Hots spots around Melbourne

gloseto · #1 28-09-2008, 07:28 PM

Hi guys.

I'm starting on the bream fishing, either SP, HB or any other version.
Perhaprs this question has been asked millions of time before, but as a good newbie in breaming I would appreciate any recommendations in regards to hot spots, soft plastics or hard body lures (divers, poppers,etc)...

I read the Soft Plastic guide from Starlo and Bushy... I found the book very nice and aducational, but I guess nothing better than recommendations from other fishermen specially from around Melbourne, which is where I live.

By the way, I go kind of often to the Barwon River for bait fishing so I wouldn't mind some comments about bream fishing there.

Hope to hear form you guys.
Happy fishing.
Giovanni

Cortinaboy · #2 28-09-2008, 07:51 PM

Main places to go near the city would be Docklands and Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers. I haven't fished the Barwon but you you could try the Werribee River right at the entrance to Port Philip bay around the moored boats and jetties, or a bit further down the river toward the golf course. It's a bit quiet there at present on lures, but should improve once the weather warms up a bit

Ilovebreams · #3 28-09-2008, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trying hard

Main places to go near the city would be Docklands and Maribyrnong and Yarra rivers. I haven't fished the Barwon but you you could try the Werribee River right at the entrance to Port Philip bay around the moored boats and jetties, or a bit further down the river toward the golf course. It's a bit quiet there at present on lures, but should improve once the weather warms up a bit

Agreed. Docklands DEFINITELY holds tons of bream, I was there on Sat and they were everywhere.... Problem now is just hooking up

Check out the Yarra near Crown Casino as well. There's tons of breams there, especially during high tide.

greggo_1 · #4 28-09-2008, 11:26 PM

Docklands is a hard place to learn lure fishing. It definately holds plenty of good fish, but catching them can be frustrating and time consuming. Especially when you can see those 40cm plus brutes chewing on the pylons just below you and they turn their nose up at whatever you throw at them.

You need to have a fair assortment of HB and SP to find something that works. Plus, you have to move around a lot to find the fish that are feeding, which is either at the surface, mid depth, just off the bottom or on the bottom. Then you need to present the right lure at them. It could be colour, shape or retieve that mkes the difference. Or maybe they just aren't hungry!!

Its best if there are a couple of you fishing, one guy trying something with the other trying something different. This was evident the other week fishing with GTXrally (Dale) at Docklands. We were both using VX35's, the same techniques, on the bottom, the score was 8 to one. The only difference was the color of the blade.

I've often fished there successfully on a Friday with metal blades on the bottom, only to fish there 2 days later on the Sunday, to find they will only take baby vibes at 2 meters deep in 10 meters of water, or, just not take anything at all.

Try the old faithful Gulp worm in either Camo or natural. You wont get a lot of fish in a session with them, but you will get fish. They are great to learn with and are pretty forgiving with retrieve techniques. There are heaps of us on here who got their first fish on Gulp before moving on to other lures.

There is no real hot spot in the Docks/Yarra, you really have to move around to find them. Anywhere there's a structure from the Bolte down to the MCG is productive at some stage.

You just have to keep at it.

Greg

gloseto · #5 28-09-2008, 11:31 PM

Thanks guys.... I do appreciate it.
Kind of daunting but I guess I have to take it one step at the time...

Ilovebreams · #6 29-09-2008, 02:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggo_1

Docklands is a hard place to learn lure fishing. It definately holds plenty of good fish, but catching them can be frustrating and time consuming. Especially when you can see those 40cm plus brutes chewing on the pylons just below you and they turn their nose up at whatever you throw at them....

Totally agreed. I've fished 5-6 times at the docks now.. mainly using SPs, minnows, wrigglers, tails, sandworms, wobblers, baby vibes....

Still haven't caught a single bream but I'm hoping persistence will win.... soon....

I'm happy to go with you on weekends and explore together

Would be even better if we have someone experienced come along too!

Cortinaboy · #7 29-09-2008, 02:27 AM

Actually, there is another spot that is worth visiting around Melbourne (I'm sure there's plenty). That is Station Pier (where the ship to Tasmania comes in). The main pier is good, but similar to Docklands (deep), but there's a little pier next to it that is easy to fish from. There's a lot of bream around the pylons (often not hungry!), but casting out toward Station pier (only 50m away) seems to work best. Some weed around, but not too bad. behind that (near Rex Hunt fish and chip) shop is very well sheltered and a good back up place to go when windy (wind is cut off from 3 directions). Went there a few weeks ago and got a pinky snapper on a VX35 after spending a couple of hours battling the wind on the little wharf.

hank hunter · #8 29-09-2008, 02:38 AM

[QUOTE=greggo_1;210779]Docklands is a hard place to learn lure fishing. It definately holds plenty of good fish, but catching them can be frustrating and time consuming. Especially when you can see those 40cm plus brutes chewing on the pylons just below you and they turn their nose up at whatever you throw at them.

people thought bream at metung and paynesville(private jetties loaded with monster bream) were hard to catch. i thought the docks bream would be easy...WRONG!!!! 3 trips from lakes to docklands before i finally got a bream there(thanks again mattie and greggo

). on that day everyone was throwing camo worms and getting the odd fish, so i made the switch and used a natural gulp worm and second cast got a 40cm. shows that a slight colour change can make all the difference.
it pays not only to change lure colour, but also leader strength. again, this comes down to what strenght your comfortable using. even though we hate tying $20 hard bodies onto 2lb leader we still do it. a good starting point is 4-6lb. and try using as little weight as possible. let the lure hang in their faces and annoy them into eating it.

