Top 10 Hardbody Lures for Bream Fishing – Revisited 2018
Well its been quite a while since we wrote our article on our top 10 bream hardbody lures, so we thought it was time for a update.
Now, all the lures from the original top 10 are still available, and still catch fish, but its funny how trends and personal preference can change over the years to give a different outcome or perspective on what is to be someones favourite or go to lures for any species.
We’ve purposely decided to leave out Blades/vibes from this list as I think that should be a separate list.
While this is a good guide to get you started, the reason these lures work for us is because we have confidence in them and they suit our style of fishing. Confidence in a lure can go a long way in fishing especially when times are tough. By no means is this an exhaustive list of the lures we use for bream, but these are our most successful and therefore the lures that give us the most confidence. Remember we do most of our bream fishing in Victoria, so this list is predominantly for Black Bream. Let us know what YOUR go to bream lure is!
And here it is, our top 10 bream fishing hardbody lures revisited, in no particular order:
1. Daiwa Tournament Spike 53
The Daiwa Tournament Spike is a deep diving minnow profile. These suspending lures can be retrieved in a variety of ways, and is a very versatile lure. This would have to be one of the most popular lures going around on the bream tournament scene at the moment.
APPLICATION: The Daiwa Spike is well suited to fishing edges and along drop offs. It is also equally effective twitching in and around snags, and even slow rolling on deeper flats. A really versatile lure that is handy if you have minimal rods as it can fish so many different zones and areas effectively.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Brown suji shrimp, ghost wakasagi, matt shad
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause, Slow roll
DEPTH: 2m
LENGTH: 53mm
WEIGHT: 5g
TYPE: Suspending
APPLICATION: The Daiwa Spike is well suited to fishing edges and along drop offs. It is also equally effective twitching in and around snags, and even slow rolling on deeper flats. A really versatile lure that is handy if you have minimal rods as it can fish so many different zones and areas effectively.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Brown suji shrimp, ghost wakasagi, matt shad
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause, Slow roll
2. Daiwa Double Clutch 60/75
The Daiwa double clutch 60 was in our original list, but since then the 75mm version has been getting a huge run on the bream. Its been a great “upgrade ” lure when trying to find those bigger better quality bream. With a cult following, the DC’s will always be a favourite on most anglers lists.
APPLICATION: The Double Clutch is a great lure to twitch around snags and structure, however with its sliding weight system, it also offers exceptional casting ability which makes it a great flats lure. To be honest the 60mm is one of my favourite all-round lures to use for bream.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Rusty Ayu, Golden Shiner, Ghost Ayu, Ghost Perch
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
DEPTH: 1.3m-2.0m
LENGTH: 60&75mm
WEIGHT: 3.6g/5g
TYPE: Suspending
APPLICATION: The Double Clutch is a great lure to twitch around snags and structure, however with its sliding weight system, it also offers exceptional casting ability which makes it a great flats lure. To be honest the 60mm is one of my favourite all-round lures to use for bream.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Rusty Ayu, Golden Shiner, Ghost Ayu, Ghost Perch
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
3. Nories Laydown Minnow Chiyo
With an almost cult following, the Norries Laydown Minnow had been discontinued in Japan, but due to the strong demand from Australian anglers, it has now been reproduced exclusively for the Australian market. It has a subtle side to side shimmy and is perfectly balanced allowing the lure to sit level at rest.
APPLICATION: With a relatively shallow diving depth, the Nories Laydown Minnow is an excellent lure for fishing across the tops of weed beds or across shallow flats.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: BR-74, BR-63
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
DEPTH: 0.8m
LENGTH: 57mm
WEIGHT: 3.7g
TYPE: Suspending
APPLICATION: With a relatively shallow diving depth, the Nories Laydown Minnow is an excellent lure for fishing across the tops of weed beds or across shallow flats.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: BR-74, BR-63
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
4. Ecogear SX40
The lure that changed it all. The Ecogear SX40 began our love for high quality Japanese lures. Smaller and more refined than all those before it, the SX40 rewrote the book on what a bream lure should be. But now, some 20 years down the track, it is still a super popular and effective lure on bream.
APPLICATION: The SX40 is a very versatile lure, it can be fished effectively in a variety of ways and areas, including edges, pontoons, boat hulls and snags. Personally I think the 40mm size of the sx makes it a lure that almost any size bream will try eat, and the sx40’s have a really nice tight action.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: 302, 338, 339, 343
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
DEPTH: 1m
LENGTH: 40mm
WEIGHT: 1.5g
TYPE: Floating/ Suspending
APPLICATION: The SX40 is a very versatile lure, it can be fished effectively in a variety of ways and areas, including edges, pontoons, boat hulls and snags. Personally I think the 40mm size of the sx makes it a lure that almost any size bream will try eat, and the sx40’s have a really nice tight action.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: 302, 338, 339, 343
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
5. Jackall Chubby
The Jackall Chubby is the benchmark on which most other bream crank baits were designed upon. The deep chubbies have always been the go to lure for dredging those deep sand and mud flats, and for some reason the bream cannot resist these things!
