EP194 From ABT to Electronics – Nabeel Issa on Modern BREAM Fishing

Bremer Bay in Western Australia has delivered some extraordinary bream fishing, with an average fish weight of 778 grams across the Hobie Qualifier. Big bags, aggressive fish and a nail-biting finish made this one a tournament to remember. In this episode of The Lure Fishing Project, Andrew Death catches up with the top three finishers to break down exactly how they caught their fish, the lures that worked and the decisions that made the difference. 🥇 Paul Burton — 1st Place | 5.735 kg Paul arrived having never fished Bremer Bay before. After a challenging start, he discovered quality bream holding around windblown banks and rocky bombies. Using Sprats and S36 Pro hardbodies, he adapted to the changing conditions and produced a three-kilo bag on the final day to take the win. 🥈 Ben Oakes — 2nd Place | 5.645 kg Ben used Baby Vibes to establish his bags before targeting bigger fish along shallow, hard-bottomed areas. He explains how smaller hooks improved his hookup rate, why the fish were holding around changes in depth and how Slim Swims helped him find those important upgrades. 🥉 Alex Griesdorf — 3rd Place | 5.600 kg Alex targeted quality bream around the timber upriver using grubs, Sprats and Streaks. He also found an incredible shallow-water Chubby bite, catching a bag in just a few casts. Alex claimed Big Bream honours with a 1.18 kg fish. In this episode:

In this episode of The Lure Fishing Project, we head back to the Action Fishing Tournaments round from 1 February 2026 and speak with the top three anglers from the event. Third-placed Joshua Richards worked rocky edges with a two-inch Slim Swim before switching to crabs — and once he made the change, the bites came thick and fast. One of the big lessons from Joshua’s session was just how shallow the fish were sitting on the high tide, including multiple bream coming from the top of individual rocks. Pasted text Pasted text Second-placed James Scott started with a Sprat 75 on a light hidden-weight presentation before changing to a Pro Lure Hybrid Shrimp as the bite changed. He also found an important difference in where the better fish were positioned — smaller fish tight to the mangroves, with the bigger bream sitting further off the edge. Pasted text Pasted text Then we talk to winner James Tran, who put together a 115 cm bag topped by a 41.5 cm bream. James takes us through fishing mussel-style lures around bridge pylons, jetties and heavy structure, losing fish and lures early, changing tackle to cope with the structure, and using line movement on the drop to recognise bites. Pasted text Pasted text There are some excellent practical lessons in this one around: • Fishing rocky edges on high water• Matching lure weight to shallow water• Crabs, prawns, plastics and mussel-style lures• Reading line movement on the drop• Finding better-quality fish away from the obvious edge• Fishing heavy structure with heavier leader and locked drag• Changing presentations when a bite starts to fade• Why sometimes the best tournament decision is simply fishing away from the crowd Final podium:🥇 James Tran — 115 cm🥈 James Scott — 112.5 cm🥉 Joshua Richards — 106.5 cm Pasted text Pasted text Pasted text A quick note: these interviews were originally recorded when the show was still called The Bream Fishing Project, so you’ll hear the old name during the interviews. We’ve since become The Lure Fishing Project. 🎣 Join The Lure Fishing Project:https://lurefishingproject.supercast.com Members get access to bonus content, the Vault and, for Collective members, our Discord community, Zoom sessions, challenges and more. If you enjoy the episode, follow the show and share it with another lure angler.

The Lure Fishing Project’s first dedicated Australian bass episode. Steve Morgan joins Andrew after winning back-to-back ABT Bass qualifiers at Somerset and Wivenhoe. We look at more than 20 years of tournament bass fishing, the evolution of techniques and electronics, and the live-sonar and strolling approach behind Steve’s recent success.

Spring is warming up, the fish are starting to move, and this month there’s plenty to unpack. Brett Geddes joins Andrew for another Lure Fishing Project Monthly Report, looking at what’s been happening on the water and what they’ve learned from it. Nev Hayes kicks things off with an extraordinary estuary perch session, landing fish of 50, 54, 57 and 58cm in the one outing. Brett has had a pretty memorable month himself, including a cracking 51.5cm bass, while continuing to pile up some remarkable perch and bream numbers. Andrew has also been spending more time back in the Hobie, getting ready for the Grand Final at Woy Woy and experimenting with ActiveTarget. That leads to jewfish, snapper and some interesting lessons about how fish react to lures on forward-facing sonar. There’s also plenty more in this episode:

The Lure Fishing Project heads north for the 2026 Daiwa Bream Series Atomic Gladstone Round, held on September 19–20. Gladstone proved to be one of the most unique stops on the calendar. Small neap tides, huge tidal variation, mangroves, bridge pylons, rock walls, shallow reefs and deep drop-offs all played a part — and almost every angler interviewed talked about just how much fun the fishery was. In this episode we speak with the top three anglers from both the non-boater and boater divisions and break down exactly how they caught their fish. NON-BOATERS 3rd – Allan Lavell Allan relied heavily on plastics, particularly Hurricane Sprats, while also finding fish on deep-running Chubbies. After pre-fishing with Jon Fitzgibbon, Allan was paired with Jamie McKeown on day one and Brett Crowe on day two. He talks through fishing rock walls, drop-offs and mangrove edges, keeping jig heads light and adjusting to the aggressive pikey bream. 2nd – Michael Maas Michael was paired with Marc Saric on Saturday and Wade Walker on Sunday. He found an unusual pattern slow-rolling Z-Man Grubs around bridge pylons before changing completely on day two and catching numbers of pikey bream on heavy Cranka Crabs worked slowly down a steep rocky bank. 1st – Mitch Vane Mitch travelled across from Western Australia and adapted quickly to a completely different fishery. Fishing with David Yuill on day one and James Graham on day two, Mitch used Gulp presentations around bridges before sight-casting prawn-style lures to bream pushing onto mangrove edges. A big day-one bag gave him the advantage he needed before bridge pylons became critical on Sunday. BOATERS 3rd – Jamie McKeown Jamie mixed deep-running Chubbies, topwater and crab presentations while exploring the huge Gladstone system. Fishing with Allan Lavell on Saturday and Gordon Pullin on Sunday, Jamie’s approach was heavily influenced by tide height, reef timing and constantly moving until he found active fish. A strong day-two bag pushed him onto the podium. 2nd – Steve Morgan Steve draws on years of Gladstone experience and explains the importance of bridge fishing, shallow reef patterns and understanding exactly how tide, wind and water level change the behaviour of Gladstone bream. The difference between being on a location at the right tide height — or just a little too early or late — proved critical throughout the event. 1st – Peter Cashman Peter went through the entire Friday pre-fish without catching a bream, but rather than abandon the area, he backed his plan. Deep Z-Man plastics, forward-facing sonar and a willingness to stick with what he believed in ultimately produced the tournament win. And make sure you stay to the end — there’s a great post-event story from Peter that’s well worth hearing. Gladstone might not produce the biggest bream bags in Australia, but this episode shows why it remains one of the most interesting and entertaining tournament fisheries on the calendar. Thanks for listening to The Lure Fishing Project. For extra episodes, the Big Bream series, member-only content and more, join The Lure Fishing Project Collective: https://lurefishingproject.supercast.com