Crankbaiting for Bream- Moreton Bay Style

By Grayson Fong

Moreton Bay in Queensland is a Mecca for chasing bream on crankbaits with the abundance of rocky rubble flats providing the ideal ecosystem for bream to reside.

With the shift in tides often leaving a lot of areas dry during the low, the incoming tide provides a ideal platform for bream to push up into areas looking for food and hunting their next prey. Using crankbaits of different depths can be advantageous in these times as mimicking the local bait can allow you to tap into bream feeding patterns faster therefore increasing your catch rate. 

Below is a table of my suggested Daiwa lures when chasing bream in different depths and a brief outline of watch to look for before throwing these baits and colour choice:

Depth: Surface to 0.5m  (0 - 1 ft

DAIWA SLIPPERY DOG 65F

Clear Water: Clown, Citrus Herring, Akebono Kabura

Dirty Water: Brown Suji Shrimp, Yellow Herring, Orange Suji Prawn

Terrain: Exposed rocks with lapping water, shallow weed beds.

DEPTH: 0.5m to 1m (1 - 3ft

DAIWA PRESSO MINNOW 60F

Clear Water: Ghost Wakasagi, Bleeding Tiger, Sushi Prawn

Dirty Water: Lazer Ayu, Brown Suji Shrimp, Kawamutu

Terrain: Medium to small oyster laden rocks, rubble bottom, weed flats with sand patches.

DEPTH: 1m to 1.5m (3ft - 5ft

DAIWA DOUBLE CLUTCH 60SP

Clear Water: Ghost Perch, Ghost Gudgeon, Amber Ale

Dirty Water: Lazer Ayu, Lazer Wakasagi, Brown Suji Shrimp

Terrain: Rock ledges, reef bommies, rubble bottom with undulating depth. 

DEPTH: 1.5m to 2m (5ft - 7ft)

DAIWA TOURNAMENT SPIKE 53SP

Clear water: Ghost Wakasagi, Creeping Iwashi, Sushi Prawn

Dirty Water: Brown Suji Shrimp, Lazer Ayu, Purple Suji Prawn

Terrain: Deep bommies that are 3ft underwater at low tide and 5-7ft at high tide, rubble bottom with heavy rock formations. 

Wind direction plays a massive part when using these lures as setting up your drift is crucial in maximizing your cast distance, for not only keeping the lure away from the boat but covering a large area in a short time. Be sure to always cast with the wind and a very slow rolling retrieve (with the occasional pause) is optimal giving bream time to chase the lure. 

Choice of leader is purely personal with light leaders (3-4lb) accounting for an increase in catch rate but a higher risk of losing fish in rocky, oyster laden areas. Slightly heavier leaders (5-6lb) can decrease bites in clear water but increase your chances of landing a bream in some scary terrain. Daiwa's J-Thread is a perfect choice due to its high abrasion resistance and has been developed especially for this type of fishing.

I hope this guide will help you increase your bream catch rate, not only in Moreton Bay but in any of your local waters throughout Australia.