THE MURRAY RIVER   

                             

The Murray River in Mandurah is a haven for the local small boat fisherman in summer and winter. Shore based fishing on the Murray is limited due to most of the river in the upper reaches backing onto private land and difficult to access so having a boat is a big advantage. The target species is the mighty Black Bream, a favourite species of mine and my wife Gillian. I have fished this stretch of water in search of bream for quite a few years and since the Dawesville cut has been open the river has cleaned up phenomenally. Also the lack of netting in the river has increased the black bream population considerably over the past few years to a point where it is commonplace for fish over a kilo to be landed. Admittedly the fish aren’t in the same quantities as you would find in the swan and canning rivers but they are there never the less.

  Some might say why chase black bream, they are after all just a bream. Well I can tell you once you have caught your first fish over a kilo you are hooked for life. For their size black bream give it their all and try just about every dirty trick in the book to bust you up. Yes they require a lot of patience to catch and sometimes can be down right frustrating but these fish just keep you coming back for more.

 Snags of the worst kind are the favourite haunt of blackies and can be difficult to fish at times. You have to be prepared to lose gear if you are willing to try fish for them.

 The Murray River system is a perfect haunt for these fish as it is full of snags and deep holes in the upper reaches. A nightmare at times for the unwary lure fisho, I have seen some trees that only need lights to make a perfect christmas decoration they have that many lures hanging off them. Because of this I generally choose to use bait in these areas and save my lures for the winter season when the layer of fresh water pushes them further down stream and into the shallower water closer to the estuary.

 In summer the bream move up river and make the snags their home. I fish the change of tide for them and use river prawns exclusively for bait rigged on a number 4 or 2 wide gape mustad hook. I use a small running sinker down to a swivel and about 40-60cm of 6kilo leader down to the hook. Cast your line in close to the snag you are fishing and either leave you bail arm open or have your line set in an arc so there is some slack. I find the bream generally mouth the bait first them go for a run. Whatever you do don’t get trigger happy, wait for the fish to move off with the bait until you can feel the full weight then set the hook with an even lift. Then its on, you only have a few seconds to turn the fish away from the snags or it is certain doom and you will lose the fish and your rig. It is worth remembering that if you use to heavy a line the fish are more likely to see the line and pass you by. Black Bream are very finicky at times and will only touch the most well presented baits although there are always exceptions to the rule. I remember last summer local bream specialist Gary Watson was telling me he was watching a young fisho trying his best at one of the jetties near the Ravenswood hotel using river prawns. The young fella ending up using all his bait to no avail. In a desperate moment Gary said he watched as the young guy broke a couple of pieces of hot dog sausage off his lunch in a last ditch effort only to be surprised by two bream over a kilo a piece in succession. That’s Fishing I’m afraid, you just never know.

  Lures are becoming more popular on the Murray although like I said before expect to lose a few to the snags or the monster bream from the deep. Colours that seem to work best are pink, red and black or chartreuse. Pink is undoubtedly the number one. There are a lot of theories around as to why pink works better than other colours but I think it provokes a territorial response in the fish and invokes a strike. This time of the year you will find the fish in the lower reaches of the river and occasionally you hear of them getting caught around the mouth of the river although this is not commonplace. They also seem to be a lot hungrier in winter and will bite readily on prawns and worms. Another popular bait is cubes of boney herring.