 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Australia is home to some of the best sportfishing anywhere in the world. Unfortunately most species that would immediately spring to mind require a lot of money, expensive equipment and a large amount of time to pursue with any success. For this reason Australia has been crying out for a new Sportfish that is accessible around Australia's entire coastline, that does not require a huge outlay in equipment to target effectively, and that is able to be pursued from both land and boat without committing huge amounts of time (though most of our wives would contest this fact). For this reason, the mighty Bream has been thrust into the sportfishing limelight. A national tournament circuit is establishing quickly, the magazines and fishing shows are now covering their capture on lures on a weekly basis and the air is buzzing with talk of hard fighting fish attached to 30 - 50mm lures. The basis of the Bream as a sportfish is based on two major factors. Firstly, the Bream is pound for pound one of the hardest fighting fish you will encounter. On the light gear that sportfishing encourages, you will be blown away time and time again before you master this wily creature. They are a cunning and explosive opponent when hooked, running your gear up against any snag or sharp obstacle they can find. The second reason for the Bream attracting a huge number of followers is their unpredictability and blatant refusal to even look at a lure on some days. This will frustrate most anglers as they watch a fish swim up behind their lure, watch it for what seems an eternity and then casually swim away. When they are on the bite, they do not simply grab a lure, they bump it, suck it and crash on top of it, doing everything but take the lure into their mouth. This can result in what feels like a hook-up, but turns into disappointment about ten feet away from you. The various species and their respective maximum weights and distributions are as follows:
Habitat The various Bream species are found around Australia's entire coastline. They inhabit the rivers and coastal estuaries where salt and fresh water mix. They can be found way up these systems in completely fresh water, or may be found offshore, the distance depending on the species. Other than the Eastern Yellowfin Bream (A.australis), the other species will usually only come out of the estuaries and rivers when flushed out by heavy rains. They will still congregate around the entrance to the system, remaining in the freshwater flush. Bream do tend to move around as the fresh water in their system flushes and retreats. Bream love structure. Whether it be a fallen tree, deep holes, docks, floating marina's, wharves, oyster racks, jetty pylons or other structure, this is the preferred habitat for all species of Bream. They do roam shallow sandy flats in estuaries and rivers, but will still retreat back to a weedbed or under riverbank reeds when not feeding or startled. This allows both the boating angler or shore based angler to target them with success. Bream also frequent rock walls and other like structure where mussels and other tasty treats will be found. Targeting The current school of thought when pursuing Bream with lures and soft plastics is either a very slow retrieve or stalling the retrieve for a moment to let the lure rise softly to the surface (or sink to the bottom in the case of soft plastics). Your cast should be from a reasonable distance so as not to startle any fish that may be present. The lure should be cranked down to its operating depth quickly, and then maintained with the slow motion retrieve/stall pattern. If you feel a bump when retrieving do not change your speed, the Bream is simply going through its normal chasing pattern. Continue to retrieve slowly as the Bream will still be around and most probably lining up for a strike. At this point you may also find that stalling your lure may invoke a strike. Many an angler has watched a Bream stare at a floating lure for up to a minute before crunching at the hook. Be prepared though that the opposite will also happen and the Bream will simply turn away. This is all part of the fun of Bream Sportfishing. The best part is watching them do this through your polaroid fishing glasses. It opens up a new part of fishing you probably haven't seen before. Landing Once you feel a firm strike, give the rod tip a decent pump to set the hook. As you begin to wind in apply plenty of pressure in the first few seconds to keep the fish away from the snag or pylon etc. that you have extracted him from. At the same time allow enough drag freedom to let him run rather than breaking the line. If you have to let the fish run back into the structure, let him go. It is much better to let your leader do its job and replace it before your next cast than to lock up the reel and lose the leader and your $13 lure. Most experts will advise a drag setting of about 75% - 80% of your lines breaking strain, check this by hooking a cheap fishing scale on the end of your line and get the missus to hold on to it and watch the reading. Pull on the rod and adjust your drag until it lets go at around the 75% - 80% mark (i.e.. drag releases at around 3lb on the scale if your using 4lb line). See the Bream Tackle section for more details on setting up your rig. Now be prepared that the fish may not be actually hooked, but rather hanging on to the lure with its teeth. They have super strong jaws for crushing mussels and oysters so imagine how tight they can hang onto a lure. Many anglers have had a fish on for quite a considerable time before it has simply opened it mouth and spat the lure out. This is why it is important to strike firmly at the