Bream on soft plastics? Trying to improve!

[JamoDamo]

G'day Raiders, 

I've gotten semi decent with soft plastics fishing ... but bream are still my continued target species... I've been fishing 2" mister twister grubs on 1/16th size 2 jigheads and hidden weight 2.5" zman grubz and the traditional head weight jigheads with a little bit of success. I fish in this creek full of logs, snags and overhangs looks absolutely deadly for bream however i've only caught one there and it was barely legal! 

I've been using s factor scent on most of the plastics i've been using couple with 6lb leader and lightly weight plastics and to no avail. I've been fishing structure eg along mangrove edges, in and under tree overhangs and deep into snags and skip casting in skinny water situations but still little sucess! I've been switching presentations, retrieves, leaders down from 6lb and targeting areas where bream would be patrolling along the mangrove edges and I don't know where i'm going wrong.. any feedback/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers guys!

James

[dirvin21]

assume you've got a graphite rod and using braid 

1/16th #2 is perfect for a 2.5inch zman, bream are one fish that can be a bit colour driven, natural colours seem to work best for bream I like greasy prawn, motor oil, pearl and bloodworm. That's the easy part.

Bream are all about the 1%, attention to detail is the key. 

Your plastic must be rigged straight, zmans have a faint line along the back the hook needs to line up with it, the hook also needs to come out at the right length on the plastic so the tail isn't bunched up or stretched on the hook

that's half the battle

6lb leader is good make sure it's long at least 2- 2.5m, a loop knot helps I use lefty's loop

sounds like you're casting the right areas  

the retrieve is a bit difficult to explain in writing

it's all about subtle movements bream are often quite fussy and spook easily with a rip type retrieve, you need the plastic to sink on a belly of slack line (this is very important as the lure can sink naturally with the light jighead), when it reaches the bottom or desired depth, give 2 or 3 gentle taps take up a bit of slack and repeat the sink on a belly of slack, the taps should have mostly wrist and elbow movement

 

hope this helps

Dave

 

 

[XD351]

It was explained to me that the retrieve for a bream can never really be too slow and for a bass never too fast .

I think he was pointing out that most people who fished primarily for bass had a hard time getting their head around the super slow retrieve used on bream and visa versa .

[Green Hornet]

Great advice above.

No matter how slow you're retrieving at present, try slowing it down to painfully slow.

If the bottom where you're fishing is relatively snag free, just slow, subtle rod lifts of about 30cm while shaking the rod tip between longish pauses has worked for me, virtually dragging the lure across the bottom rather than lifting it. Particularly at this time of year as the water cools.

Rigging the plastic absolutely straight and plenty of scent is paramount.

 

[noelm]

Not an expert, but have good success on Bream in pretty heavily fished areas, as mentioned, simple, dull colours seem to work best, brown/greenish kind of thing, small lures working right in snags, around boat moorings, oyster leases, jetties or rocks, don't assume you have to be in deep water, big Bream will hold up right in the shore line, hunting tiny crabs, shrimp and other food, here is a picture from Lake Illawarra right in the "tourist area" caught in "gentleman's" hours, keep at it...ps: really small hard bodies/blades work a treat too, but can get expensive when fishing right in the "zone"

[Berrero]

All other advice above is great.

One small thing I might mention - and would have saved me a lot of time when I was first learning soft plastics - is that you need to find the fish. Soft plastics are different to bait in the sense that you will very rarely attract fish into an area by fishing soft plastics, where as soaking a bait would start to draw them in.

 

Perhaps the small creeks look like bream heaven but maybe that spot isn't holding many bream?

I spent so much time when learning fishing spots that looked fishy only to end up with no fish after multiple trips to the same spot.

There may very well be bream holding at this spot you mention but perhaps spending the next few trips fishing up / downstream a bit might be more productive if you were able to find a more active spot.

Just my 2c, and stick with it.. it definitely gets better!!

[Rebel]

I use 3'' Swim Prawn and Sugarpen lures never had a problem.

I use Sax Scent.

I never tie the lures on I use a small clip that has a swivel, works great.

I also use mono line 6lb.

I also use a Sucide hook and cooked prawns.

Cheers.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Rebel

[XD351]

Adding to what Berrero  said with the creek not holding bream which is definitely true - they may or may not be there . The old adage of find  the food and you will find the fish is something you need to consider when choosing a spot to fish , Bream hiding up in a snag may be there for protection and feeding elsewhere and no matter what lure you use they may not react to it and there is also the possibility that the fish are suspended up off the bottom where a weighted plastic will be working below them - try a neutral buoyancy or slow sinking lure . Go down to where you want to fish at low tide , look for things like mussels and oysters growing on the rocks and snags look for areas where it looks like they have been chewed on and return on the last 1/4 of the run up tide and try a plastic rigged weedless and fish this right in amongst those mussels and oysters - the bream will be pushing to get up there for a feed  . Take a look at the Windsor bait and tackle YouTube channel ( no longer in business he just uses his old store name for his channel so hope this isn’t breaching the COC)  there are heaps or good videos on there regarding bream on lures and how to use them and also our good friend Shroom on YouTube - he also has heaps of fantastic videos and also does the occasional live chat session where you can ask him questions - he has a phenomenal depth of knowledge with lure fishing !

 

Edited April 30, 2021 by XD351
To exorcise the evil that is spellcheck!

[JamoDamo]

I'm gonna go try all these tips these arvo down at my bream creek. I've gotten a couple bream in this spot on plastics but no big models only mid-high 20's and yes i'll look for signs of crushed up mussels etc

[JamoDamo]

I went out and got a 55cm flatty on a hidden weight and 4lb! Skitzyyyy. I think i'm going to try other spots this one doesn't seem to hold many if any..

[Berrero]

On 5/1/2021 at 11:12 AM, JamoDamo said:

I went out and got a 55cm flatty on a hidden weight and 4lb! Skitzyyyy. I think i'm going to try other spots this one doesn't seem to hold many if any..

Where about in Sydney are you based?
 

May be able to give you a few starting spots.... 🙊🙊