Fishing for bream in coastal estuaries is an inherent activity for southern anglers. So many young fishos cut their teeth chasing bream and other estuary species in our temperate inlets; it’s accessible fishing and a lot of fun. My introduction to fishing when I was a kid was in a small river close to home, chasing mullet and small salmon around the mouth, and eventually bream in the deeper holes further upstream. It’s a great setting to introduce young fishos to our sport, and the level of engagement will naturally increase as skills develop.
And one of the great things about our estuaries is they still represent a challenging setting for adept fishos, too. Pulling quality fish from our estuaries isn’t always easy, especially from the rivers and creeks at the smaller end of the scale. Here in my home state of SA we can count our large estuary systems on one hand, but although we have missed out on larger estuaries, we do have some neat little rivers cutting through coastal scrub which still offer good fishing at the right times.
These tight waters aren’t just restricted to South Oz either, with small inlets dotted right around the southern half of our country. These are typically smaller rivers most people drive past on their way to bigger waterways. And while the larger estuaries will have more options on any given day, these smaller rivers can offer up some surprisingly good fishing at the right times.
And don’t be put off by small waterways assuming they’ll only produce smaller bream, as that’s not the case. Some of these small rivers and creeks can offer some serious blue-nose black bream, you just have to change tact to specifically target these bigger fish. This normally involves how and when you’ll concentrate your time on and around these waterways.
Small Waters
To define a small waterway, I would categorise them as a short tidal river or creek feeding in from the ocean. The smaller inlets will have salt or brackish water cutting inland for only a kilometre or two, before turning into freshwater further upstream and narrowing. Some of the small rivers we fish on Kangaroo Island are closed to the ocean and become landlocked for several months of the year, creating a lake environment where tides aren’t influential on feeding behavior.
Most tight waters have similar characteristics; they typically start as a shallow body of water around the river mouth, and after a few twists and turns as the river starts to narrow. There will often be a deeper hole around the first corner or two, with the deeper water on the outside of the corner. For rivers lacking defined bends, there will quite often be some form of deepening within a few hundred metres of the mouth, sometimes just as the river naturally constricts. Alternatively a rock bar edging the river will usually offer some form of deeper water.
For clean tidal inlets it’s quite easy to identify the deeper holes and sections, but for rivers with tannin stained water it can be harder to identify. Fallen snags are another indication of deeper water, with a lay-down tree usually offering some interpretation of depth.
When targeting bream in these tight waterways, we’re usually directing our attention to these deeper holes. While you can pull some nice fish from the shallower sections, we have found a better strike rate by focusing on the deeper water. These deeper holes may only be one to two metres deep at best, but in contrast to the surrounding water, this is often deep enough to hold a fish or two. Bream are naturally structure-oriented, so any fallen tree, rock bar, undercut bank or overhanging foliage will offer some form of cover to resident bream, and all the better when this cover coincides with a deep hole.
And unlike bigger rivers where bite periods can coincide with tide changes, the heightened feeding activity in these tight waters often coincides with first light and again during the final hour of light. It’s during these twilight periods we’ve experienced our best fishing, but dark and overcast days can also offer some good daytime action. Cloudless days with the sun high overhead aren’t conducive to good fishing in these tight and shallow waters.
Movement of Bream
The time of year will certainly dictate how productive a waterway might be. Here in my home state of SA we start to see silver-sided sea-run bream moving into our rivers around April, usually after the first good rains of the season. These fish will feed and reside in the lower sections for a month or two, moving further upstream as the season progresses. By August and September we usually see these fish in the upper reaches of these smaller waterways – quite often in the last deep hole before the river shallows and pools.
These fish have pushed high in the river for one reason – spawning – and knowing this brings some relevant ethical questions. Is it okay to target spawning aggregations of bream; I would say not, and some rivers have a closed season for this very reason. To their advantage, when bream are schooling up in preparation for spawning their attention shifts from feeding to… um… doing the deed, and they become even harder to target. Last season we saw a good aggregation of big bream in a tiny river. I could count over 70 individuals, and most of them would have been nudging 40cm. Cool to see.
For rivers that silt-over during the warmer months and become landlocked, there is less of a movement upstream. Some good fishing is normally encountered when the river opens its mouth, with the lowered salinity triggering a fresh wave of fish to enter the river. Fishing around the river mouth and adjacent lower reaches can offer some good fishing once a river opens to the sea.
