Bream habits

[hixsta]

Went out in the Upper Swan both morning and evening today, only managed 1 poddy. The wind has been very low today, hot and humid conditions. Anyway I have a few questions that I have been thinking about whilst not catching anything.... All help greatly appreciated.

1. Do Bream tend to be more timid in hot conditions?
2. Do they bite more with a bit of wind?
3. Where do the Bream go when the tide is so low and all their snags are exposed?
4. How important is trust in a lure?
5. How easy is it to spook them? Does releasing them spook other fish?
...and for WA Breamers....
6. Has anyone caught anything on 45mm+ Hardbodies in the Swan?

PS. I'm landbased BTW using a variety of Hardbodies and some soft plastics.

[forsterfisho]

1. Do Bream tend to be more timid in hot conditions?
Not that i've found really, I think its more that I get frustrated quicker when its hot and don't spend the time to work an area over completely.
2. Do they bite more with a bit of wind?
Depends on the type of habitat your fishing, surface fishing bream do tend to bite better when its a bit breezy. Fishing vibes in 8m of water I dont think will have any variance in windy conditions.
3. Where do the Bream go when the tide is so low and all their snags are exposed?
Deeper water, such as reefs, rubble or deep snags/bridge pylons.
4. How important is trust in a lure?
Confidence is everything, if your confident in your gear and the location, I'd sugest that your likely to stay longer in an area and make plenty of casts - you will eventually pin fish.
5. How easy is it to spook them? Does releasing them spook other fish?
They do spook fairly easily in shallow water, my boat moving over a fish will spook fish, so will the electric motor. If im fishing a set location (ie a snag) and I catch bream, i will release it on the other side of the boat (not sure if this really works, ) so it may not spook other fish.....but generally I don't think releasing fish will matter much! (if your in a boat and your worried...put them in the livewell )

[kamikazeghost]

Hot conditions does not necessarily make bream timid. Bream are generally a cold climate fish, ie. they are more active in colder weather and especially when they are on their spawning runs which on the East Coast is the start of the mid-Autumn to late Winter runs.

In hot conditions, bream are conserving their energy more and feed more at night, especially early dawn and dusk times when there is more coolness around and the "bait" becomes more active. Again, this is about patterned behaviours in fish and bream generally follow this.

In some ways, imagine yourself in the middle of summer. Where would you prefer to be? Well, that's where in general the bream will be and also the activity that they will portray.

At least over here on the East Coast, the SE wind being light is good for them, especially if you're talking about flats, rock walls, and racks, as it really stirs up activity, moves oxygen through the water and especially provides some cover in more "open" waters when bream want to get up on yabby banks, worm banks to feed.

Bream in general are best on the ebbing tide, waiting for prawns, etc to come off banks, etc. but, they do love cruising banks on a high tide to feed. They in general are a little harder to catch at times, but it is about that movement in the lure and what areas of the banks you're targeting.

Confidence is everything, but applying some common sense rather than what I term the "gimicks and fads" of the new year, is more important. I have yet to come across a particular lure that "does not" work, but rather, more to do with action, working the lure, staying in contact with a lure, rarely colours pose a problem, however natural colours are a general standard over "fandango, whizz bang" stuff. Most importantly over the numerous years, it is the inital setup and cast.

Bream are not complicated. They are smart. It is a matter of you outsmarting it! That is easily achieved with keeping things simple and just thinking a little outside the standard fishing box.

If you release fish into the area, they do learn and memorize activity, sounds, etc. but that is generally of little consequence in my experience.

Fish in general spook easily unless they are feeding hard and that's when you can do some top close quarter combat. I keep a liberal distance in general so they are less likely to notice close movement and see.

Bream, like whiting and a number of species use noise and movement/vibration primarily. Then sight and smell and taster are after.

You will work out the behaviour patterns of bream in WA with time and going with other guys and you probably will also develop your own knowledge of how the bream interact in their environment at differing locations.

There are specifics in most locations, but the general concept is similar that I have found thus far and that I have mentioned.

Good luck. Have fun and enjoy.

Michael

[hixsta]

Guys they are some great answers that will surely help. Thanks for taking the time.

For the record Swan River Perth is very shallow in the upper reaches. Rarely above 4 - 6 ft deep with some holes here and there. I am sure boaties would clarify but that's what I was told. I tend to fish mainly around a snaggy areas with a drop-off. Haven't really targeted bridges as they are hard when landbased and can't reach the deeper water.Probably just need to do some more exploring.

Thanks again for effort into detailed info!

[punchanello]

Originally Posted by kamikazeghost

Hot conditions does not necessarily make bream timid. Bream are generally a cold climate fish, ie. they are more active in colder weather and especially when they are on their spawning runs which on the East Coast is the start of the mid-Autumn to late Winter runs.

In hot conditions, bream are conserving their energy more and feed more at night, especially early dawn and dusk times when there is more coolness around and the "bait" becomes more active. Again, this is about patterned behaviours in fish and bream generally follow this.

In some ways, imagine yourself in the middle of summer. Where would you prefer to be? Well, that's where in general the bream will be and also the activity that they will portray.

At least over here on the East Coast, the SE wind being light is good for them, especially if you're talking about flats, rock walls, and racks, as it really stirs up activity, moves oxygen through the water and especially provides some cover in more "open" waters when bream want to get up on yabby banks, worm banks to feed.

Bream in general are best on the ebbing tide, waiting for prawns, etc to come off banks, etc. but, they do love cruising banks on a high tide to feed. They in general are a little harder to catch at times, but it is about that movement in the lure and what areas of the banks you're targeting.

