# Rhubarb"s Bream reports



## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Rather than bore everyone (and myself) with reports and pics of bream I will just post basic details here.
So here goes.

Sun Dec 15th
Near Scamander River Mouth, shore
1 Bream
~35cm
Squidgy Wriggler in Bloodworm

Tues Dec 17th
Near Scamander River Mouth, shore
2 Bream
~32cm
Squidgy Wriggler in Wasabi


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## Trumpet1 (Apr 26, 2013)

Are there any toxins in bream that build up over time in humans? If so you are in big trouble.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Trumpet1 said:


> Are there any toxins in bream that build up over time in humans? If so you are in big trouble.


I'm safe there on two counts. Firstly I don't much like the flesh of river Bream, bit soft and mushy, so its all catch and release apart from any I give away to friends. Secondly there isn't any industry on the river, a few small farms but mostly a forested catchment.
That is a sensible question for some areas though, authorities recommend that you don't eat Bream out of the Derwent River, Hobart, because of industrial contamination which I think largely comes from the zincworks.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Monday Dec 23rd 2013
Trout Creek Reserve
3 Bream
25cm, 28cm, 36cm
Zman grub in bloodworm


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

35 and 35 are pretty good size for there mate.
Have you tried using HB lures for them?


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

spork said:


> 35 and 35 are pretty good size for there mate.
> Have you tried using HB lures for them?


I'm too scared to use HBs for fear of losing them to snags given how pricey they are. Do plan to try some over the mudflats though soon where I know there is no sunken timber and with the terrorist season about to start will be one of the few places I can escape all the stinkboats. The water was really murky again after the rain we had over the weekend


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Murky isan't always a bad thing.
Somethimg that vibrates or rattles might get hit.
HB's can be expensive, but if you buy second hand off the forums, or 1/2 price when different places have sales they aren't so bad. Also, with a 'yak retrieval rates from snags are pretty good. Get some kind of tackleback and you should only loose the occasional lure.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

spork said:


> Murky isan't always a bad thing.
> Somethimg that vibrates or rattles might get hit.
> HB's can be expensive, but if you buy second hand off the forums, or 1/2 price when different places have sales they aren't so bad. Also, with a 'yak retrieval rates from snags are pretty good. Get some kind of tackleback and you should only loose the occasional lure.


OK Spork, you've nagged me into it. If the wind isn't too bad tomorrow I'll try some HBs on those bream - have a couple of shallow divers that should be OK in the shallows. Caught my PB trevally last week on a HB in the bay - one I got at the local tackle shop who were having a clearance on Shimano lures a few weeks back.
The first bream I caught in the river (and equal PB) was caught on a deep diving HB, I just tend to get stuck using the same old technique (ie SPs), partly coz they work for me, partly coz of the casts into the trees that occur when fishing close to the bank


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## Dave3573 (Oct 28, 2008)

I find the HB are better for targeting bream at different depths, especially when trying to find bream on drop offs or high current areas. And make sure you have a couple of 2 metre divers they seem to rock on low tide and deeper drop offs.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

~ 1km from Scamander River mouth
1 Bream
20cm  
Shimano minnow


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Thursday Dec 26th 
~ 1km from mouth of Scamander River
2 Bream
27cm and 32cm
Squidgy wriggler in wasabi


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Wed Jan 8th 2014
Upper Scamander
I Bream
25cm
Shimano minnow

One of those days when the fish just not interested - tried squidgy wrigglers for 2 hours for not a touch. Decided to try a HB minnow over some mudflats with the rising tide. Wind was pushing me along quite fast and just got the one smallish bream (so no donut - phew) that put up a fight fit for a much larger fish


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Nice yeti, try the lagoon up on the corner at scammander with the HB minnow, go for a silver an green (ayu) colour give it a couple of cranks to get it down to the bottom then use a twitch twitch pause retrieve. The bream will smash it on the pause and given that you have wrigglers a bit of squidgie sauce on the lure doesn't hurt either 

for the wind a stack out pole when your on the flats can be great, hobie etc sell them but its basically a long stick with a line attached stick it in the mud like an anchor

Cheers Hedgy


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## MrFaulty (May 15, 2008)

Shimano aren't the lures you want, stick to Jackall Chubbys - more expensive but you'll notice a huge difference - or fat dogs if you can't afford the chubbys, they are almost as good


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

justcrusin said:


> Nice yeti, try the lagoon up on the corner at scammander with the HB minnow, go for a silver an green (ayu) colour give it a couple of cranks to get it down to the bottom then use a twitch twitch pause retrieve. The bream will smash it on the pause and given that you have wrigglers a bit of squidgie sauce on the lure doesn't hurt either
> 
> Cheers Hedgy


The first bream I caught in the river, and still my equal PB, was caught at the mouth of that lagoon using a silver and blue HB fished in exactly the way you said.

