Bream on Topwater Lures

[Niall]

Hi All, 

I've learnt a lot from this forum over the years so thought I'd share a few tips on what's been working for me when targeting Sydney Harbour bream on topwater lures.  It's an extremely addictive and accessible way to fish if you live in the city.  Once you've cracked the code you'll be hesitant to throw much else for bream when targeting them with lures.

Most of my experience is based on my local waterway which is Blackwattle Bay / Rozelle Bay.  I also have no boat or kayak so fish exclusively from the shore.

The same bream rules apply for where to find them - look for structure, bait and current (pretty sure this works for all fish FYI).

The foreshore along BW Bay is full of bream at all times of the tide - don't be discouraged by what time of day either.  I've caught them at all times, but in a place that gets as much foot traffic as BW Bay, you'd probably be best to start on early morning / late arvo.  Obviously fish when you can, don't wait for the right conditions.  

You'll learn stuff even when you're collecting donuts 😉

The lure I've had most success on is the classic Bassday Sugapen.  I use the 58mm and the 70mm - less hits on the bigger models but they work as well.  Try to stick with the clear colour ways but a darker silhouette would go well on an overcast day.  Also got them on the Berkley Scumdog (cheaper) and the MMD Splash Prawn but neither of these get the same nibs as the Bassday.  Whatever you choose USE SCENT!  It works. I don't care what anyone says. Also beware of touching the lure after you've applied sunscreen.  Bream hate sunscreen.

You can change out the rear trebles for some assist hooks (make your own or get the Atomic or the Ecogear ones).  Bear in mind if you change to assists on the 58mm it'll sink a bit and go sub surface more often.  Keeping your rod tip up on the retrieve alleviates this mostly.  Still works but it's better with a smaller no.10 Treble.  The 70mm handles the assist hooks just fine but if you wanna save a couple of bucks just change down to smaller trebles. 

You'll want to have a light setup for this - I fish 4lb braid and 4lb leader on a 6.5 to 7.5ft 1-3kg rod and a 2500 sized reel.  I don't think the fish care what brand your fishing gear is.

To nail the retrieve you need a really soft tipped rod.  As wippy as you can get.

 

The retrieve seems to be the key for getting them to bite.  The slow and steady method is NOT what you want.  I'm finding a really erratic walk the dog retrieve with lots of pauses is what gets them interested.  Wind steadily and shake your other hand until you see the lure flipping side to side really fast.  Retrieve for about 2-3ft then stop suddenly. A lot of the time you'll have a boil behind the lure or a hit straight away.  If the fish just has a swipe then keep twitching until he hits it.  I've had bream come up 5-6 times before they smack the lure - gets the heart pumping way more than it should for a bream 😂

Another invaluable nugget of info came from this vid.  Don't bother casting to the same fish or in the same spot over and over.  If a fish has a look and then leaves the lure, he ain't coming back.  Move another 10m away and cast somewhere else.  

This is part of the advantage of BW Bay and Rozelle Bay.  You can walk for a good km or two along the water and cast the whole way.  Keeps it interesting casting in new territory and structure all the time.  Trust me 99 times out of a 100 that bream that boiled behind your lure 10 casts ago is not coming back for another enquiry.  Move on.

 

Anyway hopefully that gets a few folks started.  I'd been fishing the same area with plastics for ages without a lot of success until I started doing the above.  I've caught more bream in the past month on topwater than I did in the past year on plastics.  Whether that says more about my fishing ability than anything else remains to be seen.

 

Have fun ladies and gents.  

Seeya on the water!  If you're down by the bay and see a bloke fishing with a red baseball cap it's probably me.  Say hi!

Niall

[big Neil]

Thanks for the very informative post Niall. Cheers, bn

[kingie chaser]

Great write up, there is plenty of people on here that will get a lot out of this 

[wazatherfisherman]

Great info there well done. Good to hear still plenty of fish around the city too

[scottyboy]

Mate your a champion. This is what makes fishraider so awesome. Thank you very much for your advice. I don't  get to see many bream here in Tamworth but when the fires finally finish I might treat myself to a holiday chasing bream somewhere. Thanks again 

Cheers Scotty

[Green Hornet]

Good write up Niall, I'm sure quite a few fishos will get a lot out of this.

