How to fish with soft baits

Get a full run down on the basics of soft bait and soft plastic fishing, including the techniques explained to help you go out and be successful with this style. Learn about sink rates and staying in touch during the decent plus more with pro angler Rob Fort.

Here's a complete step-by-step guide to using micro jigs. Learn the techniques to be successful at catching fish with four methods explained in detail including easy to follow instructional diagrams.

The Japanese invented micro jigs, and have also developed some specific techniques for fishing them. These little lures are deadly in NZ waters, particularly on snapper. Check out this great technique instruction, it's in Japanese but has full subtitles.

Join Adan Clancy from Fishy Business and Ben Pokaia for top tips for jigging and top water fishing for Bay Of Plenty Kingfish.

It was chaos! the pack of Kingfish erupted on the surface splaying froth and panicking baitfish in every direction. Words can’t even describe the sight as I grabbed my topwater gear and belted a quick cast into the riot. Fish were flying all over the surface and after a couple of winds ‘booom’! As line peeled off the wailing Stella all I could do was watch and hang on. With 15kgs of drag locked on it was one of those moments where the sheer excitement was overriding the pain of every muscle screaming to hold fast. After a tough, twenty-minute tug-o-war the fish finally turned, and I was able to coax him up. Kingfish are brutal on any gear, but on the longer topwater rods they have a leverage advantage and as an angler, you get to feel every bit of the fight even more than on normal jigging gear. When the fish appeared it was as much a relief as anything, and I knew this was around a 30kg PB straight away. Such a magnificent fish deserved to go back to get even bigger, so after a few snaps he was back over the side leaving me with that exhausted and elated feeling. Did that really happen?

Watch now: Grant 'Espresso' Bittle and Catch pro angler Edward Uhai Lee share some expert knowledge with hints, tips and technique advice to help you with your artificial bait game. Recorded live at the 2019 Hutchwilco Boat Show. Enjoy.

The boys make the drive over to the Wild West coast and plan to pitch the tent on the boat and spend a night in the harbour. Snapper are on the hit list as the sun goes down and king fish as the sun comes up. Nato manages to film kings hunting live mullet in 4K 60 frames with his iPhone.

If you’re anything like me, you are lucky enough to regularly find yourself filleting nice eating sized snapper. Surely practice makes every cut perfect then? Yeah, not so much. Every time I think I have filleting dialed, and I might get a few absolutely bang on, there’s always that fish that just throws you, and you end up feeling like Edward Scissorhands on the piss. Here’s a quick vid taken on my phone by my mate Lloyd, after a brilliant morning session on the kayak.

The Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show is sending out a call to owners of retro and/or quirky powerboats or “oddities”. “To give everyone a bit of a lift after the tough times of 2020, we would like to create a display a special, fun display for the 2021 show,” says general manager Dave Gibbs.

Here is an incredibly tasty and different way to prepare any variety of fish that tastes amazing and is easier than it looks to prepare. It’s a great way to utilize trout, kahawai, or any other more popular fish species, that actually is more about the texture than the pure flavour of the fish.

The FG Knot with a Rizzuto finish is my go-to leader knot. I'll use it for GT, Tuna, Bass and everything in-between! But this here shows you the exact knot I tie when Popping and stick baiting for GT with my heavy setups.

The boys leave the harbour and head down the coast to shelter from the forecasted wind. Later that day the wind drops out and the nearest island seems like it’s worth a visit. After a few stuff ups Milan lands a couple big beautiful king fish.