Say you were having a nightmare where you could only have one jig to use for the rest of your days (Heaven forbid!) After waking up in a cold sweat, you might just get to thinking if that really WAS the case, what lure would I choose? Based on the results I’ve seen over the last few years. It would be hard to go past the Catch Double Trouble as the most effective and versatile jig out there. This initially angular looking pattern comes in a pretty wide variety of sizes from 100 grams to 300 grams, and I have personally used, and watched it in action, catching darn near everything out there that hits a lure.

VERITAS = VERI TASTY! There are just some products that I know I’m going to buy the moment I see them. As a massive soft bait and lure fishing fan, I love catching decent fish on relatively light weight spinning gear, and when the opportunity arises to upgrade or replace broken gear, it’s a no brainer.

Since the introduction of jigging for trout, this fun and very fruitful method of fishing has made catching trout in lakes a lot more fun than dragging them in on heavy lead lines.

If you’re anything like me, when it comes to holiday time, the first thing you think is…I wonder if I can take a rod and reel. If it’s a YES, this thought process quickly evolves into some research, and subsequent agonizing, over how much gear, how many lures, what weight line, when you’ll escape and so on.

Albacore tuna (Thunnus alalunga) or 'the chicken of the sea', are one of the best eating fish we can catch in NZ waters, and unlike their more desirable bigger cousins, the yellowfin and bluefin, albacore inhabit cooler waters and are able to be targeted just about anywhere in NZ. They are also brilliant sport on light tackle, even though most are winched aboard with heavier tuna gear or on bungees. Check out the smile on Catch sponsored angler Flyn Jack with an albacore he caught on a kingfish jig in the Coromandel to see that they can be great fun.

Here’s a red hot looking jig freshly out from the team at Shimano Fishing. At NZFW we love our slow pitch jigging, and these new releases from Shimano promise to be the real deal. As soon as we have a good field test under the belt we will be reporting back, but if looks could kill, these lures will be pure magic.

It’s officially marlin season so here’s something a bit different in the boutique lure department to set you apart from the rest. Aloha lures are custom made in Hawaii by Captain Erik Rusnak (A.K.A Merlin) using the information and results gained from 25 year’s game fishing. Certainly looking every bit the part, these lures have already been proven deadly in NZ waters.

The use of artificial ‘softbait’ lures and current braid line technology, has certainly changed the face of New Zealand sport fishing, and with good reason.

A semi local’s guide to kayak fishing the Coromandel’s Matarangi to Matapoua Bay coastline. Planning a fishing trip in December, the one thing that can be guaranteed is that there are no guarantees. Bite times and weather windows are notoriously unpredictable and good ones usually coincide nicely with the busiest time of year, preparing for the silly season.

Scott MacDonnell proves you don't have to head far, or have a big boat, to head home with a full bag.

Small boats, inflatables and kayaks are great fishing platforms for inshore anglers. They offer incredible convenience on a number of fronts and, as they are highly mobile, they are able to be launched at virtually any shoreline access point.

When dolphins or whales are pushing baitfish up and churning the ocean into a giant berley trail, gannets and terns will usually be signposting where the action is. Fishing in workups can be frantic, and in the excitement it is often easy to suddenly find yourself with a limit bag in only an hour or so.

If you haven’t tried slow pitch jigging, you should! You will catch more fish, you will have a versatile weapon for deeper conditions and workups, and you will have a great excuse to buy some very stylish new gear.

Workup season has begun, and that means some of the best fishing of the year is happening out in the gulf right now. It’s the time of year that big schools of pilchards start moving in from the north, so the flotilla of boats chasing workups will be heading to the incoming channels around Little Barrier Island, around Horn and Anchorite rocks and eventually deeper into the upper Firth of Thames.

Current lure patterns and their various techniques for deployment, are now so effective at catching fish, that many anglers no longer even entertain the idea of using bait. Just about every fishing shop you visit will now be decked with walls full of lure options from all the major manufacturers (and a few boutique players). The patterns and designs often look so good you just have to try them out. Yes, some lures are certainly designed to catch the fisherman, but do they work on the fish? Yep! hard. Any popular lure pattern fished correctly will likely stock your bin, even on tough days.

Game fishing in New Zealand is steadily becoming more popular as boat, engine, and tackle technology has completely reinvented the sport, and made it accessible to anyone keen enough to give it a go.

When you are heading out for a fish, doing a little homework and making a plan the night before is often a good idea. If you’re like me, quite often the day ahead is lived over as you try and go to sleep, waking several times as you wait for the 5.00am alarm to arrive. One of the greatest technologies for available for fishing success, does not live in your tackle box, but on your phone.

One of the most underrated, and under-utilised lures available to fishermen really does come in a small package. Although the old saying ‘big bait – big fish’ will often hold true, it was a long time ago, from well-respected fishing legend Rick Pollock, that I heard the opposing argument ‘elephants eat peanuts’.