Maribyrnong bream session

[BIG GAV]

Hit the water at 6am (hour and a half before the high) equipped with only plastics. I had a few hits but no takers fished till 11:45am I could see a lot of big bream but none wanted a piece of the action.. I varied my retrieves but was mainly the standard hop n pause method.. Can anyone shed some light on what I may have been doing wrongg? I was using a 1/24 or 1/32 size jig head 2 and 3" grubs n my pauses varied from 10-30seconds..

I've caught flathead trevalley n salmon an Redfin on plastics but yet to crack the bream!

Haven't lost hope yet!

There are some horses in that river but guess big fellas ain't gullable

[fishpod]

You could cheat a bit and use Gulp turtleback worms in pumpkinseed color, they cant seem to resist them in the Nong and I found that more the 30 second pause does the trick

[mazman]

Sounds like you are doing everything right, the only thing i can think of is the size of your hops or where you are casting the plastic to. everything else you described is about spot on for the nong.

[BIG GAV]

Sounds like you are doing everything right, the only thing i can think of is the size of your hops or where you are casting the plastic to. everything else you described is about spot on for the nong.

Minimal, flicking my wrist done a few big hops like 30cm lifts but not many. As for where I was casting. Ahead of my target n retrieved my plastic into the strike zone. Along the retaining wall pylons jettys etc. didn't have any pumpkinseed gulps I may give em a try

As the tide got lower I cast out to the middle of the river n worked it back.. I seen a lot of big bream in the shallows but some seen me as quick as I seen them.

[Jethro010]

I live near the Maribyrnong not far from Flemington and have seen a lot of big bream schooling and have been tempted to wet a line but haven't done so yet...

[BIG GAV]

I live near the Maribyrnong not far from Flemington and have seen a lot of big bream schooling and have been tempted to wet a line but haven't done so yet...

Worth a shot jethro! They powerhouses for such little fish

[mazman]

Sounds like you are doing everything right, the only thing i can think of is the size of your hops or where you are casting the plastic to. everything else you described is about spot on for the nong.

Minimal, flicking my wrist done a few big hops like 30cm lifts but not many. As for where I was casting. Ahead of my target n retrieved my plastic into the strike zone. Along the retaining wall pylons jettys etc. didn't have any pumpkinseed gulps I may give em a try

As the tide got lower I cast out to the middle of the river n worked it back.. I seen a lot of big bream in the shallows but some seen me as quick as I seen them.

Casting a little bit further out (still close to parallel to the bank)and working your plastic in the same manner should see you come up with results, usually if you can clearly see the bream it can see you and will stop actively feeding or swim off. I look for silver flashes (feeding bream) along the edges in slightly deeper water and try to work my lure through that area, the hard part is not spooking the ones in really close which can set off a chain reaction and stop everything from feeding in that area.
The only other thing I can think of is instead of a flick try more of a short slow pull, somedays the erratic dart from a flick is enough to spook them and other days it's what attracts them to your lure.

Cheers Alex

[Broomstick]

The big fellas in the nong are smart fish, bloody hard to tempt. What pound leader are you using? I don't fish there much anymore, but I never went higher than 4lb

[BIG GAV]

Cheers mate yeah I know I spooked a few just frogging at the size of some of them in some cases my plastic hitting the water spooked them! But knowing where they were all holding I want even look for them there next time just work my lure through

Broomstick I had 6lb leader 6lb braid it's worked with bait there I don't think I have any 4lb leader