BREAM
![Bream](babfimages/bream.gif)
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BEST BAITS: Yabbies,
worms, fish flesh, mullet gut and pilchard.
Bream usually inhabit rough, snaggy
areas, 2 m to 6 m in depth. They feed together in schools, usually
around areas which give them some protection, such as sunken logs,
oyster bases, eroded banks or the base of rock walls.
During the winter months they congregate
in the deep fast running waters, somewhere near surf bars where
rivers and estuaries empty into the open sea, and bite best during
the night and at dawn.
Favoured nights in the winter months
would be the big tide nights which correspond with the periods a
few nights before and up to the full moon and new moon.
Round running sinkers are used to give
maximum bait movement, sizes from No.00 ball to No.3 ball, dependent
on the tidal run. The best rig has the sinker directly above the
hook, with a small No.10 free turning swivel about 1 metre above
the sinker. The sinker on hook gives you direct contact with your
ball whether fishing into or against the tide and is easier to remove
when snagged. It does not lessen bites when bream fishing, and the
bites are better registered to the angler. To fish the right area,
the angler must be prepared to lose rigs through snagging.
Bream do not like clear water, and
it is rare to be able to catch any fish which is visible to you
in the water. Therefore off shore, windy conditions do not produce
good fishing, but the fish reappear when a sea breeze brings turbulence
and cloudy water. When fishing piers or jetties, do not neglect
to cast under the structure. The bream feed and shelter around the
piles, often right under where you are standing. The wind and lean
method is most important when bream fishing. Never attempt to set
the hook by striking with the rod, or every fish swimming across
or towards you will be lost.
The bream has been given credit for
being a wily or clever fish, yet in reality is one of the easiest
to catch. he only time it indulges in picking at food, is when the
angler is not presenting the bait properly. Fish correctly and its
biting method rarely varies, and the action to catch it remains
constant.
While bream will feed on many types
of baits, studies prove the yabbies to be vastly superior to all
other baits in this type of fishing. Peeled prawns would be the
next best, with such baits as white pilchards and fish gut being
used by the angler who is prepared to wait for bigger class of fish.
The yabbie is easily procured with an Alvey Super Suction Bait Pump,
and will stay on the hook well if baited as shown, cast with a smooth
action without jerking.
![](yabbie.jpg)
Small surf gutters and holes close
to the shoreline very often have good size bream, whiting, flathead
and swallowtail trevally pocketed in them, and this type of fishing
is neglected by many anglers. The use of the estuary rod and reel,
loaded with 4 kg line, smaller hooks and a minimum of lead weight,
can be productive and entertaining.
The fish come in unbelievable close,
at times with less than 60 centimeters of water over them.
Bream fishing in the surf does vary
according to locate. When fishing around a rocky bottom, the favourite
haunt of bream, it still pays to use the sinker right on the hook
to alleviate constant snagging. However, when fishing a sandy gutter
it has been found an advantage to use a 40 centimeter (approx.)
trace below the lead weight. Hook size would be either No.1 or 1/0.
Top baits in the surf would be yabbies when no great distance has
to be cast, eugaris, strips of sea gar and fish gut.
Cunjevoi is also a good bait around
rocks and small pilchards often give a good result.
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