Bream fishing at Tambo and Mitchell

[Hunter1982]

Thanks a lot. I found this online.

https://www.lakesentrance.com/fishing/fishing-report

I hope the fishing report is useful for other bream fisherman.

[Hunter1982]

Just came back from Tambo.

Used local prawns and sandworm.

Started 830am and ended 330pm.

No bites near the mouth. Switched to Tambo upper after 1hr.

Lots of small breams in the Tambo upper, caught nothing of legal size, except a Travelly, about 23cm."

Using 1lb braid, 2000 daiwa shinobi reel and daiwa light rod 3-4kg, leader fluorocarbon 6lb. Bean sinker size 2, running sinker, gamskatsu circle hook size 6.

As I am new to fishing, I tried lots of different methods, but can't figure out what is the right method.

I caught around 10 size small bream and 1 Trevalley on Gulp Saltwater blood worm.

I realised that I am losing a lot of bait, sandworm and prawns.

The bites were strong, roughly 3-4 strikes and then no more bite. Reeled in to check, baits gone. Same with prawns as well.

Could anyone advise me and help me improve?

Is the hook size and type corect?
It's very difficult to hook a prawn on size 6 hooks, any suggestions?
Should I strike or just leave it when there's a bite? When should I strike?

What tides should I try to fish?

Thank you.

[bilby]

Use spider crabs near structure, keep the line a bit loose ... and keep your wits about you when the line starts moving!

[Yi1978]

Just came back from Tambo.

Used local prawns and sandworm.

Started 830am and ended 330pm.

No bites near the mouth. Switched to Tambo upper after 1hr.

Lots of small breams in the Tambo upper, caught nothing of legal size, except a Travelly, about 23cm."

Using 1lb braid, 2000 daiwa shinobi reel and daiwa light rod 3-4kg, leader fluorocarbon 6lb. Bean sinker size 2, running sinker, gamskatsu circle hook size 6.

As I am new to fishing, I tried lots of different methods, but can't figure out what is the right method.

I caught around 10 size small bream and 1 Trevalley on Gulp Saltwater blood worm.

I realised that I am losing a lot of bait, sandworm and prawns.

The bites were strong, roughly 3-4 strikes and then no more bite. Reeled in to check, baits gone. Same with prawns as well.

Could anyone advise me and help me improve?

Is the hook size and type corect?
It's very difficult to hook a prawn on size 6 hooks, any suggestions?
Should I strike or just leave it when there's a bite? When should I strike?

What tides should I try to fish?

Thank you.

hey, 10 small breams and 1 trevally isn't bad at all.

I am new to fishing too ( less than 1 year) so I can only give you my very limited experiences with breams.

i just started using circle hooks myself and still learning at this stage but i reckon you may be able to up the hook size a bit, say a 4 or even 2 ( you then can put a bit more bait onto it and catch a bigger fish but the tradeoff is that you may lose lots of bites from smaller breams)
if you can't put a whole prawn onto the hook, cut the prawn into smaller portions.
when using circles hooks we are suppose to leave it untill the fish takes the bait and hook itself , in other words no strike is really required so wait till the rod is loaded(even it's loaded try not to lift the rod too much, just grab the rod gently instead)
i never used a sinker bigger than size 1 to chase breams, but i never been to the river you fishing and when i fish docklands i found breams prefer pillchard cut into small fillets over prawns
i personally found using paternoster rig with 2 loops works better than running sinker
again stuff i wrote above is based on my very limited bream experiences at mainly docklands but i do hope something can be useful to you

[Hunter1982]

Hey Yi1978, thanks for your tips.

I will put them into practice and see how it works there.

What size of the tear drop sinker do you use and how far apart do you set the 2 hook apart?

[Yi1978]

it depends on the current, i normally use a size 1 ball sinker with a bit of current but if really calm i go even smaller.
i go sinker----then fc leader around 40-45cm to the first loop knot( loop itself is around 25cm) , then about 60-70cm above this knot I do another loop (in total i use around 2 rod length of leader then braid)you may need to adjust if fishing in really shallow water.

[brybry]

Prefer to fish with two rods and spider crabs especially big male ones with the red claw. Bites will be much less frequent but will usually be a better quality fish.

[Hunter1982]

Hi guys,

When is the best tide to fish in the river? Do you fish incoming tides upstream or downstream?

Also I am keen to for lure fishing, should I cast towards the direction of the current and work my lure down with the current. Or cast with the current and make my lure swim against the current?

Thank you.

[AE092]

I've fished the mouth of the Tambo with varying degree of success but with a similar set up at Lake Tyers, I generally end up with a feed.

Try using a small ball sinker on a running hook rig, you current size 6 will be fine. I use Gamakatsu/Owner hooks, both made in Japan. Fresh whole local prawn is good but better if fresh or still alive. I put the hook through the tail section and thread up and do a loop around the base of the tail to hold it in place. The bigger bream will generally hit hard and run, perfect for a circle hook but long shank will be fine.

Alternatively small green crabs found under rocks is also very good, you'll get less bites as the smaller fish will stay away but the bigger bream won't hesitate if they're around

[Kimtown]

Gone are the days where you could bag out on nice sized bream in the Gippsland lakes river systems in only a matter of hours.

The last few times I've head up there it's nothing but peckers and undersized bream. But maybe that's just me.

I prefer to drive the extra half hour and go to tyres.