Ilovebreams · #9 29-09-2008, 02:53 AM

[QUOTE=hank hunter;210800]

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggo_1

so i made the switch and used a natural gulp worm and second cast got a 40cm. shows that a slight colour change can make all the difference......

Heh... that's the problem with fishing alone.... I'll cast it a few times then think... is it time to change lure / colour? Should I change lure or colour?

I don't even know whether the problem is my retrieve or the lure

greggo_1 · #10 29-09-2008, 05:46 AM

[quote=Ilovebreams;210802]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hank hunter

Heh... that's the problem with fishing alone.... I'll cast it a few times then think... is it time to change lure / colour? Should I change lure or colour?

I don't even know whether the problem is my retrieve or the lure

Dont stress about it. We've all been there, once you get your first couple your success rate improves dramatically and your confidence goes up...........then donuts again.

Conehead · #11 29-09-2008, 06:30 AM

With summer well and truly on its way there probably isn't a better starting point than the yarra. Traditionally there isn't a great deal of current through the docklands and I believe this is what makes the fishing so tricky. As a rule of thumb not just for the yarra but all systems really is to look for areas with current. The yarra has decent amount of tidal flow and this makes the fish that touch easier to catch. Look for any obvious structure that you think may hold bream...So I'm thinking you will be fishing bridge supports, pylons, pontoons, banks and rock walls. Great areas to try are around federation square near the mcg and to work your way down stream targetting any structure.

Again like greggo said, the gulp sandworm cut into a 3" piece or fished whole with a stinger is a deadly piece of artillery. Once your confidence starts building up you won't be relying on gulp juice all too much so you can start expanding your range of soft plastics. Paddle tails and small grubs like the bloodworm wriggler have worked well for me in the past. Use a variety of different retrieves. Make it up, mix it up and observe what catches their eye. Don't fish too fast either because sharp movements can often spook them.

Carry a small selection of jighead weights with you. Most of the time you will only need to fish between say 1/40 and 1/20oz. Only ever once or twice have I felt the need to fish heavier. Your leader should be of around a rod length and I prefer 5lb famel as an all rounder. It's light enough so it will not spook them in clear water and it's usually tough enough to drag a decent unit away from structure. A long while ago I was using a product called berkley vanish. This leader material just didn't have the abrasion resistance I was looking for. Even without a fish attatched your leader is still going to touch structure if you're fishing close enough. As a general statement you'd want your offering to be within a good 40cm of structure. Fishing this close to structure you want a fairly tight drag. However they're just simply not the hardest fighting fish so I urge you to back your drag off a tad wherever possible. If I'm fishing on a pontoon I usually tire them out and let them run free before hoisting them onboard. Not a great deal of structure below a pontoon so this is fairly safe. Just make sure your knots are up to scratch. Too many times have I seen a good fish at the surface only to spit the lure or bust the leader knot. Not happy!

Plenty of other lures can be used in melbourne. For vertical structure like pylons and bridges I go for something slow sinking like say a baby vibe and for banks I will go for a small bibbed lure like an SX. Lately Iv'e seen many people do well on the newer blade baits.

Just starting to get into the blades myself

Looking forward to seeing a few pics mate.

Ryan.

Ilovebreams · #12 29-09-2008, 07:57 PM

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm gonna try the Yarra with the Gulp Sandworm for an hour or so after work tonight

Wish me luck!

Piscateur · #13 29-09-2008, 08:13 PM

Greggo, Hank & Conehead, (I know I have left out a great many of the same ilk but just this thread as example)
You should be commended, in most threads you guys are often the first to offer valuable and detailed advise. And to this end I am extremely greatful. I have cracked a few on the camo worm but still to crack a HB docks fish. Hopefully will get to meet some of uuus on the water.

Ilovebreams · #14 29-09-2008, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piscateur

Greggo, Hank & Conehead, (I know I have left out a great many of the same ilk but just this thread as example)
You should be commended, in most threads you guys are often the first to offer valuable and detailed advise. And to this end I am extremely greatful. I have cracked a few on the camo worm but still to crack a HB docks fish. Hopefully will get to meet some of uuus on the water.

Totally agreed. Guys like these is what makes this forum so successful. Way to go guys!

gloseto · #15 30-09-2008, 05:57 AM

Hi Guys.

Must say, good tips... I will definitelly give a go at the sandworm in camo to start with and will move from there...

"ILovebreams" about going out fishing.... I still haven't got the set (rod and reel) I'm waiting for.... so once I get it I will definitelly give it a go more seriously.

Hopefully I will be getting a Shimano Raider 6' 8" with a stradic 1000FI... It is sort a gift so even though it may not be the best set , still it will do the trick.