The best lures and soft plastics to catch Bream 2024. Bream Fishing with Lures has become one of the most popular forms of fishing in recent years. This trend has seen an explosion of products released onto the fishing market. With masses of ultra-light spin rods, reels and thin lines. But that’s minuscule compared with the volume of soft plastics and lures on the market specifically to target bream. As a consumer the choice is endless and for a beginner angler, the choices are almost overwhelming. To help get you started we detail our favourite types of bream lures, our preferred colours, styles and techniques on how to fish them.
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The choice of bream lures is almost endless to make things easier we created a detailed video on the best bream lures and how to use them.
How to catch bream with soft plastics
Small curl tail soft plastics have been a top choice for many years. They are affordable and the natural action of the curl tail makes them is irresistible for bream. Curl tail soft plastics are very versatile either casting into open water or fished hard up against the structure. Using an ultra-light spin rod and reel will give you control to stay in contact with the soft plastic. The tail flutters on the drop and when being reeled in at a steady pace making it one of the easiest lures to use. You can fish these soft plastics with a simple constant steady retrieve called a slow roll. You can also hop it off the bottom with some subtle lifts and pauses. We fish these soft plastics with our rod tips pointing down towards the ground.
These come in 2.5 inches and 3.5 inch sizes and we encourage you to rig them using HWS jig heads. This helps provide a natural movement and is less prone to weed and snags. This is because the soft plastic covers the lead leaving only the hook exposed. Ensure that your rig the soft plastic on the jig head straight to get the best action. We start with jig head weights of 1/20 then work our way up or down the scale depending on the conditions. It’s also a good idea to rub a little bit of scent on the tail to create a scent trail which bream actively respond to.
Popular bream curl tail soft plastics include
- Zman grubZ
- Daiwa Bait Junkie 2.5 inch grub
- Berkley powerbait grub
- ecogear grass minnow
- Savage Gear Pro Grub
- Squidge wrigglers
- Pro lure grub tail
- pontoon21 pillo grub
- Dragon maggots
- Samaki Boom Bait Curlicious Grub Tail
Popular curl tail soft plastics colour choices include
- UV motor oil
- UV bloodworm
- Pearl white
- UV black
- Watermelon
Generally, a packet of curl tail soft plastics will set you back around $10 which is a terrific value.
How to catch bream with Crank hard body lures
The video below shows you how to use crank-style hard body lures to catch big bream.
I remember catching my first bream on a crank lure. It was only 36cm but bream strike cranks so aggressively making it such a fun form of fishing. The profile of a typical crank lure is 38mm long and 3-4 grams in weight. With an internal ball bearing to create noise and add weight for casting distance finished with a set of double treble hooks.
Cranks come in varieties with different bib sizes. Bibs are the plastic at the front of the lure that determines how deep the crank lure will dive. The longer the bib the deeper it dives into the water. Mid diving cranks will dive to 0.8 meters whilst deep diving will dive down to 1.5 meters. There are also floating and suspending variations. This is what happens to the crank lure when you pause. Floating cranks on pauses will slowly rise to the surface whilst suspending cranks will remain buoyant at the same depth.
There are several ways to fish crank lures that have a strong vibrating action. It’s a good idea to mix up the retrievals, you can slow roll them with some pauses to encourage strikes. These can be cast into open water or tight up against the structure. This works well in the warmer months when bream are holding the edges. I will have my rod tip pointing upright, so you can see the rod tip vibrating. You will know as soon as you get some weed on these as the vibrating action will stop. Applying some scent on the crack lure can also work well to encourage a bite when the fishing is a little quiet.
Popular bream crank lure choices include
- Jackall chubby
- Atomic Hardz
- Daiwa Infeet rolling crank
- Cranka crank
- Savage Gear Fatheads
- Pro lure 36 range
- Berkley 3B fatdog
- Hurricane Fat 37
Popular crank lure colour choices include
- Brown Suji
- Muddy prawn
- Ghost gill
- Black
Crank lures start around $10 and move all the way up to $25. The more expensive versions have stronger trebles but we have had great success with the cheaper versions such as the Savage Gear Fathead and Atomic cranks.
