Alan Bulmer, Dr.Mike Ladle, Fish Species, Lure Fishing, Tackle, Technical, Techniques

WHAT IS THE BEST LURE COLOUR?

Recently I happened across an excellent article written from Steve Starling which looked at the how to choose a lure colour to suit the conditions and summarised the findings in several elegant pictograms. It is well worth the read and most of the recommendations reinforced what Active Angling has already written on the subject of lure colour (https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/08/28/what-are-the-best-fly-and-lure-colours-for-the-flats/). Check out Steve Starlings article by clicking on:- https://www.fix.com/blog/view-from-below-lures-underwater/ The … Continue reading WHAT IS THE BEST LURE COLOUR?

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Tackle

“GO TO” NYMPH SELECTION

AANZ is often asked to recommend a selection of “go to” nymph patterns for the streams and rivers in the North Island of New Zealand. Patterns such as the Gold ribbed Hare’s Ear and Pheasant Tail are ubiquitous and proven all around the globe. Tied on # 12 – # 16 hooks, with or without bead heads, they are without peer. Leaving them out of any selection … Continue reading “GO TO” NYMPH SELECTION

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Alan Bulmer, Fish Species, Fly Fishing, Lure Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Techniques

THINKING LIKE A FISH

Lead image: Paul Smith 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 fish” in order to become consistently successful. 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 THINKING LIKE A FISH

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Alan Bulmer, Dr.Mike Ladle, Fish Species, Lure Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle, Technical, Techniques

UNDERSTANDING FLOUNDER AND OTHER FLATFISH

Text: Mike Ladle                        Lead image: http://www.fishcrack.com Around the world flatfish are regular targets for shore based anglers yet here in NZ they are largely ignored. However, rather than simply chase them after dark with a spear or net the opportunity exists to target them with a rod and line during the day. To do this it is important to understand how flatfish, and flounder in … Continue reading UNDERSTANDING FLOUNDER AND OTHER FLATFISH

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Lure Fishing, Product Reviews, Saltwater Fishing, Tackle

GEAR REVIEW – SITKA STORMFRONT JACKET AND JETSTREAM VEST

Text: Alan Bulmer                    Featured image: Mark Hoffman There is no doubt that stalking fish is more effective when the angler is wearing camouflage clothing and the reasons why are covered in some detail in the following article:-. https://activeanglingnz.com/2016/03/21/does-camoflage-clothing-work/ However, it is not easy to find a camouflage pattern which allows you to blend in and remain unseen when you are stalking fish on the mudflats. … Continue reading GEAR REVIEW – SITKA STORMFRONT JACKET AND JETSTREAM VEST

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Alan Bulmer, Light Tackle, Lure Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle, Technical

CHOOSING THE RIGHT JIG HEAD

Featured image: Tim Angeli Arguably the most important factor in soft bodied lure fishing (soft plastics and soft baits) is selecting a jig head that best suits the conditions encountered. Much of what has been written on this subject is fairly generic and it often does not make much sense until you’ve experimented extensively and learned from experience what works best and when. Many people … Continue reading CHOOSING THE RIGHT JIG HEAD

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Alan Bulmer, Lure Fishing, Product Reviews, Saltwater Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle

ROD REVIEW – YAMAGA BLANKS BALLISTICK EVO 94/16

Text: Alan Bulmer                Featured image: Henry Gilbey Over the past few years I steadily have come to the realisation that long spinning rods, especially those over 2.6 metres in length, are ideal for shore based estuary fishing. The main reasons for this are explained in: – https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/09/24/are-longer-rods-better-on-the-flats/ In New Zealand the issue, especially when fishing small hard bodied lures and soft plastics, has always been finding … Continue reading ROD REVIEW – YAMAGA BLANKS BALLISTICK EVO 94/16

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Alan Bulmer, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Tackle

EXPERIMENTING WITH GLASS BEAD FLIES

Text: Alan Bulmer & Tony Bishop The first time that I ever saw glass beads being used in fly construction was in the mid 1990’s. A group of us had fished with the groom on the morning of his wedding and it would be fair to say that our efforts on a heavily pressured fishery were nothing to highlight in neon. The groom did manage to land … Continue reading EXPERIMENTING WITH GLASS BEAD FLIES

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Alan Bulmer, Fish Species, Fly Fishing, Fresh Water Fishing, Tackle, Technical

CONSIDER REFLECTED UV WHEN TYING FLIES

Text: Alan Bulmer         Featured image: Auckland Freshwater Anglers I have just finished reading a book by Reed Curry entitled “The New Scientific Angling – Trout and Ultraviolet Vision”. The ISBN number is 9780984086306. It is thought provoking read that will probably change forever the way you think about trout fly design. The book looks primarily at UV reflectance and how this is likely be used by … Continue reading CONSIDER REFLECTED UV WHEN TYING FLIES

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Alan Bulmer, Lure Fishing, Saltwater Fishing, Spin Fishing, Tackle, Technical, Techniques

ARE SOFT BODIED LURES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN BAIT?

Featured image: NZ Fishing World Recently I wrote an article which described experiments conducted by Mike Ladle in the UK to compare the effectiveness of lure and bait fishing from the shore versus fishing from a dinghy.  These results clearly showed that, while the catch rate using bait and lures were similar from the shore, the frequency with which big fish were caught increased by nearly six fold with lures (34 … Continue reading ARE SOFT BODIED LURES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN BAIT?

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