Long awaited bream on topwater

[Little_Flatty]

I have to admit, up to this point, topwater has not been my thing. It just doesn't work for me, at least in my neck of the flats at Meadowbank. Nevertheless I still have managed to get a whiting and some tailor on topwater lures when on holidays, but apart from that, it's been just a novelty interest that other people specialise in.

On holidays recently up in Pindimar (near Tea Gardens), something changed, and I had a premonition that topwater might well work for me this year. I think it had something to do with the massive school of whiting climbing over each other to eat my sugapen, or one of my fly fishing mates raving on about the Disco Shrimp and it's effectiveness. I wasn't a believer, but along with @DerekD's obsession, @Bennyg78 making surface his go-to strategy for a bream comp and a few others like @Robbo from Sydney, @Isaac Ct and @AlbertW having a bit of success, I had to give topwater another go, be it on fly or lure.

Last night I started looking for the ingredients to tie myself a Disco Shrimp. Only problem was, I didn't find any sequins in my wife's sewing kit or the kids' beading sets until it was too late to start tying. So lures it was.

Arrived at Drummoyne just after 5.30am this morning and rigged up. Today, my choice of outfit was my trusty Crucis 7ft 8in rod and my old Exceler that is now literally falling apart from use. I tied on a Berkley Bender 68mm and got casting. First cast, I saw some swirls behind the lure, but I wasn't sure if that was a fish or just the ripples from the lure.

A few casts on, I realise that those swirls were indeed fish and they were bream at that. Keep casting and moving along the shoreline, trying to entice a bream to strike.

I come to a stand of mangroves and thought about getting past them as soon as possible. But there were a few gaps in the mangroves here and there and it was a gnarly proposition, but this morning I was feeling game. Cast through the gap (phew) then twitch-twitch, twitch-twitch-twitch...then BANG! A feisty fish wallops my lure, trying its best to dust me off in the mangroves as feared. As the fish neared, I realised it was my first ever topwater bream:

Next gap in the mangroves, I cast again, for another hit, but missed. I soon realised that the majority of the swirls were from very small bream when I got a visual on some of them. They were really quite fearless.

There was quite a bit of surface activity this morning, with little fish getting chased around all over the place. My first thought was tailor, but it did occur to me that these could be bream as well.

Anyhow, I cast on over the flats, then it was time to start heading back. I cast again through the gaps in the mangroves for nought. I was thinking that one bream on lures could've been a fluke, if I get another one, that would help prove to me that I'm getting the hang of it. But nothing was interested over the next few casts.

Then, almost back at the car, I get a swirl and then a visual on another bream. In plain sight, I watch it whack the lure and once again I'm on. Another little one, a little smaller than the last:

Released that fish, then it was time to go.

This was the first time I'd nailed any bream on the surface, so I was happy with those two. I recently gave someone advice that if they tried something new, that they had to give it a red hot go. Taking a dose of my own medicine gave me access to a new fishing experience. After more than three decades of fishing, it is time for a few more firsts.

Next stop, tie a Disco Shrimp and get my first bream on fly!

Edited January 24 by Little_Flatty
More typos

[Bennyg78]

Great read @Little_Flatty

How addictive is that topwater hit? 

Well done on catching a couple this morning, I hope I see a few more topwater catches soon!!

[Green Hornet]

That’s awesome Mike, nothing builds the confidence more than getting out and doing it on your own. Good luck with the Disco Shrimp once you tie one up.

[faker]

18 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

I have to admit, up to this point, topwater has not been my thing. It just doesn't work for me, at least in my neck of the flats at Meadowbank. Nevertheless I still have managed to get a whiting and some tailor on topwater lures when on holidays, but apart from that, it's been just a novelty interest that other people specialise in.

On holidays recently up in Pindimar (near Tea Gardens), something changed, and I had a premonition that topwater might well work for me this year. I think it had something to do with the massive school of whiting climbing over each other to eat my sugapen, or one of my fly fishing mates raving on about the Disco Shrimp and it's effectiveness. I wasn't a believer, but along with @DerekD's obsession, @Bennyg78 making surface his go-to strategy for a bream comp and a few others like @Isaac Ct and @AlbertW having a bit of success, I had to give topwater another go, be it on fly or lure.

Last night I started looking for the ingredients to tie myself a Disco Shrimp. Only problem was, I didn't find any sequins in my wife's sewing kit or the kids' beading sets until it was too late to start tying. So lures it was.

Arrived at Drummoyne just after 5.30am this morning and rigged up. Today, my choice of outfit my trusty Crucis 7ft 8in rod and my trusty Exceler that is now literally falling apart from use. I tied on a Berkley Bender 68mm and got casting. First cast, I saw some swirls behind the lure, but I wasn't sure if that was a fish or just the ripples from the lure.

