Not only has Dad been instrumental in teaching me how to fish over the years, he’s taught a lot of other people as well and he’s one of the best on the South Coast when it comes to species like snapper and bream.  So this week’s edition of Gone Fishing with Jonno is a bit of a special one as it’s a co-write with my dad, together we will bring you around 100 years of combined experience of fishing, especially for bait fishing for bream.  Dad has not only recreationally fished, he also had a stint as a professional fisherman targeting snapper, kingfish and eastern rock crayfish.

Besides dusky flathead, bream are probably number 2 on the list when it comes to targeting species in the estuaries. Last week Charlotte “The Reel Blondie” gave you her top 5 tips for chasing bream on lures, this week John ‘Jonno’ Johnson will give us his 5 top tips for chasing them on bait.

As a kid I did a lot of bream fishing with Dad and other Johnson family members, like Uncle Keith Blackmore, and I reckon they are one of the best species for kids to fish for in the estuaries.  Why? If you spend a bit of time getting fresh bait and berley ready, fish the right spots at the right times, you’ll be more than likely catch them.  They also hit and fight hard, giving the kids a real tussle and some real fun, especially if you use light gear.

In terms of tackle, when bait fishing for bream we recommend between 1000 to 2500 size reel. Shimano have a great range to choose from in a 1kg to 4kg light spinning rod. For value for money you can’t  go past a Shimano Raider Rod, my personal choice would be a RDR721BREAM.  For kids spool it up with some good quality 4kg mono line and you’ll need a range of ball sinkers, small swivels and either number 2 bait holder or circle hooks.  My dad prefers using the bait holder style hooks, while I tend to use circle hooks these days, it’s really a personal choice.

Both Dad and I concentrate our bream fishing sessions around the tides, fishing the first and last hours of the run-out tide and first and last periods of the run-up tide.  When fishing deeper water for bream the last of the run-out tide and first/last hour of the run-in tide seems to be best time for catching the bigger bream.

Here are John Johnson’s five top tips for bait fishing for bream.

1. We both agree on this one and it’s to berley up when bait fishing for bream.  Now most anglers who fish for bream on bait have their own secret berley mix, but we reckon to keep it simple.  Some bread, mixed with tuna oil and chook pellets will do the trick.  Some fishos like to soak wheat in hot water overnight and put them into the mix as well.  Kasey the Deck Dog’s tip is that if you have any old bait like prawns or pilchards, crush them up and put them into the mix as well.

2. Fish light. Use as light as possible sinker to get the bait to the bottom. When the tide is not running hard use small pea-sized sinkers straight down onto the hook.  Bream can be very timid and will often not really pick up a bait if the sinker weight is too heavy.  If it’s just right they will pick it up and run with it.  It’s important to highlight here that fish don’t really eat like we do, they will more than often have a taste and if they like it will move off with the bait in their mouth, sometimes with bream this can be very quick so always keep an eye on your rod.

3. Use good quality 4 to 5kg mono line. When fishing where there is a bit more current, use a larger sized running sinker down to a swivel with around a rod length of trace.

4. The best bait is fresh bait. Big bream go bananas over live prawns if you can get some, but fresh dead ones are nearly as good. Fresh fish flesh bait, like your striped tuna, frigate mackerel, slimy mackerel or mullet is also good bait for bream. Live yabbies, small black crabs and bloodworms will also more than likely tempt a hungry bream.  They also like some more unusual baits, like cubes of cheese, thin strips of fresh steak and chicken and mullet gut. 

5. Don’t forget some of the old school methods of chasing bream.  Like using a cork hand line when the tide is running a bit slower and putting it in a bucket of water so the bream can pick up and run with the bait.  Because I forgot Kasey the Deck Dog’s tip last week, she gets two this week and her second one is to use “brick” sinkers when using a running sinker rig. 

The best places to fish for bream like many other species are around some sort of structure like bridge pylons, deep channels/holes (particularly around oyster leases), artificial reefs like in St Georges Basin, rock bars and around wharves.

Next week we will look at chasing another estuary staple, whiting, using both bait and more excitingly surface fishing for them on lures.