Only 3.5 hours from Melbourne and a short five-minute drive from the centre of Lakes Entrance, lies the ever-popular Lake Tyers. The reason Lake Tyers is so popular is the amount of species that are available on offer, with the prized targets being bream and flathead.

Lake Tyers can be fished with great success all year round. Targeting flathead in the warmer months is best when the shallow water heats up and the fish become more active, basking in the sun waiting for an easy meal to swim by. Bream fishing is exceptional in the winter months when the fish start to school up pre-spawn. Cricket scores of fish can be caught during this time of the year and can make for some top-notch fishing.

Like most estuary fishing, a light 2-4kg graphite spin rod with a 2000 size reel is best when chasing bream and flathead. When targeting the abundant tailor, don’t forget to use a wire trace otherwise it can become very expensive with the amount of lost lures.

A reel spooled up with 6lb braid and a long 4-6lb fluorocarbon leader is ideal for casting lures at bream. You might want to bump it up a little if fishing the snags, as light leader doesn’t last long around barnacle-encrusted snags. If specifically targeting flathead then 8-12lb leaders are a good starting point with a 1/8oz jighead and your favourite plastic tied on the end.

A couple of go-to lures for targeting flathead in the estuary are Squidgy Fish – grasshopper and poddy are very good replicas of mullet and proven flathead catchers. Softies for bream work well with Squidgy bloodworm Wrigglers in 80-100mm the first plastic to tie on and cast out. Fishing blades in the open water and along rock walls is very effective and one of the easiest ways to catch bream along with most other species that Lake Tyers has to offer.

When targeting bream in the winter months, a quality sounder is essential. Locating schooled up bream in open water and casting small blades to the fish is by far one of the best methods and most enjoyable ways to spend time on the water.

Dusky flathead rules and regulations have recently changed so remember that the size limit for dusky flathead is now 30-55cms with a total possession limit of five fish per angler. Letting the bigger fish go will ensure stock levels of fish are maintained and the breeders are left to do their thing. Fish for the future.

It’s important to adjust the drag on your reel to suit the surrounding environment you fish. When fishing for bream in snags, you want to have it locked up to make it easier to pull fish from the timber and not get busted off. Fishing in open water for bream and flathead, having the drag backed off is best. You will not pull as many hooks from mouths of fish as you are not required to pull them from timber in a white knuckled affair.

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Lucky Craft Bevy Shad 50s are dynamite hardbodies to be casting over the flats and into snags. This pair of bream couldn't resist them.

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Some monster flathead, like this 93cm model the author caught, are a very welcome by-catch when targeting bream. The hardest part is keeping them connected on the light gear.