A few casts on, I realise that those swirls were indeed fish and they were bream at that. Keep casting and moving along the shoreline, trying to entice a bream to strike.

I come to a stand of mangroves and thought about getting past them as soon as possible. But there were a few gaps in the mangroves here and there and it was a gnarly proposition, but this morning I was feeling game. Cast through the gap (phew) then twitch-twitch, twitch-twitch-twitch...then BANG! A Feisty fish wallops my lure, trying its best to dust me off in the mangroves as feared. As the fish neared, I realised it was my first ever topwater bream:

Next gap in the mangroves, I cast again, for another hit, but missed. I soon realised that the majority of the swirls were from very small bream when I got a visual on some of them. They were really quite fearless.

There was quite a bit of surface activity this morning, with little fish getting chased around all over the place. My first thought was tailor, but it did occur to me that these could be bream as well.

Anyhow, I cast on over the flats, then it was time to start heading back. I cast again through the gaps in the mangroves for nought. I was thinking that one bream on lures could've been a fluke, if I get another one, that would help prove to me that I'm getting the hang of it. But nothing was interested over the next few casts.

Then, almost back at the car, I get a swirl and then a visual on another bream. In plain sight, I watch it whack the lure and once again I'm on. Another little one, a little smaller than the last:

Released that fish, then it was time to go.

This was the first time I'd nailed any bream on the surface, so I was happy with those two. I recently gave someone advice that if they tried something new, that they had to give it a red hot go. Taking a dose of my own medicine gave me access to a new fishing experience. After more than three decades of fishing, it is time for a few more firsts.

Next top, tie a Disco Shrimp and get my first bream on fly!

i am still gonna fish surface near meadow bank. i am just that stubborn

[Bennyg78]

44 minutes ago, faker said:

i am still gonna fish surface near meadow bank. i am just that stubborn

You can still catch fish there but its less likely to happen. There are so many other areas which are close by that fish surface better.

[faker]

2 minutes ago, Bennyg78 said:

You can still catch fish there but its less likely to happen. There are so many other areas which are close by that fish surface better.

wanna give me ideas? i normally fish parra on my passing by sessions

[Bennyg78]

2 minutes ago, faker said:

wanna give me ideas? i normally fish parra on my passing by sessions

Edited January 23 by Bennyg78

[Bennyg78]

@faker well Drummoyne is mentioned here in this post as a starting point

There are a myriad of bays and flats to fish the parra river, the fun is in exploring it and finding it. Google earth and six maps are your friends on this adventure.

Good luck on your search

[DerekD]

33 minutes ago, faker said:

wanna give me ideas? i normally fish parra on my passing by sessions

"Please" helps.

Look for bays where the water has some reasonable clarity and you can cover ground. The MMD video which started a lot of us off was done along canals (with deeper water in the middle of the canal) so the host was fishing parallel to the banks to be fishing optimal water depths. For me the sweet spot for bream and whiting is between 20cm and 1.2m deep. There are plenty of bays which meet this criteria. I wouldn't be doing it in 3m or bigger depths unless I'm fishing to structure (boats or jetties) or chasing pelagics. Essentially fish where they are likely to be and it puts the lure in reasonable striking distance. I'll walk 10 or 20m for a treat but not 10km - the payoff is not worth it and target species would behave in a similar way.

Edited January 23 by DerekD

[faker]

22 minutes ago, DerekD said:

"Please" helps.

Look for bays where the water has some reasonable clarity and you can cover ground. The MMD video which started a lot of us off was done along canals (with deeper water in the middle of the canal) so the host was fishing parallel to the banks to be fishing optimal water depths. For me the sweet spot for bream and whiting is between 20cm and 1.2m deep. There are plenty of bays which meet this criteria. I wouldn't be doing it in 3m or bigger depths unless I'm fishing to structure (boats or jetties) or chasing pelagics. Essentially fish where they are likely to be and it puts the lure in reasonable striking distance. I'll walk 10 or 20m for a treat but not 10km - the payoff is not worth it and target species would behave in a similar way.

Hi @DerekDthanks for response.  I have been having hit and misses on appropriate depths. So haven't been consistent fishing them

[bessell1955]

Great to see that you were successful.

[AlbertW]

Good stuff @Little_Flatty, I have yet to get onto a topwater bream myself as I've only had them swirl on me or crunch my slippery dog in half. (Can't forget the tailor incident either)  

[DerekD]

Congratulations @Little_Flatty welcome to the bream on topwater club.

Once you see those swirls and the near hits it can get your heart beating faster and then if a hit connects that line racing off is a real buzz.

