Bream are naturally scavengers and opportunistic feeders.
They read well the opportunities in estuaries for food.
In most of the estuaries I have fished there are always resident bream around snags and regular features .
These fish take advantage of the tide to bring food to them.
I have found that a rising tide on early or late light tempts Bream to be more adventurous and to feed in shallow water.
I love fishing in 1 metre of water on a rising tide.
Baits are always best fresh.
Bait gathering for Bream is best undertaken in the estuary where you will fish.
Time spent gathering bait is always rewarded.
Prime positions and bait for Bream:
Rocks : crabs and shrimp
Weed beds: shrimp
Mud/Sand flats:
Worms and Nippers ( Bass Yabbies)
Cockles
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| Pumping Nippers on tidal flats | Care in handling- they hurt |
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| Soldier crabs are good friends | A nice bag of bream caught on Nippers |
Nippers need to be aerated if needed over more than 15 hours.
Keeping Soldier Crabs with the Nippers helps to keep them alive. In their natural environment Soldier Crabs feed on the excretions of Nippers so that when they are kept together, the Nippers don't poison themselves through the high nitrate level in the water.
Nippers are easier to pump on shallow flats at mid to high tide. The holes are clearly defined as minature volcanoes. Towing a seive in an inner tube or padded with styrene foam allows pumping at mid to high water without difficulty. The sand goes through the sieve leaving the Nippers behind.
| A pristine Tasmanian estuary at Swanwick |
