Bream Lures | MoTackle & Outdoors

Bream would have to be one of the most readily accessible fish species along the east coast of Australia, with both Black and Yellowfin Bream found from as far south as Tasmania right up to Gladstone in QLD.

For a relatively small fish they put up one hell of a fight. When running light lines, you really have to use the drag effectively as they can grow to over 50cm! Happily taking a wide range of baits, lures and flies, Bream are a great entry level fish to target right through to one of Australia’s most popular tournament scenes.

Craig Hanlon - eCommerce Administrator at Motackle & Outdoors

TARGETING BREAM

When targeting Bream, keep in mind they do have a fairly small mouth and while they’ve been known to take large bait and lures on occasion, smaller options such as 3in and under soft plastics, prawns or small mullet fillets and the fantastic Cranka Crabs are more ideal. Another great bait for Bream are yabbies/nippers which are easily accessible with a bait pump down at your local sand flat. Rigging them on a size 2 baitholder hook with a small size 1 running ball sinker on 4-14lb line can amount to a countless amount of Bream.

Soft Plastics - When it comes to lures, a small soft plastic presentation from 2 to 3in are a great starting point. Depending on the depth you’re fishing and how fast the tide is running, using a 1/12oz-1/6oz jighead with a size 2-1/0 hook is recommended. There are many different soft plastic shapes and ways to fish them. You can fish deep water with a heavy jighead 'dredging' the bottom, fish light up on the edges of structure such as rock walls or oyster leases or use a medium wieght jighead fishing drop offs. Soft plastic fishing for bream is the most versitile way to target them. One popular technique is using Ecogear Bream Prawn’s with a lightly weighted (or weightless worm hook) casting deep into structure and gliding them out. Ideally a braid and leader setup of 3-14lb on both with your leader at least a rod length as Bream can be quite line shy.

Cameron Hall - Estaurine & Tournament Specliast at Motackle & Outdoors

Hard Bodies - Lure fishing for bream started with fisherman experimenting with small hardbodies around the 30-50mm size. Nowadays there is no shortage of shapes and depths with old school models such as Ecogrear SX40 & Attack Minnows, then Jackall Chubby's (and its unique shape) became very popular and today deeper lures like OSP Dunks and Daiwa Spikes. The options are endless. You can use hardbodies around structure such as oyster elases, rock walls, drop offs, sand flats, the options are endless. Cast parallel to a rock wall or bridge pylon and allow the crankbait to hit and deflect off structure which can entice a Bream feeding frenzy. Slow winding across sand flats and weed beds can also be very effective but remember: If you think you are winding slow, wind a little bit slower and really allow the fish to hunt the lure down! Increasingly popular in the tournament scene is running straight through fluorocarbon for all hardbody presentations.

Matt Townes - Mail Order Asisstant Manager at Motackle & Outdoors

Cranka Crabs - If you talk to any of the Bream tournament fishermen, you’ll find that almost all of them will have a Cranka Crab or 6 in their arsenal. They are arguably the best life-like imitation crab on the market - with floating foam claws that not only look like a crab in a defensive position but also allow for a low snag rate, replaceable legs and a wide range of colours in 2 sizes, it’s not hard to see why.

Techniques for crabs are quite simple: A long cast towards rock walls, pylons and other structure, allow the lure to sink a few seconds and then give it a slow lift, so if your crab is sitting on a rock, the lift allows it to free fall down to a lower rock or stage of pylon. Try not to strike as the trebles in the claws are quite small but sharp, so once you feel the Bream bite or pick up and run with the crab, slowly lift your rod, keep the fight away from structure and hang on!

Nigel White - Warranty Officer & Purchasing Assistant at Motackle & Outdoors

Bream can be caught all year round with no closed seasons, however May to August is predominately the “big fish” season especially in tournaments as the Bream move to the front ocean end of river systems and onto beaches to spawn. Bream over the magic around 40cms in length and 1kg mark isn’t uncommon during this time.

- Cameron Hall - Estaurine Specialist at MoTackle & Outdoors