Bream fishing under structure

Whether it's Shorncliffe, Redcliffe, Woody Point, or a fishing platform, when it comes to targeting bream and catching a good size fish you've got to be prepared to fish light, and fish under structure. Catching fish under structure can be a challenge, and requires your full attention because if you nod off you will just end up around a pylon or on a snag.  Most jetties/platforms will hold bream underneath at night in all conditions, but I find it's most applicable when the water is dirty and/or there is little to no moonlight around. During the day the noise along the jetties will deter fish from hanging around or feeding.

Learning to fish under the jetty can see you catching a number of good-sized fish where the majority of people out there will be casting out into the abyss and catching little to nothing at all. It's one of the most satisfying feelings to walk up beside a group that has been sitting there a while soaking baits, cast in underneath them, and then pull up a large fish in less than a couple minutes right from under their feet!  >:]

Fishing under structure is a lot different to casting out and waiting for a bite.  When cast out, a passing fish will hopefully find the bait, grab it, and swim off, setting the hook when the slack hits the rod.  This doesn't work very well when fishing under the structure because you have to hold the rod out away from the edge of the jetty because your line needs to go underneath, and any slack in the line gives the fish a good run to get you around something before you even know it's been taken.

The technique I employ is to cast the bait with a very light sinker under my feet, anywhere from ~2m under and behind me, to ~1m. I slowly reel in the slack, and with a very gentle "bounce" I feel for the bottom. When I feel I'm on the bottom in a spot I lift ever so gently to take up all slack with a light grip on the rod. From there you wait and feel.

Gear

To employ this technique you will want to set up with the following:
- A 6' - 7' 4kg rod with a spinning reel or baitcaster reel. A small enough reel to be able to toss a short cast of 3-4 metres.
- Set the drag on the reel to fully tight. (Important!!)
- A sturdy line. Personally I use 8lb~12lb braid line. Mono will work but you want to go with a low-stretch, durable brand. Not the cheap junk that comes on most combos.
- A good leader. I opt for a 20lb Daiwa Sea Line. (Cheap and effective)
- #4 or #2 hook. I use a long-shank for my dough baits or Cheese, Baitholders for meats.
- Size #0 sinkers, #1 sinker is as big as you need to go. (Dealing with wind, or getting a feel for the bottom)

Orientation

You generally want the wind to your back, and if there is current, you want it flowing from your back as well. (casting down into the current)  If you have to choose between current (tide) and wind (plus swell) have the current to your back and wind/swell to your front. If the wind is coming from the side and anything but really gentle I'd pick a different location. :)  Current is more a consideration for fishing along rivers such as the Hornibrook fishing platform. Here, regardless of wind you want to cast under into the current, but shallow enough that the current is light.

Casting

Casting under your feet involves a setting up like any normal cast, but then lowering the rod while holding the line with your finger, and with a smooth pendulum motion, swing in out and then under your feet, releasing it and letting the line out, before closing off the line guard.  If the line felt tight off the reel I'll grab a bit of line and pull it off the spool before closing off. Keep the rod low, no more than 45 degrees from straight down, then gently reel in the slack, feeling for the bottom.

Rod position

When feeling for the bottom keep the rod no more than 45 degrees from pointing straight down. If there is wind you want to get the rod as close to the water as you can, so lean on that railing. The rod grip is extremely light so-as not to drag the bait out from under the structure. I quite literally have the rod balanced on 1 finger forward of the spool with my thumb as a backstop. When setting the hook it's important to pull the rod out away from the jetty rather than up, and keep tension fully on the fish. Let the rod do the work and take up the fight from the fish before reeling the fish up to the surface. Larger bream (40cm+) can put up a hell of a fight on a 4lb rod and even manage to pull the drag when I had it quite tight. These are the ultimate under structure fights where it can feel like you hooked a stingray. They will take patience and steering with the rod to tire them out enough to get into position to retrieve.

Feel fishing

When fish are on the feed, usually when there are a few around, a fish will grab the bait and you will feel a very deliberate pull back away behind you. Let the fish pull for a moment, then lift the rod out and away from the jetty to set the hook. Let the rod tension draw the fish away from the structure before attempting to wind them in. This is where a tight drag and a strong line is needed because larger bream can pull you around a pylon if they engage the drag. This is purely fishing by feel. If you leave the line slack and look to set the hook when you see the line go taught or feel the sudden tug on the rod, chances are it will be too late. The fish will spit, or have you around something.

