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Luring Bream

Josh Dunn

Some anglers mistake bream as an annoying little, bait taking fish. But there is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to bream. Bream fishing has grown incredibly over the past 10 years, with huge competitions and big prizes up for grabs, along with the 'catch and release' element and the stealth and hunt that goes with this species. Hopefully this article helps to change what some think of just the 'old common bream' and also help you catch a few!

Where to fish

The main thing you must know is that almost every bit of structure will hold bream at some point. Structure provides protection and food. If there is baitfish and solid structure, you are maximising your chances of landing a fish. Solid structure includes jetties, pylons, bridges, rock walls, retaining walls and sunken structure (pipelines, trees, etc.). So where there's structure there is often fish!

Fish will also hold on the sand, near the edge of the canal and you will pull good fish from there at times. If you land a good cast, right where the water meets the sand and start slowly winding surface plastics (ZMan 2" GrubZ and 3" Scented ShrimpZ), then you are a good chance of some action.

Techniques and thinking outside the box

There's heaps of different techniques and styles of bream fishing though and there are a few that stand out and produce fish for me.

The TT 1/8oz Switchblade and 1/12oz Ghostblade are ones not to go past. Most brown colours work for me, including 'Golden Ghost' and 'Brown Spook' in the Ghostblades. If the fish aren't very active, I fish these lighter weights and present the lure slower and for longer in the strike zone. I fish blades almost the same as plastics, though slower.

Firstly, I'll cast to structure, let the lure sink to either the bottom or where the fish are sitting in the water column, give the lure a few light hops, pause and then repeat. This is the same way that I fish lightly weighted plastics.

Thinking outside of the box and creating or learning new techniques that you wouldn't even have thought of before, can change everything and increase your chances of landing more fish.

One technique that I had never tried before, until the fish were quiet, was cutting down a ZMan 3" Scented ShrimpZ. I simply chopped off the head and used the tail, rigged on a light TT Lures 1/40oz - 1/12oz Hidden Weight System (HWS) jighead. On pretty much the first cast I pulled out a quality bream, while fishing the surface with this technique.

Things you could try may include the cut-down ShrimpZ, ZMan 3" Scented CrabZ, ZMan 4" CrawdadZ and the list goes on in the ZMan range. Another technique that my mate Cameron Cronin has also had success with, is fishing a ZMan 3.75" StreakZ in Watermelon Red or Shiner, rigged on a reasonably light TT Lures Hidden Weight System jighead. These are fished slowly where the fish are sitting, with a few flicks added.

If I see a stonker bream, I'll quickly switch to my favourite lure and technique. This is as simple as the ZMan 2" GrubZ in Motor Oil or Copper Penny colour, rigged with a TT Lures 1/40oz size 1 Hidden Weight System (HWS) jighead. Firstly I will skip a cast 1-2 metres ahead of the fish, without scaring it. As soon as the lure hits the water the ElaZtech material will be buoyant and float the tail. I then raise my rod tip and slowly wind the lure across the surface. The GrubZ tail will flicker as it moves across the top of the water.

When the bream sights the lure, it's a good opportunity to pause and let the lure sink to around 5-10cm below the surface. This point and when the lure is swimming on the surface is generally when the bream will react and smack it! Then all you need to do is hook it and hold on!

I love getting the fish fired up by allowing the lure to sink and then quickly moving or flicking it away and I have found I get a better hook up rate when I do this as the fish engulf the plastic!

Over the past few years of bream fishing I have found that you will get the odd bream out in the open, though mostly they are around structure. My PB bream on plastics is currently 40.5cm and it was caught after hopping the plastic off the bottom. The plastic was a ZMan 2.5" GrubZ in Violet Sparkle, rigged on a TT Lures 1/8oz jighead, while early morning fishing. I matched the bait, as the Violet Sparkle colour is almost a natural bait-like colour. One thing I can't go past when the fishing is tough is some Pro-Cure Super Gel scent and although I do use this even when the fish are active, it makes a big difference when the bite is tough. I believe this gives me the maximum chance of hooking that big one!

The gear

The gear I use isn't the most expensive rod and reel on the shelf and although a bit of money is involved it won't break the budget. I've got a few rods, but overall my favourite is a Samaki Zing 4-8lb or Shimano Raider 1-4kg, matched with a Daiwa Freams 2500 size spinning reel. The leader class I fish ranges from 6-12lb, depending on the location I'm fishing. In the canals, most anglers will drop down to 3lb leader, which isn't a bad idea when the fish are wary and timid. You can still land some very decent fish on 3lb, from quality barracuda (which are an acrobatic fish) to 40cm+ bream, and I even know of people landing solid jacks on 3lb.?

Ever since I've fished different techniques using gear from the Tackle Tactics range and started thinking outside of the box and fishing new locations, it has improved my fishing dramatically, with some excellent results and I've had heaps of fun! So I hope you have picked up a thing or two that could be helpful in your everyday bream fishing! FISH ON!