Confidence is everything, but applying some common sense rather than what I term the "gimicks and fads" of the new year, is more important. I have yet to come across a particular lure that "does not" work, but rather, more to do with action, working the lure, staying in contact with a lure, rarely colours pose a problem, however natural colours are a general standard over "fandango, whizz bang" stuff. Most importantly over the numerous years, it is the inital setup and cast.

Bream are not complicated. They are smart. It is a matter of you outsmarting it! That is easily achieved with keeping things simple and just thinking a little outside the standard fishing box.

If you release fish into the area, they do learn and memorize activity, sounds, etc. but that is generally of little consequence in my experience.

Fish in general spook easily unless they are feeding hard and that's when you can do some top close quarter combat. I keep a liberal distance in general so they are less likely to notice close movement and see.

Bream, like whiting and a number of species use noise and movement/vibration primarily. Then sight and smell and taster are after.

You will work out the behaviour patterns of bream in WA with time and going with other guys and you probably will also develop your own knowledge of how the bream interact in their environment at differing locations.

There are specifics in most locations, but the general concept is similar that I have found thus far and that I have mentioned.

Good luck. Have fun and enjoy.

Michael

Great post, very informative.

[aussie_breamer]

Question for WA breamers--
do you meen 45mm+ or 45 cm+??
if mm then yeah definetally and for cm, I have caught them upto 40cm on HB and up to 48cm on SPs.
havn't had much success upstream (landbased) as i tend to fish loweer reaches of the swan arround yachtclubs and structure.
bream tend to get timid in very clear water with no wind where they have less cover.
cheers,
tom

[nuzzy]

Originally Posted by aussie_breamer

Question for WA breamers--
do you meen 45mm+ or 45 cm+??
if mm then yeah definetally and for cm, I have caught them upto 40cm on HB and up to 48cm on SPs.
havn't had much success upstream (landbased) as i tend to fish loweer reaches of the swan arround yachtclubs and structure.
bream tend to get timid in very clear water with no wind where they have less cover.
cheers,
tom

he was talking about lure size, wondering if anyone had caught any decent bream on hardbodies that are larger than 45 mm. the answer is yes, the bigger lures can catch bream, rigge 56f for example, and as with all lures, they all have their time and place.

[DCA]

hey Hixsta

i would have to agree with forster fisho for just about everything he said.

If your system is shallow similar to ours in tas in the upper reaches look for the undercut banks that are still under water on a low.

they will be tight into those and cant be seen unless you drop your lure in the right place and they follow it out.

if the under cut has a few feet of water right next to it, i lean towards the vibe and let it hit the bottom and wait to see if any interest is there if not them a few hops and another pause letting it sit on the bottom..
They are not to keen to come out from under these banks but they will be watching and if enough patience is put in you will tease them out in the end.

I dont know Wa at all but believe in the southern areas is very similar to our area.

hope this helps, but it is always tough from the shore, maybe look for a cheap kayak so you can get onto the water.


Regards

Dan

[zhaoyun999]

I fish the canning river which is similar to the swan.

1. I find the bream to be not less timid in hot conditions. In summer i find these fish very spread out over the shallow flats. Targetting the fish on these shallow waters mean they are more spooky so they will be less timid. So for me the hot conditions dont really make them more timid, its the flats where they are found in hot weather.

2. I personally never have success on a day where there is no wind. Even a little i get a bit more success. For me the wind definitely improves my catch rates.

3. Like everyone else said at low tide the bream find deep holes and bridges are good place to start. I have caught a lot of bream at low tide casting parallel to deep drop offs. I believe many of the bream hold here waiting for the high tide before swimming onto the flats in search of food.

4. Trust in a lure is really important. I think it the more you use a lure you, the more confidence you'll have for it. I use my sx40 a lot. I do swap to other lures when its not working but you get the feeling your not using the lure correctly.

5. Releasing bream definitely spooks other ones.

6. A 45mm hardbody isnt really that big. Bream will attack anything with a slim enough profile. I have had success on x-raps which is about 70mm. So on the swan bream do definitely attack larger hardbodies given they are slim enough

[kayakbream]

1. Not more timid generally because of the heat, but more cautious of venturing out of their snags when the visibility is too good. Morning and evening at low light will find them on the flats and in the open more.

2. As above regarding the visibility. When you see the number of pelicans and other airborne predators catching them, you can understand why! A bit of chop will have them on the bite even over the flats during daylight.

3. As the others have said, deep down by bridge pylons and structure. Being shore based, try around deep edges or rockwalls etc.

4. Trust in your lure is very important, that's the reason so many people have an "old favourite". Most of the decent lures will consistently produce, just choose a visible colour when it's murky, and more natural when it's clear. I've seen bream caught on bright pink $3 Kmart special lures!

5. I don't release them from the livewell until I've finished fishing that area, as otherwise I pretty much find I have to move on after letting a couple go. This is especially true of open flats areas.

6. I've caught and seen caught bream on lures up to 80mm! This is more of a rarity but I quite often use Rigge 56Fs and Khamsin Jnrs which are pretty decent sized.

[hixsta]

Wow this is the best post. So much info, pity I am on a charter tomorrow (gift voucher) cause I just got delivery of 4 x sx40s an a few other odds I ordered before Xmas and after all your help I'm keen to get after the Blackies! Cheers

[aussie_breamer]

Originally Posted by nuzzy

he was talking about lure size, wondering if anyone had caught any decent bream on hardbodies that are larger than 45 mm. the answer is yes, the bigger lures can catch bream, rigge 56f for example, and as with all lures, they all have their time and place.

hahaha sorry mate, didn't read it properly!!!!