DAIWA PRODUCT FOCUS: Landbased Gold by Dale Baxter

Targeting bream walking the banks with hard body lures.It is nice occasionally to change things up whether it is by choice, circumstance or just for the sake of change, I find it keeps you on your toes and looking for the subtle changes in the way to present a lure to a fish. I have been kayak fishing for over 5 years now and rarely go for a walk along the banks casting hard body lures on really shallow or sloping edges.

Getting back to where it all started for most of us is a good way to slow things down and really hone in on techniques to try and to look at what we have learned. With a recent change over of Kayaks it gave me the opportunity to walk the banks of where I learnt to lure fish for bream, with the added benefit of the knowledge I had gained over the past few years. I new the local area really well and where the fish would most likely be at this time of year.

What I noticed was how much I had changed the way I fish and was able to apply most of this to what I was now doing. Normally in the kayak or boat we will cast to shallows and work out deeper or from time to time I like to fish parallel with the bank and work a certain depth. Land based I found that this technique worked best and that you could stay in the strike zone longer fishing a consistent depth.

It is a good idea to have a few different styles of lures to be able to work through different depths depending on where you are fishing. I have listed my top 5 lures to give me a better opportunity to catch more fish. The other tip I would give is to use braided line with a fluorocarbon leader, anywhere from 4lb – 6lb and a rod length or 2 at most. The reason for this apart from the sensitivity of feeling most bites is that if your lure becomes snagged on a rock or a bit of weed you can hit the butt of the rod sharply and will generally un-snag the lure and save you a few dollars.

My 5 top lures for land based bream,

• Cranka Crab – very versatile along the rocky edges.
• Daiwa Presso Rolling Crank – when a slow roll is all thats required.
• Daiwa Presso Minnow 6F – twitching these can really entice a bite.
• Daiwa Double clutch 65sp/75sp – for those deeper edges.
• Daiwa Wise minnow / Zipbait Khamsin JR – Black bream love a suspending lure.

Another thing with land based breaming I always keep moving around about a 1/2 cast length at a time. I also don’t mind spooking the odd fish to find out what they are doing and then work out the best approach for targeting them. Sometimes in the early morning or late evening you will see fish actively feeding with their tails out of the water, this is where I like to cast past them and try to put the lure in from them on the retrieve. Most times this results in a hook up.

Top 3 tips

• look for fish feeding in the shallows
• use braid for better bite detection
• keep moving

So if you have no boat or kayak, or don’t have a lot of time up your sleeve then no worries. Getting out walking the banks and casting a few lures should get you onto a few fish and wont take up too much time either.