Cant catch Bream on plastic

[Sandworm]

Hi all, I have just started with fishing after a few years off, I fished Gippsland lake's and caught many many bream altho most were undersize, these were all!!!! caught on sandworm back then and i have never known any better (local bait - pump / siv)

I have been fishing Patterson River as it is aprox 30min away from my house. I have been getting bites on prawn, a nibble on maggot(altho never taken the bait)

I have had limited sucsess on the prawn but never on the plastic i am trying. these are ATOMIC i think 2" fat grub single tail, in a red/brown glitter coulour (was told as the shop they were the best for patto river)

i had been using them where the boats are tied up (eg throwing it between boats, near the poles but only caught a TINY!!! salmon)

any advise? :( wanna get a few fish

P.S i have fished at night ~6:30pm till 11pm on about 6 time and caught maybe 4 bream (all on the prawn)

[chris_lemess]

First thing to do is never take bait bream fishing. It'll lean you towards the dark side and stop you persisting with lures. Basically rig those exact grubs on a 1/16th oz. jighead, preferably Gamakatsu, cast that towards structure, and jig it back to you with small shakes, wriggle and hops. Work it along the bottom as well, or jig it next to pylons. Persist and you will get fish!

cheers

[jimi]

The best way by far is to try and get out with someone who has caught fish on plastics before and learn from them. I spent 4 months (fishing every weekend) trying to catch a fish on plastics on my own before finally cracking it.

Now that we are more organised some of the new guys have a much shorter time between starting and catching their first fish thanks to the network of people we now have.

Is there anyone who lives around the Patterson River that could help Sandworm out?

I'd love to help, but it's a long drive from Perth :D

James.

[pw-bream]

G'day,

I'm another ex-Gippslander (former long-time Bairnsdale resident) and I too have caught a ton of Bream on sandworm/crab/etc in the rivers and lakes of East Gippsland. I too found it difficult to get started on Bream with the soft plastics. As others have suggested it you need to persist and it helps a lot to go with someone who is catching them regualarly to pick up the little clues and tips that can help you do better.
I know Chris Macca is a Paterson Lakes resident and has been getting fish. He is a rleatively new member here. Go to his profile in the member section and you can send him a message, maybe he would like to go fishing with you?

[Sandworm]

this jig and dip all sounds good i just cant make it work. I dont know anyone that can use them like they should. We are all rather new to it and they are asking me, but as you can tell i am also new (just not as new as them) :)

I am trying to find a fishing club to join so i can learn from them "if they will want to share their art" with me, a lot of people like to withhold it, to savour it for themself.

The reason i take the bait is we all went fishing the guys had there plastic and were not doing anything yet i was getting action on the prawn.

Last night i took the bait again rigged it up threw it in, and started to jig the plastics around, but i found myself running to my bait rod all the time so the new $200 rod and plastic was sat aside and oll fathfull $40 10yr old combo was at work again.


Do i use the plastics at night or only in the day(so they can see)

i was trying to cast it out and pull the lure back to shore (yeah not the best way)

i was thinking i might try to plastic fish under the bridge and see it i get anything there...

[beefaman]

YOU WILL FIND NEARLY EVERY PERSON ON THIS SITE IS WILLING TO HELP AND SHOW PEOPLE THE CORRECT WAY OF DOING THINGS!! NOONE I KNOW HAS WITHHELD ANYTHING ON TECHNIQUE, RIGGING ETC. THE ONLY THINGS PEOPLE MIGHT NOT TELL IS THERE "SPECIAL" PLACES, WHICH IS TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE.
PERSISTENCE IS THE KEY, KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS AND MOST OF ALL "LEAVE THE BLOODY BAIT ROD AND BAIT AT HOME":mad:

[Sandworm]

OK! on saterday i will try the plastics.!!

What should i try out?
i have Atomic "red/brown" single tail fat grub (glitter in the tail)

what size hook / weight.

should it be used in the daylight or at night?

and what tide high low? incoming outgoing

should i sent them.

throw them and pull them in, let them just hand , or wind stop wind etc?

any advise on the above topics would be great!!!!



Giving but the bait is like giving up smoking, i get a hit every time i use it :)

[pw-bream]

Your Atomic grubs should be fine, natrural colours are often a good choice, the size you have is also fine. It is good to have some colour/shape/style choices so you can change around in different circumstances, but just use the ones you have for now, there is no inherent problem with them.

You will likely need a few different jighead weights though.
The hooks will be size 2 or 4 with the 2 being a good match for your grubs, 4 is also fine with that size grub and will better balanced with the lighter jig heads. Weights from 1/8 oz (3.5 g) down to 1/32 oz (1 g) are the range typically used with those size tails for bream. Lighter can be good for fussy, timid fish, heavier may be required to get the jig down in heavier tidal flows.
You may well have to change weights during the session as the tide flow increases and/or decreases.

