The Bream Fishing Project

The Gippsland Lakes have produced something special.

In this episode of The Lure Fishing Project, we head back to the 2026 Club Marine East Gippsland Bream Classic, where some enormous black bream and extraordinary bags hit the scales.

At the top of the leaderboard, father-and-son team Brad and Cooper Hodges from Team Berkley produced a tournament for the record books.

They opened with five bream for 7.095kg on Saturday and backed it up with 6.935kg on Sunday, finishing with 10 fish for a massive 14.030kg — believed to be the first 14kg two-day bag ever weighed at a Vic Bream Classic.

And they did it fishing incredibly light around some seriously nasty structure.

Brad breaks down why he trusts 4lb leader around jetties, how he uses free-spooling to get big bream around pylons and ropes, why casting accuracy is so important, and how Berkley Grubs in camo rigged on 1/16oz jigheads played a major role in their win.

We also hear from second-placed Team Zero Technique — Josh Jeffrey and Kez Coleman — after an incredible Sunday charge.

After sitting sixth overnight with 5.290kg, the pair produced a monster 7.460kg Sunday bag, including the 1.710kg Ecogear Big Bream, to finish with 12.750kg.

They talk through fishing the Hollands area and the Straits, changing locations and presentations, fishing hard structure and flats, and the confidence it takes to keep searching for those bigger bites.

Then Jarred Healey from Team Hummingbird takes us through another remarkable Sunday turnaround.

After weighing 4.970kg on Saturday with his wife Michelle — fishing her first competition — Jarred teamed back up with Shaun and made the gamble to head to the opposite end of the lake.

Using Hummingbird side imaging, 360 and live sonar, they found huge schools of bream and spent hours watching fish react to their lures in real time.

They eventually weighed 6.495kg on Sunday to finish third with 11.465kg.

In this episode:

• Brad and Cooper Hodges' record-breaking 14.030kg victory
• Fishing 4lb leader around jetties and heavy structure
• Berkley Grubs in camo on 1/16oz jigheads
• Weedless rigging for mussels, timber and structure
• Why first-cast accuracy matters so much
• Free-spooling big bream around pylons and snags
• Josh Jeffrey and Kez Coleman's record 7.460kg bag
• The 1.710kg Big Bream
• Fishing Hollands, the Straits and Lake Victoria
• Jarred Healey's massive day-two gamble
• Finding schools with side imaging and 360
• Watching bream respond to lures on live sonar
• Hybrid Shrimp, Hurricane Sprats, Chubbies, CrushCity and more
• Michelle Healey catching a crucial fish in her first tournament
• Three generations of the Hodges family competing at the same event

This is a cracking tournament story and another reminder of just how good the Gippsland Lakes bream fishery can be.

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Bream Masters South Australia kicks off its 2026 season on the Port River — and it proved to be a seriously tough day on the water.

Paul Cook came out on top with three bream for 1.72 kg, continuing an impressive run at the venue. In his last five tournaments on the Port River, Paul has now produced four podium finishes — along with one memorable donut!

Paul breaks down how he prepared for the round, what he learned from his pre-fish, and why the extreme summer heat had him focused on making the early part of the session count.

After a frustrating first two hours, Paul eventually unlocked the fish with an OSP Dunk fished around rock and structure. He explains why he has been experimenting with heavier straight-through fluorocarbon, how he fishes the Dunk around nasty structure, and the Miller Rods and Shimano setup he uses to do it.

We also catch up with third-place finisher Ben Gibbs, who went into the event without a pre-fish and relied on a familiar Port River milk run. Ben landed two quality 37 cm bream early before the bite virtually disappeared, forcing him to grind out the rest of a very difficult session.

Ben talks through his Gulp Crabbie and Pro Lure Grub approach, fishing vertical structure and rock walls, using forward-facing sonar, and why sometimes staying put and methodically working productive structure is better than constantly chasing new water.

In this episode:

• Paul Cook’s winning 1.72 kg bag
• Ben Gibbs’ third-place 1.35 kg result
• Fishing the Port River in tough summer conditions
• OSP Dunk hardbody tactics
• Six-pound straight-through fluorocarbon around structure
• Pro Lure Grubs and Gulp Crabbies
• Rock walls, oysters and vertical structure
• Forward-facing sonar
• Adjusting when the bream simply won’t commit
• Why persistence and experience matter on tough tournament days
• The Bream Masters SA series and its pathways to the Hobie Australian Championship

A great insight into grinding out a result when the fishing doesn’t go to plan.

🎣 Join the Lure Fishing Project Collective for extra episodes, the Big Bream Series and more:
https://lurefishingproject.supercast.com

Spring is here, and Brett Geddes joins Andrew for another Lure Fishing Project Monthly Report.

