How to catch bream on fly

This thumper of a bream ate a Raw Shrimp Fly from BWC Flies.

by Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling •

It seems there’s an immense amount of interest in the subject of chasing bream on fly gear. Here’s the lowdown on how to do it successfully:

      Of all the fishing subjects I post about on social media, the ones that seem to generate the most feedback and response are those dealing with fly fishing for ‘bread and butter’ species such as flathead, blackfish and bream… but especially bream!

      It’s no secret that bream are one of the country’s favourite angling species. It seems that being able to catch these abundant and widespread saltwater targets on trout-weight fly fishing gear is immensely appealing to many anglers, especially in an era when fly fishing seems to be undergoing a revival or resurgence of sorts.

Jo Starling with a chunky bream taken on a commercially-tied fly, in this case a Fulling Mill’s Homer Shrimpson pattern.
Fur flies — such as this one made with rabbit strip — have heaps of action in the water.
Big bream are handsome critters and no push-over to fool with the fly.
The author with a seriously large black bream taken on fly while using an 11ft, 5wt switch fly rod. Conventional 8-9ft fly rods also do the job very well.
Catching big bream like this one on fly gear can be tricky and challenging, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

      Consistently catching bream on fly is definitely not an easy task, or it certainly hasn’t been for me! I really struggled to do it on a regular basis for many, many years, but over the past decade or so, a number of pieces have fallen into place that have dramatically improved my success rate and my enjoyment of the entire process. I’d like to share what I’ve learnt with you:

GEAR

      Tackle for chasing bream on fly doesn’t have to be anything special. Any 4-8wt fly set-up will do the job, with a 6wt being just about perfect, in my opinion. 

      Anyone who has ever had a crack at trout fishing with the fly will likely already own or have access to a 5-6wt combo. If you’re buying one from scratch, spend a reasonable amount on the rod, as that’s the most critical part. The reel won’t do a whole lot more than store line when you’re bream fishing, so just buy a reasonable, lightweight one that won’t corrode too quickly when exposed to saltwater.

LINES

      Fly lines are another critical part of the equation. The vast majority of my bream have been caught on full-length, weight-forward floating lines, as I mostly chase these fish in water shallower than 3m. However, intermediate (slow sinking), sink-tip and even full sinking lines all have their place, especially if you fish in deeper water or where there’s lots of current. But to begin with, just buy a full-length, weight-forward floating line suited to your rod, bearing in mind that some anglers do like to ‘over-line’ their rods by one line weight as they find this makes casting easier (especially with weighted flies or in breeze).

LEADERS

      Using long leaders really seems to improve my results when fly fishing for bream. By ‘long’, I mean at least 3m (9ft), but often more like 4-5m (12-16ft) all up. Tapered leaders help a lot with casting, and you can either buy pre-made tapered leaders or tie up your own (there are plenty of leader formulas on the internet). 

      The business end of the leader (called the tippet) should be relatively long (at least a metre or so) and reasonably fine: certainly no heavier than 4kg (8lb). I use 6lb fluorocarbon most of the time for my tippets, but occasionally drop to 4lb. Trust me, it can make a difference!

FLIES

      For a long time I suspected there must be a ‘magic’ fly pattern out there that would revolutionise my fly fishing for bream. Turns out this isn’t really the case. A whole bunch of patterns will catch bream, including a range of prawn, shrimp, crab and baitfish imitations. What most have in common is a hook size between about No. 8 and No. 2 (I use a lot of 4s), fairly natural colours, a bit of translucence and, in a lot of cases, ‘dangly bits’ like rubber legs, or at least some soft fur that moves and comes to life in the water. 

      Nearly all of my successful bream flies also carry some weight, usually in the form of bead-chain or lead dumb-bell eyes. You can buy flies or make your own, and a great place to start is an Aussie mail-order company called BWC Flies (www.bwcflies.com.au) which sells both pre-tied flies and fantastic kits for building your own.

LOCATIONS

      I think the biggest trick to catching bream on fly involves fishing in areas where there are good numbers of catch-able bream. It sounds obvious, but you won’t catch bream on fly while fishing where there aren’t any feeding bream! A good starting point is to choose areas shallower than 3m where you’ve consistently caught bream on lures in the past, then fish for them there with fly on exactly the same tides and conditions as you would choose when using lures. Then try to do exactly the same things (in terms of presentation and retrieve) with your flies as you would with lures… It ain’t rocket science!

      In my experience, there is no single, silver bullet to cracking the bream-on-fly puzzle. I can almost guarantee you’ll struggle a bit at first, just as I did. But, as successes slowly build, you’ll learn more and gain confidence, and that’s a huge part of the equation. I’ve made a short how-to video demonstrating the principles outlined in this column. You can watch it by scanning the QR code hereabout, going to my ‘Starlo Gets Reel’ channel on YouTube. 

      If you find the thought of catching bream on fly appealing, please do give it a try and don’t be put off by any early failures. It’s a game worth sticking with, because when it all comes together, it’s immensely satisfying and rewarding!