It was up in NZ’s Bay of Islands one November.
I was fishing on ‘Striker’ with Bruce Smith at the helm. In the
late afternoon we were chasing a feed of snapper
in 10 metres of water over a weed-covered, fairly flat bottom –
and "chasing" is the key word.
We had rigged up with a ball sinker running down
to swivel, then two or so metres of trace to the baited hook.
Bruce drove the boat around the area and when he spotted a school
of fish on the sounder, he manoeuvred upwind, we dropped our rigs
to the bottom, and drifted through the school.
Usually one or two of the four of us who were fishing
would hook up in the school. Trouble was, the wind was quite strong,
and our drift was pretty quick. We were having all sorts of trouble
telling if our baits were near the bottom or not. If the baits
were not near the bottom we caught no fish.
We tried going up to bigger weights but this did
not cure the problem. If the weight was too heavy our gear snagged
on the bottom. Plus the heavy weight made bite detection difficult.
It was then that I remembered some English boom
rigs that were hidden away in the bowels of my tackle box. These
boom rigs (drawing hereabouts) were designed in England for this
style of fishing.
I rigged up the boom rig with a metre trace to the
sinker, and a metre trace to the bait, and lowered the rig down
on the next drift. As soon as I felt the sinker hit the bottom
I reeled in a couple of turns. Very shortly afterwards I felt
the first bite, which turned into a hook-up.
The consistency of my hooking-up on each drift soon
had the other fishermen doubting that it was my superior ability
to catch fish that was doing the trick, and despite the flak I
had copped when I first pulled out the boom rig, they dived into
my tackle box. Once they had rigged up with the boom, their suspicions
about my ability proved correct, and it was now a regular occurrence
for us all to be hooked up on each drift.
Despite the fact that we moved up to heavier sinkers,
bite detection was not much of a problem. The weight is hung off
the boom and not the line. The line runs through the boom and
touches on the bait are easily felt.
Once the fish is hooked, the main line pulls down out of the slot that
runs along the bottom of the ‘L’ that forms the boom. This means the line is straight
to the hook, not at an angle, while fighting the fish.
The sinker can be rigged on a length of line to control how far above the
bottom bait will drift. If the sinker is attached with line of less breaking strain to
the main line, the sinker will bust off if snagged, before the main line breaks.
Why didn’t you jig, some of you may well ask? Well
this was one of those occasions when there was little current
and a strong-ish wind – rotten jigging weather.
The success of this drift fishing method sparked
my interest and I started using it on subsequent fishing trips.
Besides, there are times when my terminal laziness kicks in and
jigging seems like too much hard work.
Drifting over foul ground pushed by the current
produced fish. Drifting along drop-offs and reef edges when wind
or current direction were kind also produced fish. With careful
control of line, hence depth, reefs could be drifted up, over
and down, to great effect.
Drifting above schools over a clear sandy bottom
I found that having the sinker running along the bottom seemed
to increase hook-up rates. Whether that was because the bait needed
to be near the bottom, or as some writers suggest, the sand kicked
up by sinker is an attractant, I am not sure. But what is sure
– bites did increase if the sinker hit the bottom.
Using a boom rig for deep water fishing for puka is ideal. The weight can be slung a few metres below the boom
on lighter line than the main line. If the sinker hooks up on
the bottom it is easier to free. Some booms come with a longer
tube section that helps stop the hook and trace from tangling
around the main line as the bait descends.
When using a boom it seems that whole baits work
best. Whole pilchards,
yellowtail, piper
and the like, all work well. Now don’t ask for a scientific explanation
because I do not have one, but towing baits backward seems to
work best.
Rig the whole fish bait by placing the hook deep
through the body just in front of the head with the hook point
pointing toward the tail. Take a couple of turns around the body
with the trace, and then a half hitch around the tail.
(Actually, as a brief detour, I have noticed when
using whole fish bait like a piper as a popper when chasing kingis,
that rigging the bait backwards gets more hits. It may have something
to do with the fact that is difficult to rig whole fish baits
to swim forwards without the bait spinning.)
If cut baits are the option, try cutting the bait
into strips rather than cubes. Long thin strip baits hooked up
at one end give the bait a chance to wriggle about as it moves
through the water. Movement does seem to trigger more bites.
Boom rigs can also be used as a form of downrigger.
Rigging a lure such as a Rapala on a boom rig catches fish, including
snapper. But I have found most success using soft plastic baits
off a boom rig.
Sand-eel soft plastic baits are lethal rigged this
way. Sand-eel soft palstic baits look a bit like a very thin piper head and
body with a very thin tail ended in an abrupt bulb. These baits
require very little movement to set the tail working and a very
slow drift on an almost windless day is ideal. In the U.K. these
soft plastic baits are routinely used instead of fish bait. But
other soft plastic baits will work well too.
Drift fishing does not necessarily mean using a
boom rig. There are a number of drift sinkers now available. These
are variations on a theme of a long tube with a weight at one
end and a clip or loop at the other. This is designed to have
the heavy end of the tube near or on the bottom, and the tube
keeping the baited line off the bottom.
I have used these with some success but find them
most useful over a relatively clean bottom of sand or mud. They
are ideal for estuary fishing, or drifting along clean channels.
Drift bait fishing is a highly effective way to
catch fish in all depths of water. It can be used over schools
in water less than 10 metres deep. In water over 20 metres deep
it can be more effective than anchored fishing because of the
problem of accurately placing a boat in current and/or wind.
Besides, on a nice calm day, what could be a better
way to recharge the batteries, than drifting along with bait bouncing
near the bottom, occasionally being grabbed by a fish. Boom times.