How to catch bream with Crab imitations
A few years ago the cranka crab was released into the market and it was a standout product. For good reason too as bream absolutely love them. With realistic looks, trebles in the claws which float that look enticing as it slowly descends to the bottom. Crab imitations are ideal for fishing hard up against or into a structure such as bridges, jetties, boat hulls, rock walls or shadows. Very little action is required when working these lures. Cast near the structure, let it sink then wind in the slack and let the natural current and the lures lifelike claws the water do all the work. This technique is called dead sticking. There are many variations out now but the cranka crab is hard to top.
When selecting a cour we recommend to match the hatch is our advice. If your area has plenty of dark coloured small crans then go with that.
Popular bream crab imitations include
- Cranka crab
- Savage Gear 3D crab
- Power crab
- Bait Breath Rockin Crab
- Crusty crab
Cranka crabs retail for around $22 each which is double the price of competitor options. So it’s a choice that you as a consumer will need to make whether you can justify that steep price point.
Catching bream with hard body lures
Hardbody lures are a great option when targeting bream, especially in shallow water. The typical profile is a slim body between 30mm through to 60mm. They have internal ball bearings to provide sound and weight for casting distance. Hardbody lures come in a range of colours we like flashy colours in silvers and golds. They have a bib but generally come as shallow or mid diving. There are a few ways to fish these and the best advice is to mix up the retrieval speeds, jerks and pauses. You can simply cast and slow roll with your rod tip pointed towards the ground. Also cast and then use a series of pauses, downstrokes and lifts. Often you will get bites on the pause. You can add a lot of action to the lure by moving around your rod so don’t be afraid to mix things up.
Popular bream hard body lures include
- Daiwa Double-clutch
- Cranka minnow
- EcoGear SX40
- Nories laydown minnow
- Pontoon21 crackerjacks
- Duo Realis minnow 80SP
- Daiwa tournament spike 53sp
- Jackall squirrel
- OSP dunk minnows
There is a big price difference amongst styles and brands. Generally, they start at $10 and go all the way up to $30. The very popular Daiwa Doble clutch generally retails around $24
Catching bream with Paddle tail soft plastics
These small plastics are dynamite on bream and one of our favourite choices. They’re such a simple design yet so very effective with an enticing tail action. The profile of these is generally 2.5 inch mimicking a minnow or baitfish. Just like curl tails, you can fish these in various methods. You can do a very simple slow roll which is a constant steady retrieve, or you can hop it off the bottom with some pauses. These soft plastics are great for casting in open water and covering the ground. You can also fish them against the structure. Generally rubbing a little bit of scent in the tail sparingly works well to create a small scent trail that bream actively respond to.
Popular bream paddle tail soft plastics include
- Zman slim Swimz
- Daiwa Bait junkie 2.5 inch minnow
- Hurricane SPRAT 65
- Savage Gear slim minnow
- Berkley T-Tail
- Pro lure paddle grub
- Charlie Brewer Slider Grub
Popular paddle tail colour choices include
- UV motor oil
- Golden spec
- Watermelon
- UV bloodworm
- Pearl white
- UV black
Generally, a packet of curl tail soft plastics will set you back around $10 which is a terrific value.
Catching bream with Blades
Blades have been around for a while and continue to be a popular choice for catching bream. Ranging in sizes from 35mm to 42m in shiny flashy colours. Some blades have stinger hooks which are a small set of hooks behind the blade to increase strike rates. Blades allow you to cast generous distances which is great for open water, deeper water. This is great when trying new water systems and when fishing in winter when bream are holding deeper water. You can do a constant steady retrieve or let them sink to the bottom and follow with lifts and pauses. What makes them work so well is the vibrating action and the flash colours. We recommend keeping your rod tip upright and rod tip constantly moving.
Popular bream blades include
- Eco gear VX and ZX range
- StrikePro cyber vibe
- Atomic hardz metals
- TT switchblade
- Berkley big eye blades
- Pro lure V35 blade
- Savage Gear 3D minnow blade
Most blades are valued between $10 and $20
Catching bream with Vibes or Shads
Vibes are used in a similar fashion to blades. Simply cast them and do a constant steady retrieve or let them sink to the bottom and follow with continuous lifts and pauses. The vibrating action of the vibe is what bream find irresistible. They are prone to snags but are still a great option.
