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Words: Alan Bulmer Images: Tim Angeli When I was young and learning to fly fish I was given a tattered book on trout fishing by a curmudgeonly old friend of my fathers. He took me aside, gruffly told me that I should read the book as it contained a wealth of useful information, attempted a wry smile and shuffled off. The book was “Trout fishing … Continue reading ANALYSING TROUT RISE FORMS – A LOST SKILL?
In Stalking the flats – Part 2, I discussed what to look for when walking across the flats. I mentioned that “I am always on the look-out for freshly dug depressions in the sand and shell, roughly 0.5 – 1 metre in diameter. These depressions are often easy to spot as entire areas will be pockmarked with them and they are surrounded by piles of … Continue reading SNAPPER ON THE FLATS
Time to wake up and watch some full on action fish hunting! Continue reading VIDEO – FULL ON FLY!
Over the past few years I have become steadily more convinced that longer spinning and fly rods are ideal for use on wide estuarine flats, especially spinning rods 9’ (2.74 metres) or longer and fly rods of around 9’6” (2.89 metres). There are many reasons for this change in thinking but simple physics and improved rod manufacturing technology are the primary drivers. SPINNING RODS Let’s … Continue reading WHY LONGER RODS ARE BETTER
Article by: Alan Bulmer Photos: Paul Smith Recently I read an excellent article by Neil Wagener in NZ Fisher # 50 entitled “Are we training fish to avoid lures”. Click on the following link to view it:- http://www.nzfisher.co.nz/ The basic premise of the article is that fish become conditioned to lures the more they see them and if they are hooked, landed and released during … Continue reading DO FISH LEARN TO AVOID LURES?
Don’t know many people like Alan Bulmer, a passionate angler who fishes for the love of the sport, not for the love of his ego. Here is the first session we filmed, and what became “Spinning & Flying”…… Continue reading VIDEO – SPINNING & FLYING
Gareth Bayliss of Trout Hunting NZ We shot this on the Tongariro River in the Autumn of 2015, some pretty shaky camera work but a nice little catch in a great spot. Gareth is a fly fishing guide based in Taupo New Zealand, to make a booking with Gareth or see what he’s been up to check out the following links…. Trout Hunting NZ … Continue reading VIDEO – TROUT HUNTING NZ – RAW FOOTAGE
In “Stalking the Flats – What to look for” I listed some of the things to look out for which give a clue as to where fish will be holding in estuarine flats. Check it out: http://-https://activeanglingnz.com/2014/04/21/stalking-the-flats-part-2-what-to-look-for/ Over the weekend I happened upon a publication from Mark Morrison et al entitled “Linking marine fisheries species to biogenic habitats in New Zealand: a review and synthesis of … Continue reading WHERE TO FIND FISH IN HARBOURS
The video below shows Alan Bulmer tying the Seaweed Maggot Fly that he developed for Dr Mike Ladle and details of the early prototypes. If you want to read more about the background to the development of the final fly click on:- https://activeanglingnz.com/2014/04/23/mullet-how-they-catch-them-in-the-uk/ Continue reading VIDEO – TYING THE MAGGOT FLY
Our good friend JP Samuelson of www.saltflylifestyles.co.nz handed us a bunch of raw footage from his many fishing adventures. After a year or so stored in my archives I decided to revisit some of the footage this morning. I had previously just skimmed through the following clip not fully realising just how AMAZING this piece of footage actually is! Watch the whole video from start to finish … Continue reading VIDEO – EPIC! PURE FLY KINGFISH
Active Angling New Zealand 