maybe try one of those tackleback lure retrievers, used to use them over east when trout fishing and they worked well

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I thought those tacklebacks were just for getting them out of the snags, not to retreive them? Good for getting your lures back when you cast a little too close to a snag though.

Seeing as no one else has responded on how to work the lures, heres how I do it (keep in mind i'm not an expert :p): You want to cast your lures near structure, the closer the better (heres where the tackleback mako was talking about will help or SP's). Let it sit for a second or two, then give a quick short rip to get the lure under water. Then pause for a few seconds then repeat. The vibrations alert the fish, and a suspended minnow for a few seconds can entice the bream to strike (they can be picky). You can also wind slowly, pausing every so often. Twitching while pauses is also good. Or a slow-medium retreive while twitching the lure and pausing. You want to immitate a dying baitfish, so using a decent quality lure, a good light graphite rod and some thin braid will be what brings it to life (or simulated near death in this case :p). I quite like the ecogear sx40s because of how I can work them (you would swear it was a real minnow if you were more than a meter or two away :p). A heavy slow taper glass rod, mono and a cheapy lure just doesnt allow much finesse. Two other tips are to vary up the retreive. If one thing doesnt work after a couple of goes try something else. And try working the lures in the shallows along the river bank so you can see how your retreives work. You can refine your technique quite well like this before you try it out on some bream. (e.g. the ecogears you can twitch so the lure darts around a bit).

Best advice however is to head to your local tackle store (a proper one like one of our sponsors) who will help you out with picking some lures and their use. And unlike me they'll probably have quite a bit more experience, lol.

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Always interested in someone to go fishing with

so a good starting point is a slow retrieve with lots of jerks and twitches with lots of pauses. Really there is no right/wrong or definitive answer. Somedays they'll hit on a pause, somedays they will hit a lure that is slowly swum back with little or no action added like twitching/pauses etc. Generally speaking though, they aren't exactly "speedsters" in the water, so don't reel it back like you are fishing for salmon or tailor.

and fish braid - anywhere between 2 - 8 pound depending on what the terrain is like, and how spooky the fish are. Use a good flurocarbon leader

And the simpliest advice I can give you (and I know it sounds stupid but) fish where the fish are. Structure, shaded areas etc etc.

Cheers for the info guys.the technique i'm using is similar to what you guys have spoken about, so i'll keep on persisting..Is it the same with plastics?

Thats good advice there hlokk, next time im on the swan i'll leave the river prawns at home and give the lures a crack.
Hey mako i'll have to get some tacklebacks aswell. lol

All good fellas.....And sorry bout the confusion! lol...All good advise cheers!

I've only got into fishing plastics for bream recently myself. 

From what I've learnt, and that of others, in open systems, plastics (at least down here river systems wise) are better when winter downflows of fresh water displace the salt water in all but the very lowest of the water strata.

When it comes to plastics themselves, it depends very much on what you are using.

(Berkley) camo gulps, you can fish like bait - still, a bit of occasional movement (as far as I'm concerned) is better that 'a dead clump' on the bottom. But that depends whether you are casting across flats, or into predatory territory (snags, drop offs etc).

In predatory territory, if you can drop a plaky in the right spot, you will find it smaked in an instant. (I love this part of bream fishing). On the flats - I find you need to impart action to encourage the 'ambush'. 

Gulps are so easy to fish with, and though technically plakkys, are considered 'bait' (dirty word LOL) by some of the 'big guys'. (Dowelly and co).

Paddle tails, I impart a drop, twist and flick retreive - that works for me.

SBs like Atomic craws, I find, get the best result from a briefly settled 'twitchy' retrieve.

Hope that helps. 

EDIT - Mind you, there's no absolute definitive here - others will have different ideas that work too

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

yeah cheers dreamwater...been fishin wiht pumkinseed grubs and squidgies of a few different colours with limited success...I know i'm doing something wrong ..but i'm not too far off the mark from what you are tellin me!

Hi Ya,

Seems the only thing you lack grasshopper, is patience - or location.

Cheers.

***** Proud RECFISHWEST member ****

Yeah, it might be your locations, other than that try a range of SPs and don't discount the HBs as we are coming up to summer. 

That's based on bream fishing down here - not sure if the Swan etc would be different.

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

were do you live? depending on were you live pop into one of the site sponsors (The Tackle Shack or Oceanside) shops and we will be more than happy to help, its alot easier to show in person than on the net.

The trick with plastics is to slow your retrieve right down and fish the llightest jigheads possible. once you crack you first, you'll start to get more and more and you'll see a pattern in what they like.

Stick to it and the rewards will come.

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The Tackle shack, for all your fishing needs
huge range of stock to suit any fisherperson.
PH:9248 3800

Yeah, good point on the jig heads. 

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)