For those who entered, the target species were flathead or bream. I would consider myself still quite "green" when it comes to bream, it is a type of fishing I really wanted to get into more often as I love fishing with very light gear, and testing it's limits. I used this comp as a platform to learn a little more, and having fun doing it. It is for this reason I chose bream. Actually, truth be told, my original plan was to head out to Werribee South for some flathead, but I wasn't convinced the weather would hold up, so bream was plan B. Glad it turned out the way it did.
So Saturday night I packed the car ready to go and headed to the Nong. Unpacked and was greeted by an older local who didn't think I'd catch more than a goldfish in there. To be honest, I tended to agree :lol: I have only ever caught one bream before this, quite some time ago. I have only targeted bream around 3 times previously, with only half arsed attempts, so really today was going to be the first proper crack at em.
I launched the yak from the pontoon and headed off within a few meters on the other side of the pontoon, initially casting a soft plastic turtle back worm. After about 10 or 15 casts I moved a bit further up, all within the vicinity of the pontoon, to no avail. In my mind, the plan was, if the fish aren't biting, to just enjoy the pedal up the river towards the Yarra and soak up the scenery. It was forecasted for a good day so thought "what the heck".
I drifted down a couple of kays down and while casting my plastic, got over adventurous and landed in the bushes just past the bank. Needless to say, I lost that SP and decided to retire that rod. I pulled out the other rod and rigged it up with a hardbody SX40.
Literally, first cast in and I nailed a tiny bream. Didn't measure it, but would have gone around 22cm. "Not a bad start" I thought. Even at that size, on 4lb line and 4lb leader it was quite fun. I casted again at the same spot a few times but no takers. I decided to can that spot and drifter further up until I got to a spot I thought would make a good cast. Threw the hardbody out and again, BANG, I was on. This one had more punch, and again on the light gear it fought ferociously. The little 1000 reel was getting a bit of a workout, you beauty!
Pulled him in, and measured it up at 30cm... after some happy snaps, in he went.
For the next hour I was catching one every 15 minutes or so, ended with 5 caught for the morning before the lure snagged and I lost it to the river.
For my first decent crack at bream locally, I was happy with the mornings efforts. Not huge monsters, but enough out there to keep me occupied, and on the light gear it was great fun. Best bit was that it took me 15 minutes to get there and back.
Here's a few photos from the morning,
Cheers,
Jay
- bream on the nong.jpg (46.75 KiB) Viewed 941 times
- catching bream on the nong.jpg (43.22 KiB) Viewed 941 times