Have a look here for Adam Royter's views on the Patterson River Bream and their movements and feeding patterns. The P River bit is near the bottom.

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=5182#post5182

Couple that with the "fishvictoria" article I pointed out to you to over on the "fishnet" forums and see what you can come up with.

I'm keen to have a go down at the Patterson River myself, but it won't be this week or weekend. When I'm likely to be going I'll see if I can co-ordinate with you and we can have a fish together.

Hope that helps.

[Sandworm]

thanks mate!

i'll go have a bit more of a prac and look around, then one day when your free maybe a few of us car meet up for a fish as there seem to be a few of us fishing it or the area

Regards

P.S i'm getting some glasses this weekend also so a good change to try them out

[SWANK-E]

another thing is, don't fish like you do when bait fishing, you gotta move around, the fish don't come to you, you go to them. if you haven't had any hits in 20 casts, move 20m or so, cover more water.

if you are new to the whole lure fishing thing, it's probably easier to start with hard bodies as the 'action' is built into the lure. try everything really, but cover more water, move around, if you set yourself up as bait fishing and plant yourself at one spot, you are missing out.

good luck

[bparker]

Hi Sandworm,

I live at Patterson Lakes and fish the river regularly.

Last Monday, I nailed my first Bream on soft plastics (have caught many on bait) after a number of attempts.

I fished a rising tide around the pylons under the nepean highway bridge using a hot tomato squidgie.

After casting out and taking up the slack, I flicked the rod tip a couple of feet and then let the lure settle back to the bottom. I then took up the slack again and flicked once more.

Using this retrieve, not only did I get my first bream, I also scored a thumping silver trevally that gave me hell and a smallish salmon. All in about half-anf-hour of fishing.

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it worked for me.

What really surprised me was the water clarity and the amazing number of fish I could see, it was like an aquarium!!! Some of the fish were horses too...however I couldn't make out if they were bream or trevally. Either way I'll be back there early tomorow morning to have another crack at them. Maybe I'll see you around.

[SWANK-E]

i went down to patternson river by the nepean hwy bridge to check out the action down there as i was curious.

NOT A BREAM IN SIGHT (and yes i had my spotters on)!!!

plenty of mullets, but no bream!
also went up to the boat ramps and all that structure around there, nope, NOTHING, no breams, no follows, no flashes, only mullets.

are they further up river or out in the bay this time of year?

[rodmy]

ME TOO,

I have tried and tried to get bream on SPs no luck, I have learnt from guys who compete in the bream tornament had a few strikes but no fish. have done ok getting flathead but bream aludes me.I have the best gear, Epix reel, Custom made Duff Breamaster Rod with fireline and fluro leaders.

I now have a boat.

At Marlo tried SPs not luck, rigged up the bait rods using sandworms and got some nice fish.

So I am still persisting but so are the bream, but not biting.

[Sandworm]

Well last night i tryed again with the plastics (lost 2 DOH to rope ond polls)

i fished about 20 poles and for say 2 hours but got a tod fish and a tiny "something fish"

then after thinking of going *lost the second plastic*

i thought i'll try the bait, got a tod fish small, then a nice bream! and a huge start fish.

quiet night but still very happy with the bream *altho on bait*

P.S where do you fish from when under the bridge, i see the fist row of poles are dry the second row are way out in the water, did you swim to them

Bparker - hopfully i'll see you down there ( i am there normally a few nights a week) say 7 - 10

[madsurfe]

Hi Sandworm

I know it sounds cruel... but... give the bait away. I know this sounds strange but it really is the dark side. I went fishing on Sat see this post

http://www.breammaster.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=1317

and a nice older gentleman offered me some fresh prawns at the boat ramp cos' he was packing up and didn't want to waste them. I explained that I was using soft plastics and hard bodies to catch Bream, honestly you should have seen the look on his face. Anyway he wished me good luck and off I went.

Now bait does have it's place but you will keep thinking and fishing like a bait fisherman if you carry it. It's a security thing ie: you stick with what you know best. I did the same thing when I started on lures and in hindsight I regret carrying the bait because I kept using bait techniques on lures. I had very little success until I knuckled down on my lure technique. Hey it's a learning curve but you will get it.

Try thinking of it this way. They are called lures because you are locating fish then presenting an object right in front of their nose and enticing them to eat it. You have to make your presentation alluring. If you persist you will refine your technique so that you fish in your own way that is comfortable and rewarding. Mim and I have caught stacks of fish on lures and wouldn't have it any other way. Mims 11yo daughter Matilde-Rose knows only to fish with lures, she thinks bait is passe. On the prefish down at Walpole Matilde-Rose boated the first 2 Bream in the Franklin River on a little soft paddle tail. I put her success down to her drumming skills. She plays the piano and drums and with very little tuition can cast a little 1 1/2" grub from 15-20 foot under a jetty or into a snag. I tell ya! it's amazing to watch her in action and she gives us hell if the score is leaning towards her.

