Tips for More Effective Drift Fishing
It doesn’t matter if you’re in freshwater or salt, East Coast or West, drift fishing can be one of the most effective ways to get hooked up with your quarry. It’s certainly one of the easiest ways. After all, fishing from a moving boat allows you to cover plenty of ground in your effort to find fish and present your baits/lures.
Don’t get the idea, however, that all that’s required is to randomly pick an area, drop your lines and wait for a bite. Just like any other style of fishing, there are subtle tricks and techniques that separate top “drifters” from everybody else.
Remember that your boat is an extension of your rod, reel and terminal tackle, and plays a key role in your presentation. This is true whether you’re drifting over soft bottom for halibut or fluke, or working a piece of structure for bass. It’s important to analyze how your boat drifts. Even under similar wind/current conditions, vessels can behave differently based on factors like length, beam, draft, windage and weight distribution.
Ideally, every vessel would drift sideways to the wind, providing a slow speed and plenty of room to spread out lines. In reality, many boats drift bow first, stern first or anywhere in between. Using your GPS will provide an accurate drift speed over ground based on given conditions.
What can be done to change the drift characteristics of your vessel? To slow down, cut down on your vessel’s windage by putting down Bimini tops or removing canvas enclosures on your flybridge. You may also be able to change your drift angle by turning the outboard motor, outdrive or rudder.
If more adjustment is needed, a sea anchor can be deployed to both slow your vessel and alter its drift angle. Sea anchors work like underwater parachutes, catching water to create beneficial drag. How it effects your boat depends largely on placement. Tie it off to the bow and the boat will ride bow into the wind/swell. Tying off to the windward stern quarter will help the boat drift in a more sideways fashion, more desirable for fishing. If you tend to drift stern to the wind, placing a sea anchor off the bow quarter will help you remain more sideways.
Once you have a feeling for how your vessel behaves, you’ll be better at setting up each drift. There are two key factors that cause your boat to drift — wind and current. You have to take into account the speed/direction of both. A piece of ribbon or light fabric tied to your VHF antenna acts like a tiny wind sock, helping you predict the effect wind movement will have. If current isn’t visible on the surface, try dropping a shiny nickel over the side to gauge which direction it flutters.
Precise drift positioning is very important when drifting over a wreck, rockpile or reef. If you don’t start far enough upwind/current of the spot, you’re likely to drift past before your lines enter the strike zone. After you make a pass or two, check the track lines on your boat’s GPS/chart plotter and see how they relate to the bottom contour/structure you’re fishing. Having this graphical representation allows you to fine tune your drift over an area, making minor adjustments that can result in major payoffs.
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