This month, Brett finally has the mulloway story Andrew has been hassling him about. After years of trying, he lands his first proper Gippsland mulloway — a fish just under 70 cm — and tells the full story of finding it, hooking it and eventually getting it into the boat.

Andrew and Brett also cover some standout fishing from the month, including cracking bream sessions, the latest Gippsland fishing and stocking news, squid and tuna, plus a look back at recent episodes of The Lure Fishing Project.

There’s also an update on Andrew’s boat rebuild and the seemingly never-ending list of jobs, upgrades and outboard dramas.

And Dumb Things is back. This month includes trailer-hitch problems, Andrew somehow driving home without strapping the boat to the trailer — although, importantly, he did wash it — and another worthy entry involving a Hobie.

Then things get a little different.

Andrew and Brett use ChatGPT live during the episode to come up with the idea for a fishing song about two mates, Mick and Dave, whose bream tournament starts brilliantly before an argument over a lost fish gets slightly out of hand.

Stick around after the outro to hear how the finished song turned out.

🎣 Join The Lure Fishing Project Collective for extra episodes, the Big Bream Series and more:
lurefishingproject.supercast.com

The Lure Fishing Project — lure fishing stories, techniques, tournament coverage and conversations with anglers from around Australia.

Skinny-water flathead fishing is about as visual and exciting as lure fishing gets — and few anglers have spent more time working it out than Greg Reid.

In this episode of The Lure Fishing Project, Greg joins Andrew to break down his approach to targeting flathead in seriously shallow water, particularly around St Georges Basin. After years of guiding and thousands of hours on the water, Greg has stripped his fishing back to its simplest form: long casts, stealth, big lures and watching flathead hunt them down in the shallows.

Greg explains why 120mm-plus lures can be the key to triggering aggressive flathead, how he fishes surface lures and how he switches to plastics and prawns when he wants to work below the surface.

Lures discussed in this episode include:

Crossfire — including 120mm, 150mm and 195mm sizes, plus the larger models

Pro Lure Ultra Gar — 150mm

Pro Lure XL Shad — 120mm, 150mm and 200mm

Pro Lure Clone Prawn — 120mm

Pro Lure Hybrid Shrimp — 92mm

Greg covers tackle, leader selection, lure size and colour, hook choice, scent, casting for maximum distance and the importance of approaching shallow-water fish without giving away your presence.

Most importantly, Greg breaks down the retrieve — including why the lure should hit the water already moving, how he uses movement to “ring the dinner bell”, and why the pause can be the most important part of the entire presentation.

There’s also plenty on finding productive water, creek mouths, weed edges, seasonal timing, wind, water temperature and the visual cues that tell Greg when it’s time to start chasing flathead on top.

Plus, before getting into the flathead masterclass, Greg talks luderick on fly, sight-casting to carp in Kangaroo Valley, South Coast salmon and some seriously big tailor.

If you’ve ever wanted to watch a flathead break cover and charge down a surface lure in skinny water, this episode will give you plenty to work with.

EP223 – Lake Macquarie Mulloway with Nathan Butcher
In this episode of The Lure Fishing Project, I’m joined by Nathan Butcher from  Butcher’s Bite to break down how he targets mulloway — or jewfish — on Lake Macquarie.

Nathan hasn’t actually been fishing for that long, but he’s packed a huge amount of time and effort into learning the system and has already developed some impressive consistency on Lake Macquarie mulloway.

We get right into the practical details: where Nathan looks for fish, the importance of bait, birds, structure, cockle beds, drop-offs and depth, the weather and conditions he prefers, and how his approach changes throughout the year.

Nathan also breaks down four of his key lure styles for mulloway, including:

Z-Man PrawnZ Elite

Samaki Vibelicious soft vibes

Curl-tail grubs

Paddle-tail plastics

We cover jighead weights, hook sizes, colours, retrieves, rods, reels, braid, leaders, knots and plenty of the small details that can make the difference when targeting mulloway on lures.

We also hear the stories behind some of Nathan’s most memorable mulloway and finish with his key advice for anyone trying to catch their first fish — or become more consistent.

One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation is that you don’t need decades of experience to start putting the pieces together. Put in the time, pay attention to what each session teaches you and start building your own patterns.

And while this episode focuses on Lake Macquarie, there’s plenty in this conversation that can be applied to chasing mulloway on lures in other systems as well.

EXTENDED EPISODE
The full extended version includes an additional section where Nathan goes deeper into how he uses his sounder and side scan to locate structure, bait and mulloway.

You can hear the extended version through The Lure Fishing Project Collective or Vault, or through Butcher’s Bite YouTube members section.

LINKS
The Lure Fishing Project – Collective & Vault
https://lurefishingproject.supercast.com/

The Butcher’s Bite – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@ButchersBite

The Butcher’s Bite – YouTube Members
Visit the channel above and select Join to access Nathan’s members content.

The Butcher’s Bite Fishing – Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/butchersbitefishing/