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Research undertaken by NIWA scientists, Dr Mark Morrison and Dr Glen Carbines, using towed underwater cameras has clearly shown that some snapper sleep at night. Check out the video below and see how some of the snapper barely move until they are almost hit by the camera. A fascinating insight into snapper behaviour. Continue reading VIDEO SHOWING SNAPPER SLEEPING
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Lead image: New England Boating I recently read an excellent article by Tony Bishop on the rules that should be followed when releasing a fish. It is well worth a look:- http://www.bishfish.co.nz/articles/general/releaserules.htm This prompted me to do some research to find out what scientific studies had been conducted on Catch & Release practices and what else had been discovered. I managed to unearth an excellent publication by Stephen … Continue reading HOW TO PLAY AND RELEASE FISH SAFELY
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There is no doubt that the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water has a major impact on fish behaviour and survival. What actually is dissolved oxygen though, where does it come from and what happens if there is insufficient available? The most comprehensive and easy to understand article that I’ve read on dissolved oxygen is from the Fundaments of Environmental Measurements website and can be accessed by clicking … Continue reading HOW DISSOLVED OXYGEN AFFECTS FISH BEHAVIOUR
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In order to successfully stalk fish it is important to have an appreciation of what fish can actually see. This is determined by several things, where their eyes are positioned on their head, water clarity and how deep in the water they are holding. There are some fundamental rules of physics which help understand what a fish can see and it is really useful to understand these … Continue reading THE SCIENCE OF STALKING FISH
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It is very important to routinely maintain spinning reels when they are being used in saltwater in order to ensure optimum performance. The last thing that you need when fighting the fish of a lifetime is for the reel to fail due to poor maintenance. Recently I stumbled across an article on spinning reel maintenance while visiting the Alan Hawk website. The Alan Hawk website (www.alanhawk.com) is well worth … Continue reading SPINNING REEL MAINTENANCE
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Lead image: Maruska Laboratories. Like humans, most bony fish experience the world around them using the classic senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. However they have an additional sixth sense, related to a structure called the lateral line, that is more sophisticated than touch and it is this sense which is very important to anglers. The lateral line system is responsible for the sixth sense which allows fish to … Continue reading HOW FISH USE THEIR LATERAL LINE
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Images: Mark Hoffman & NZ Fishing World Recently I wrote an article which described in detail how to find suitable estuarine flats to fish using Google Earth and marine charts and the signs to look for once you are at your chosen spot which give away where the fish are probably holding. https://activeanglingnz.com/2014/04/21/stalking-the-flats-part-one-the-approach/ Despite what Google Earth and marine charts show estuarine channels are dynamic. They are … Continue reading FINDING FISH ON THE FLATS
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Lead image: Paul Smith One of the most important things to understand before venturing onto the rocks, flats or in a boat to go fishing is tidal movement. Many anglers, especially those with no marine background or those new to the sport, assume that the tide comes in and goes out at a constant rate. This is definitely not the case and it is very … Continue reading TIDES AND SAFETY – THE RULE OF TWELFTHS
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Lead image: Kiyoshi Nakagawa When I was young my father, who always seemed to catch something when we went fishing, used to harp on about how I needed to learn how to “think like a trout” in order to consistently outsmart them. Teenage boys rarely listen to their fathers so this advice, which I struggled to understand without some concrete examples, entered one ear and … Continue reading OUTSMARTING TROUT
Many fishing tackle retailers, especially those trying to move volume, seem to match spinning rods and reels based on achieving a particular price point rather than whether the two items of equipment are actually compatible. Some of the budget rod and reel pairings are very poorly matched and would underperform spectacularly on the water. These combinations would be either heavy to hold for long periods of time or cast … Continue reading MATCHING SPINNING REELS TO RODS
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