July FOTM - The Bream Clouser

[Stephen Bradbury]

July’s Fly of the month is a little Bream fly that is used (in many variations) by a lot of us here in WA for targeting Black Bream. Essentially it is a form of clouser that can be tied using smaller weighted dumbbell eyes or beadchain, depending on the depth of water/situation being fished. This style of clouser has craft fur (fine fibre) wing with a bit of your chosen flash and the entire wing is tied on top of the hook shank (no under bound lower section of wing) which promotes, along with a short jerky retrieve punctuated with plenty of pauses, a great pulsating movement that bream find very enticing. This fly, depending on the colour/flash combination it’s tied in represents an injured or fleeing baitfish or prawn. Fish species you can catch with this little clouser include Black Bream, Yellowfin Bream, Grunter, Flathead, herring, small Kahawai (Aus Salmon), Yellowfin Whiting, small Mulloway etc.
Recipe – in order of tying
Hook – size 6# Gamakatsu B10S or Mustad Big Game size 6# or 4# (my preferred hooks).
Thread - 210 Denier Flat waxed nylon, colour to suit fly or make a hot spot.
Dumbbell eyes – Medium beadchain or small/extra small brass dumbbell eyes.
Underwing - 1 x small bunch of Craft fur, approx 2 x the hook length (tapered).
Flash - 4 x strands of chosen flash material Krystal flash, Flashabou, Gliss & Glow, Sparkleflash etc. I prefer pearlescent and/or metallic Gliss & Glow flash (remember less is more).
Overwing - 1 x small bunch of Craft fur (tapered), matching length to the underwing.
As an addition you can also add a few strands of Midge or Krystal flash to the top of the wing to finish.

Normally tied onto a 5 – 6lb fluorocarbon tippet and retrieved erratically with short bumpy strips and plenty of pauses (Bream usually strike on the pause).

Do yourself a favour and put two dozen in different colours and weights into your Bream fly box now !