Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » Setting Up a Basic Bream Kit

Setting Up a Basic Bream Kit

By Tomas McIntosh

The humble bream, a bread and butter species that is found all across Australia. They are renowned as being fickle and finicky, however, with the right equipment and a bit of persistence, they can be caught regularly with great success. In this article I am going to go through some of the basic Tackle Tactics equipment that I have in my kit to target bream in different situations. This whole kit can be put together in your local tackle store for around $250 and is an amazing starting point for a beginner angler who is looking to target bream.

Jigheads

In my kit I have a range of jigheads from 1/28oz to 1/12oz, including traditional jigheads, HWS (Hidden Weight System) jigheads and weedless jigheads. A bream kit needs to allow you to fish every situation, from a foot of water to twelve feet and glassed out flats to 40km/h winds and one metre waves breaking over the front of the boat.

The TT jigheads in my basic bream kit are as follows:

TT HeadlockZ Finesse

1/20oz, 1/16oz and 1/12oz #2

TT (HWS) Hidden Weight System

1/28oz, 1/20oz and 1/16oz #1

Weedless jigheads

1/15oz and 1/10oz TT NedlockZ EWG #1

1/12oz and 1/8oz TT SnakelockZ Finesse #2

Altogether there are 10 different packets of jigheads from the TT range that I rely on. For starters, for every system that I fish I have two rods always rigged. One with a 1/16oz and another with a 1/12oz HeadlockZ Finesse jighead as these are perfect prospecting weights for water from a foot to even fifteen feet of water.

I am a massive fan of fishing shallow water, so rigged on another rod, in most scenarios, is a 1/20oz HWS (Hidden Weight System) jighead as this is a nice finesse option for the shallow water. Finally, in systems that are dominated by structure, I will have a weedless plastic rigged. I will use the TT SnakelockZ Finesse for fishing relatively open cover, rock walls and light cover. I will then fish the NedlockZ EWG for heavy structure, where precise casting and heavy drags are necessary.

The remaining jigheads in my kit are used to adjust from my staring line up, to suit the conditions that present themselves on the day. If the systems that you fish have deep waters or strong current, then you might like to add 1/8oz and 1/6oz jighead options to your basic kit.

Soft Plastics

In terms of my ZMan soft plastic selections I am running two different model plastics, the ZMan 2.5” GrubZ and the ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ. When setting up a basic bream kit, these two models will have you covered for 99% of the different scenarios and applications that you will be faced with on the water.

These two plastics work in just about every situation and I will confidently throw them anywhere, although I prefer to my Slim SwimZ fished faster in shallow water and my GrubZ fished slowly when focussing on bottom contact and bumping the soft plastic through cover. More importantly, is the colour range.

The ZMan plastics in my basic bream kit are as follows:

ZMan 2.5” GrubZ

Motor Oil, Midnight Oil, Gudgeon, Bloodworm and Greasy Prawn.

ZMan 2.5” Slim SwimZ

Motor Oil, Bloodworm and Smoke Hologram.

When it comes to colour selection, I will always start with two plastics rigged on my rods, a Motor Oil coloured GrubZ and a Bloodworm coloured Slim SwimZ. The Motor Oil ZMan GrubZ is just a colour and profile that catches them in any situation, while the Bloodworm Slim SwimZ matches a baitfish perfectly and when fished erratically over the flats it is hard to resist for a hungry bream.

Other versatile, all-condition colours include Midnight Oil and Gudgeon. It is important to ensure that you have colours to best match the conditions. When the water is gin clear, I will always reach for a Bloodworm GrubZ as in the water it matches a worm free swimming. When the water is super dirty, like after heavy rain, colours with high contrast such as Greasy Prawn are the best bet.

Scent

Finally, one of the easiest pieces to add to your kit, that is also one of the steps that is often overlooked, is the use of Pro-Cure Scent. Scent plays a massive roll in increasing the number of bites and ultimately increasing the number of fish that you catch for the day. The range of Pro-Cure Scents is massive, with plenty of different choices. Personally, I am a massive fan of Bloody Tuna Pro-Cure Super Gel. Generally, I try to reapply every 10 minutes or so, however I am good at forgetting. I will ensure that I reapply after missing a strike, when I am approaching a good snag or if I am fishing a school of deep fish.

I hope this article assists you in putting together an effective basic bream kit or adding some effective options to your existing kit, getting the bites, and landing some quality bream.

Cheers, Tomas