Hawkesbury River Bream Pro Tips With Bob Williams

Bob’s Hawkesbury Bream Fishing Tips

• Bream fishing can be very high tech, expensive and complicated, but Bob reckons it doesn’t have to be that way. Simple, basic equipment and a few basic techniques will put plenty of bream in the bag.
• Bream are right through the Hawkesbury, from Brisbane Waters to the headwaters of creeks but are nearly always associated with structure. Oyster racks are usually an obvious one in most systems, but are largely from the Hawkesbury due to QX disease. Rock bars, rocky shorelines, mangroves, weedbeds and other structures will hold plenty of fish.
• You need to persevere. It takes time to figure a spot out as it can fish differently on different tides, times of year, times of day or conditions. Be prepared to persevere, as you won’t always catch fish, but also be prepared to shift spots until you find feeding fish.
• Overcast days with a little breeze tend to fish best, low light conditions also fish well. They can be caught on any tide, you just need to adapt your approach to suit the conditions. An overhanging tree that’s a metre above water at low tide and 6 inches above at high tide is a good place to start!

Bob’s Bream Fishing Tackle

• A 6’6” to 7’, 2-4kg spin rod with a 2000-2500 size reel, 6-8lb braid and 8lb leader is a good all-round outfit for targeting bream and will handle any of the lures Bob uses.

Bob’s Top Bream Fishing Lures

• The 67mm Rebel Crawdad is a great, all-round shallow swimming lure that can be worked around oysters, rocks, weed beds and snags down to around 5 feet. Vary the retrieve to see what’s working on the day and don’t forget to watch closely behind the lure for following fish. If a fish is following, switch up the retrieve and give it some pauses and twitches to inspire a fish to bite.
• 35-45mm hard bodies like Cotton Cordell Big O’s, Bill Norman and Attack Lures are great. A tight action enables the lure to wiggle on the shortest twitch or retrieve and a buoyant body allows the lure to be paused when you strike structure, allowed to rise up and cranked back down the other side.
• 2” or 3” soft plastic paddletail or curly tail grubs fished on very lightly weighted size 2 jig heads are great for fishing deeper water but are super versatile and can be worked in lots of ways through a range of depths and circumstances.