Known as a bread and butter species, the humble bream can be difficult to catch in some cases. Simple lure techniques done properly can undo these finicky fish. Bream fishing has taken off in the last few years and numerous tournaments over the country test anglers’ skills to get a bag of these fish. With a few tricks, you can be on your way to becoming a successful tournament angler. There are thousands of bream lures on the market and you can categorize them into three main groups – soft plastics, hardbody lures and vibration lures. Soft plastic lures are effective for bream, because they can be used in all parts of the water column. Hardbody lures have a variety of styles such as small-bibbed lures and cup faced surface poppers. Vibration lures are highly successful for chasing bream that are schooled up in deep water. When worked they give out a vibration throughout the water that bream can’t resist! A few lures that are a must have in your tackle box are the Atomic Crank 38 Deep and Mid in a few natural colours, Atomic K9 Walkers, Cranka Crabs, ZMan 2.5” GrubZ in motor oil and greasy prawn, and a handful of jigheads from the Atomic Seekers or TT range around 1/16oz. When you’re looking for a combo to chase bream on lures, anything around 1-3kg with a 2000 size reel is perfect. Get the best quality you can afford. I stick to the major brands, like Daiwa, Shimano and Abu Garcia. For lures, braid is a must – any quality braid at 6lb is a great start. I like to use the Unitika range. A fluorocarbon leader is a necessity when using braid, because it’s almost invisible underwater, so the fish can’t see it when chasing down your lure. Location is the biggest factor in chasing bream. When searching for bream, look for anywhere with some type of structure that could hold food. Areas such as pontoons, pylons, boat ramps, rock bars and oyster beds are just some examples of fishy areas. Retrieves with lures for bream vary depending on the lure you use. When using hardbodies or small crank style lures, all you need is a very slow roll – the slower, the better! The retrieve when using soft plastics can be small hops off the bottom or a small lift of the rod tip, depending on what the bream prefer on the day. When throwing Cranka Crabs, a very slow technique can be deadly on bream. Let it sink all the way to the bottom and let the claws float around on the bottom for a few seconds. After the pause, give the little crab a small jiggle then let it sink for another few seconds. I hope these tips and techniques help you in your search for these little silver ghosts! If you want to follow my fishing adventures, like my Facebook page – Ryan’s Fishing, and Instagram page --e-mail address hidden-- Until next month, tight lines and screaming drags!