If I may add, another good lure to have in your kit is a Lucky Craft Sammy 65. At 5.8 grams they cast like a bullet and will help where distance is needed or a strong cross wind is hurting the accuracy of lighter lures, but I agree, those Sugarpens are hard to beat.

I also find a bit of chop on the water really helps turn timid fish into biters as well.

 

[Rebel]

Great story, thank you.

[Blackfish]

Thats a great write up Niall, thanks so much for posting. 👍

[Niall]

Thanks for reading everyone.  

Got this one yesterday - Was the biggest of three that I caught before I basically melted.

Middle of the day, stinking hot, people everywhere and this one still couldn't resist.  They're not a shy species as far as I'm concerned.

 

Hope everyone gets onto one soon!

 

 

 

 

 

[Hill373737]

Great article Niall, you  inspired me to tie on a Sugapen this morning and I picked up a couple of nice bream on the surface out of the snags in my local river.

 

[Niall]

That's awesome to hear mate.  Bumped into a couple of other fish raiders down at Blackwattle this arvo.

It seems I've struck a chord!

[DerekD]

Hi Niall,

It was a pleasure to meet you today and I want to thank you again for a few reasons.

Firstly, for taking the time to put together such a clear "how to" thread. Each year I try to pick up at least one more fishing skill set to the point that I am at least proficient at it. I was looking for one for 2020 and with the shore based kings being such hard work at the moment your topic came along at just the right time.

I've done pretty well on the sugapens in the last few years but I've never bothered specifically targeting topwater bream. Your little pointers and verification that my technique was a good was a nice confidence builder even if the bream were not really playing.

You were fun to talk to. BTW if you are going to talk about a trademark red cap can you please wear it as I was a little hesitant about accosting the only other person out there with a fishing rod.  That you looked to be flicking a surface lure was part of the reason I opened the conversation with "Are you a Fishraider?".

Looking forward to more fishing sessions with you and to see if I can get you on to some more kings.

Regards,

Derek

Edited January 6, 2020 by DerekD

[big Neil]

7 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Niall,

It was a pleasure to meet you today and I want to thank you again for a few reasons.

Firstly, for taking the time to put together such a clear "how to" thread. Each year I try to pick up at least one more fishing skill set to the point that I am at least proficient at it. I was looking for one for 2020 and with the shore based kings being such hard work at the moment your topic came along at just the right time.

I've done pretty well on the sugapens in the last few years but I've never bothered specifically targeting topwater bream. Your little pointers and verification that my technique was a good was a nice confidence builder even if the bream were not really playing.

You were fun to talk to. BTW if you are going to talk about a trademark red cap can you please wear it as I was a little hesitant about accosting the only other person out there with a fishing rod.  That you looked to be flicking a surface lure was part of the reason I opened the conversation with "Are you a Fishraider?".

Looking forward to more fishing sessions with you and to see if I can get you on to some more kings.

Regards,

Derek

You're always out there either teaching somebody or learning from somebody DerekD. I'm in awe at the dedication which you apply to your angling mate. Keep it up, no doubt you will pass it on...  Cheers, bn

[Niall]

10 hours ago, DerekD said:

Hi Niall,

It was a pleasure to meet you today and I want to thank you again for a few reasons.

Firstly, for taking the time to put together such a clear "how to" thread. Each year I try to pick up at least one more fishing skill set to the point that I am at least proficient at it. I was looking for one for 2020 and with the shore based kings being such hard work at the moment your topic came along at just the right time.

I've done pretty well on the sugapens in the last few years but I've never bothered specifically targeting topwater bream. Your little pointers and verification that my technique was a good was a nice confidence builder even if the bream were not really playing.

You were fun to talk to. BTW if you are going to talk about a trademark red cap can you please wear it as I was a little hesitant about accosting the only other person out there with a fishing rod.  That you looked to be flicking a surface lure was part of the reason I opened the conversation with "Are you a Fishraider?".

Looking forward to more fishing sessions with you and to see if I can get you on to some more kings.

Regards,

Derek

Great to meet you last night Derek.  Picking up a couple of new retrieves and having a good chat definitely made up for the lack of fish.  I'm still wondering what smoked me just before I bumped into you guys.

Apologies for the lack of hat - don't know about you but I struggle to walk past any fisho without saying hello and finding out what they're catching.  Never had anyone react negatively to that.

Definitely keen to be shown to ropes re: Kings from shore. 

 

Cheers!

