WINTER BREAMIN’ THE EDGES

Andrew McGovern shares his tips for chasing winter bream in and along the edges of various features and waterways.

The author with a cracking black bream of 1.32kgs

I have been fascinated with the idea of catching bream through the coldest months of the year ever since I read an article several decades ago by the legendary Ron Calcutt. It was about an adventure he under took along the far south coast of New South Wales where the size and quantity of fish he caught on that trip was a real eye opener to him. To hear a seasoned professional such as Calcutt speak in glowing terms of the exceptional fishing he had experienced made me sit up and notice.
Since then I have always enjoyed having a break from my winter freshwater pursuits by heading towards the salt, in the hope of knocking over a few big black and yellowfin bream. The myriad of estuary and river systems sprinkled along the coast line south of Sydney well down into the Gippsland region of Victoria can sometimes make selecting the actual location difficult. One thing that does remain relatively consistent though is the strategies behind how best to find and approach these winter bream.
FINDING FISH
When working the edges for bream there are several signposts to look for that will fast track your success. One of the prime indicators is ‘holes’, ‘digs’, or ‘turn overs’ sprinkled along the bottom. To pinpoint these locations you will need to get in close to the edges and slowly drift across the bay or shoreline while closely observing the bottom. Water depths between half a metre and two metres can easily be penetrated with mall pockets of water where feeding bream have been nosing in the soft substrate, turning over the bottom in search of a variety of crustaceans and invertebrates. Small crabs, worms, nippers and numerous other tasty morsels are all on a hungry breams shopping list. Depending on the creatu res available (pending time of year, water temperature, and characteristics of that particular waterway) bream may just scratch the first few millimetres of soft sand and mud or gouge their way deep into the bottom to dig out that elusive offering.
We have found holes as deep as 200 or 300 mm where bream have been feeding. The two-fold benefit of these deeper holes for the fish is that bream will often use them as cover if they are not in feeding mode. Numerous times I have been drifting over vast stretches of uniform, almost bland looking flats, when I have spooked a small school of big bream holed up in a dig they have recently created.
One of the biggest issues you’ll come across when searching for areas that bream have been feeding in is actually finding fish and subsequently spook them. Although this is not ideal and can be highly frustrating, the best solution is to note the area and return at a different phase of the tide for a full on assault. I know of many tournament anglers who undertake this exact preparation during pre-fish days leading up to an event. This is a particularly useful exercise if you are fishing a new system. The other option, rather than waiting for an entire tidal shift, is to continue searching the next few bays, points or shorelines, and then return to the area you previously spooked some fish. This break away from the area should allow the fish time to settle and there is every chance they will be back on the job when you return. Over the course of a day’s fishing it pays to be vigilant and keep an eye out for likely areas. If the area doesn’t fire on a particular day, return the following day, as bream are known to move reasonable distances within a system, over winter, searching for food.

Large presentation will attract the attention of bream through winter. This lovely yellowfin fell for a 5” Berkley Jerk Shad.

