Tools of the Trade- Bream Surface Fishing

It’s hard to beat a topwater as the preferred way to catch a fish on a lure. For bream anglers in particular the sight and sound of a bream slurping down a cicada imitation or the commotion and aggression of a big blue nose nailing a stickbait is hard to beat as the ultimate bream bite. With topwaters on the menu we put the hard word on five of Daiwa Australia’s best breamers and find out what their go-to outfits are when it’s time to throw a surface lure.

Kris Hickson

Kris’ go-to topwater hardbait rod is the Infeet Z 702LRS. It has a fast enough action to work a topwater but not too fast that it won't soak up the big lunges and help keep the trebles in a big cranky bream.

Kris likes match his Infeet Z to a 2500 spin reel as they’re super light and is easier on his wrists from a big day of twitching topwaters. Kris spools his reel with 6lb J-Braid Grand because it’s ideal for making long casts and matches it to 6lb J-Thread Nylon leader. 

Kris opts for something different when throwing soft plastics on the surface and uses an Infeet Ex 742LRS. Its light tip is great for casting super light weights but has plenty of power lower in the blank to help drive a hood point home. Kris finds a 2000 spin reel balances best on the rod, and he spools it with the 6lb J-Braid Grand which he find delivers the best balance between castability and strength.

Grayson Fong

In comparison to Kris Grayson opts for a one rod approach for throwing topwaters. Like Kris, Grayson goes the Infeet rod approach and uses a Infeet Ex 742LRS. Grayson explains,

“My choice of the regular tapered Infeet EX allows me to get a better action on my topwater lures as I can ‘rip’ the rod down without moving the lure too far. This rod is ideal for smaller topwater lures when fishing tight structure.

I find the buoyant attributes of a nylon leader beneficial when fishing topwater as it keeps my lure in a great position when I pause it during my retrieve”.

Grayson’s Topwater Tackle

Rod- Infeet EX 742LRS

Reel- Luvias 2500S

Line- 8lb J-Braid Grand

Leader- 6lb J-Thread Nylon Leader

Jesse Rotin

While bream on topwaters is more prevalent in QLD and NSW Jesse Rotin still spends plenty of time with a surface lure tied on in his state of Victoria.

“Who doesn’t love a bit of surface action. Surface fishing is one of the most enjoyable ways to catch a bream. I just love sneaking up to a bream so tight to structure that its back is out of the water and pitching in a topwater and watching it bow wave towards the lure and slurp it off the top. It's highly addictive”, explains Jesse.

Like many of the bream pros on the Daiwa BREAM tour Jesse opts for an Infeet rod for much of his breaming and when it comes to throwing topwaters it’s an Infeet Ex 6101ULRS-ST that he reaches for. Jesse explains,

“This is a sweet little rod which also doubles as a great crankbaiting rod. The Infeet Ex has an ultralight regular taper which even with the gentlest of tweaks to the rod tip will impart plenty of movement to surface lures without pulling them out of the strike zone. The moderate action also aids in keeping hooks in timid fish. Another great reason why it doubles as my crankbaiting outfit too”.

Jesse matches his Infeet to a Luvias Airity 2000S, spooled with 6lb J-Braid Grand and a 3 metre length of 3 or 4lb J-Thread Finesse FC leader.

Dale Baxter

Dale slots his surface lure outfits into two specific categories, those he uses when fishing open flats and edges and the other for tight-to-cover fishing and snag bashing. Dale explains his selections.

“There are two rods I use for the flats and edges. This first is an Infeet Ex 6101ULRS–ST. It’s a rod that has a great taper and action in the tip allowing the angler to easily walk the dog. The other rod is an Infeet 732LFS, which is a faster taper rod with the perfect length to get the best action out of the lure. Both of these rods I match to either a 2000 or 2500 reel spooled with PE line”.

When fishing snags and tight to cover Dale comes down in rod length and he opts for just one rod choice.

“The choice of rod for this type of fish is easy, it’s an Infeet Z 641LFS-ST.  This little rod is a beast and I have found it great for using out of the kayak. I’m super impressed with how far the solid tip helps cast a topwater lure like an Infeet Slippery Dog 65, and it has enough power low down to put the pressure on fish that are tight to structure”.

Once again Dales pairs this rod with a 2000 reel spooled with PE line.

Tom Slater 

Daiwa Product Planner Tom Slater is someone who’s focused on creating and using the right tool for the job and when it comes to his surface breaming he has two primary outfits that he straps to the front deck of his Phoenix tournament boat. The first is an Infeet 610LFS and the second an Infeet Z 681LFS. Tom explains the reasons for his choices,

“I lot of your work when fishing a topwater is a rod tip down motion so I prefer to use a shorted rod (sub 7 foot’) so your tip isn’t hitting the water surface”.

A considered approach matching the rod to the technique Tom also chooses his spinning reel based on the technique.

“I use a Revelry 2500S  for topwaters, the larger spool retrieves more line that a small reel which is better for getting the correct cadence when you’re fishing a walk-the-dog surface lure”, concluded Tom.

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