Saltwater Techniques - Drifting

Much of our fishing these days is done without the use of an anchor.

Thanks to techniques such as soft-plastic fishing, slow-jigging, live-baiting and deepwater bait fishing – not to mention the various game-fishing methods – drift fishing has become the way to go instead.

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of drift fishing is that you don’t have to haul up a heavy anchor when shifting spots, but, same as when positioning the boat correctly for anchoring, ensuring you have the right drift direction and speed can pay huge dividends and avoid some frustrating tangles.

The first things to look at when setting up for a drift are environmental factors such as the wind, tide and current. A good way to check what’s likely to happen is by performing a ‘dummy drift’, so you can see how the combination of elements affect your drift. In many cases the direction and speed actually travelled come as quite a surprise, especially around islands, where the swirling current eddies and subtle changes in breeze direction can produce an unexpected drift path. As a result, GPS/fish-finder/chart-plotters are especially useful for providing the vital data required about drift direction and speed, so you can take this into account when initially setting up the drift. Even better, by setting simple waypoints, it’s possible to repeat successful drifts time and time again; simply run back up and start a new drift from your original waypoint. Also, you can shorten and refine your drifts if you mark a good piece of reef or keep getting fish at a certain point, enabling more productive fishing time.

The type of boat you fish out of also plays a big part in how you drift. A kayak, for example, has minimal windage and little weight, and will go about the same speed as the current. A six-metre hardtop tinny, on the other hand, will act like a sail and catch the wind, often overwhelming the affects of the current and seeing the bow naturally wanting to point downwind. A launch, though, is more inclined to drift side-on and, having lots of weight (and hull dragging below the surface), is not as easily pushed through the water.

After taking these factors into account, you now need to control the drift so you can effectively fish in the most appropriate way. In most cases this means controlling the drift’s speed so your baits or lures get maximum time in the strike zone. There are a number of ways to do this. Firstly, you can select a lure or sinker weight that will get you into the preferred zone. Selection is a process of trial and error, and also a compromise; you want a soft-plastic lure to sink in a natural way but still get to the bottom. To achieve this, most anglers start the drift and cast in the direction they are drifting. That way the soft-plastic is sinking as the boat drifts toward it (it will seem as though the lure is coming towards you). Then, once it reaches the bottom, you can work the lure until it starts to lift behind the boat.

Slow jigs and baited rigs (such as flashers with sinkers) need to hold the bottom behind the boat. This usually requires a decent amount of weight (more than is required for a jig or soft-plastic lure cast up ahead of the drift), or else the drift must be slowed sufficiently for the rig to stay on the sea floor.

You can slow the drift using the engine, or with a sea anchor or drogue. The engine is a good option when drifting near structure, where you may want to pull out quickly after hooking up while fishing live baits or jigs. But if drifting for long periods and you really want to put the brakes on, a sea anchor is the best option.

In small craft a sea anchor can be as simple as a bucket tied to a rope, but commercially-made drogues are more practical for larger boats. A sea anchor not only slows the drift, it also allows you to set the position of the boat in relation to the drift. For example, if you set your sea anchor from the middle of the boat, the vessel will drift side-on, offering maximum area for anglers to fish their baits. However, when set from the bow, it allows anglers to fish from the boat’s stern.

Having achieved a controlled drift, the anglers on board must play their part, too. If slow-jigging, bait fishing or live baiting, try not to have too many lines in the water and make sure the anglers are well spread out. However – and it may sound obvious – this still means fishing from the side of the boat that takes your line away from the boat and not under it. Don’t laugh, I see it happening all the time. And don’t start dropping rigs down until the boat has started drifting, otherwise one line can collect the others and create a big mess.

Thirdly, the tackle and weights should all be similar so they sink and hold the bottom in a similar fashion. And try to avoid losing contact with your line angle and direction, because this can lead to time-wasting tangles, too.

Finally, if your target species are larger sportfish that move around powerfully when hooked, give the angler every opportunity to land any fish hooked by winding in your line. That’s what considerate mates do

	This article is reproduced with permission of New Zealand Fishing News 2009 - by Adam Clancey Re-publishing elsewhere is prohibited