Sometimes the fish are more picky, picking up the bait but not swimming off with it, they will sit there are chew on it. This might require a sharper tug to hopefully set the hook before the fish can spit it out.  If you feel a sharp tug at the bait this is typically an indication that your line is too slack. If there is slack in the line, the sudden "snap" in resistance that the fish feels causes them to spit it out.

You can start with a #1 sinker to get a feel for the bottom, and Bream will pick it up, though larger sinkers are more prone to snags, so once you have a feel for sitting the bait on the bottom, drop the sinker down to a size #0. Depending on the wind and swell you can opt for a single size #0, 2x #0, or a #1.

Baits

Personally I use a dough bait when targeting structure since it coats the hook to help avoid snags. Doughs aren't the best for casting out since they will generally disolve off the hook in around 2~5 minutes, but if you place them where you're confident fish are near, that is more than enough time to secure a bite. My personal dough recipe has around a 90% hit rate, though hookups can be a challenge when the fish get picky. An excellent bait that can be employed the same way is old tasty cheese. If it starts to go moldy, just toss it in the freezer and take it out with you. Squish a piece around your hook and you're good to go. Bream will eat just about anything. Prawn is effective, but IMO not worth the money. Mullet gut is often sold without the "onion" which is candy to Bream, so again, not really worth the money. Both chicken and beef work quite well, and I'd select these over any frozen baits.

Snags

Snags are inevitable when fishing under structure. Gradually you will learn what spots have snags from what spots are more safe. Fish like having structure around them, so where there are fish worth catching, you've got to be prepared for a possible snag up. This is where using a size 0 sinker can help because the smaller diameter sinker doesn't get caught up on as many gaps in rocks, oysters, and weed. However, you need to size your sinker by the conditions because heavier swell can move a lighter bait around and get you hung up where a heavier sinker would have stayed put. Go as light as you can get away with, keeping the bait in one spot.

Summary

Learning to fish under structure can be an engaging, and challenging way to catch fish where other people would find nothing. The key things to take away from practicing this technique is to use as little sinker as possible, a tight drag on a flexible rod, and a good, stiff line. Baits like dough or cheese work wonders under structure where if there are fish around, they will be hitting it in less than 2 minutes. From there it's all technique to feel the bottom, encourage the pull, and get the big ones up.

Shorncliffe Bream Fishing Tips 2019

Shorncliffe is easily the most consistent producing locations for Bream around Brisbane. You wouldn't know if by looking at the (lack of) catches of people fishing there though!  Bream can be found there throughout the year, and at all stages of the tide. However, there are a number of factors that determine where they are, and how much difficulty you may have catching them. These include:
- Time of Day
- Tide
- Amount of Fresh Water (recent rains)
- Water Clarity
- Moon Phase
- Wind Direction & Strength

- Time of Year
- Noise

Bream love to hang around the jetty, either in around the structure of the jetty itself, or the nearby rocks to the North of the Jetty.

Time of Day

There are a lot of people that visit the Shorncliffe jetty especially on the weekends. The best time to fish the jetty is the evening as the sun sets, and at night. In the early evening if there are still quite a few people on the jetty and it's around high tide, your best bet is to work the rocks North of the jetty. Fish will come into the jetty structure for feeding as it gets darker and there is less noise from people moving around above them.

Tide

As the tide comes up, the bulk of the bream move shallow, though larger bream can still be found in deeper pockets. Generally at low tide you still don't need to fish any further down than the covered pagoda found 2/3 the way down the jetty. At high tide you can catch fish in the rocks about 10-20m down the jetty, and decent bream can hold in areas under the jetty as shallow as the first garbage can. High tide gives you more jetty to work to find fish, anywhere from the garbage can until about parallel to the end of the rock wall South of the jetty. There is little need to consider any deeper than that on most occasions.

Fresh Water

This is the one thing that can really cause a lack of bream in the area, and typically means you need to work significantly deeper water.

Water Clarity

When fishing at night, I find that working under the jetty is best when the water is dirtier. When the water gets clearer, especially if the moon is out, the bigger fish tend to forage out away from the structure. With clear water, the best bet is to work the rocks, casting out as far away from the lights of the jetty as you can.

Moon Phase

When there is a full-ish moon high in the night sky, bream will be out away from the structure and lights and foraging the shallows at high tide. Your best bet is to target the rocks and shallows rather than under the jetty. When the moon is new, or not present or concealed by cloud then target under the jetty.

