My local lake has a very good amount of Bream in it. Not really as many shad as Bream. What lures would you guys throw this time of year to try and "match the hatch"?

I use the Storm Wild Eye shad and mark it up with a chartrues and orange marker to try to mimic a blue gill (bream).  This draws lots strikes.

Norman Fat Boy, redear pattern.

8-)

We don't have any shad in western colorado, panfish and crayfish are the main forage. So I use a lot of bluegill patterns on cranks, and baby bass is a great color too.

we dont have much shad where im at either....its mostly bluegill but i still do better with shad color lures!

maybe its because most "bluegill" pattern lures look awefull....I cant help but think bluegill look different in other parts of the country where these lures are made because they are not even close! ive got to try Koppers: http://www.***.com/Koppers_Live_Target_Bluegill/descpage-KLTPUMP.html

Bass are opportunistic predators, and knowing what they ate during their last meal,

may have little or no bearing on their next meal.

Strange but true, my comfort level is highest when my lure resembles no creature in particular.

In most of the waters we fish you will find shad, bluegills, redear, crappies, tilapia, baby bass,

golden shiners, dace, chubs, salamanders, snakes, tapoles, frogs, crayfish,

and many other tasty morsels.

Many of today's lure finishes are highly artistic and have great angler appeal.

All the same, among the most consistently successful crankbait patterns

are still "firetiger" and "clown", which catch bass in any lake USA.

As an aside, the greatest number of largemouth bass I caught on back-to-back casts

came on a lipless crank that was given to me by a Japanese tackle distributor that went belly-up.

The underside is bright chartreuse and the upperside is sky blue 

Roger

I have caught plenty of bass on colors that resemble nothing that exists in nature.

Another thing to consider when doing all this trying to "match the hatch" stuff for bass is that the lure looks different in the water than it does out of the water and fish will see it differently than the fisherman.  I firmly believe that color does make a difference, especially for lures like jigs and worms and such, but not so sure that applies to cranks, spinners and such.

At a few of the small watersheds I fish that have shad, bluegill, I do best on a red/chart. colored cranks that don't even look like either one.

The most realistic bream pattern ever made is the mattlures hardbluegill if you want quality bites. The Jackall Giron is deadly as well. I like the ghost bluegill pattern the best its dead on a small bluegill. I put some small bluegill we caught  in a bucket to put in another pond and put the bait in with them and it was dead on.  It was the closest forage imitation I have ever seen as far as color.

This is the time of the year when the bream are getting into full swing of the spawn.

   Bream and bluegills change into some of the most colorful freshwater fish I have seen during the spawn, and with alot of hybrid varieties out there, colors can vary. 

   Bass know this is the breams time to spawn, they know where the easy meals are, I love slow rolled spinners at night amoungst the bream beds for some better than average bass.   

 

 

Swimming a jig with a green pumpkin/ orange skirt and super chunk trailer kills them up here when bass are on a bluegill bite. Even when bluegill arent spawning, I beleive they make up a large percentage of forage for bass locally, and this color pattern is usually my go-to flipping pattern as well (other than black/blue  )

Sebile magic swimmer in bluegill pattern soft or hardbait. 

Out here in va I use a firetiger strike king spinner to mimic the bream. I don't know what the deal is but they won't touch a white one but they love that firetiger. Is it because it looks like bream or because its easier to see? I dunno, but it works for me.