Anyway, I think its all going to be hypothetical for a while - I went and did a few hours work today trying to finish off a small contract and seriously aggravated my left elbow again  
All that casting I did yesterday probably didn't help. Now the pain is too bad to even think of casting for a while let alone the couple of hours it will take to finish the contract. Not good when both the job and my hobby cause tendonitis


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Elbow still giving me jip but with a beaut almost windless day (the first day without a gale in ages) I thought sod it and went out on the river again.
I decided to follow justcruisin's advice as the tide was high thereby making the afformentioned lagoon accessible. Today I decided to try an Atomic Crank hardbody. After a few touches that didn't hook up I then caught three bream between 25 and 30cm in quick succession. By now I had drifted further into the lagoon and everywhere there were big bow-waves of fish powering through the shallows and huge swirls everywhere. After some initial excitement I realised that they must be those bloody Chubb Mullet still hanging around(they are big buggers - 50cm+). Couldn't get away from the buggers in the main lagoon and their boisterous antics in the shallows meant that the bream - timid creatures that they are - were just all too scared to eat a lure.
So I went back to where I had caught the first three and managed another one, but just a little tacker this time and then the bloody mullet stuffed things again. So I went back out into the main river and promptly got my lure snagged between some rocks about 6ft underwater - so an expensive lure lost - but at least I had managed to catch some fish on it first.


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## Trumpet1 (Apr 26, 2013)

Nice work. Sounds like a good day out.
My attempts to catch bream on hardbodies are usually stymied by:

lack of casting ability
drifting too fast past the area I want to cast (although I hope to remedy this with my new stake out pole or my anchor and home made anchor float)
two cranky kids in the front of the oasis.

hope your elbow gets better soon

Cheers


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Tues 21st Jan 2014
~1km from mouth of Scamander River
1 bream
25cm
Shimano HB

I knew if I went out in the yak the wind would pick up, and sure enough.
Did manage one slow drift over the flats, missed a hit and then caught a 25cm model. Then the gale hit so did a rather fast drift back in the direction I had come from - nothing. Battled against the wind up to the corner and drifted back along the opposite bank at great pace, missed a hit and had two brief hookups. Only an hour on the water but at least I didn't donut.
Todays lure was a short, deep bodied Shimano HB much like a chubby, but skinny, in clear and green.
I think I need to invest in a drogue coz its bloody windy here most of the time


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Hey mate - a bucket-on-a-rope isn't as good as a proper drogue, but it's better than nothing.
I use my sea anchor heaps more than my anchor anchor. Absolute esential piece of gear IMO.
Bought both of mine here:
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/torpedo7/cat ... andString=

Hmm, great price just now too!


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Thanks Spork, need to check it out


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Have ordered one of those small drogues - looking forward to it arriving. 
How much rope should I have it on? Couple metres behind the yak?


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## Scott (Aug 29, 2005)

I fish a long enough length that it is not going to be visible to the fish just in front of the yak that i am targeting. Generally around 8 metres if in shallow water.


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## actionsurf (Jul 8, 2010)

Get a Hobie. You can hold position anywhere you want and be hands free.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

actionsurf said:


> Get a Hobie. You can hold position anywhere you want and be hands free.


I have a Hobie!
Sure I could hold position if I faced into the wind, but then I'd only be able to cast a lure about 10ft


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Scott said:


> I fish a long enough length that it is not going to be visible to the fish just in front of the yak that i am targeting. Generally around 8 metres if in shallow water.


Ah-ha - I wondered why some people have them on such a long rope.
I (only) have abouit 2.5m rope on mine, and attach it to an anchor trolley that has some shock cord incorporated into it.
Rhubarb - apart from some shock cord (to cushion the "shock") make sure you add a float on a short line (about 50cm) to the narrow end of the drogue. Stops it going too deep and flipping ypu on a wave or getting snagged. A bit of pool noodle will work. Also gives you something to grab to retrieve the sea anchor. Heaps easier to lift by the pointy end than the open end.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Thanks for the advice Spork and the heads up on the cheap deal


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

Great trip report, it wouldn't bore us to include a photo of each individual fish below the vital stats ;-)


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Wed Jan 29th 2014
Same place and lure as on Tues 21st
Two bream - 26cm and 28cm - drifting over the mudflats, and another of 33cm from a snag on the other side if the river. Not too bad for a quick 90 min session.
Lost another fish on the flats when on hookup my line got caught on the hobie pedals - has happened a few times when holding the rod low


