Episode 225: Albany Black Bream With Alex Greisdorf

Alex’s Top Bream Fishing Tips

• There are two river systems and one estuary in Albany, providing a great diversity of different habitats and structure to fish for bream from flats to rock walls, timber, seagrass and more.
• Albany bream fishing is a year-round fishing opportunity, although fish tend to head into the deeper parts of the estuary and school up in the late winter in preparation for spawning.
• Alex likes the bigger tides and reckons it’s best when there’s some run in the water, particularly fishing around bridges. On the higher limbs of the tide it’s best to fish the flats and the margins, while on the lower tides it’s better to pay attention to the deeper areas and dropoff.
• Wind is your friend when you’re fishing for bream in most parts of Australia, and Albany is no exception. Perfect bream fishing conditions for Alex means 15-20 knot southerly winds, overcast skies, big tides for the area (0.9-1.2m) and a high tide. But fish can bite under any conditions.

Alex’s Preferred Bream Fishing Tackle

• Alex uses custom 6”10 to 7’2” 1-3kg or 2-4kg spin rods with 1000-2000 size reels loaded with 6-10lb braid and 4-6lb fluorocarbon leaders. He likes faster taper rods for casting soft plastics but likes a softer tipped rod for fishing crankbaits and other hard bodied lures.

Alex’s Bream Fishing Lures

• The Z-Man 2.5” grub in motor oil or bloodworm colour is a great lure for Albany bream fishing. Alex fishes these on 1/12 to 1/16 oz jig heads. These lures are very versatile and can be hopped across the bottom, cast tight to structure and allowed to sink before being worked back out or even slow rolled across flats or above grass.
• Berkley Powerbait 2” Bulky Hawg is a great imitation of the unique crustaceans on which fish feed in the Albany systems but has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Alex recommends checking out how the natural animal moves and mimicking their behaviour. Slow rolling or retrieves with minimal action aren’t very productive with this lure.
• The Cranka Crab is a staple in many bream fishing tackle boxes and works as well around Albany as it does other locations. Alex casts it into cover around snags, bridges, pylons etc and allows it to waft around until it hits bottom. He then retrieves the lure and makes another cast. On flats and open bottom it can work to slowly drag the lure along.
• Cranka Vibes are a great addition to the kit during the winter months. They can be worked in various ways using various different retrieves but the clatter seems to attract fish from a long way. Alex reckons it’s worth varying the retrieve from subtle hops to wildly erratic until you discover what works on the day, then repeat.