Bream Crankbaiting

By Grayson Fong

Bream Crankbaiting- Part 1 (Feeling the Groove)

I love crankbaiting. First to admit it, last to deny it.

The fascination with the ‘reaction’ bite is a huge factor in why I am attracted to fishing, whether it is the element of surprise when a fish strikes your lure or maybe the fact that for some strange reason you have enticed a living organism to eat a piece of plastic. Either way it is the grease that keeps the cogs moving in my head each time I hit the water whether recreation fishing with my mates or in a tournament situation on the Australian Bream Tournament (ABT) tour.

I love chasing bream. To some it may seem flavourless and easy but to me it is the process that gets me. I can catch them all day, size is irrelevant but numbers feels like the achievement. Don’t get me wrong, landing a 1.3kg bream does have quite the rush factor to it but I feel when you are amongst the numbers you have cracked the pattern, got into the groove and worked out the right lure and technique that the fish want for the day.

Tournament fishing can be different though, ask any angler that participates in them and they will tell you ‘You can love fish and hate them all in the same day!’ In this scenario, you have a very short time to get into the groove and every fish you hook, it is imperative you land or it can cost you dearly. For example, this year’s second ABT round on Gippsland Lakes in Victoria my path to victory consisted of these stats (Five fish limit):  

Day 1: Seven bites, landed 6 fish (1 upgrade)

Day 2: Six bites, landed 5 fish

For the same result again in the fourth ABT round at St Helens Tasmania, I had these stats: (Five fish limit)   

Day 1: Six bites, landed six fish (1 upgrade)

Day 2: Five bites landed five fish 

This goes to show the importance of numbers in tournaments but brings me back to my original statement as all these fish were caught on crankbaits. Figuring the bite pattern (or retrieve pattern I needed to use) and the right lure that would get me these bites, was the epitome of finding the groove when out on the water.

You ask how can this help me?? I believe you can start by simply concentrating on your retrieve each cast. Just say you had a cast and retrieve of your lure every minute (conservative by most standards), 60 casts in one hour, 180 casts in a three hour session. During these casts, simply concentrating on your retrieve as much as where you land your lure, can fast track the time for you to figure out what you need to do to catch fish.

On my next blog, I will write about working the right lure depth for bream which when married up with this blog should make a bit more sense!!