Getting into the hard body/ soft plastic game

 Hey fishos, 

I've decided to move away from bait fishing in favour of wandering the banks flicking some lures around chasing bream flathead and the elusive whiting on poppers. 

Im looking for some advice in terms of line weighting for casting distance without affecting the action of the lures im using as im going to use braid. 
Also, would you run a leader of some sort or a short bit of mono between the main line and the lure itself or attach a small snap swivel? 

Any adivce is extremely appreciated, thanks!

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 quitting uni to fish indefinitely


dan.the.man's picture

Posts: 183

Date Joined: 31/07/11

Lures

Thu, 2015-12-17 20:26

hey mate, making the move to lures from bait can be tedious at the best of times until you find your way,do not get disheartened it's so rewarding when it comes togeather.

read as much as you can on here, there's some great guys willing to pass on a few tricks.in my opinion weights are your enemy,I struggled for a bit and in the end all I needed to do was go lighter everywhere. So as light a rod as possible 5lb braid main line(good quality) 8 to 3 lbs leader depending what your chasing(for bream I go 3to5 and flattys I go 5lbs) some people go higher but it's a personal thing.

Just join 500mm to a meter of fluro carbon leader to your braid, no swivels or weights etc,less is more with bream,I learned one knot for this joint and two nots for the lures and jig heads and that's it don't get too bogged down in technical stuff and brands(remember all fishing shows usually have sponsors)hard body lures are expensive well in my opinion as I lost lots in the snags when I started so I suggest going zmans grubs in the small motor oil colour with a 1/8 jig head to start and if you need to up it to a 1/4 but remember for bream lighter is always better and just slow retrieves to start,eventually you will feel the hits,then the strike and when you get it it's all becomes clearer.if the fish aren't there try a little more and move on to the next spot, all pretty normal stuff but it worked for me. Others may agree or disagree but that's fishing,

main thing is enjoy

Posts: 9

Date Joined: 04/09/14

 Mate that is a huge help,

Thu, 2015-12-17 23:34

 Mate that is a huge help, thanks! 

You have answered everything I needed to know, I appreciate you taking the time to give me a detailed write up like that. 
Ill be heading out this weekend and trying to locate some fish. 

Again cheers! 

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 quitting uni to fish indefinitely

Posts: 908

Date Joined: 06/05/12

 Good job Dan, You pretty

Thu, 2015-12-17 20:28

 Good job Dan, You pretty well got it spot on. Follow this info and you are on the right track Perthlad.

Uluabuster's picture

Posts: 722

Date Joined: 12/12/10

 Briaded line I would

Fri, 2015-12-18 08:56

 Briaded line I would recommend anything from 4lb - 8lb. Leader is quite important especially if you are fishing snaggy territory for breams as the braided line stands absolutely no chance agains abrasion. Again 6lb-10lb FC will do the trick but go as light as you can. Also if a big flatty swallows your plastic, 10lb FC is your best insurance against the sandpaper teeth. Otherwise, the fish just needs take off a couple of times with head shakes and that'll wear through your leader.

Oceanside Tackle's picture

Posts: 2803

Date Joined: 23/07/09

Hey mate feel free to come

Fri, 2015-12-18 09:16

Hey mate feel free to come into Oceanside and have a chat with us , and check out our range of bream and flatty gear. We all fish the river and can give you the advice you need.

 

Cheers

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lachieH's picture

Posts: 1126

Date Joined: 02/03/13

 Gday perthlad, I recon that

Tue, 2016-01-05 13:16

 Gday perthlad, I recon that you leave the poppers till last and head for grubs. They are your basic lure. If you want a good starter go for the zman grubz in the bloodworm colour, you can never really go wrong with them when you are fishing upstream. If you are fishing anywhere in the Perth estuary or freo I would even go for a motor oil with the UV. Makes flathead go mad.

i use 4lb fins braid, never breaks, an I use 6lb leader. Just set your drag right and you can go any lb leader.

with the zman 2.5 inch grubz I would go for a 1/16 or 1/20 sized leader with a size 2 hook for depths of 0-2m just twitching a couple of times, then letting sit and keep on going. If any dealer than 2m go 1/12 and more than 7m go for 1/8. 

The main thing when learning your lure fishing is knowing how to distinguish from your target fish hit compared to the blowie bight. Blowies will finish off your soft plastics in a blink of an eye, so if you know the difference and u feel a blowie, get the lure out of there ASAP. Also if the blowies are destroying your day, keep the lure moving because the blowies won't always be bothered with a fast moving lure.

FYI I am new to the lure breaming as well. The first few outings and nothing, then I found a good location and have landed fish ever since (only started breaming with lures about 2 months ago). Just keep on trying and you will get results!

 

thanks,

lachie

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Fishing the swan for bream, it's just an obsession