Words Alan Bulmer , Photo’s & Video Mark Hoffman Mark Hoffman and I have been planning for weeks to fly fish a shallow flat we’d discovered on Google Earth close to central Auckland. Our plan was to hit the spot when the weather was settled and a high tide next coincided with dawn. All the stars aligned this Saturday. The weather was perfect. Fine and sunny with a westerly … Continue reading EARLY MORNING MAYHEM ON THE FLATS
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Waiheke Island is located in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf. A short ferry ride from downtown Auckland it is arguably the jewel in the crown when it comes to saltwater fly fishing around Auckland. If you want a better idea of how good it can be click on the following video from Paul Smith to see local fishing legends, Adam Clancey and Tom Lusk, getting up close and … Continue reading WAIHEKE ISLAND – SALT FLY NIRVANA?
Recently I was offered the use of a Kilwell Xantu 9’6” # 8 weight, four piece fly rod to evaluate and review on behalf of Active Angling NZ. Kilwell has been making high quality rods continuously in New Zealand for a very long time and most anglers at one stage or another have cast, or learned to cast with, a Kilwell fly rod. The Xantu … Continue reading KILWELL XANTU 9’6” # 8 WEIGHT ROD REVIEW
I got a chance to play with the Loop Booster Predator 8’8″ # 9 weight fly rod on my favourite estuary this morning and was very impressed. For a low price point rod ($ 499) it represents excellent value for money. Initially I was somewhat sceptical that a comparatively short rod could cast a # 9 weight line with ease and this was further reinforced … Continue reading ROD REVIEW – LOOP BOOSTER PREDATOR 8’8″
Due to low tide almost coinciding perfectly with dawn and dusk, I managed to get two fishing sessions in paradise yesterday. Excellent! The morning session fitted in with Paul Smith’s schedule so we arranged to rendezvous at 06.15 am at our normal parking spot. The drive to paradise is a long and winding one which our canine fishing companion Louis was no fan of. Whenever … Continue reading SNAPPER – DAWN AND DUSK
One of the most important changes that an angler needs to make in switching from fresh to saltwater fly fishing is to the leader which joins the fly line to the fly. Saltwater fish species are much larger than fresh, more powerful and live in terrain that is likely to damage a leader. Oyster shell encrusted rocks and horse mussels take no prisoners. In New … Continue reading LEADERS FOR SALTWATER FLY FISHING
This morning I spent a couple of hours chasing kingfish in the shallows in the Hauraki Gulf. Uncharacteristically they did not start scouring the flats until the sun was well up and the tide started to ebb. This was probably due to the king tide cycle that we are in the midst of. My colleague picked that this would happen as there was no panic … Continue reading KINGFISH IN CLOSE
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Back in the day most anglers timed their trips to the Tongariro river to coincide with the main rainbow trout spawning runs which occurred over the winter months. Between 1960 and 2000 these runs were mostly concentrated between May – August. However there has been a major change in the timing of the rainbow trout spawning runs since 2002 and the fabled winter runs have … Continue reading WHICH MONTHS ARE BEST TO FISH THE TONGARIRO?
Dr. Mike Ladle is not only a world renowned marine biologist but one of the saltwater spin fishing pioneers in the UK. Over the years he has written multiple books on spin fishing as well as regular columns in several fishing magazines. Mike has kindly agreed to let AANZ publish a few vignettes from his book “Operation Sea Angler”. Even though the species of fish … Continue reading THE HOW, WHERE, WHEN AND WHY FISH FEED
I’m fairly sure that the year was 2000. It was the 25th anniversary of us gaining access to fish the Hautu and Rangipo prison farms near Turangi. Almost exactly two years after Mt Ruapehu erupted and belched ash and nutrients into Lake Taupo via the Tongariro River. Following the eruption two once in 100 year floods purged the river of silt and flushed the nutrients … Continue reading CARNAGE INSIDE THE HAUTU PRISON FARM
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