you will pick up whiting and flathead too.

I'd also assume just walking Main Bar or over near Bonney Vale would probably be quite good if land based is your only option.

Try to avoid high traffic (both boat & people) areas and this time of year it can be tough.

I've never poppered around the baths but from memory it drops off quite quickly and if you are trying to popper in more than 2 meters of water I'd suggest you might struggle. Fish will hit poppers in as a liittle as a foot water and when they do they go like the clappers as there is no where to go but left, right or straight ahead.

Hope it helps.

[Flattiehunter991]

I have a clear Rebel Popper. Couldnt get a fish or even a hit from Whiting/Bream even though i could see schools of them

[craigtempo]

I'd start with smaller lures than your typical Flatty softys for a start. Something like a like Gulp Shrimp 2', 3' Gulp minnows, Firebait's, Squidy Wrigglers in 80 mil (bloodworm my fav colour) and use as light a jig head as your can. (most of my bream palsticing occurs in the shallows sub 3 metres)

Most of these style of lures need a fair bit of action so I typically give the rod tip at least three or four whacks before I wind my wind but every day can be differnet so mix it up to see what works.

You might like to try blading as well as they are sucker for the TT's/Eco Gear's etc.

But at this time of year there is no better form of bream fishing than heading for the weedbeds, sand flats and oyster racks to throw around some poppers....you probably need a couple of pencils (Jaz make some nice affordable ones) and couple of cup face one's like Bushy's, River to Sea's or even Strike Pro's....once you get your first Bream off the surface you will be hooked for life the strikes are amazing....

just my twwo cents worth anyway.

i agree but will add use as light as line [ fluro ] as u can get away with , smaller wrigglers are good also [ bloodworm my best as well ] and eco gear sx40s . these are small suspending type minows and bream LOVE them .

good luck

craig

[pburton]

The bream have realy started to come on to surface lures around my area(Georges River) in the last week or two. The next few weeks, with school back should be great.

As others said poppers or walk the dog style lures are the goods. With whiting i use a quick almost walking pace retreive. i pretty much use the reel and just add some action with the rod tip no real pauses. i find if its not moving whiting wont hit it. Bream are a little harder and i use a slower retrieve with just enough flick to make the popper spray a little water, do this a few times and then a pause. I have heard waiting for the rings of water to get to about 20-30cm but recently i have been just keeping the lure moving very slowly on the surface. Watch the diffrence in the action of you popper doing this, (I am trying to mimmick the slow wobble a good hard body has when you let it rise on a pause.)

My number one at the moment is fishing plastic prawns or flick baits unweighted on a worm hook. Cast these over the weed beds and move them just enough to keep them on the surface with the occasional flick to make them dart, if you see a swirl pause and let them sink and watch you line for a twitch.

I like to fish light 2ld braid and 4lb leader and use small poppers, plastics are usually used with the least weight i can cast (1/16 or 1/32.)

[Day's Fishin]

Hi Diver1, everyone has there way of catching bream! So heres mine & I have caught a lot using this method

including a couple of comp wins. Lures should be around 4 to 8cm. A couple of good ones are Rapala f3, Whitty's Dee Bob & Halco Scorpion 35. With all lures the line to lure knot has to be tied properly so as not to interfer with the swimming action of the lure. Use a loop knot & make sure you don't pull it down onto the lure. Use a 2 or 3kg fireline attached to a monofilament leader about 1meter in length. The trick is to flick the lure to a likely looking stucture & comence a slow retreive, every now & then pause & let your lure rise to the surface. I have found that bream are inquisitive fish that will follow the lure without strikeing it. When you stop the retreive & it starts its slow way up to the surface is when most strikes happen. The only drawback is the bycatch is usally flathead & their teeth & gill rakes make short work of the leader. But what are you targeting, bream right? If you want to catch the lizards as well then up the strenght of the leader, but this will bring your bream catch rate down.

Regards Jeff

[diver1]

these pencil lures? what are some brands or models and sizes i should start with and what retrieve? also are they only a very shallow water option?

[Hodgey]

Lucky Craft lures

NW Pencil - Ghost Ayu

Sammy 65 - Impact Yellow

Jaz Lures

Zappa 55 - Lemon Tiger

There's a couple to get you started that have proven very successful in our waterway.

The rod work required to impart the correct action is a little different to a popper IMHO. There is a lot more rod-tip movement used to make a pencil 'walk-the-dog'. I have had this conversation with a Raider recently on the water, and found the best way to 'teach' the method is:

Choose your conditions carefully. If the water surface is too rough the lure will struggle to perform properly. Practise on a calm day to maximise your chance of success.