[61 crusher]

That’s great information & well written plus a bonus to bump into DerekD 👍

[Niall]

1 hour ago, motiondave said:

thanks for the info, I fish from boat and have had a few looks around Blackwattle and rozelle, but not recently, there looks to be limited places to anchor as I dont have a trolling motor, not worth paying $2000 for a $1500 boat

I might try closer to shore and yes, I do not cast towards shore people fishing as that plain rude for anyone whom does that.

cool , and thanks for the info.

Dave.

 

 

Hey Dave,

I don't know much about boating but I reckon if you timed your visit with the right tide and wind you could set up to drift by the right spot.  If you're facing the shore you'd wanna drift along the wall to the right of the Boathouse restaurant.

Otherwise it's a pretty much ideal shore based spot.

[DerekD]

6 hours ago, big Neil said:

You're always out there either teaching somebody or learning from somebody DerekD. I'm in awe at the dedication which you apply to your angling mate. Keep it up, no doubt you will pass it on...  Cheers, bn

Hi Neil.

My secret is that I don't have a wife, kids or girlfriend at the moment and a reasonable income. Apart from family stuff (usually scheduled in the evenings) my time is usually my own and I feel the well being benefits of fishing more than compensates me for any outlays I make. I've also had a great deal of fun meeting up, fishing with, teaching and learning from others on this site.

Speaking of wife - I hope the current health concerns with yours get resolved in 2020 and that the two of you can get back to doing the fun stuff together. Also looking forward to your next trip to Sydney and doing some fun fishing related stuff.

Best wishes,

Derek

[nutsaboutfishing]

Thanks heaps Niall for the post. You are a deadset legend!

[rayc99]

great article, I'm using 95mm sugapen,  guess it's too big

[DerekD]

Hi Niall,

The domino effect of this article has started. I'd forwarded your article to a few friends already. On the way to my dad's for dinner tonight I had some time to kill. With the rising tide it  meant one of the bays in the lower North Shore area was going to be nicely under water. I called a fishing mate in the area to come down and suggested that he had a look at your article and related link.

He came down with light rod and an 85mm Sugapen copy. To be fair with the limited time available he had only partially read your article hence why he ended up with one of these rather than the bream I was hoping for:

It really wanted that lure. Went 36cm. He is very good at what he does (e.g. kings off the rocks) but this was his first whiting on surface lure.

I had a swipe from what I was pretty sure was a bream on my small sugapen and we both hooked up on a small tailor.

Lovely way to kill a bit of time.

Regards,

Derek

Edited January 8, 2020 by DerekD

[DerekD]

I know this is going to sound like a fishing reports but it is a continuation of the advice started by Niall. Decided to meet up with Niall and a few others down at the water for some afternoon surface fishing. One of my mates decided to come down to but due to confusion he started off at a different section of the water.

While waiting on the others I saw a guy with a red cap fishing in the distance and started calling out Niall. Wasn't him but he had picked up a bream.

Using the retrieve Niall had suggested with a small sugapen I had some swirls, strikes and misses. Concept was working which is a good confidence builder. I got a text message from my mate and he'd landed this one.

I joined him. Changed lures to an MMD splash prawn and when I blinked I suddenly was on this little one.

I've had bream before on surface lure but this one was the first I'd caught while specifically targeting them. Decided to try again but on a sugapen. Saw a swirl and a follow and let the lure sit where it was and picked this one up (unfortunately with all the bouncing around it got a little sandy and I didn't want to dunk it and rinse it for a photo opportunity - a quick photo and back in the water):

This one was legal. I can see why people get addicted to this - thank you Niall for inspiring me to put a bit more time into this. There was another strike on one of the surface lures which was either a tailor or I think a whiting. To pull out two fish in what some of the others considered pretty hard fishing based on some of their other sessions put a big smile on my face.

Really pleasant learning session with some fun guys from diverse fishing backgrounds. I think there was as much talking about fishing as there was fishing.

Thanks Niall and the others in the group.

Derek

Edited January 9, 2020 by DerekD

[Niall]

Nice work Derek.  Great to see you down there again this evening.  I was probably one of the ones doing more talking than fishing 🤣

It was definitely tough fishing down there today but you've got that retrieve dialled in nicely and it's showing with the fish you're catching. 

Just gotta get you onto a nice 40+ model now.  They're out there!

[rayc99]

great, I will try this method at Narrabeen lake this weekend