Lure Fishing Mallacoota for Bream and Flathead
Well our first Mallacoota trip was pretty amazing, not quite the spectacular fishing we had been hearing about and hoping for, but still eventful none the less and a great way to experience this great system for our first time. We were coming down to the Mallacoota system to target bream and flathead on lures, as lure fishing for all species of Australian fish is what we really love to do.
We were a bit overwhelmed when presented with the Bottom lake when we put the boat in for the first morning, it seemed like lots of sandbars, super clear water and plenty of places for us to run aground. Luckily it didnt take long for us to find our feet and figure out where the channels and deeper sections were, and get ourselves onto a few fish.
We stuck to what we knew best and started by fishing the edges of numerous bays an shorelines, targeting steeper drop offs and rocky shores and points, checking out the lay of the land and seeing if we could find some fish along the way. We saw heaps of bream that first morning, but they seemed very spooky and not too wiling to eat our offerings. Rob managed to get a very respectable bream for his first Mallacoota bream, caught on the trusty sx40 after we had had plenty of spooked fish and rejections. We continued exploring the bottom lake bays and sand flats picking up a few more small bream and heaps of flathead, not knowing exactly where we should be heading or what technique would prove to be best we just enjoyed the scenery and that amazing feeling of fishing new unknown waters.
The following days we explored all of the top and bottom lakes, and into the genoa river, with such a huge system it was hard to really concentrate our efforts on a single area, plus we love exploring and checking out new bream fishing spots. We did struggle to find and catch good numbers of bream, but flathead and taylor were not a problem, eating our plastics and vibes with gusto, but the bream proved to be very spooky and or our technique and lure choice was lacking, but oh well thats all part of fishing and learning.
It is a magical place down there at Mallacoota and one which I know we will be back to visit many times, I think it will be with those future visits which our fishing success will improve and we will become better able to find the fish and chose the right technique to suit.
We caught most of our bream for the weekend on 30 – 50mm blades, 2.5” curl tail soft plastics, and a selection of hardbody lures like cranka minnows, ecogear sx40’s and atomic hardz shads. 4-6lb leader was the go on light braid 2- 6 lb to allow for long accurate casts. If you have never been down to Mallacoota, put it on your list of places to visit, the township is nice with great amenities and all you need for a few good days fishing!
Tight lines.