Make a cast into some open water, as this will give you plenty of room to work.

Commence winding the reel whilst holding the rod motionless. Once the line is tight and the lures is making a 'v' through the water, tap the forefinger of the hand holding the rod against the blank, roughly one tap per second. DON'T STOP WINDING THE REEL. This SHOULD send a 'pulse' through the line, which will 'activate' the action in the lure. I used this technique with a member recently and it worked quite well.

This technique will have your lure walking the dog with a fairly wide swathe through the water. If you want in to 'scurry' across the surface, use the same technique, but increase reel winding speed and make the tap the rod at 2 taps per second.

Once you have seen how the action should look, now you can progress to the more accepted method. All the technique is the same, except now you impart the action via your wrist instead of your finger. Once the lure is being retrieved, send the 'pulse' through the rod tip by rocking your wrist up and down roughly 3-4cm. Once again, the lure action can be changed by altering the tempo of wrist and reel in unison.

I hope I haven't confused you mate. As with a lot of rodwork involving lures, you will develop a personal preference and technique to suit you. With a bit of luck, Greg L, The Iceman, Roberta and others will add their two bobs worth, as they may have an easier or more effective technique for you to learn with.

Cheers and good luck!

Hodgey

[The Iceman]

I use the wrist action that Hodgey explained but the one thing he missed is it is done with the rod tip pointing at an angle towards the water and moving the rodtip down in conjunction with a slow wind There is some good stuff on youtube that can show you the action as it is very hard to explain

Calm water is best any bit of chop change to a popper

For bream 5-6 movements the pause for up to 5 seconds or if you see a bowwave behind the lure pause it and the bream will hit it when it is just sitting there motionless

For whiting a constant movement will get them hitting it just keep going until they hookup

Fish water from 6in deep up to 6ft deep

I use Jaz zappas NW pencils ecogear PXs stiffy topdogs and smak skywalkers

Colours I prefer are clear, pearl and lemon yellow or combinations of these

The orange and gold smak is good for whiting

[brendong]

I agree with both Hodgey and Iceman on technique....Lucky Crafts NW's are awesome as are Bass Day Suga pens lighter colours for breambo's and whiting but use dark colours in low light conditions and remember to upgrade your hooks as both will fail or rust quickly....Owners are the go....

Same goes when fishing for bass with them....

I do get a little annoyed paying $25 to $30 for an awesome lure with crappy hooks....

[arpie]

Hi Diver

Great tips & advice there Hodgey, Greg & Iceman & everyone

Coming from a Kayak perspective, I find that I do the 'walk the dog' more efficiently in the yak than I can standing up! This is because you can't do the 'downward tip movement' from a yak as you are too low to the water and can't get the correct angle.

However, I have conjured up my own method that seems to work for me ........

Here's how I do it - I use 3-4lb braid & about 1m of at least 6lb flurocarbon as the leader. The rod that you use MUST have a reasonably whippy tip section as this is what imparts the action to the lure. Find some 'shallows' where there are usually nipper beds & occasional weed beds (that can be as shallow as 1ft/.3m.) I cast the lure as far away from me as possible, preferably using the wind on my back to assist it to go even further! (I usually start with a sammy65 in Ghost Minnow - sort of a baby mullet colour altho I have done well on the bright yellow one as well around structure ie poles etc.) NW52s in the same colour or 270 are good too, but they are lighter & don't cast as far as the Sammys.

I actually like to 'jiggle' the lure a little bit, immediately it lands on the water. Any inquisitive bream nearby will hoon over & either look at it or attack it. Like Greg, I let it sit there for a couple of seconds, as, if it lands on or near a bream, the bream will usually attack the lure immediately! You must Watch the lure like a hawk. If there is any 'abnormal' wave movement heading towards it, or difference to the general water around it (or if there is a visible & audible 'bloop' as the bream tries to smack the lure), I prefer to leave it ABSOLUTELY ALONE until the attack ends in a strike or they lose interest and the action stops! The further away you can cast the lure, the better chance you have of not spooking them & getting a hit. Let the bream have a good go at it. It can take 5-8 hits before it finds a hook & the fight begins! The hardest part of the discipline is to NOT STRIKE at the lure when the fish is hitting it. Striking the lure (trying to set the hook) actually just pulls it away from the fish's face & the Strike Zone & they usually don't follow it.

