Catching Bream when the sun is high

[tomkat4071]

G'day all

Haven't posted for a while so i thought id put up something ive been pondering for a while for discussion

Catching bream in the middle of the day when the sun is out.

I mostly fish the Gippsland lakes to Mallacoota area and and as soon as the sun gets high the fish vanish or will not eat. Ive even seen hundreds of bream sitting on top of snags sunning themselves but they wont eat! Or at least take anything!

Ive had some luck going to very light leaders and fishing deep but its a hit and miss affair with not too many fish caught. Basically only catching the odd one or two.

Are they just line shy or do they really just stop eating? Could it be because the bright light limits their vision?

Any tips on catching them more consistently during this time of the day?

Just something i haven't yet mastered and am after any advise

Cheers
Tom

[Byrney]

Mate if they aren't on maybe go back to stackin shelves at target.. Back to the Old school

[MiSCrEANT]

I like going out when it is overcast. If not I use more methods to induce strikes like scents, lighter lines, slower retrievals, varying lure sizes, better lures, etc.

[The G factor]

I can't say I've had the same experience mate.

It depends heavily on where I'm fishing (flats or snags) but some of my best bream bites have come in the middle of the day in the sun. I can't say I have found leader to make a difference but usually don't fish heavier than 10lb.

This is mainly in gippy too. Might just be bad luck or you arnt throwing what they wanna eat!

[Windknot]

You have to consider the tides too. The old adage, 'no run, no fun' nearly always will apply. If the best part of the tide (for your purposes) falls in the middle of the day, then chances are the bream will be eating regardless of the bright sunshine. If the worst part of the tide falls at dawn or dusk, you might not catch anything. In other words, I believe the tides are more important than the time of day.

There are a multitude of reasons why bream might not be eating. Maybe they're full already. They don't eat all the time. Maybe it's a full moon and they've been feeding most of the night. Maybe the barometric pressure is falling and this is putting them off eating.

Generally speaking, I much prefer to fish at first and last light, but I've caught too many in the middle of the day to say that it's a waste of time to try.

[Sloth]

Originally Posted by Windknot

Generally speaking, I much prefer to fish at first and last light, but I've caught too many in the middle of the day to say that it's a waste of time to try.

Same.

Some spots I fish have little tidal influence and I find first and last light most productive. Having said that in full sun I'll usually start fishing deep and into heavy cover. Fish don't have eyelids so the only way they can lower light intensity is to move to cover/shade or go deeper. I've had a fair bit of success on blades during the day on the bottom.

The strange thing is that the OP can see them. Sounds like the docks in summer first thought to me is that they can see you. I've had plenty of experience of "shutdown" fish I can see - then I pick one up by managing to get a lure in front of one that hasn't seen me.

[tomkat4071]

Originally Posted by Byrney

Mate if they aren't on maybe go back to stackin shelves at target.. Back to the Old school

Hahaha nah never want to go back to that

[tomkat4071]

Originally Posted by Sloth

Same.

Some spots I fish have little tidal influence and I find first and last light most productive. Having said that in full sun I'll usually start fishing deep and into heavy cover. Fish don't have eyelids so the only way they can lower light intensity is to move to cover/shade or go deeper. I've had a fair bit of success on blades during the day on the bottom.

The strange thing is that the OP can see them. Sounds like the docks in summer first thought to me is that they can see you. I've had plenty of experience of "shutdown" fish I can see - then I pick one up by managing to get a lure in front of one that hasn't seen me.

Yea mate the only real success (as in catching good numbers of them in a short time) is sounding them deep feeding on schools of baitfish

[Byrney]

Originally Posted by tomkat4071

Hahaha nah never want to go back to that

Man they were funny days in toys

[tomkat4071]

Hahahaha yea they were. I thought that might be you mate. How ya been?

[Byrney]

Good brother, yeh I only clicked before look different with the grizzly Adams beard. Working and working, at the moment I'm hitting up ppb snapper and will head back down to gippy lakes next year.

Haven't seen u in years!