Now if you got this far :D you probably thinking that I'm raving. Well the point I'm trying to make is that you need to relax and adopt to new technique. You see Matilde-Rose had no previous experience and just applied what she saw us doing.

The Gippsland area is great for Bream - keep on trying

[bparker]

Hi Sandworm,

I was down on the Patto again on Saturday morning from about 7am to 930am.

Started off at the Bridge, I climbed up on to the railway bridge pylons on the Carrum Station side and flicked a SP around for a while without any success. Tried the bridge pylons on the other side of the river and saw planty of good bream but couldn't entice them to tak my lure. Caught a couple of small salmon.

Walked up to the boat moorings opposite the boat ramps and managed to score a 30cm bream (woo hoo....my second ever !!!!) from under the floating pontoon there.

Went back to the other side and threw a few SPs from the Coast Guard jetty. Had a few follows from some pretty big bream, but again they didn't want to eat them.

Lost a few lures to snags and damned toadfish taking chunks out of them!!!

The fish are definitely there, the hard part is getting them to take your lure!! Like most locations I suppose, the key to catching bream in the Patto is fish the structures as close as you can. I know this definitely applies to bait fishing and probably to lures as well. As the river itself has so few decent structures in it that the fish cop a fair hammering and have become very very cautious.

I'm sure the amount of boat traffic on the river effects their feeding patterns as well.

I'll probably be down that way again tonight walking the dog (a little cocker spaniel pup) and flicking a lure, I'll keep an eye out for you.

[Sandworm]

i'v only ever fished bait, and i must say had a lot of ""luck" or sucess with it and i agree this is most likly why i cant lure fish and tend to the bait for a "sure thing"

i will try going fishing with the lure only i think (altho last time i did that i got nothing went back with the bait and got a bute fish :) hehe dam that bait!!!

[Sandworm]

Bparker
sorry i didn't go tonight, worked late, but that pilons you talk of across from the boat ramps i fished on sunday night got a few toad fish and a "somthing" fish, but nothing worthwhile. I then bait fished near by and got a 30cm bream.

I lost 2 lures on the poles and rope dam it :)_


i'll try, try again
i guess

PS if you down there i'll be the young looking guy (23) with a 6' silver penn rod or/and a black 7' rod (bait)

the name is Ben

hope to see you
if the weather is good i'll be there thursday altho i think it will be bad :(

[madsurfe]

check out this part of Ravins website, very good tips

http://www.fishraider.com.au/articles/softplastics2/

[bparker]

Wasn't worthwhile fishing last night anyway...the wind was howling through the bridge causing a big bow in the line and dragging the lure up towards the surface.

I gave it away after 10 minutes.

I'l' wath out for you...BTW, if you notice and very tanned (read Indian) looking bloke carrying a Shimano Stella, say g'day!!

[bparker]

Wasn't worthwhile fishing last night anyway...the wind was howling through the bridge causing a big bow in the line and dragging the lure up towards the surface.

I gave it away after 10 minutes.

I'l' wath out for you...BTW, if you notice and very tanned (read Indian) looking bloke carrying a Shimano Stella, say g'day!!

[mike_mad_fisho]

gday guys
that site is great and the article of softies was a help.
michael

[the_fanatic]

Hi all
Are you guys fishing from boats or are you land based?

[Sandworm]

I am very much land based, since no boat or anything that floats, i assume the other guys are most of the time?

[torvic]

Hey

I've had the same problem for ages, couldnt catch anything that looked like a bream on lure. So then I just gave up wandering around the river so I went into the middle of the yacht club. Heh after walking around I stuck my head under and looked at the pylons and....woah theres a breammy down there!

Then i just dropped the slider in there and was hooked...wasnt a very big bream under 30 cm but it felt good :p

Maybe you should look around for breamy looking areas, around snags etc if they are there. Often if the water is shallow you could see the silver flashes which are bream and you'l probably have a better chance at hooking one when you know they're there. I know how frustrating and futile it seems casting a lure in the water endlessly without REALLY knowing if the lure works...

The best bet though is to go out with someone experienced.

Hope this helps:p GOod luck!

[torvic]

Hey

I've had the same problem for ages, couldnt catch anything that looked like a bream on lure. So then I just gave up wandering around the river so I went into the middle of the yacht club. Heh after walking around I stuck my head under and looked at the pylons and....woah theres a breammy down there!

Then i just dropped the slider in there and was hooked...wasnt a very big bream under 30 cm but it felt good :p

Maybe you should look around for breamy looking areas, around snags etc if they are there. Often if the water is shallow you could see the silver flashes which are bream and you'l probably have a better chance at hooking one when you know they're there. I know how frustrating and futile it seems casting a lure in the water endlessly without REALLY knowing if the lure works...

The best bet though is to go out with someone experienced.

Hope this helps:p GOod luck!