Wind Direction/Strength

Ideal winds for Shorncliffe are from the South. North and West winds are ok, but don't bother when the winds are from the North East unless they are quite light. The jetty runs out to the North East so a cross-breeze will mean a higher swell and wind slack in the line which make it hard to get a reliable hookup. When targeting under the jetty you want the wind to your back. I find the North (dark) side of the jetty produces better, so Southern winds are ideal. Westerlies are Ok given Shorncliffe is relatively elevated so the jetty doesn't catch Westerlies.

Time of Year

Bream can be found at Shorncliffe year round. Summer tends to be fewer fish in/around the jetty, but you stand a chance at landing a larger one. (Provided you can find a spot free of crab pots!) Winter tends to hold more fish around the jetty, though typically smaller fish. 25-30cm are quite common.

Noise

If there is one pet peeve about Shorncliffe it would be it's popularity with families and groups. People making a lot of noise and vibration on the pier can put fish off the bite. Fortunately it is a long pier so you can move 10m or so up or down the jetty to a quieter spot and chances are the fish have moved along there as well. To stand the best chance of hooking up, it's best to have some quiet time without a stereo or loud chatting. The same would apply to people shining flood lights down into the water, tossing crab pots around, or cast nets. (Banned on the jetty, but you still see quite a few)

Rigging & Placement for Bream

Probably the biggest reason most people don't catch anything at Shorncliffe is due to poor rigging and bad placement. The majority of people I see there slap on a big 'ol sinker, walk out to the end of the jetty or the covered area, and cast it out with a prawn as far as they can throw it.  The trouble is that there is little to nothing out there, so it's somewhat dumb luck if something does come by to find the bait, but they the heavy sinker means they will just pick at it with you none the wiser.

Bream tend to stick around structure. They do forage around as well, but placing bait near where they congregate is a much more reliable way to get a bite. The important detail is to use as little weight as you can get away with. This means a size 0 pea sinker, or two of them if the wind is a bit stiff, nothing more. When cast out into the rocks this can move around a bit with the swell but a fish can pick it up and take off, where the rod will set the hook as they reach the end of the slack. Underneath you put it on the bottom and take up the slack so you can just feel it lightly bouncing on the bottom. When the fish grabs it they pull against the rod rather than slack line. If there is any slack due to wind or loose line they will feel the "jerk" rather than a steady pull and they will spit it out.

The jetty at Shorncliffe runs pillars down roughly under each light, and one row between each light. (just short of each light)  As you can see here. Some of the original wooden pillars had concrete casements which had many decades worth of mussels etc. which were removed and attached to the new concrete pylons when the jetty was rebuilt. Much of the debris from the old jetty's shark barrier (iron rods) are still lying around under the jetty leaving a lot of structure for fish and snags. The best places to set up are roughly around the middle of the gaps between pillars. To position I go based on the sections of railing counting left or right from the lights. Sections 3 & 4 before the light, and sections 2 & 3 after the lights put you around the middle of the gaps between pillars.

Knowing where to set up and check for Bream activity can be measured by benches, being the benches that are found on the North side of the bridge, along with the first garbage can. At high tide in calm water, the place to be working the rocks is between the first bench and the garbage can.  Working underneath the jetty, just shallow of the garbage can right out to the light after the 3rd bench is the sweet spot run to check. 3rd bench is my typical haunt to set up, but I work the shallow run regularly.

The danger area for snags is from the light after the 3rd bench until just before the 4th bench.  I would hazard you could catch some nice bream under here, but the risk of snags is huge. That said, the 3-4 section before the light at the 4th bench is a great spot where I've caught my PB just last weekend.  You can work sections deeper than 4th bench when there is a lot of fresh water in the area, though I generally find 4th bench is deep enough. Personally I don't head out much after major rains given the winds are usually not favourable.

Bait

Personally I use a homemade dough mix for bream which I nickname "Cotton Candy" because if there are bream around they gobble it down. However, contrary to trying to catch them on lures, bream are *not* at all fussy with bait, provided it's something that has some smell to it. Old beef, chicken, cheese, prawn, mullet gut, it all works. I use the dough because it's easy to make and keep in the freezer, and it completely covers the hook to reduce the risk of snags. If you use prawns, *don't* throw away the heads! You can rig up the body with one cast, then put a hook through the head for another cast. Bigger bream have no qualms about crushing a prawn head floating around.

Conclusion

In any case, whether you cast out or want to give fishing under the jetty a go, the biggest tip I can offer is go with as light a sinker as you can get away with, no sinker is preferred when using meat/prawns. Just let it sink naturally and move with the current.

