Mid North Coast Bream

With a few days break from tying flies, Cherie and I travelled to the Mid North Coast of NSW.

March can be a great time of year to head up to the explore the Wallis Lakes system, with the seasonal changes starting to swing, the fish are active.

Structure

Targeting Bream, specifically from around the oyster racks, both fixed and floating which present varying challenges in their own rights was chosen to dedicate our time to. Aggressive structures dominated by horizontal and vertical timber posts and PVC pipes located in the water covered in razor sharp edges which also happen to be a real haven for Bream to reside. Abundant bait supply, shade, cover and protection from other prey and of course, a plethora of food for Bream to digest.

Tides

Tides play an import role for the saltwater fly angler. Early morning or late afternoon high tides were great as the water would be flowing well during those peak feeding times. The additional benefit of cloud cover and a bit of wind and a few drops of rain had the climatic influences starting to align for our trip.

The water I prefer to target Bream is coloured, so the back areas of the system were chosen. Heavy rain and strong winds blew through the system making the challenge of throwing flies even more so, along with controlling the boat position to effectively present the fly.   To add another dimension to the challenge, 4 weight outfits were selected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m really enjoying the 4 weight outfit for this style of angling, approaching the structures with the electric motor and as delicately as possible, presenting Shrimp flies in sizes 6 and 8 against the floating pipes or down the leading faces of the fixed racks.

Flies

The Shrimps fished are the exact ones tied and demonstrated with the Club in January this year, with an additional weight option that been tested with a few anglers. Bead Chain eyes work extremely well on the smaller hook sizes to enable a flutter fall off the edge of the floating racks.  During the making tides, the bream actively feed from the oyster pipes and trays. At this point of the run, the bead chain eyes were chosen as the fish were high in the water column and who can resist a tiny shrimp morsel that flutters off the rack…. bump, bump …. Got ya!.

As always, personal preference for my Bream flies is to feature brightly coloured eyes. To that note, Blue, Pink and the Kryptonite Green eyes were all used on a fresh batch of flies that filled yet another fly box.

The fishing is quite visual to a degree.

Certainly, the senses increase and intensify with being outside. Listening for the unmistakable ‘bream kiss’ , a flash off of the side flanks, a fin on top of a rack tray, a water push from a moving fish, or even better, a tail in the air from a true feeder.

Fly Lines

A dedicated weight foreward floating flyline, designed for short casting where accuracy is vital was selected and rigged on both of our 4 weight outfits. Foam styled poppers and Shrimps are proven and popular fly selections in this type of arena where short to mid-range accurate casting is required. Choose a suitable line that fits the criteria also considering the colour, where our advice would be something that can be visible in overcast conditions.

Leaders

Leaders varied in length as they always will, along with the breaking strains.

It’s important here to fish what you are comfortable with to achieve the result of the fish eating the fly. The length of leader built for our subsurface Shrimp flies was 7ft , simple construction of 16lb fluorocarbon, stepped down to either 9lb or 6lb, depending on the intensity of the ‘eat’.

In clear waters, leaders do need to be longer and of a finer diameter to successfully convert fish.

Where the sessions got real, was when topwater foam flies were being thrown across the tops of fixed racks on the high tide. The situation is aggressive with powerful eats, and as the angler, the response must be unforgiving. Give an inch and you’re done, lost fly, leader shredded and wasted time rigging again. The hook set has to be solid, as does the reaction to getting the rod tip high in the air to clear the razor-sharp edges of the oysters and keep pulling the fish away and off the structure. A second angler on board assists, driving the electric motor away in the process – it’s a complete team effort to successfully escort the Bream into the net.

Field Testing

After reading this, I’m sure that you get the leaders used were not dainty. 16lb straight through fluorocarbon was the go, starting at 5ft and getting all the way down to 2 1/2 feet total length with re rigging, bust offs etc. Below this length, the bite stopped and couldn’t convince the Bream to eat, until new sections of 5ft were rigged and we started again.

We will be back!

The trip was thoroughly enjoyable, especially understanding the limitations of our gear. Sometimes it’s just good to get away and put thoughts in to play. Fortunately, it paid off on this occasion.

Just quietly, those Easy Shrimp Eyes in Kryponite Green eyes are the Breams’ true weakness ….