APPLICATION: The Jackall Chubby is well suited to rolling across sand or mud flats, letting the lure bump into the bottom.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Brown Suji Shrimp, 418, Ghost Wakasagi.
RETRIEVE: Slow Roll
DEPTH: 2m
LENGTH: 38mm
WEIGHT: 4.3g
TYPE: Floating
APPLICATION: The Jackall Chubby is well suited to rolling across sand or mud flats, letting the lure bump into the bottom.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Brown Suji Shrimp, 418, Ghost Wakasagi.
RETRIEVE: Slow Roll
6. Daiwa Silver Wolf Slippery Dog 65f
A traditional long slender “walk the dog” style surface lure. This thing casts like a bullet! Walks great, and also can be popped when chasing species like whiting.
APPLICATION: Like most surface lures, the slippery dog is a great search tool for shallow flats and weed beds. Long casts, and quite a quick retrieve can cover a fair bit of ground to see if any active fish are feeding.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Clown, Yellow herring, Brown Suji Shrimp
RETRIEVE: Twitch, twitch, twitch and pause (walk the dog)
DEPTH: surface
LENGTH: 65mm
WEIGHT: 3.8g
TYPE: Floating
APPLICATION: Like most surface lures, the slippery dog is a great search tool for shallow flats and weed beds. Long casts, and quite a quick retrieve can cover a fair bit of ground to see if any active fish are feeding.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Clown, Yellow herring, Brown Suji Shrimp
RETRIEVE: Twitch, twitch, twitch and pause (walk the dog)
7. OSP Bent Minnow 76
The OSP Bent Minnow has literally been making waves across Australia with effectiveness when it comes to bream. Its unique action and shape make it dance across the water unlike any other lure, but can also be worked just under the surface, and then left to slowly float to the surface which can sometimes be deadly.
APPLICATION: Best suited to surface fishing in shallow water. Also well suited to fishing across the top of dense underwater snags where sub surface lures would foul.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: P-74 Pink Head, G-01 Ghost Ayu.
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
DEPTH: 0-0.2m
LENGTH: 76mm
WEIGHT: 4.3g
TYPE: Floating
APPLICATION: Best suited to surface fishing in shallow water. Also well suited to fishing across the top of dense underwater snags where sub surface lures would foul.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: P-74 Pink Head, G-01 Ghost Ayu.
RETRIEVE: Twitch & Pause
8. Cranka Crab
A lure that has revolutionized the way bream are fished for around vertical structure. Cranka lures are Australian owned and designed for australian conditions. The crab is available in two wieghts, and is going to fool any fish that eats crabs. These guys have also changed the way Tournament fisho’s fish for bream around rockwalls and vertical structure.
APPLICATION: Good for fishing vertical structure, rock walls and shallow/deep reefs.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Olive, Brown and spotted
RETRIEVE: Cast, sink on slack line and wait
DEPTH: 0.5m-10m
LENGTH: 30mm
WEIGHT: 3.9/5.9g
TYPE: Sinking
APPLICATION: Good for fishing vertical structure, rock walls and shallow/deep reefs.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Olive, Brown and spotted
RETRIEVE: Cast, sink on slack line and wait
9. Jackall Squirrel 61SP
This deep diving lure comes in a range of variations, suspending, sinking, silent etc. But our favourite would be the suspending Silent version. Very effective on those still days when the fish are very wary. Another good all round lure, good for deeper flats, edges and structure.
APPLICATION: All rounder, good for edges, flats and structure.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Ghost wakasagi, ghost ayu, pink eye suji
RETRIEVE: twitch and pause
DEPTH: 1.2m
LENGTH: 61mm
WEIGHT: 4.5g
TYPE: Suspending
APPLICATION: All rounder, good for edges, flats and structure.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: Ghost wakasagi, ghost ayu, pink eye suji
RETRIEVE: twitch and pause
10. Cranka Crank Shallow
A long casting suspending crank that is suited to flats and shallow banks. At 35mm this is a bite sized lolly for bream. It also has a deeper diving brother that gives the jackall chubby a run for its money.
APPLICATION: Great lure for slowly rolling across shallow mud and sand flats, making contact with the bottom.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: BBQ prawn, Glass ayu, Smoked prawn
RETRIEVE: Slow roll
DEPTH: 0.8-1.2m
LENGTH: 35mm
WEIGHT: 3.3g
TYPE: Suspend
APPLICATION: Great lure for slowly rolling across shallow mud and sand flats, making contact with the bottom.
RECOMMENDED COLOURS: BBQ prawn, Glass ayu, Smoked prawn
RETRIEVE: Slow roll