beginning to try and set the hook. It is also important to keep the pressure on the fish the whole way to your feet. Handling If you are fortunate enough to avoid all the above perils and actually get the Bream to your feet, there are a couple of things to remember. Firstly, Bream are extremely slow growers. A legal size fish may be around ten years of age. Bigger fish are much older and important assets as breeding stock. A fish that pushes the magical 4lb mark will be between 20 and 30 years old. If they have lasted that long, avoiding chemical spills and certain dickheads who think netting is fishing, they deserve to go back. The bigger fish aren't as good to eat as the just legal ones, and with Bream there is a huge amount of wastage due to a set of bones that run down their side. At Bream Master we promote catch and release vigorously. The BREAM tournament circuit is based on catch and release. It may pain you to put it back but remember this. Someone else may have put it back before you !!! Would you have experienced the white knuckled fight that lasted 5 minutes if they hadn't. Would you have a photo the brag to all your mates about if they hadn't. When you look at it in this light, many an angler comes to appreciate the benefits of catch and release. Take a couple for the table by all means, Bream are a beautiful eating fish. But try and keep the size limited to legal +5cm and we will all have Bream to enjoy for years to come. When you are handling a fish, be mindful of the slimy coating they have on them. If you rub this off with a net or a towel, you may well kill the fish even if you put it back. Try and master the comfort lift, and failing that use the leader to pull them over the side. It may be uncomfortable to dangle from a leader for a few seconds, but it won't kill them. You can cradle them with a hand underneath their belly while you pull out your barbless hook (see more about debarbing your hooks in our Bream Tackle section). It also allows you to take a quick snap before popping them back in the water. There are a top quality range of enviromesh landing nets on the market today that don't harm the fish. Perhaps invest in one of these.
Overview-Bream Sportfishing is one of the cheapest form of sportfishing available today. Unlike the tackle required for targeting other species, the Bream can be caught on just about any light rod and reel. With this in mind, there are a few enhancements that you can make to your Bream spinning outfit that will make a world of difference to your success rates. The following is a item by item description of setting up your outfit for Bream Sportfishing: Rods-A quick look at any heat of a BREAM tournament will show a vast array of rods being used. There are the "spare no expense" purists who use the top of the range Loomis rods which can top AU$1000, right through to the first timer and his cheap rod and reel package which can be bought for AU$60 - $70. The majority however will be using ultra-light spinning rods which most shops will sell for around AU$100.00 - $150.00. Ideally a good Bream rod will be around 6'6" (give or take 6 inches) and have a light tip and a very fast taper. This is ideal for flicking those lures and soft plastics into corners and amongst snags. Heavier rods can be used, most anglers will have a "stump puller" as a backup, but they lack the finesse and casting ability of the lighter rods. Even the lightest rods in this AU$100 - $150 range will still have sufficient butt power to fight the biggest Bream. It is more likely that your line or knots will let go before you do any damage to your rod. Try to purchase a rod with a reasonable amount of graphite as it will normally provide additional strength with a smaller profile. This is advantageous when slicing through the air hundreds of times a day. Also take note of the quality of guides being offered. Your line will pass through them each time you cast, and the better the quality the less wear and tear you are placing on your most important piece of tackle. There are an excellent range of rods available in this price bracket, our choice of which would include the Daiwa Heartland Z Series and the Shimano Stella. These rods have been custom designed from scratch. Although mass produced rods, the balance and quality are superb. They can be matched to a whole host of light spinning reels and therefore offer an excellent choice for the dedicated Bream sportfisherman. We are currently running the Daiwa Heartland Z IM6 (6'6") as our official team rod's. Reels-Spinning reel or Baitcaster? Most Bream sportanglers will be using a light spinning reel in the 1000 - 2500 model range. They spinning reel offers a casting range that exceeds that of a baitcaster in most conditions. For this reason it allows the angler to stay further away from the fish which can be vital when targeting Bream. The reason for this is the line slips off the spinning reel spool a lot easier than it does trying to unwind off a baitcaster spool when it only has a couple of grams attached to the end of it. The price range again goes from your cheap package deal reel all the way through to a Shimano Stella or Daiwa Team Z. A happy medium will is somewhere in the $300 range and puts superb reel manufacturers like Shimano, Tica, Daiwa and others in front of you to chose from. These reels are finely balanced usually with 3 - 7 ball bearings and a host of top shelf features. Some will provide you with two spools which comes in very handy when you want to keep both 4lb and 6lb line handy. They have little or no slack in their gears and will stand up to the toughest treatment. Is you are employing a cast and wait approach with soft plastic worms, take a look at the range of baitrunner