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I do not fish for Bass or Bream as often as I used to but when I do I like to have the right gear and mix of baits on hand.

My favourite rod for this type of very light bait fishing is a well balanced 4-8lb spin rod rigged with a 2500 spin reel, 12-14lb braid backing and Riverge Grand Max 6-9lb fluorocarbon leader about half the length of the rod.

I find that there is enough similarity between the lures I use for both bream and bass species to treat them basically as interchangeable and consequently I only need to carry three separate lure boxes as described below.

 

ZMan soft plastic Bass and Bream baits.

For me ZMan soft plastics are an all in or an all out product. By that I mean if your going to carry ZMan soft plastics you are better of not carrying any other types of soft plastics.

That is because Z Man softies are made from Z Man's own secret proprietary TPE material called "ElaZtech". This proprietary TPE material melts and deforms traditional plastisol based soft plastics and consequently Z Man soft plastics must be stored away from all plastisol soft plastics in a non-PVC based container or their original sealed packaging.

So this is the full range of soft plastics I carry when targeting Bass and Bream. They are all carried in they original packaging and these packages area all carried in a zippered kids lunch box that I picked up at Woolworths.

In the same bag I keep my Jigs, Neds etc in a Clip lock bag in the lid and my previously rigged ZMan lures also in a Zip lock bag next to my packets of un-rigged baits.

 

ZMan MinnowZ in 3" size I was first introduced to this lure about two years ago as a bait for Mangrove Jack. It has not been very productive in that role but it has deliver quite a a few Bream and a couple of Bass. The colours that work for me across a range of species and particularly for Bass, Bream, Mangrove Jack and Flathead are: Opening night, Rootbeer gold, Mood Ring, Goldrush, Houdini and Golden Boy.

 

ZMan PrawnZ Size 3.5" This is a very realistic small prawn representation. Rigged on a size #1 or 1/0 jig in a range of weights it's a great not only in the salt for bream, flathead, whiting and other estuary species but also a surprisingly good bait for Bass in freshwater rivers and lakes. It's a contest for the best colour for clear water between the new Slam Shady and opening night. I also carry Root Beer Gold, Midnight Oil, Slam shady colour is fantastic in clear water and particularly for Bass Watermelon.

 

ZMan GrubZ I have been using these for 30 years or so and they have proven to be one of my favorites baits for Bass and Bream. My favourite colours for this bait are: Bloodworm, Motor Oil, Gudgeon, Midnight Oil and Watermelon Red Flake.

 

ZMan TRD BugZ. These were an addition to my Bass and Bream kit about a year ago and lend themselves to being Ned rigged. Because the Ned rig basically offers the business end of the bait and the hook as an in their face bait and that can be handy when your getting short takes on jig presentations or your target fish are a bit off their tucker.

 

Hard body lures

Both Bass a Bream are comfortable taking small hard bodied lures and that can be on the surface right down to "grubbing " the bottom. I carry mine in a reversible box and as my Bass and Bream hard bodied lures are relatively small that box will store something like 28 individual lures. Here are some of the lures I carry in that box:

 

Jackall Chubby lures These are a long time favourite of mine and consequently they are often the first Bass or Bream hard body lure I tie on in a session. They come in a shallow, suspending and deep bibbed versions andI carry a couple of each of those diving depths in my Bass and Bream hard body lure box. So that is two for each depth. So that is 6 Chubby lures on hand at any one time, selected from these three colours Brown Suji, Shrimp Suji, Ghost suji (as in the photo, Shrimp Suji and Plain Suji.

 

 

Yakamito Devil Edge 60 This a really neat small diving lure that dives down as much as 3 meters. I particularly like it because it’s a floating lure and if you feel your line or leader touch timber and immediately pause the retrieve the lure rises quick enough it to risen above the timber by the time you restart your retrieve . If it does hook up on timber a soft approach is best and the lure will often release it the line is repeatedly jiggled or flicked to release the snagged hook from the timber. My favorite colour is P01653 Pinky. This colour has a purple hue which it seems a lot of fish love. There is a second colour from the range that I also carry in my Bass and Bream Hard Body lure kit and that's a translucent barred gold.

 

Rapala Shadow Rap Fat Jack This 4cm long jerk bait dives to around 3 meters and is very responsive to slow retrieves. The thee colours I favour are Ghost Prawn, Glassy Gill, Hollow Brown Cray Fish and Purple Prawn. I carry one of each of those in my kit Because this is relatively inexpensive compared to the price of my Chubby lures I often tie this on when fishing in snaggy territory.

 

Sugarpen 70F surface popper "The SugaPen 70 is a unique designed dog walker. This lure is designed to splash with its cupped face, like a popper, but have the advantages of being a dog walker which attracts more fish. This is the best of both worlds in surface fishing." The two colours I have in my kit are c83 is purple back with black bars and orange mouth and C393 which is clear with black bars

 

Sure Catch 500 I do have one little 5cm traditional popper in the C03 colour in my kit. That is my Sure Catch 500. Sure Catch was one of the three entities that got together and formed Wilson Fishing ... both Sure Catch popper and Wilson deserved to be recognised as icons of the Australian fishing scene.

 

"Odds and ends" baits

The third Bass and Bream box that I carry holds the "odds and ends" of baits including vibes, blades, Ecogear ZX40 type baits. I do not carry many of these odds and ends so they are stored in the last two rows of my Bass and Barra hard body lure box.

 

Tiemco 40mm soft shell cicada This very popular surface lure is my choice of cicada surface lure for Bass and Bream when they are targeting the natural. My colour choice is black or olive. The wings fold in on the cast so that it casts well and the pressure of water as the lure is retrieved makes the wings fold out and imparts a "walk the dog" swimming action on the lure with plenty of water movement. My preferred retrieve is to cast the lure close to where you think bass are holding and let it sit till the impact rings on the surface dissipate. If they don't illicit a strike then just wiggle the rod tip to reactivate the rings again. If that doesn't illicit a strike slowly retrieve the lure with a few pause along the way. If Bass or Bream are targeting cicida your going to want to have one of these on hand.

 

Ecogear ZX40 prawn vibe These are a next generation vibe that basically represent a prawn. My two favourite retrieves are the traditional soft plastic jump along the bottom or a slow roll. In the salt you can expect to catch all types of spies as by catches including squid, flathead and whiting.

 

Vibes This is a selection of smaller vibe type currently have in my Bass and Bream kit. There is a bit of a turnover in the selection because particularly in rugged Bream terrain they are easily lost.

 

Blades I was first introduced to blades about 20 years ago when I fish St Georges Basin on the south coast of NSW targeting bream with Ray. We caught and released so many I lost count. They cast really well and generate there own action any almost any speed of lift and drop retrieve. Colour is not critical and from my experience most work. Size is more critical and little 35mm blades may be the goto one day and 50mm may be required the next.

 

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