Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Docklands, Southbank, Yarra River Area, The Warmies, Newport, Maribyrnong River
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Sebb
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Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by Sebb » Tue Jan 08, 2019 7:32 am

Docklands water has been very very clear. Went for a quick fish before work, tried zman grub motor oil and marukyu crab.
Few times they looked, gave the 'talk to the hand' and turned away.
4lb fluorocarbon 6ft leader and 1/24 jig head, couldn't fool them.
It's hard when the water is super clear. Even the smaller ones didn't want to tap.
15 mins before work, I threw some breadcrumbs and got them excited, then casted a weightless #6 hook with a piece of my sandwich. Refused few times til one of them took it (probably about 20cm), spat the hook after 5 seconds fight.

I've caught breams before (using TT Switchblade metal vibe is the easiest when the water is slightly dirty after rain in spring), but is it just me or Docklands breams are so hard to catch on lures?
Especially when the water is clear. No much current in Docklands either.

Any tips from pro bream fisho? :water:

sloth
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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by sloth » Tue Jan 08, 2019 9:08 am

Tl;Dr:
Stay out of sight. If they see you, you have a poor chance of catching. 4 - 6lb leader, at least double rod length long. Lightly weighted lures and stay very close to structure. Move constantly until you find the fish that are willing to take a lure. Use polaroids and spot from a distance. Tread lightly. Move. A lot

From a post I did years ago:

The docks are characterised by three key types of structure: hundreds of wharf pylons, floating pontoons (and pontoon pylons) and permanent or semi-permanent moored boats. All these structures are festooned with food items - mussels, barnacles, tube worms, weed - and all the invertebrates and bait-fish this mini ecosystem attracts. Where there is the above, the predators aren’t far away.

The techniques to fish the docks revolve around the above structures. In general most success comes from fishing the structure and fishing under your feet. In general you don’t want to be casting out into the dock. I’m not saying you won’t get fish this way but you definitely are playing the percentages if you stick closer to the edge. A lot of the bream hold close to structure and a lot of the other predatory fish cruise the pylon edges looking for prey. Putting your lure (or bait) in this area usually pays dividends.

Docklands is deep (8-10m). There is a lot of water to search and cover. However, my experience is that the bream are either holding in the top 3-4m of water, are on the bottom … or are not there. I fish small hardbodied vibes (strike pro micro vibes), soft plastics and blades and utilise three main techniques:

Lightly weighted plastics

They’re holding high, the water is clear and I can see them cruising a metre or two below the surface. Use very lightly weighted or unweighted plastics flicked from distance and allowed to drop on an open spool. If the line twitches or stops. Close bail and strike. The main idea is to not let the fish see you. If they are aware of you being there, they will not take. The solution is to cast from distance or if you can, sneak above them and only put an inch or two of your rod tip over the edge of the dock and lower your plastic in. The big bream you see in summer are the hardest to catch.

Tea-bagging pylons

Boring as bat-crap but effective. Walk up to a pylon (pontoon or wharside). Pick a side. Open your spool and let your micro vibe flutter down the side of the pylon. If it stops, jerks or does anything other than smoothly pay out line .. close bail and strike. If you get to the bottom (and in 10m of water this is 30seconds +) then a small hop (15cm) and drop….. if nothing then a slow 15cm lift and then a quick burn to the surface. Try the other side. If nothing, then the fish aren’t playing so move to the next pylon …. and so on…..

Favourite lure is a strike pro micro vibe in JU015TL colour (looks just like a black lipped mussel). Theory is they think its a mussel or bit of a mussel thats been dislodged from the pylon above them.

You can also tea-bag the bottom of pylons with blades and jig soft plastics close to the bottom for results.

Drop and Walk Soft Plastics

If you’re fishing the wharf side pylons its easiest if you just vertically drop your lure to the bottom, then walk 20m or so along and then retrieve. Use any kind of soft plastic retrieve you want - slow rolls, twitches, hops. lifts and drops … they all have their day and half the fun is figuring out what works on the day in question. Keep as close to structure as you can - ideally you’re bumping and almost snagging on pylons on the way. Using this method you can relatively quickly cover 100s of metres of wharf-side. Sooner or later you'll find where they are.


Other Tips:

- If you can, find spots which allow you to cast under the dock. There are a few places with no cross-beams or access ways for maintenance boats. Ping your lure as far back into the depths as you can. Start your retrieve and be ready to hang on … its short and brutal fights under there.
- If you are a bait fisho then bread or prawn on an unweighted hook and drop it down vertically along the pylons - as you would a micro vibe - can work just as well.
- If you are using prawn then consider putting it on a jighead (its like lure fishing with bait - you can flick under the dock, you can get it down to depth and jig it …. its lazier than using a sinker or shot - and I’m all for lazy).
- Some people have success fishing shallow or deep bibbed lures along the sides of pontoons. I never have so its not a technique I use now. I think lures which only get down to a couple of metres aren’t the best idea in 8 to 10m of water.