You must wait to feel the weight of the fish on the line before setting the hook. However, if you see activity & then it stops & you haven't hooked the fish, keep your rod tip pointed at the lure & wind in any slack line again. Then, to impart 'walk the dog' movement to my lure, I keep the rod perfectly still by butting the but of the handle against my chest/upper body, whilst turning the crank handle 1/2 a turn & stopping it reasonably crisply a few times then stopping for a pause. The 1/2 turn doesn't have to be overly exaggerated - just crisp enough to make the lure turn left & and then right on the next turn, about 1 or 2 within the second. You will notice the rod tip quivering with each 1/2 turn & this creates the 'walk'. The line needs to be absolutely slack between the 1/2 turns as this is what allows the lure to turn - and any slack is picked up by the crispness of the next 1/2 turn. So, do that 2 or 3 times, then stop & pause for between 5 - 10 seconds (not necessarily every time!) Watch for any agression by a fish towards the lure. Then I just wind in the slack and bring the pencil towards me slowly for 2-3 complete winds, so it leaves the 'v' trailing on the surface. This sort of looks like a prawn trying to get away without anyone noticing! Give another pause & then go into the 'walk the dog' mode again. If you don't get a reaction within 10 'retrieves' I reckon you may as well wind it in & start the process all over again, broadcasting your casts like the face of a clock, to cover different water with each cast. Then, go over them again or move spots & try again. Vary the speed of your retrieve as I had the one aggressive bream hoon over the other day when I was literally winding it in to try again & it kept whacking the lure within a rod's length from the yak until he hooked up, when normally, they lose interest once they are that close!

If you had a hit in an area & didn't hookup - go back to it & try again after 1/2hr or so & chances are, you'll get it next time you put the lure past its face!!

It may take a little while to perfect the action, but give all the above methods a try & you will surely find one of them or a mix of the lot that suits your style.

I prefer to fish these areas for the last 2hrs of the rising tide & up to 2hrs afterwards (or until the bite 'goes off'.) Try the one spot over & over (not necessarily every time) but to acquaint yourself with the area well. However, other areas that may be too deep to elicit a reaction on high tide may be 'just right' some time after the tide has turned & fallen. Just keep trying where ever you spot any shallows & you may get bream, whiting & flatties on the Sammys!

Many of these spots can only be accessed when the King Tides are happening (like last week.) Easter will probably be the next King tide. If you are in a boat, give my method a go whilst sitting down, it may help you & also present less of a profile to the fish as they approach the lure. Whatever you do, don't get stuck in the shallows once the tide has changed if you are in a boat! It could take 6hrs for the next high tide & it still may not be high enough for you to get out!

Remember tho, that my method is really aimed more at yakkers than stand up boaters or shore fishos.

Good luck & let us know how you go! It is sooooo addictive, once you get repeated hits & hookups!

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited February 3, 2010 by Roberta

[The Iceman]

Other stuff I remembered is I use 6lb flouro carbon leader and scent either megastrike or S factor

Also tie the lure on with a loop knot and run some of the scent up the leader so it floats

[arpie]

Another good tip, Andrew!! Thanks!

I forgot another retrieve that aggravates a hit sometimes if the lure lands almost on top of them .....

Sometimes I do my 'machine gun' retrieve (without waiting for the rings to fade) this gets the lure jerking quicker & more erratically, then I slow it down to the normal 'walk the dog' style if there isn't a hit. Normally you will get the hit immediately if one is there!

As the lure lands, point the rod at the lure & keep it still (once again it is the tip that imparts the action.) My 'machine gun' retrieve involves holding the line lightly onto the front of the rod handle cork just in front & under the edge of the reel spool ....... and winding continuously (try different speeds on different casts to see which one 'works'), imparting a quick jerking, erratic movement to the lure. It takes a bit of practise to do it without getting the line to wrap back around the reel - so just keep trying it till you get it right! It is just another variation of the retrieve to try if they are not on the bite immediately.

Or you can just loop the line over a finger holding that finger close to the rod & it does a similar action.

Or ........ you can add a 'line holder' to your rod (like the Alveys have on theirs) - basically a 'sideways hook' (as aginst the shape of a hook keeper that is on many rods now) and you can loop the line thru that & it vitrually does the same retrieve!! I don't think it would be too good for the longevity of the braid tho!

Sometimes they bite thru hunger & they think it is a prawn scurrying away - and other times thru sheer aggression as the lure is 'in their face' & they must attack it until they get it!

Cheerio

Roberta

Edited February 5, 2010 by Roberta

[craigtempo]

You started on your book yet roberta

craig

[arpie]

You'll get the first copy, Craig!!

Look forward to seeing you up here next time - will you & the fan-damily be here for the Yak ABT?

Cheerio

Roberta