How to Catch Tasmanian Land based Black Bream

By Jack Gillespie

Black bream can be found right around Tasmania and are a staple for light tackle anglers. Tasmanian estuaries can offer some of the best bream fishing in the country due to pressure that some of the other states might cop. 

Sand flats

Bream love to get up and feed on shallow sand flats during the high tide period, often times in less than a foot of water and this can be a very exciting way to target these fish. An easy way to tell if bream are actively using the flat to feed is to look for bream digs, a bream dig is left over signs from where they have previously been feeding and it is exactly as it sounds, a little crater hole left in the sand from where the bream has dug down into the sand to feed on a crab or other crustaceans. Jerkbaits such as the Double Clutch 75SR and Infeet Sazanami 60SP are a great option to fish a sand flat giving you the ability to cover ground quickly. 

Drop offs

Drop offs are the always a key location for bream, they will sit off the edge and wait for unsuspecting baitfish to slip over the edge. Casting into the shallower water and twitching your lure into the deep. These fish often won’t move far for a feed so ensure your lure stays close to the bottom all the way down the drop off. Fishing Steez metal vibes or an appropriately weighted 2.5” Bait Junkie Grub are ideal lures for this style of fishing.  

Rocky edges

Rocky edges are also a highly productive area the fish. Bream have plenty of places to lay and wait to ambush. Bream will sit in a wide variety of depths around these rock edges so it’s a matter of working your way from very shallow hard up on the edge all the way out to four or five meters of water. Deeper running jerkbaits such as the Infeet Spike range. Don’t be afraid to be making contact with the bottom, this will create a disturbance and attract fish in from further distances. 

Gear

There is a massive variety of gear on the market these days and some fantastic gear can be had for a very affordable cost. 

When it comes to fishing land-based I’ll always opt for a longer rod for greater casting distance. The 23 TD Black Sugapop 782LFS has quickly become a favourite and the Infeet Z 732LFS is also another great option to have on hand for fishing those deeper running style of lures.

2500 sized reel is ideal for land-based fishing, braid will flow off the slightly larger spool again helping with those longer casts. I have been using the 24 TD Black MQ for some time now and it’s been a proven performer.

J-Braid Expedition 8lb is a great choice for land-based fishing for its great abrasion resistance and ultra fine diameter.

Leader size will depend on the areas you are fishing, the goal is to fish as light as possible but without getting busted off. Bream are very good at shaking out lures but as fisherman it’s very important to keep unwanted litter out of our waterways and river banks. If out on a sand flat with zero structure around then 4lbs is a great choice to get as many bites as possible but around weed or rocky structure upping that to 6 or 7lbs is a much wiser choice. The J-Thread X-link offers a very high breaking straight for its small diameter which works great for those fussy bream.

The pause……

The last thing I want to touch on to give yourself the very best opportunity to get into some of these hard fighting bream is the pause. by the pause I mean the pause of your lure or soft plastic while retrieving. Most Tassie black bream that are feeding sub surface won’t eat a lure that is moving so stopping your lure in its tracks and giving the bream time to inspect it (and eat it) is very important. A technique that bream will find irresistible is moving the lure 1-2 meters through the water by either slow rolling or jerking then pause or a period of 3-5 seconds and repeating that process all the way back. It’s also important to mix that pause time up until you find the sweet spot, it’s not uncommon that a bream will see but not commit to eating your lure for 10 seconds or more. Keep at the front of your mind “slow it down, bream won’t eat a moving lure”.