reels available. These special purpose reels have a feature which allows the angler to switch to a low resistance, free drag mode which will allow the Bream to go through its normal suck/run/spit routine without resistance. When it finally does take off with your lure, you can simply disengage the baitrunner, and strike like normal. The Shimano Baitrunner 3500 is a fine example of this type of reel, however other reels have now been introduced with this feature. Line-Whilst some of the co-polymer mono lines on the market today are excellent, it is hard to go past the Gel Spun Lines on offer when setting up your Bream spinning outfit. Whilst much more expensive than mono, the very thin diameters and lack of stretch in these GSP lines certainly justifies the expense. A GSP line like Berkley Fireline will give a 4lb test rating in the diameter of a normal 0.5lb mono line. In fact the 4lb Fireline resembles nothing more than the fine cotton you used to find in you mothers sewing box. This super fine diameter will assist you with a huge increase in casting distance, and applies very little weight on a lure when stalled in midwater. The Berkley Fireline is actually a Thermo fused line as opposed to a braid which has the advantage of being much less prone to line twist A GSP line also has the least amount of stretch of any line, so that every bump and strike is felt instantly. This will vastly improve your success as you can feel the moment a Bream hits your lure. These couple of seconds less in reaction time can mean the difference between setting a hook whilst still in the fishes mouth, and merely pulling the lure from its lips when it has already made its run. Your strike action is transferred almost immediately at the business end of the line, whereas your mono line will give a lot of that effort away in stretch. The cost difference may be $30 for a 125 yd spool of GSP versus $15 for a 300 yd spool of quality mono, but when you consider the advantages listed above its not that much to outlay. You could be facing this choice when spooling up 600m of 30lb line targeting other sport fish! Why not give yourself a head start on that wily old Bream... We promote Berkley Fireline and run it in both 4lb and 6lb test. The difference between it and normal mono is incredible. Try spooling your reel with it just once and we doubt you will go back. For AU$30 it will open up a whole new side of fishing you never knew existed. If that difference in price is enough to make you go for mono then choose carefully. You want as thin a diameter as possible for a particular test rating. Co-polymer line is making huge inroads into mono technology. A hi-tech co-polymer line like Penn Powerline will deliver a 50% stronger line when compared to normal mono line of a similar diameter and test rating. It also makes an excellent leader material for those using GSP as their main line. It is clear, soft, very thin and provides excellent protection against the snags and sharp objects that Bream love to hang around. Leader-As mentioned above, when fishing in normal Bream habitat you do not have the luxury of open water to fight your fish in. The moment a Bream senses it is hooked, it will bolt for the nearest snag, pylon, barnacle encrusted rock or other cover it can find. Extracting that Bream will depend on two things. The first thing is the strength of your line. You must initially try to stop him getting to the cover he is so desperate to find. Secondly, if you are unable to stop the fish without putting undue pressure on your tackle, how strong is your leader once he gets to that cover. Will it withstand the line abrasion that will occur trying to get him back out and will it withstand the thrashing and pounding the fish puts it through trying to escape through the maze of underwater obstacles he calls home. For this reason you must select your leader very carefully. It is still amazing how many "dedicated" Bream fishermen still do not use a leader. They are either missing out on a lot of fun fighting these little freight trains on light line, or they are losing a lot of fish they could be landing. Either way, a good leader is essential if you want to increase your success with Bream. You must chose your leader carefully though. If it is too heavy, you will not entice a lot of fish to take your lure. If it is too light, you will not be able to load up your line when fighting amongst snags and other obstacles. A good rule of thumb is to double your main line test rating. i.e.. use a 8lb leader with a 4lb line. From here you will be able to chose your leader size based on things like habitat, fish size etc. Another important matter regarding leader is the manner in which you attach it to your line. A double is preferred by many but can be very time consuming if you have to re-rig often. A simple but very effective connection is the double uni knot or double grinner. It is tied quickly, it has a small profile when passing through your guides and holds up very well against all sorts of pressure. Just make sure to pull the tags tightly before trimming, and trim as close to the knot as you can. If your leader is a much larger diameter than your main line, double you main line over before tying on the leader. We currently promote Penn Powerline as a Leader. We use it in 8lb, 10lb and 12lb test and find it excellent. It is a hi-tech co-polymer line that will deliver a 50% stronger line when compared to normal mono line of a similar diameter and test rating. It is super strong, clear, soft, very thin and provides excellent protection against the snags and sharp objects that Bream love to hang around. YOU CAN FIND BERKLEY FIRELINE & PENN POWERLINE IN OUR ONLINE STORE Bream Tackle Basics:
|
