Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Saltwater-Estuary » Weed Fishing for Bream
Weed Fishing for Bream
By Tomas McIntosh
As fishermen and women, many of us absolutely love exploring new waterways. Although every system around Australia is different, I would be pretty confident in saying that each one of them would likely have some form of weed beds in them. Weed plays a critical role in a river system. It helps oxygenate the water, provides structure and holds baitfish and shrimp. At times they can be absolutely teaming with life, however it can also be one of the most challenging places to catch fish without the correct equipment.
The biggest piece of advice that I can offer somebody looking to fish around weed would be to use a TT Lures Hidden Weight System (HWS) jighead. Unlike the traditional style jighead, a HWS jighead has the weight spread evenly over a large portion of the shank of the hook. In turn, this results in your lure falling horizontally through the water column.
When you fish around weed with a traditional jighead you will find that your plastic will be constantly fouling up from loose strands of weed. This is due to the weight forward setup causing the lure to fall vertically through the water column and wanting to plough through the weed. A HWS rigged plastic will allow anglers to fish more effectively around weed as the horizontal fall through the water increases the surface area of the lure, which increases drag. As a result, the Hidden Weight System jighead will sit on top of the weed, increasing your efficiency when fishing around this tricky structure.
My personal preference is to start by fishing a 1/40oz or 1/28oz HWS rigged GrubZ in water shallower than 1.2m, especially early in the day when there is generally lower wind. As the day progresses, the sun gets higher and the wind starts blowing more, so I will lean toward the 1/20oz and 1/16oz for water over 1.5m deep.
Although many people say to fish light for bream, myself being one of them, I would also encourage anglers to be fishing 4-6lb leader. I have had numerous times during my fishing career (including in tournaments) when I have had a solid fish bury me deep in weed, resulting in busting fish off. Fishing a heavier leader will allow you to put pressure on the fish and help drag them out of the weed.
Tackle selection plays a pivotal role to success while fishing weed beds. If you too are interested in trying this technique, my go to set up would be as follows. A long 7+ foot rod will aid in casting distance and will improve line management as soon as the lure leaves the rod tip. I would be running a reel with a thin PE 0.6 braid to avoid spooking flighty fish with my line and a 4-6lb fluorocarbon leader. On the business end I would be using a 1/28oz or 1/20oz #1 TT Lures HWS jighead, rigged with a ZMan 2.5" GrubZ.
Next time you are in your local tackle shop be sure to grab a few packets of TT Hidden Weight System jigheads and some ZMan GrubZ so that you can enjoy the bounty that weed beds in your fishery have to offer.