I went down to the same bay the other day but was fishing the middle set of mangroves. My first cast and teasing retrieve saw about 10 missed strikes whereas in the past the maximum has been about 5 strikes. I thought game on this is going to be an insane session. Several more strikes that session but after all that I finished with a donut. Having said that, that bay and the next one South have been consistent producers for me. Low numbers but some good fish.

Looking forward to more reports from you on this topic.

[Little_Flatty]

2 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

Great read @Little_Flatty

How addictive is that topwater hit? 

Well done on catching a couple this morning, I hope I see a few more topwater catches soon!!

Certainly is Benny. I will also say that covering water is quite a bit faster on topwater, I didn't quite realise how long I spent waiting for plastics to SINK, even in the shallows.

2 hours ago, Green Hornet said:

That’s awesome Mike, nothing builds the confidence more than getting out and doing it on your own. Good luck with the Disco Shrimp once you tie one up.

Thanks Pete. Looking forward to the tying and the fishing!

2 hours ago, faker said:

i am still gonna fish surface near meadow bank. i am just that stubborn

I won't say it won't happen, but I have given it a good go with zero interest. Suffice to say the conventional methods outlined in this community don't seem to work.

That said, I honestly believe that a flatty on topwater is a real possibility, particularly over the shallower sandy stretches.

2 hours ago, Bennyg78 said:

You can still catch fish there but its less likely to happen. There are so many other areas which are close by that fish surface better.

I'll defer to Benny and Derek on this front. They have scoped out this area and feel that success is not as likely as other spots.

1 hour ago, Bennyg78 said:

@faker well Drummoyne is mentioned here in this post as a starting point

There are a myriad of bays and flats to fish the parra river, the fun is in exploring it and finding it. Google earth and six maps are your friends on this adventure.

Good luck on your search

@faker Plenty of spots, but my observation from listening to Derek and Benny is downstream from Gladesville, to find the requisite water clarity. Anywhere there are oysters growing relatively prolifically (not many at Meadowbank).

But to shorten your learning curve, this is a big clue 😎:

But...spots like this are everywhere in all the estuarine waterways in Sydney. So no need to get fixated on just one area.

1 hour ago, DerekD said:

"Please" helps.

Look for bays where the water has some reasonable clarity and you can cover ground. The MMD video which started a lot of us off was done along canals (with deeper water in the middle of the canal) so the host was fishing parallel to the banks to be fishing optimal water depths. For me the sweet spot for bream and whiting is between 20cm and 1.2m deep. There are plenty of bays which meet this criteria. I wouldn't be doing it in 3m or bigger depths unless I'm fishing to structure (boats or jetties) or chasing pelagics. Essentially fish where they are likely to be and it puts the lure in reasonable striking distance. I'll walk 10 or 20m for a treat but not 10km - the payoff is not worth it and target species would behave in a similar way.

Pretty much this. Both my bream came in 20-50cm of water. Not usually my sweet spot for fishing plastics. Interesting.

5 minutes ago, AlbertW said:

Good stuff @Little_Flatty, I have yet to get onto a topwater bream myself as I've only had them swirl on me or crunch my slippery dog in half. (Can't forget the tailor incident either)  

Thanks Albert. I'm guessing it's just a matter of giving it more time. You know what to look for and how to do it.

4 minutes ago, DerekD said:

Congratulations @Little_Flatty welcome to the bream on topwater club.

Once you see those swirls and the near hits it can get your heart beating faster and then if a hit connects that line racing off is a real buzz.

I went down to the same bay the other day but was fishing the middle set of mangroves. My first cast and teasing retrieve saw about 10 missed strikes whereas in the past the maximum has been about 5 strikes. I thought game on this is going to be an insane session. Several more strikes that session but after all that I finished with a donut. Having said that, that bay and the next one South have been consistent producers for me. Low numbers but some good fish.

Looking forward to more reports from you on this topic.

Thanks Derek. Yeah from my observation, there's a lot of little ones that slip between the trebles. Still it's interesting to observe fish behaviour when you can see them; when fishing lures subsurface, you have to use your imagination.

47 minutes ago, bessell1955 said:

Great to see that you were successful.

Thanks Bessell

[DerekD]

3 hours ago, faker said:

i am still gonna fish surface near meadow bank. i am just that stubborn

@Bennyg78 and myself took up @Little_Flatty's challenge to catch a topwater fish at Meadowbank and pretty much admitted defeat before we put a line in the water. The water clarity was horrible. Due to the civil works in the area the section with the best chance at a topwater fish was off limits. The depth of water in the section we could cast to was deeper than we normally like. The waves from the river traffic was a pain and seriously impacted the water clarity. Part of doing well at this aspect of fishing is the ability to cover new ground.

Given time could we do it - I believe so but it would be a lot of time and wasted time.

