Text: Alan Bulmer Images: Mark Hoffman As you have probably gathered from the images posted on Active Angling I am a firm advocate of wearing camouflage clothing when fishing the flats, especially when using a fly rod. While it may not make much of a difference what you wear if you only fish around dawn or dusk once the sun rises and bathes the flats in light … Continue reading DOES CAMOUFLAGE CLOTHING WORK?
Soft plastics, or soft baits, were not readily available in New Zealand until the early 21st Century. Since then the growth in popularity of these lures has been phenomenal due to their success in catching a wide variety of fish species. I started using them in the late 1990’s when I imported some Sassy shads from the USA. They were an immediate success, especially on … Continue reading HOW TO FISH SOFT PLASTIC LURES
Text: Alan Bulmer Lead Image: Mark Hoffman New Zealand is a long narrow country and no point is more than 120 kilometres from the sea. This peculiar geography, coupled with differential heating and cooling of land and water during the day, means that irrespective of where you are wind is likely to feature at some point during the day. If you do not … Continue reading STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH THE WIND
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For several years I’ve had a growing feeling that fluorocarbon monofilament simply does not live up to the marketing hype. It is twice as expensive as nylon monofilament but is it twice as good in terms of performance? The short answer is No and this piece will explain why. Recently I lost a large kingfish from the shore after a torrid 20 minute “no holds barred” … Continue reading THE FLUOROCARBON MYTH
When Dr Mike Ladle was in NZ recently we had a discussion on how he targets large bass with cut baits in very shallow water. This is a technique that he has perfected and it came about largely by accident. One day when he was making his way home just after dawn he disturbed a huge bass close to the shore in calf deep water. … Continue reading RUBBER BAND BAIT FEEDER
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Text: Alan Bulmer Lead Image: Sport Fishing magazine Flounder are present in many estuaries worldwide and NZ is no exception. In NZ very few people try to catch flounder using a rod and reel, preferring instead to target them with a spear, drag or set net. While flounder may not be renowned for their fighting qualities, they are delectable on the plate and definitely worth … Continue reading FLOUNDER ON A BAITED SPOON
Over the years I’ve gathered quite a bit of information from many sources on the various types of metal lures and how they are used. What follows is a synopsis of this information so I’m not for one minute claiming it is all my own work. However, if you are looking for a definitive book covering all lure types then “The Book of Lures” by Ron … Continue reading METAL LURES
I recently wrote an article on the importance of adjusting the reel drag during the fight, especially when the fish has taken a lot of line off the spool. If you want to understand the reason why then click on:- WHY YOU SHOULD ADJUST THE REEL DRAG DURING THE FIGHT It is common practice for anglers to set the drag at 25 – 33% of … Continue reading HOW TO SET THE REEL DRAG PROPERLY
There really is nothing quite like strolling out with a long rod for a cast and enjoying the setting sun. A few fish provide the icing….. Continue reading GALLERY – EVENING SURFCAST
Text: Mike Ladle Lead image: Paul Smith In this article Mike Ladle describes some fascinating experiments undertaken to see what senses fish use to locate and identify prey and explains how anglers can use this information to improve their success rates. While much of the information relates to UK fish species the general principles will probably also … Continue reading WHY A FISH TAKES THE BAIT
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