On Lures
Having a lure crunched mid retrieve by a quality bream is very cool, and in my opinion is the most exciting way to connect to these fish in tight waters. But with the shallow nature of these waterways and minimal structure on offer, connecting to quality bream on lures can be a challenge. Even the subtle plop of a lightly weighted soft plastic touching down can spook bream, so you must tackle these tight waters with as much stealth as possible.
Small rivers and creeks with a bit of structure can fish well with lures, with soft plastics, small vibes and hard body lures all working well on their day. My preference is for small soft plastics in the 40 to 70mm size range; they cast well and can effectively be worked through the whole depth range.
Curl tail grubs are a proven pattern as they offer good action even at slow speeds. My go-to plastic over the past season has been the Bio Tough 65mm Twin Grub in bloodworm or pumpkin seed colour – a long lasting plastic with excellent action. The old faithful Squidgie Wriggler, Atomic Plazos 2” Fat Grub and Z-man 2.5” Grubz are other effective soft plastics for these tight water bream. I tend to opt for darker colours in browns and greens in tannin water.
I use a 1.5gm round head with a fine gauge size 2 hook when working these tight waters. You want a good balance between casting distance, and something that’s going to offer a slow sink. You can easily cast from one back to the other in most of these small rivers so you’re not necessarily casting for distance, rather for accuracy.
I usually start by casting against the opposite bank or next to bankside structure, and will let the plastic sink towards the riverbed. Working a lure along the opposing bank can get good results, especially if the bank is undercut or offers overhanging foliage. If the waterway has weed on the riverbed, I’ll try to avoid contact as this can foul the lure pretty quickly, but in general the river floor will be clean once you move away from the saltwater influence around the mouth. I’ll work the plastic slowly back to the rod tip, hopping the lure using a double-twitch. Most of the strikes come on the drop after the hop. Watching your belly of line offers a good bite indication.
Soft plastics and micro vibes are great for use in the deeper sections of the river, with small 40 – 60mm floating or neutral buoyant hard body lures and even small surface poppers having their place through the shallower regions of the river. The shallow sand flats around the river mouth can be fished with a small hard body, especially when bream are migrating into the river, but expect a bit more bycatch around the mouth in the way of salmon trout, herring and even the occasional flathead.
Keeping on the move is preferred when flicking lures; I’ll normally lay half a dozen casts along a drop-off or around a snag before moving along to the next likely stretch of water. Some of our small inlets are bordered by thick bankside vegetation which can make access pretty tough. Small kayaks or canoes are perfect in this situation, allowing you to quietly paddle from structure to structure or hole to hole, laying casts as you move your way along.
As is always the case when lure fishing for bream, lightweight yet responsive rods in the 1 – 3kg range are ideal for casting lightly weighted lures, with something around 6’6” to 7’2” about right. A small threadline reel in the 1000 to 2500 size is perfect, with 4 to 6lb braid together with a fluorocarbon leader of similar strength complimenting the set-up. Fishing lightweight is essential in these tight waters.
Flicking Baits
Although not regarded as the “cool style of fishing” anymore, flicking lightly weighted baits is still a productive way to connect to a few bream in these tight waters, and is a good option when fishing with kids. Unlike lure fishing which encourages you to cover ground, bait fishing is a bit more laid back and allows you to stay put in one locale.
Once again the peak times of early morning and late arvo are prime times for targeting bream in tight waterways. Using similar 1 – 3kg outfits as described above will suffice for bait fishing, but if you were selecting a rod dedicated for bait fishing it would preferably be a bit longer, say around 7’6” to 8’ and a bit softer in the tip section.
Fishing unweighted baits is the best option, provided the tide and or wind allows, otherwise a small bean sinker can be used to help hold baits on the bottom. Always try to use the smallest weight possible. Following the bean sinker I use a small size 10 swivel which separates my mainline from a 40cm length of 6lb trace line. At the business end I use a size 4 circle or Gamakatsu shiner hook to ensure the fish is pinned in the corner of the mouth. Avoid using small hooks as bream have a tendency to swallow baits.
Another option, which is quite effective in shallow waters is to use a small float to suspend the bait off the bottom, allowing the bait to drift past structure. This works quite well when there is a lot of drowned timber which can make bottom fishing tough.
Baits such as whole green prawns, nippers, the tail section of a pilchard, plus whole whitebait or bluebait are all effective baits for bream. The downside to these baits is they’re quite soft and do not last long when there are small fish around. If there are a couple of you fishing, fan your baits around to cover some ground, and try to cast near structure if possible.
Fishing our tight waterways can be challenging yet satisfying at the same time. These small coastal creeks and rivers may not see the sheer number of bream that our larger estuaries do, but by refining your tactics it is still possible to connect with some quality bream.
