hard body lures

[falcon249]

just wodering if any body has been succesful in catching bream or bass on hardbody lures around the southcoast nsw.i have just started using them with not much success,any body help me out.

[jimmybob]

havent fish sth n.s.w but up here in sth east qld i have good catches on bream on hardbodies....and go the maroons!!!! look out mason! ;D

[masterdusky]

How far sth mate...I am originally from central coast (the entrance) and regularly caught bream on HB.... manns 5, rebel crawdads,crickhoppers,small tilsans, some of the newer ones river 2 sea any different variety there,jackalls and ecogear are al good starters. All depends what locations ur fishing but most rules applying to sps,finding structure etc should be the same.

[falcon249]

batemans bay nsw is where i do most of my fishing i normally usw soft plastics but i like the look of hard bodies,ill have to keep trying

[masterdusky]

falcon keep in mind any hardbodies good for bass will usuallybe good for bream...keep fishing the structure and use the slow slow techniques as with sp,s...sometimes even letting floating hb lures sit on the surface just giving the rod a slighttwitch

[Jeremy87]

for bream you want a lure less than 40mm long in order to maximise your strike rate. you will get fish following larger lures but they will seldom strike. One of my favourite lures are the small ugly ducklings with the front treble removed and the rear replaced with a good quality size 12 treble or size 4 single. It is important to know if your lure will sink float or is neutral aswell. Neutral to floating hardbodies work best around mangrove structure. I like to work them by giving them 2-3 pulls to get some depth and allowing the lure to float the entire way back to the surface. Often the lure will get the breams attention as it is swimming but that is not enough to get a strike, the bream will then come out of the snag and hit the lure as it is rising or even on the top. I have caught bream while untangling a birds nest in my line with the hard body sitting on top twitching as i untangled the line. You will catch more bream on softies but imo hardbodies and poppers are alot more fun as it is much more visual. Bass will hit the same lures intended for bream using the same techniques. However in true bass country you can up the size a little bit and use deeper divers to get deeper into the snag, bass require less finesse to convince them to strike and have a larger mouth, they will however seldom hit the lure twice as bream do.

[falcon249]

some good information there for me to ponder on for my next fishing trip,sooner than later i hope. ps jeremy who makes the ugly duckling lure. 8-)

[Jeremy87]

Ugly duckling is the actual brand, they are a painted balsa lure made in europe.

[falcon249]

what type of ugly ducking lure would you suggest .theres a lot of different types and sizes,which one would work best down the south coast

[Jeremy87]

Heres a photo of bream lures that have been useful for me. the ugly ducklings that i recommend are the ones on the left hand side above the rapala countdown. they are the smallest of the range but also the two larger sizes seen on the bottom right will also work but imo are too large for timid bream but should be used for larger specimens when they are really fired up or when extra casting distance is required. Bream have pretty strong jaws and can crush and straighten hooks so i upgrade most of my trebles.

[Jeremy87]

the next photo is the largest lure ive seen a bream caught on in comparison to the smallest ugly duckling. i'll also add that all poppers and hard bodies should be connected using a loop knot and the tag should be trimmed as closely as possible particularly for smaller lures as the drag it creates can be enough to make them spiral through the water.

[Matthias]

I've been using suspending lures lately around snags, landbased. The Rapala shad rap RS is my pick. You can jerk it through a snag and when u pause it doesn't float up to the surface which will maximise time in the strike zone. This however can be a bad thing when you hit underwater structure because it won't float up out of trouble.

Pete.

[BoLeX]

Had great success of late with 50mm bibless minnows....3 biggest have been 39,40 and 42cm's using these lures.

Plenty of fish between 28-35cm have taken the 50mm lure.

r2s phantom vibes and shimano undurators have done the damage.

Dont be scared to use a bigger lure as even small fish will have a crack :)

here's a pic of a 28cm fish on one...