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
Most people tend to put away their fishing gear at the end of autumn or fish less frequently during the winter. Aside from the fact that the atmospheric conditions are often uncomfortable, people believe that it is more difficult to catch fish during winter with the same regularity as over the warmer months. Is this really the case? In my experience winter fishing in the … Continue reading WINTER FISHING TIPS
Text: Alan Bulmer Lead Image: George Turnbull Catching flats trevally on soft plastics can occasionally be a relatively straight forward exercise, especially during autumn and winter. There are some basic rules to follow and these are covered off in detail in the following articles:- https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/08/08/outsmarting-trevally-with-flies-and-lures/ and https://activeanglingnz.com/2015/07/25/wetlining-soft-plastics/ This article from the archives describes a two hour session on the flats and shows how easy it can be to connect … Continue reading FLATS TREVALLY
Stalking the flats – Part 4 – Lure size and general comments on lures Before embarking on a discussion about the types of lures suitable for estuarine spinning and how to use them, I’d like to briefly discuss lure size. Over the past twenty years I’ve used lures of various sizes in my favourite estuary and meticulously recorded success. Based on an analysis of the … Continue reading FLATS LURES – THE BASICS
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 STALKING THE FLATS FOR SNAPPER
The ideal spin fishing tackle for flats fishing is always going to come down to personal preference. You need to find a rod and reel combination that feels comfortable and suits your casting style as you will make a lot of casts in a two hour flats session. However, having said that, a safe starting outfit would be a 2.1 metre (7′) soft bait rod, … Continue reading SPINNING TACKLE FOR THE FLATS
Stalking The Flats – “What to Look For” The most important skill to be learned in order to spin fish estuaries effectively is identifying where fish are likely to be located. This process starts well before you reach the water. In fact, it starts as soon as you get out of your vehicle. The first thing that I’m looking for are the channels which drain … Continue reading STALKING THE FLATS – “WHAT TO LOOK FOR”
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Text: Alan Bulmer Images: Paul Smith & Mark Hoffman New Zealand has around 15,500 kilometres of coastline and as a consequence is blessed with lots of harbours and river mouths for anglers to explore. Most hold large numbers of fish and a surprising proportion of these may be trophy specimens. Estuarine environments are often dominated by large expanses of sand or mud which are fully … Continue reading HOW TO FIND AND STALK THE FLATS
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