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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by Sebb » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:25 am

Thanks Sloth.
Bait fishing is definitely 100% easier. On lures, it's a hit and miss for me.
I might put on longer leader as you suggested.

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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by Lightningx » Tue Jan 08, 2019 1:02 pm

sloth wrote:Tl;Dr:
Stay out of sight. If they see you, you have a poor chance of catching. 4 - 6lb leader, at least double rod length long. Lightly weighted lures and stay very close to structure. Move constantly until you find the fish that are willing to take a lure. Use polaroids and spot from a distance. Tread lightly. Move. A lot

From a post I did years ago:

The docks are characterised by three key types of structure: hundreds of wharf pylons, floating pontoons (and pontoon pylons) and permanent or semi-permanent moored boats. All these structures are festooned with food items - mussels, barnacles, tube worms, weed - and all the invertebrates and bait-fish this mini ecosystem attracts. Where there is the above, the predators aren’t far away.

The techniques to fish the docks revolve around the above structures. In general most success comes from fishing the structure and fishing under your feet. In general you don’t want to be casting out into the dock. I’m not saying you won’t get fish this way but you definitely are playing the percentages if you stick closer to the edge. A lot of the bream hold close to structure and a lot of the other predatory fish cruise the pylon edges looking for prey. Putting your lure (or bait) in this area usually pays dividends.

Docklands is deep (8-10m). There is a lot of water to search and cover. However, my experience is that the bream are either holding in the top 3-4m of water, are on the bottom … or are not there. I fish small hardbodied vibes (strike pro micro vibes), soft plastics and blades and utilise three main techniques:

Lightly weighted plastics

They’re holding high, the water is clear and I can see them cruising a metre or two below the surface. Use very lightly weighted or unweighted plastics flicked from distance and allowed to drop on an open spool. If the line twitches or stops. Close bail and strike. The main idea is to not let the fish see you. If they are aware of you being there, they will not take. The solution is to cast from distance or if you can, sneak above them and only put an inch or two of your rod tip over the edge of the dock and lower your plastic in. The big bream you see in summer are the hardest to catch.

Tea-bagging pylons

Boring as bat-crap but effective. Walk up to a pylon (pontoon or wharside). Pick a side. Open your spool and let your micro vibe flutter down the side of the pylon. If it stops, jerks or does anything other than smoothly pay out line .. close bail and strike. If you get to the bottom (and in 10m of water this is 30seconds +) then a small hop (15cm) and drop….. if nothing then a slow 15cm lift and then a quick burn to the surface. Try the other side. If nothing, then the fish aren’t playing so move to the next pylon …. and so on…..

Favourite lure is a strike pro micro vibe in JU015TL colour (looks just like a black lipped mussel). Theory is they think its a mussel or bit of a mussel thats been dislodged from the pylon above them.

You can also tea-bag the bottom of pylons with blades and jig soft plastics close to the bottom for results.

Drop and Walk Soft Plastics

If you’re fishing the wharf side pylons its easiest if you just vertically drop your lure to the bottom, then walk 20m or so along and then retrieve. Use any kind of soft plastic retrieve you want - slow rolls, twitches, hops. lifts and drops … they all have their day and half the fun is figuring out what works on the day in question. Keep as close to structure as you can - ideally you’re bumping and almost snagging on pylons on the way. Using this method you can relatively quickly cover 100s of metres of wharf-side. Sooner or later you'll find where they are.


Other Tips:

- If you can, find spots which allow you to cast under the dock. There are a few places with no cross-beams or access ways for maintenance boats. Ping your lure as far back into the depths as you can. Start your retrieve and be ready to hang on … its short and brutal fights under there.
- If you are a bait fisho then bread or prawn on an unweighted hook and drop it down vertically along the pylons - as you would a micro vibe - can work just as well.
- If you are using prawn then consider putting it on a jighead (its like lure fishing with bait - you can flick under the dock, you can get it down to depth and jig it …. its lazier than using a sinker or shot - and I’m all for lazy).
- Some people have success fishing shallow or deep bibbed lures along the sides of pontoons. I never have so its not a technique I use now. I think lures which only get down to a couple of metres aren’t the best idea in 8 to 10m of water.
Some really good tips there! :thumbsup:

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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by Sebb » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:06 pm

Uhhh... What is this?
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eddyt
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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by eddyt » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:41 am

Bridled goby. Very common at the docks.

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Re: Docklands southern black bream, fussiest fish of all

Post by Scozziefish71 » Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:06 pm

I caught one at Ferguson st Pier in Williamstown yesterday, it was 1/2"bigger than my plastic :)
Unfortunately that's all I caught, it's been pretty dire lately.

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