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Well my new drogue arrived today so I was anxious to get out on the river and give it a go.
So, it works, but it totally neutralises the steering (surprise surprise - forward momentum required for rudder to work), but its easy to pull in when the drift goes towards too shallow water or trees.
And I caught some more bream.
Unfortunately most of the bigger ones that were in the river breeding have returned home from their sex holiday leaving lots of their babies behind









Though there are still some half-decent fish about - this one put up a great fight









Caught about half a dozen fish, wasn't really counting, in about 2hrs fishing


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

Love the colours on the second fish Yetiman


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Went out again today - launched at Upper Scamander. Had to pedal past the long strait as there was a family towing a kid on a wakeboard, so around the corner and onto the flats there. After casting for a while I caught a baby bream, even smaller than the one photographed yesterday. Then after a while I got a nicer fish, about 27cm, but as it was jumping about on my lap a treble got caught in my UV yakking trousers, so a bit of fiddling, freed the treble from trousers, bream bounced around on floor of yak and treble promptly got caught on the mesh pocket. After a heap more stuffing about the fish was freed and finally the lure too but not without totally stuffing the treble  
Tried the only other hardbody I had with me - no luck, so then switched to small blade that I had, and it worked, my first fish on a blade  Unfortunately the little bugger was the same size as the lure  Stupid little thing!


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Good little session again yesterday with about half a doz bream caught ranging from 30cm to lure sized (again :shock: ).
Today didn't go so well. Lovely sunny day and dead calm when I launched at Upper Scamander and was so looking forward to hooking up to some more pesky bream. Pedalled over to the opposite bank and just as I launched my first cast a group of Swallows flew right in front of me and put me off - and my lure flew straight over the branch of a wattle and did several loop the loops - shit! OK I thought, its only a small tree and even though it was on a 4 foot vertical bank, by standing on the yak I could grasp the trunk, bend it down and retrieve the lure. And it all worked out as planned. What didn't work out as planned, although I had put rod down on kayak out of the way and opened the bail arm, the braid got hooked on the lid of my water bottle so while I was mucking about with the tree, the rod got pulled sideways and into the bank - my 2 piece rod had become a 3 piece   
So I didn't even get to wet the lure and broke my rod  
Spent the next three hours having a sightseeing pedal, just looking at all those bream swimming around laughing at me.
The positives - it was a beaut day to be on the water and I have sussed a few more good spots to lob lures at those bream - they won't be laughing so hard next time!


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Bad luck about the rod mate, but at least it was a nice day for a paddle.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Fished the usual spot about 1km from river mouth. The odd shower about but still warm and calm so decided to annoy the bream again.
Got two about 26 and 28cm and another two babies on the flats. None along the bank on the other side of the river and then while heading back along the spit that separates part of the flat from the main river - all of a sudden I"M ON and its a monster. Long fight and constantly worried it would get off but finally got it in the net - YAY  
Only an equal PB and only 38cm but the other 2 of that size I have caught were in breeding season and were a bit skinny. This one on the other hand had been on the steroids so although only an equal PB on length it was a massive PB on weight.
So, where's the photo you ask?
Well, my camera was sitting on the front seat of the ute - didn't think I'd need to bother posting more boring bream photos after posting some already this week  
Very happy Yeti


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

patwah said:


> Your fish didn't get the love it deserved....
> 
> I'll live vicariously through you for now!


Thankyou  
And like Dave's, it is swimming free just waiting to be caught again and hoping to be able to pose for a nudie shot next time (wearing its scales of course)


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## Dave3573 (Oct 28, 2008)

Congrats on the PB, 38cm is a horse for the Scamander River


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Dave3573 said:


> Congrats on the PB, 38cm is a horse for the Scamander River


This. Thats a really good fish for that system Yeti. Congrats.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Another day of bream teasing.
My most successful bream session ever with about a dozen caught, only a couple undersize and one about 36cm










I thought I was being watched


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

That is a good sized big one mate.
Scratched my trout itch today, must get over the East Coast for a bream session soon.


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

Only half a doz today  
3 undersized and the biggest 33cm
I think I might be starting to get the hang of catching bream on HBs in shallow water 
Think I might also have fluked hooking one of those silly chubb mullet. Whatever it was it went like the absolute clappers - way faster than any bream I've had on and then threw the hooks.
Was windier than when I usually fish but with a few days of crappy weather forecast I thought I'd go out anyway. My new drogue did the job nicely


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## spork (Jan 21, 2012)

Good stuff mate. 
Glad the drogue is helping.
There are some decent sized tailor in there as well as trevs, both speedsters compared to black bream.


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## eagle4031 (Jan 29, 2010)

Well done yeti
competition next


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## RhubarbTheYeti (Oct 28, 2013)

eagle4031 said:


> Well done yeti
> competition next


Not that confident yet. Give me another year of experience and I reckon I might give it a crack


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