You don't need to spend big $$ to catch a feed.

This was a new PB caught last weekend at Shorncliffe in pretty perfect conditions:

41cm, 1.25kg. The comparison fish is 26cm, the legal limit size in Qld is 25cm so that is the smallest I typically take home. (usually target 28-30cm)  Shorncliffe usually produces at least a couple around 30cm most nights. 25-28cm are common, and smaller ones can reach plague proportions. :)

I pulled that big-boy up on a $50 Pryml rod & reel combo from BCF.

The only extra money I spend on my rods is putting some decent line on them. For fishing around structure I go with 10lb braid (Power Pro, sea green  or a smoke colour) and a 20-25lb Daiwa sealine for a leader. (1~2m)  Braid is prefered for putting the brakes on fish intent on getting to structure. Even still, this guy got me around a pylon that I had to wait him out to get him off it and back into open water. That is where a good leader comes in to ensure the line doesn't get cut.

For hook a size #4 or #2 long-shank Mustad brand hook, and a size #0 running ball sinker. Bait is a homemade dough bait that I mold onto the hook. It's effectively cotton candy to fish like bream and I favour it around structure as it keeps the hook fully concealed, with the small sinker this reduces the risk of snag-ups. If there are fish around, this stuff will get them biting typically within 30 seconds of hitting the water.

The tip to running braid without breaking the bank is that you don't need to spool an entire reel with braid. One 300ft spool of braid is enough for 4-5 reels for estuary fishing. Simply spool off ~20-30m of the default mono that comes on the reel, then tie on the braid and spool on the 30m of braid. When using a mono leader on the end, the 30m of braid is more than enough for fishing around jetties or shore and you won't lose any during bust-offs, just the leader.

Shorncliffe pier is finally open, and worth the wait!

I visited my old haunt over the weekend and boy, it didn't disappoint. I headed out there on Easter Sunday with the family and while there were quite a few people there, I was surprised at the relative absence of fishing rods.  I headed back in the evening to try and find some of the old spots to see if they were still holding bream. They haven't moved the old pillar casings back under the pier yet, but even without those, the pier was absolutely swarming with young bream.

It took a while to figure out my depths again now that the benches are gone, and new lamp posts, plus figuring out the positions relative to the new pillars. Early on I was a bit shallow for my normal spots and pulling up 20-24cm fish almost constantly. Once I moved a bit deeper then the bigger fish started to appear. Overall though I only caught one fish close to 30cm so we'll see over the next few weeks if some of the old 35+ monsters still hang out around there.

Key notes:
- They seem to have really cleaned up the debris etc under the jetty or pumped sand over-top because I didn't once find any hint of a snag anywhere along the opening half of the pier.
- The lights and pillars are evenly spaced, so the easy  spots to target are ~1m past each light which will put you roughly between pillars.
- The pillars are quite a ways under the center-line so there's a lot more room to fight fish back. Frankly it takes away a good part of the challenge that I used to love about Shorncliffe.

I'll be doing up a bit of a diagram on where to set up on the pier and practical techniques for a fun time catching fish instead of soaking bait, which the vast majority of people I see there are resigned to do. Not sure what they think when they're sitting there for hours and I come along and pull up over a dozen fish on either side of them. :)

I plan to do a bit of a tutorial on fishing for Bream and flathead around structure using dough baits including the go-to spots on Shorncliffe and Hornibrook platforms to catch a feed.

Lolipopping

Just when you think you've got a fish figured out, they go and do something new. It was an interesting couple of weeks at the Shorncliffe pier since they had the lights on the pier shut down probably due to the repairs or whatever they're up to around/underneath. This weekend though the lights were back on so I was gunning to check to see if squid have started moving in yet. Sure enough they had, but the few tigers I saw weren't much too keen on my novice jigging ability. I did manage to interest one, along with 3 arrow squid, but for the most part I decided to start chasing the Bream again.

These last two evenings the Bream were behaving quite different to normal, and for the most part, fairly consistently. Normally Bream will be in one of two moods, hungry and not-so-hungry. This means grab fast and run, or picking at tasty morsels. However this was something new. There was virtually no wind, which is really good because it means I can go with the lightest sinker, and can feel the lightest nudge on the bait. And it turned out I would need to feel the nudges. The fish were grabbing the bait only they weren't running off with it. It was as if they were sitting there, sucking on it, like a lolipop. No picking, no pulling, all I felt was a slight bump if anything at all. This was with the line pretty much taut, so it wasn't a matter of a lot of slack and not feeling the grab. When I don't feel anything I typically give the bait a "bounce" on the bottom to feel if the bait is still on the hook, and not snagged. Quite often this "bounce" was setting a hook or causing the fish to give a couple shakes and spit the hook.

