How big is to big

[madfish]

I'm just possing a question on what you fellas think is the upper limit when using hardbodies, as lately I've been using lures no littler than 50mm and up to 68mm with great results, catching 4 fish over 45cm in the same week that I stepped up to larger lures. Ten days ago I wouldn't of looked twice at a minnow over 50mm now I'm wondering How Big is to Big.

Cheers madfish

[madsurfe]

hiya madfish

this is really not so much a question of limit but more of proven techniques. The basics are that a small or large Bream will take a small lure but some of the larger Bream will certainly chomp down a large lure as the small Bream really can't chomp something like a Tilsan Bass. Now to think of it you were mentioning lure sizes with reference to their length ie: 50mm or 68mm . I feel that it is probably more relevant to think of their overall size ie: a Tilsan Bass is quite chunky whilst the Mann Stretch 5+ is a much smaller profile although around the same length. Now if you watch the Breamin 1 video you'll learn a heap about lure presentation and how to match the hatch. In Forster NSW they catch heaps of large Bream on chunky lures like a Tilsan Bass around the oyster leases yet get lots of Bream of all sizes on almost any lure soft or hard. If you haven't got a copy of Breamin 1 then do yourself a favour and order one from Warren.

[Richo]

Mate,

If your catching more now on the bigger lures than you were previously on the smaller ones, then Id be sticking with the proven method. But it is an interesting and scary question as to how big do you have to go before they switch off. Id be interested to kow the results??... What size up is next to be tried. ???.... And could we see the emergence of a 3kg bream from the kalgan ??... and on a bigger lure. Some of those larger Strike Zone lures could work well?

Cheers

Richo

[madfish]

Lost my biggest Blackie ever today on a little green mini micro mullet. Peeled a heap of line under max drag and rubded me off on some rocks. I dont know what to do now, first little lure I've tied on for two weeks and wam bam(screem of drag) thank you mam. He showed no respect at all.

[Geoff R]

How you doin Mad Fish?
I fully understand how you feel, I lost a ripper today in the Swan and he took my "Mat Fraser" oar gee.
In reference to your Question as John said most bream will take the smaller lures, that we all know. You are having a lot of luck with the bigger lures and getting the bigger fish, but how many of the decent 500g to 1kg fish are you missing because they are some what intimidated by lure/bait size?. I reckon it's great to see the bigger fish taking them, have you nailed any smaller fish on them? I think if you are still getting a decent amount of interest on any size lure you are on to something.
Remember we are all still learning about catching bream on lures and there are more and more people getting them on a lure for the first time. A little while ago you were considerd weird to be chasing them on lures as most people thought only the freshest of baits were the go. We are all experimenting and that is a good thing, keep thinking outside the square and who knows what will happen.
Cheers Geoff

[madfish]

Howya going Geoff, I've nailed the odd little Blackie on the 50mm+ lures but usually they're 30cm+ fish.
My mate and I were chucking lures at a bridge the otherday when this fella asks us(with a wierd look on his face) if we fish much and what were we tryng to catch with those things, in the next hour only a few hundred yards away from baitboy we landed 20 odd fish with the best being 47cm and probably 4 and a bit lb. I wish he'd been on our boat to see what had just happened, as we passed him again I asked if he'd done any good with a disgruntaled look his reply was "haven't even had a bite I dont think they're on today" with a rye smile I answered "yer it's pretty dead isn't it".
madfish

[Geoff R]

G'day Madfish,
Gee's I laughed when I read that, but people in WA have to wake up and realise how much they are behind the times down here.
Richo, Craig stevens and myself had a similar encounter with a slack jawed rednecked yokel who saw us fishing.
He stated that "mate your wasting your time there aren't any fish in there" little did he know we had bagged over 20 that day and the place was so full of life we were all high on nature.
Check out my web page there are heaps of pics of me and the boys fishing that dead spot, I wanted to smack that fella
Tight lines and keep inovating, then let me know what you did!!!!!
Regards Geoff Paulichttp://groups.msn.com/ILOVELOOMISS/home.htm

[Evan]

geoff im having trouble accessing your site. ive tried clicking on your link and also typing it in but the page wont come up
is it the right address???

cheers

Evan

[Evan]

sorry mate tried again and the page loaded this time!

where abouts are the photos??

[Craig H]

Hey guys, sorry to hi-jack the thread, just thought I'd ask a question seeing that you're on the topic of lures...

At the moment I fish purely caveman/primitive style (river prawns) as I've just gotten back into fishing. Student budget and the fact I fish from the shore attributes to my holding back from purchasing and trying out lures at this stage. No doubt whilst learning, I'd be bound to lose a few!

Anyways, when using smaller lures (say, 25-30mm), what do you guys do about retrieving the lures after a bigger fish has taken it fairly deep?? The bigger fish I've been catching on prawns have actually chased it down whilst reeling in, and swallowed the lot. More often than not all I can do is cut the line and release them (trying not to make them bleed of course)...

So seeing as you guys promote catch & release, what's your best method against ripping the internals of a Bream apart?

[madfish]

I haven't had one swallow a lure so far down , maybe they dont swallow a hardbody like a bait. My boat has caught over a hundred Blackies and I haven't had one die on me yet, I had to get out of the boat last week and swim this big boy for quiet a while before he kicked and swam off, probably a bit tired after draging that big 68 scorp around the river.
madfish

[Craig_S]

I think Madfish has got it right there...I've never had a bream take a hardbody down like a bait either

[Dave W]

Originally posted by Craig H
Hey guys, sorry to hi-jack the thread, just thought I'd ask a question seeing that you're on the topic of lures...

At the moment I fish purely caveman/primitive style (river prawns) as I've just gotten back into fishing. Student budget and the fact I fish from the shore attributes to my holding back from purchasing and trying out lures at this stage. No doubt whilst learning, I'd be bound to lose a few!

Anyways, when using smaller lures (say, 25-30mm), what do you guys do about retrieving the lures after a bigger fish has taken it fairly deep?? The bigger fish I've been catching on prawns have actually chased it down whilst reeling in, and swallowed the lot. More often than not all I can do is cut the line and release them (trying not to make them bleed of course)...

So seeing as you guys promote catch & release, what's your best method against ripping the internals of a Bream apart?

I've never had a Bream take one really deep - but they do tend to 'wolf' down the softies every now and then.

A good set of surgical forceps will get the jig out - and it helps if you run barbless trebles (or close the existing ones) on you're hard bodies too

I've had Flathead absolutely swallow a hard lure with barbless hooks - doesn't take too much effort to get it back out

Cheers,

[jm0771]

About bream taking hard bodys down deep,I caught a bream today (28cm) that had taken an attack lure and just about swallowed it!There is a happy ending as I was able to remove the lure with out doing any damage and return him (a little wiser) to fight another day.I will attach the photo as soon as I work out how to shrink the file size (any ideas?).

Jeff

[luringbream]

Even a manns 10 gets the occasional hits, so it aint funny if you see a bream swallow your lure.

DAN