Popular bream vibes include
- Strikepro hummer
- cranka vibe
- Atomic Hardz shad
- duo realis shad 52MR
- Ecogear SX48
Bream with crustacean, worm & Yabby imitations
This another great option for targeting bream natural-looking soft plastics that mimic a yabbie or crustacean. These can be worked very slowly or amongst structure or slow-rolled with lifts and pauses like a paddle or curl tail soft plastic.
Popular bream imitations include
- Damiki Monster Miki 2.5 inch plastic
- Pro lure live yabby
- Gulp crabby
- Berkley turtleback worm
- Savage Gear 3D manic shrimp
- Zman CrusteaZ
- osp do live craw
- gulp nemesis
- Shimano biotough crawler
- gulp shrimp
- Zman crawZ
How to catch bream with surface lures
Catching bream on surface lures is one of the most exciting forms of fishing. Having an aggressive bream smash the lure makes for sensational topwater action. Surface lures come in several different types such as poppers, pencils, stick baits or minnows. There are a few different retrieval techniques that work well. There is walking the dog, then there are sharp down twitches to generate some splashing and tap into the breams aggression, then there is basic retrieve with pauses. We find these work best when you cast them and leave them for 5 to 10 seconds enough time for the ripples to disperse. Then add some aggressive down twitches followed by lengthy pauses. This works really well when the pauses are over weed beds, drop-offs or structure. Keep covering ground and stay alert of bream in the area which may be a follow, a surface or a nibble.
Popular bream surface lures include
- OSP bent minnow 76
- Daiwa infeet slippery dog 65F
- Savage Gear popper
- OSP louder popper
- Nomad Styx minnow
- Bassday sugar pen
- imakatsu dilemma popper
- Tiemco red pepper micro
Watch our detailed video on different types of bream lures and how to use them.
Rod selection to catch bream with lures and soft plastics
We would highly recommend investing in a high-quality ultralight fishing outfit when Bream Fishing with Lures and soft plastics. These are rods around 7 foot in length, highly tapered and quite stiff. They are generally 1-3 or 2-4 kilo and really give you control over your casting and overall fun experience. There are plenty of good options on the market brands such as Millers rods, Daiwa, Shimano, Atomic, Abu Garcia, Savage Gear and others make a great range of custom bream rods to cover different budgets. Some of our favourites include
- Millers Grub Freak LT
- Daiwa infleet
- Shimano Zodias
- Samurai Reaction
- Atomic Arrowz
Reel selection to catch bream with lures and soft plastics
There are so many bream reels on the market at various price points. We would highly recommend choosing a reel in 1000, 2000 or 2500 size reel which provides lightness and comfort. There are plenty of good options on the market brands such as Daiwa, Shimano, Abu Garcia, Savage Gear make a great range of custom bream rods to cover different budgets.
You can see our best spinning reels to catch bream recommendations here
Line selection to catch bream with lures and soft plastics
Using braid is a must when targeting bream with lures and plastics. Braid is thinner and doesn’t stretch allowing you to feel those little nibbles and stay in contact with your lure at all times. When bream fishing select braid between 4 to 8 pound where possibly use a good quality braid with a thin diameter which will increase your catch rates, resistance to wind knots and improve your casting distances.
Leader selection to catch bream with lures and soft plastics
Fluro carbon leader is specially fused fishing line making it thinner and harder to see in the water. This is especially important when bream fishing. We always recommend using about 1 rod length of quality fluorocarbon leader. We would suggest using 4-6 pound or if you really enjoy a challenge going as low as 2 pounds.
Jig head selection to catch bream
When fishing with soft plastics you will need to select a jig head. The weights of the jig head depend on the style of fishing that you’re doing, the depth and tidal flow. These range from 1/12 all the way through to 1/48. We would suggest using the lightest jig head that you can get away with. This allows for more natural movement and longer drops which is great with curl tail and paddle tails. I prefer HWS jig heads which stand for hidden weight system. This means the lead component of the jig head sits inside the soft plastic. Making it a lot less prone to snags and weed, it also makes the soft plastic look more natural. Try to remember to rig your soft plastic as straight as possible which will help ensure the soft plastic is moving in the water properly.
Additions or Corrections
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