Still, all-in-all it was a smashing evening for Bream. I only pulled up one "rat", and caught at least another 5 or 6 around 25cm that I let go. The keepers were 35, 31, 29, another 4 over 27cm, and 1 25cm that swallowed the hook. Still with their odd behaviour I had to retrieve hooks while cleaning four of those fish. (#4 Long-shanks.)

Shorncliffe Flathead

Probably one of the overooked possible catches around Shorncliffe is the tasty flathead. A few of the old-timers walking along the Jetty that used to fish around there years ago would tell of good catches of flathead, but not so sure anymore.

Sure enough there are plenty of good size flatheads around the Shorncliffe jetty/pier. I've caught several as by-products of searching for patrolling Bream. Typically less than 20m out from shore, and around 1-5m from the jetty. I've caught them on squid, on the bread mix, and even got a big one to the surface on a prawn squid jig. When you hear and see a bit of splashing around the surface near the jetty, my guess is that there are flatties patrolling around below the baitfish and/or prawn, especially when it's too warm for numbers of squid to be around.

It is possible to catch flathead with idle bait sitting out getting soaked, but I find the best results for enticing a strike is to bounce the bait along the bottom on a size 1 or so sinker. Flatties will patrol or camp gutters waiting for potential meals to swim or drift in front or over them then strike. Most of the strikes I've had from flathead were mid-bounce. A moving bait also gives you a good chance of running through the gutters where flatties are stalking.

A bit of patience, perserverence, and creativity can result in a few nice table fish.

Sandgate / Shorncliffe

This jetty has to be one of my favorite haunts for finding a feed of Bream in the evenings/early morning. It can be a bit daunting to know where to find fish here because it's a pretty long jetty. A lot of people go home empty handed because it takes a bit of finess to secure a good fish here.

Most of the time you'll find groups of people near the middle of the jetty where it's covered, or all of the way down the end. If you're chasing Bream,  these spots will generally net you little or nothing quite reliably. Near the bottom of the tide you can net Bream around the middle structure, and if you cast out you've got a shot that "something" might just swim close enough to your bait to notice, but I wouldn't bet on it.

So where are the Bream?

Your mid-size (23 > 30~cm) Bream can often be found right under your feet on the walk down the Jetty. If you pass the 4th bench on the left on the way out, you've likely passed 90% of them. At high tide, the place to target for reliable feeds is between the 2nd bench on the right, and 3rd bench on the left. If the wind/water is relatively still you're going to need to court the support pylons. When the water has more swell & chop then the fish can be found a bit further away midway between pillars. When the swell is going it's usually a good idea to head more shallow where you can't feel as much swell. The fish tend to come to these spots. A few bigger bream also come in under the jetty  as the tide runs out, so be ready for an occasional fight. You'll know a big one when you feel it grab your bait on the run, and it can be quite a fight to keep them from getting your line right around a pillar.

The big boys can be found prowling the inner channel betwen the 2nd right and 3rd left benches around high tide, and the edge of the outer channel (between the 3rd left and 4th left benches) as the tide is running out. This is the off the dark (North) side of the jetty. The light side is productive for Squid in winter months, both Pencil and Tiger. If you look up the jetty using Google maps you can see the large sand-bar running down the shore with the inner sand flat, channel, sand bar, then outer channel. At high tide on relatively calm nights, especially during winter, you can also find good size bream scouring the rocks at the jetty entrance. If you visit during low tide you can see a nice open area about 5m out where you can aim to drop an offering. I find this spot works day & night in the winter where bream generally can't be found underneath the jetty during the busy day traffic.

Typically I'll take along two rods, one cast out with squid in the channel, and one working along underneath with a soft bait. In both cases, a running sinker rig with a #1 ball sinker is more than enough. I'll drop to a #0 when working under the jetty if the winds are light or the fish are more finicky. Casting out into the first channel and sand flats around high-tide you can also find flathead, and rays.

One additional suggestion: If you're planning a morning session I would advise parking up on the street rather than in the car-park, especially on weekends. There are always jackasses with 4WD trying to sqeeze into any available spot and I'd been on the receiving end of a nice grinding scrape down the entire side of my car from one of these idiots.