DAIWA FISHING TIPS: Structure Breaming 101 – Alex Greisdorf

I figure as my first blog that I would share some techniques that all anglers could relate to. All of our river and estuary systems across the country have some sort of structure, from manmade boat docks and pontoons to massive Jarrah trees that have fallen down during storms. Our favourite big blue lip friends make these places their home.

Gear Setup – The first and one of the most important things is to have the right equipment. I use a Daiwa Battler Beowolf Fast action 2-4kg rod matched with a Luvius 2506, which makes the whole combo insanely light. Using a heavier action rod will give you added power in pulling the fish from the structure. Then you move on to leaders and braids. The heavier you can go the better, but in saying that when fishing pressured waterways you may need to go lighter leader material and/or Fluorocarbon straight through,

Boat Hulls and Pontoons – My favourite type of structure to fish!!! The most important tip and I guess the most obvious is to get your lure in to the strike zone! Pay attention to the subtle things like tide direction, wind chop and lastly shade. The Strike zone will depend on these three key things. Plastics are always a great option to skip cast and really give you a great ability to get right to the back or underneath. I have had some great success fine tuning my hard bodied lures such as Double Clutches and Spikes to purposely swim to the right or left to get right up under and in to the shady areas. Early morning can also be a fantastic time to throw top waters.

Timber and Snags – These often can hold schools of big bream that are just hanging around waiting for a tasty feed to swim by. I tend to find wind and tide has more to do with finding the right zones to fish rather than time of day. Fishing these barnacle encrusted sticks can be tricky with plastics but suspending/floating hardbodies are in their zone. I find slow rolling my hard bodies and actually knocking them in to the branches or sticks then giving them a quick pause is a deadly technique to stir up a reaction bite for bream, and I’m sure it would work on most of our other native species. For me, my success has come from using Spikes, double clutches and Presso Cranks. With them all being crash divers they get right in to the thick of things straight away. Top waters on those still summer mornings can also tempt a big bream to come and attack it.

Bridges and Pylons – These are often flowing with water depending on the tides as well as teaming with fish. Bridges can be tough spots to master as the bite can often only happen for a very short time depending on the tides. One of my most successful techniques is to fish vibes hopped along the pylons. The key is getting them as close as possible to the slack water behind the pylons. I find trying to match the hatch lures that look like a mussel or crab are the best option. Blades and heavy weighted plastics can also be a reliable alternative. My favourites are the Gekkabijin in Black and the tournament baby vibes.

Happy Fishing and stay tuned for my next blog