COVER STORY: TOPWATER BREAM
16 fishingworld.com.au | September 2019talking about. They are far more subtle than
poppers, and again, the trick here is pausing.
I tend to find the pauses don’t need to be as long
or as many as poppers, as the presentation itself is
more lifelike.
Subsurface is a different beast altogether.
When using Bent Minnow’s, it really is a
licorice-all-sorts when it comes to retrieves
where basically anything goes. When cast out,
you can work the lure with a low rod tip to get
the lure diving and once under water, tapping
the rod tip will get the lure to dance erratically.
A periodic tap of the rod will keep the lure
suspended under water and this can be a
dynamite technique. You may allow the lure to
f loat back to the surface before more subsurface
dives. Alternatively, you can revert to long
pauses on the surface. It’s such a versatile lure
that it does cross functions of other surface
lures yet has a stealth appeal to it. Due to the
diving nature of this lure then using f luoro
leaders which sink help in this regard.
If I could only use one surface lure for bream,
this would be it.IDEAS ON GEAR
You don’t necessarily need to run out and buy new
outfits for surface breamin. Most of the standard
7’ bream rods will be able to complete the task
required. That said, I have found rods with a
softer action to be more effective. The soft tip
allows the bream to slurp down the lure and
inhale it easier and you’ll find the hook up rate is
better. Faster-actioned rods will make it harder for
the breamv to eat.
The other aspect is rod length. If you’re
targeting bream over shallow sandy f lats then a
rod around 7’6” to fire off long casts is essential.
Bream will spook easily so the further you can
fish from yourself the better. In this regard, use
the wind to your advantage and cast downwind
whenever you can. The more water you cover, the
more fish you cross paths with.
If you’re fishing tight to shore from a boat and
you want to fire a lure under some overhanging
mangrove branches, a shorter 6’10” rod will
improve casting accuracy. Again, it’s about using
the right tool for the job.
In terms main line, I haven’t moved over to
running f luoro “straight through” as a lot of the
bream gurus have. I like the precision feel of braid
however from what I’m seeing the stealth nature
of not using highly visible braid certainly helps on
cautious bream.
Interestingly, a few switched on guys are
using assist hooks now on their surface lures
and while the lure is sitting stationary on the
surface and being inspected by a bream from
underneath, the tassels hanging down off the
lure resemble the antennae of prawns or crabs
seem to be making bream commit. Just shows
how experimentation is key and the next
step-change in how to catch bream on topwaterA decent Hawkesbury bream ready for a quick photo and release. can be quite a simple solution. ●
and get noticed. If conditions are still and water
clear, then ultra-realistic profiles with a clear
body in actions that displace minimal water
will be necessary to aid in the deception.
TECHNIQUES & RIGGING
Trying to explain how to work surface lures is a
tough ask as there are so many variations and
lure styles, however there are a few basic
concepts to help you get started.
First off if you're using poppers, the key,
other than getting the lure to throw water, is
the tempo. More so than any other surface lure
speed is vital. My experience suggests longer
pauses work better with these lures. This may
be due to the action of the lure. Obviously,
poppers are loud and aggressive presentations so
bream will usually treat them cautiously. They
will often hunt up behind the lure inspecting it
and not commit. Long pauses help here and
even a single pop interspersed with long pausing
can turn the looker into a feeder. To help get
the lure working properly I like to use mono
leader instead of f luoro. Mono line f loats
instead of sinks and this extra buoyancy helps
keep the cupped face orientated correctly to
work at it’s best.
Walk-the dog lures are more advanced are
require a little practice. The key is to find the
balance between working the rod tip by tapping
the slack line and speed of wind. There’s a ton of
videos online to help you visualise what I’m