Fishing: Gentle does it

Using the breeze to drift towards a deep pinnacle on Lake Rotoiti. Photo / Geoff Thomas

Keep the rod up, keep it high," advised Glenn Skinner as the trout splashed on the surface by the boat. He reached out and slipped the net under the gleaming fish and hoisted it into the boat. "Lovely fish," exclaimed Skinner as we admired the thick shoulders sloping up behind the small head, and spotted silver and pink flanks.

The stub of a fin on the right side of the belly marked this rainbow trout as a September 2008 release. This means it had spent only 16 months in the food-rich waters of Lake Rotoiti near Rotorua, having been put into the lake from the hatchery at Ngongotaha where it was born, in September 2008. At three kilos that is phenomenal growth, even for this region which is renowned for producing fast-growing, large trout.

It was late January and, like the other deep lakes, Rotoiti was going through the normal mid-summer stress from too much hot weather. This causes the water in the lakes to stratify into distinct layers of differing temperatures, separated by what is called a thermocline, and this is where the dense schools of smelt and the trout gather. It varies from season to season depending on conditions, and this year the fishing was nothing short of outstanding from late December to early January when the anglers skilled in the art of deep jigging recorded days of 50-plus fish caught and released. A 60-fish day is almost to be expected at times, but later in the month the strong winds which plagued anglers caused the lake water to become mixed and as a result the fish were scattered through the water column from the bottom to the surface.

"We are only getting a dozen fish on some days," said Skinner, almost apologising for the slow action on the rods.

"Anybody would be over the moon with a dozen fish," was the response. And we were.

Skinner had enlisted the aid of a mate who has to be one of the keenest blokes in the country when it comes to picking up a rod. John Passier arrived from Amsterdam aged 18 and has never left. Now, some 40-odd years later, he is as excited at the thought of getting out on to the water as he was on his first day.

"I've still got the fire in the belly," he said as he checked the electronic screens lining the dash on his pride and joy, an aluminium trailer boat equipped with every possible fishing accessory. The electronics are the secret to successful jig-fishing on these lakes, particularly Rotoiti. When combined with the skill and experience of the angler and the right tackle, it is a deadly combination.

Skinner has been taking people fishing out of Rotorua professionally for 18 years and has a deserved reputation as the top man on the lakes. He is happy to share his knowledge and also offers a service where he sets up tackle for aspiring anglers and will go out on their boats to "show them the ropes".

This form of jig-fishing was developed from saltwater jigging, but any similarity ends there. The freshwater form is delicate fishing with wand-like rods, fine braid line and a seriously technical approach.

"You see people with short, thick rods, heavy mono line and great jigs which they heave up and down as if they are chasing kingfish. They will never catch a fish with that gear.

"We use what we call a jiggle-and-glide. It is two short jiggles of the rod tip and a pause so the flies move like a live smelt," he explains. It is like hunting, and finding the fish is paramount.

"The fish school off the edges of the structures where they bail up the smelt against a corner or a drop-off. Then it is a question of getting the right depth."

The lines are coloured on 10m sections so the precise depth can be targeted. Passier calls out the depths continuously, like a sailor dropping a plumb line to test a shelving depth from a 19th-century sailing ship. A popular technique for finding the correct depth is to drop the weight to the bottom, lift it a little and give a few jiggle-and-glides. Then wind up a few metres and repeat the process, so all parts of the water column are covered.

The other important factor is the terminal rig. This covers several metres with three flies which is important as sometimes one metre is enough to make the difference between hooking trout and failure.

We hit the first trout on the initial drop when the sinker snagged on the lake bottom and broke off. The fish struck as the flies were being wound in to make repairs.

The final score was eight trout boated from a total of 12 strikes over three and a half hours. And these guys thought it was a slow day's fishing.

Trout jigging tips

* Keep searching for the fish, checking different structures around the lake.

* Work the schools of smelt which show up on the fish finder.

* Three flies can be used and are very small, with size

* 10 hooks, usually silver smelt variations.

* Play hooked fish carefully as hooks can open up under excessive pressure.

* Use a shock leader of about 10m of 4.5kg regular mono line to absorb the pull of big trout.

* Use small size 14 swivels.

* Tie 20cm side traces of 4.5kg fluorocarbon nylon to the top eye of the swivel so it stands out at right angles.

* The backbone trace is also 4.5kg fluoro, with the second fly 1200mm below and the third another 1200mm down the trace.

* A sacrificial trace of 1500mm of 2.5kg mono runs from the bottom fly to the 2-ounce sinker, so only the weight is lost if snagged.