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5 Tips for Flats Bream
By Jacob Iedema
Often overlooked as a sportfish and regarded as a bait angler’s bread and butter species, bream have a lot more going for them than you may think. Targeting bream, especially on the flats, can be great fun if the basics are done right. Bream can pull well above their weight on light line and large tallies of fish caught can be reached in a session. Along with this, the by-catch when targeting bream on the flats can be exotic, rare, and unexpected. Anything from snapper in 80cm of water, to fast running golden trevally can show up when you start casting lures for bream.
A Stealthy Approach
Staying quiet and having a stealthy approach to breaming the flats can dramatically increase your success. Staying quiet covers everything from noise levels to minimising the vibrations caused by your boat or kayak. While a stealthy approach also encompasses not being seen by the fish that you are targeting, making this kind of fishing such a good option for anglers fishing from a kayak.
The best way to have a stealthy approach when fishing on the flats is to drift, hopefully utilising a very light breeze to cover the area that you wish to drift across. This benefits you by maintaining low noise levels, allowing casts to be slightly wind assisted, and allowing longer casts to reach the fish before they are spooked by your presence. In a kayak this is a great way to cover ground, however, when fishing from a boat an electric motor may be necessary to slow a drift or cover ground, depending on the wind conditions.
Fishing with stealth also comes down to the gear itself. Fishing light on the flats is going to have way more benefits than disadvantages. Fishing with a light spin outfit, generally around the 1-3kg rating, will keep you out of trouble on the flats. A high-quality, carbon blank rod will be optimal for fishing the flats. Something a little tippy for keeping hooks in, with enough grunt down lower to punch out those long casts and control fish.
A small spinning reel of 1000 to 2000 size is plenty of grunt for targeting bream on the flats. Light, thin, and supple braid will ensure long casts, along with maximum control and feel of your lure through the rod. Furthermore, a light fluorocarbon leader is vital to maximise your stealth when on the flats. Personally, I use two rod lengths of 6lb Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader, which seems to keep me out of trouble on larger fish and bycatch species, as well as being super subtle to wary fish.
My Flats Bream Setup
Rod: Okuma Cerros Spin Rods – CER-S-701L 7’, 1-3kg
Reel: Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels – ITX-1000
Braid: Platypus Pulse X8 Braid - 6lb (Aussie Green)
Leader: Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader - 6lb
Go-To Lures: ZMan 2.5” ST GrubZ / ZMan 2.5” GrubZ / ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ / ZMan 3” Slim SwimZ / ZMan 3” MinnowZ
Deeper Isn’t Always Better
When fishing the flats for bream there is often an optimal depth where fish will hang out and where presenting a lure is the easiest. Somewhere in that 80cm to 1.5m range is prime for fishing for bream, especially if the bottom is covered in oysters, weed or rocks.
The reason that I prefer slightly shallower water is because it is the best depth for presenting a soft plastic to the fish. The retrieve that I have found to be most effective is a slow roll (slow wind), with the occasional pause and twitch. The nature of a slow rolling retrieve with a soft plastic means that you raise the lure in the water column when working it. A diving hardbody lure on the other hand dives deeper with any movement, often leading to the trebles catching hold of any weed that may grow on the flats. This can be a disadvantage of hard body lures in this scenario as they get tangled in weed and spook any interested fish.
Soft plastics, being equipped with a single hook that is positioned on the top of the lure, decrease the chances of snagging in any vegetation. Furthermore, because the weight of the jighead, speed of retrieve and the angle of your rod tip can be controlled when fishing soft plastics, the lure can be easily worked at the desired depth.
Some people say they would rather have trebles on their lures, so they don’t miss any fish, however, in my experience, soft plastics often sift through smaller fish and allow the larger fish to eat them properly. This is especially the case with larger lures as small fish will shy away from them.
Bigger Lures Bigger Fish
Bigger lures equal bigger fish is not always the case in fishing, particularly when the fish are feeding on small bait sources. However, when fishing for bream it is generally a rule that 2.5” soft plastics are the go-to size. I have found that using a 3” presentation can sift through those smaller fish to find the bigger ones. Although this increase doesn’t sound like much, these larger profiles have just that bit of extra presence in the water. My favourite big bream lures are the 3” Slim SwimZ and the 3” MinnowZ.
Match the Hatch
Matching the hatch. It’s a very common saying in fishing but when fishing the flats, it can be vital to success. Matching the bait source that the fish are primarily feeding on can increase your flats breaming success dramatically. Matching the bait includes finding the food source and copying it with a lure as accurately as possible. The lure chosen should have been considered in terms of size, colour, action, and presentation in mind. Matching the hatch can often turn those fishless sessions into ‘fish a cast’ sessions.
Be Prepared
Being prepared for whatever could happen out on the water is crucial to enjoying this kind of fishing. This includes safety, making note of any other fish that may turn up and keeping an eye on the weather.
Staying safe should involve the following. Always wear a PFD (Personal Flotation Device) or keep it readily accessible, carry a reliable communication device, wear appropriate clothing and sunscreen, let someone else know where you’re going, especially if remote, and always plan in terms of the weather.
Being prepared for anything to show up, when out fishing, is the key to capitalising on these opportunities. Whether it’s busting up queenfish or an unexpected change in plan, it pays to keep a second rod rigged and carry a few lures for any situation.
Make the most of these often-overlooked fish and get out there to flick a few lures around. With the solitude of being surrounded by nature, mixed in with some sizzling drags, I’m not sure who would say no to that.
Cheers, Jacob