Why fish Meadowbank when there are at least 3 bays within 5 minutes drive of each other which allow me to cover several km of shore line. @Niall did a report on a session around the bay run in which he caught around 20 bream.

Put the time in. Mix it up. Be patient and enjoy it and the results will come. Young @AlbertW will gets his once he puts a bit more time in as his technique is good.

Edited January 24 by DerekD

[faker]

53 minutes ago, DerekD said:

@Bennyg78 and myself took up @Little_Flatty's challenge to catch a topwater fish at Meadowbank and pretty much admitted defeat before we put a line in the water. The water clarity was horrible. Due to the civil works in the area the section with the best chance at a topwater fish was off limits. The depth of water in the section we could cast to was deeper than we normally like. The waves from the river traffic was a pain and seriously impacted the water clarity. Part of doing well at this aspect of fishing is the ability to cover new ground.

Given time could we do it - I believe so but it would be a lot of time and wasted time.

Why fish Meadowbank when there are at least 3 bays within 5 minutes drive of each other which allow me to cover several km of shore line. @Niall did a report on a session around the bay run in which he caught around 20 bream.

Put the time in. Mix it up. Be patient and enjoy it and the results will come. Young @AlbertW will gets his once he puts a bit more time in as his technique is good.

My parra sessions are spontaneous. Kings and Bonito are kind of higher on my target priority list at the moment. so surface fishing is mostly on sunday afternoons when i am in the area after church and its easy to get home. Granted I am taking someone i know out for fishing soft plastics in bobbin head sand flats and will attempt to use top water while i am there any way

[Little_Flatty]

4 hours ago, DerekD said:

@Bennyg78 and myself took up @Little_Flatty's challenge to catch a topwater fish at Meadowbank and pretty much admitted defeat before we put a line in the water. The water clarity was horrible. Due to the civil works in the area the section with the best chance at a topwater fish was off limits. The depth of water in the section we could cast to was deeper than we normally like. The waves from the river traffic was a pain and seriously impacted the water clarity. Part of doing well at this aspect of fishing is the ability to cover new ground.

Given time could we do it - I believe so but it would be a lot of time and wasted time.

Why fish Meadowbank when there are at least 3 bays within 5 minutes drive of each other which allow me to cover several km of shore line. @Niall did a report on a session around the bay run in which he caught around 20 bream.

Put the time in. Mix it up. Be patient and enjoy it and the results will come. Young @AlbertW will gets his once he puts a bit more time in as his technique is good.

@DerekD the civil works are complete now and that area is now accessible. That said, the water clarity issues are still there and also I feel that the whole area isn't fishing quite as well as last summer (which was a pearler of a season). Cross checking my experiences with a very successful local bait angler, finds that they have experienced the same challenges this summer. It's also quite a small area and only worth it if you are very local. Even I can't really be bothered. It's telling that I drove to Drummoyne on the right tide  

@faker the background to the Meadowbank challenge was that I had a protracted period of trying surface lures there with no success. I thought it would be interesting to get some experts fishing the area on topwater to see if it was me. Derek and Benny took the challenge so seriously that they individually pre-fished the area and even before their first casts, gave me the feedback that it wasn't going to work out! So it wasn't me. Still, I'd never say never - the bream are certainly there (I got one on plastics a couple of weeks ago) - but we'd need to go back to the drawing board and rethink it.

UPDATE: I have since ordered one of those slippery dog things that you lot have been raving about. Had a voucher to a tackle chain, and that brought it down to 9 dollars something delivered! We'll see how I go!  😎

[big Neil]

What a great report Mike and a fantastic result too. You should be awarded recognition for it. Keep up the good work, enjoying reading the reports/

Cheers, bn

[Little_Flatty]

1 hour ago, big Neil said:

What a great report Mike and a fantastic result too. You should be awarded recognition for it. Keep up the good work, enjoying reading the reports/

Cheers, bn

Thanks Neil! Might be some Mud Marlin on the menu this summer, just to mix it up!

[Yowie]

Good work there Mike, not surprising the number of bream around mangrove trees, chasing tiddlers hiding in the root system.

[Robbo from Sydney]

Well done  @Little_Flatty another notch on your fishing belt.  I love reading your reports - they have so much detail and are always fun to read.  

[Mike Sydney]

Here’s a topwater question as I’ve seen arguments for both. Perhaps applying it specifically for bream, should you pause immediately after cast or not?

I’ve heard and read to wait for the ripples to disappear on the basis that the splash has already attracted nearby fish.

I’ve also read that you should walk the dog or pop for a few meters immediately after the splash. 
 

I lean towards the former when I’m fishing near trees or mangroves on the basis that fish are waiting for food to fall off. Maybe that’s more relevant for a cicada lure than a pencil or minnow - what are raiders thoughts on that first cast at an area?