Bream are not often picky in these areas as they are there for one reason and that is to feed. This makes shallow water winter bream relatively easy targets and they will gladly take a wide range of presentations. Small soft plastics such as creature, grub and crustacean imitations in the 2 or 3 inch size range are proven performers over many seasons, throughout many systems.
As is the standard these days, jighead weight should be sufficient to cast the distance required and reach the optimum depth you intend to work your presentation. You will need to carry a range of jighead weights as minor decreases or increases by as little as half a gram can be the difference in generating bites and not. Other factors to consider are wind direction and velocity. A stiff breeze hitting you side on can collect your line, form a large belly in the braid and drag your light soft plastic away from the area you intended to work. In these scenarios, working the area with a suspending hardbody or a small metal blade can turn the tables on a tough session with soft plastics.
If the breeze is coming from behind you or it’s only light, then all manner of presentations are viable options. Weightless presentations are gaining popularity and should not be overlooked. Jigheads with a slither of lead moulded to the upper end of the hook shank are another high-end presentation option, which allow a super natural dead drift when you pause your soft plastic during a retrieve. Attaining a super slow drop on the pause is an absolute killer method on flats bream. A lightly weighted jighead with a soft plastic body that has a slightly wider, fat body, can assist in slowing down the speed that a presentation ‘drops’.
The other highly productive areas during the winter months are shorelines and shallow points that have slightly warmer water temperatures than the surrounding region. There are numerous locations that fall into this category. One of my personal favourite areas are those shorelines exposed to the early morning sun. The western shorelines on any waterway that has clear, unimpeded exposure to the first rays of sunlight after dawn are one of my ‘go to’ locations to fish through the mid-morning period. The water adjacent to these shorelines will warm faster than the rest of the waterway and we have found that often a temperature increase by a single degree or two can spawn substantially more activity in the area.
An oversight by many fishers is that they think the bream are attracted to the warm water. This is not entirely true as bream are quite adept at prospering in cold water; however, it is the increase in microorganisms and plant life that attracts tiny foraging fish which in turn brings the bream in. As mentioned we generally don’t hit these spots until mid-morning when the sun has had a few hours to warm the water.
If the western shorelines have a mix of rocky points, bays and inlets then you have found the perfect ingredients for some hot winter action. In general we opt to fish the points first before moving into large bays as schooling fish will often hold in that 2 to 5 m depth off the points (See TECH TIP – Luring Rocky Points).
With regards to rocky points, do not discard those small clusters of rocks that seem almost obsolete and easy to dismiss. Quite often some of our best bream have been taken from these minute features. Try to minimise the use of your electric motor along these points as constant ‘clunking’ of the motor engaging or changing direction can alert wary bream to your presence.
Initial approach to these areas should be slow and cautious with minimal wave action from the boat. If possible, come in from up current or up wind so that the waves from your boat mix with the natural occurring swells and wave action from the wind or tide. Also pay attention to where the sun is and if any shadows from the boat or anglers will be cast over potential fish holding water. The other important factor when working points and bays is to make as long a casts as possible so that you reach areas where noise hasn’t quite affected the fish yet.
Next warm water locale are flats or intermittent tidal zones consisting of predominantly dark mud bottoms. The reason for this is also quite simple. The dark mud on the bottom will attract and hold the heat longer than other areas. The water sitting on top of the dark coloured bottoms will be marginally warmer than those with white, light brown or bone coloured bottoms. These areas fish best around the top of the high tide and on a receding tide. The key is to avoid any cold water originating from deep water nearby which is why the dropping tide seems to produce the best results. Occasionally on a rising tide cold water will push up onto these dark coloured bottoms and alter the water temperature; causing foraging fish to flee en masse.
Creek and narrow bay entrances are prime locations for feeding bream. Slim profile soft plastic minnow type bodies are top of my list of lures to work in such areas. Natural greens, browns and purples have proven their worth over many seasons. Narrow, slender shaped diving hardbody minnows will also produce bream.
Another well-documented section of estuarine systems that thrives in winter is shallow backwaters among the extremities of a waterway. The reason the extremities are so productive at this time of year is due to the minimal influence from the cold oceanic waters that flood the waterway every incoming tide. By the time the incoming water reaches the far sectors of a system, the water will have mixed with other water, therefore mitigating the cold temperatures of the open ocean.
If these backwaters are lined with reeds or mangroves then they are like mini, self-sufficient ecosystems. They will have a consistent source of nutrients in the form of weed beds, microorganisms and a host of foraging creatures, which makes it like the proverbial ‘swim-in, all you can eat’ smorgasbord for the fish. Big bream will spend the better part of winter in these areas feeding and increasing weight prior to spawning. Be warned that the same areas will harbour some oversized flathead so if you opt to tie on one of those $30 top of the range hardbodies it may finish up in the bucket mouth of a hungry lizard.
Success on winter bream is now at the fingertips of any fisher prepared to spend some time searching for the right areas. With a mix of lure styles at hand and being willing to experiment with all genres of lures, that hot winter bite is only the next bay or point away. It’s time for those wonderful short, cool winter days where the epoxy on high-end graphite rods crack under the pressure of a hefty blue nosed bream, so hook up the boat and hit the water now.

Andrew has been fishing the Canberra, Monaro, Snowy Mountains and NSW south coast region for over 40 years and is considered one of the country’s most innovative and competent anglers. He is AFNs most published writer and now takes up a key position as Field Editor with AFN. Along with two extensive books, Andrew has featured in numerous AFN Tactics DVDs.