Fishing Articles
Drift-Walking
The Bankers Boon-dogging
Technique covering vast reaches of water in minutes
Timothy Kusherets
This drift-fishing technique should be done near waters where casts
can be made far enough that fish cannot see the angler during unlimited
visibility. Conversely, turbid conditions allow fishermen to do this
technique at will. It can be done by wading anglers and boaters who
beach for the drift. It can be done with bobber-jigs, corkies, cheaters,
baits, spoons, and spinners.
Drift-walking is perfect where there are long reaches of straight water
where holds are limited or nonexistent. Holds like these produce migrating
fish that historically are called “arbitrary fish”. Seams
of long slots and drop-offs parallel to the shoreline are perfect for
producing these fish, making the technique very productive in a short
period of time.
Cast out upriver and reel in any slack as the line drifts downstream.
Keep the rod tip up with the line as straight as possible. Before the
line passes the position of the angler begin walking downstream with
it at the same speed of the drift. Keep a finger or thumb on the line
near the reel to detect subtle strikes. Remember, it the run is clear
with no visible signs of holds then anything that either stops or stalls
the line is probably a fish strikes. If you see the line hesitate set
the hook hard. If nothing happens cast out and continue the drift.
At the end of the drift, reel in and walk back up to the head of the
drift and start over, except this time cast out the distance of the
clarity of the water…just like the probing technique. If the hold
has more than six feet of visibility then the next cast is six feet
or more. If the water is turbid with four feet or less then make the
next cast four feet and start the drift-walk again.
This is an excellent way to cover a lot of water thoroughly. In many
cases it will take a few minutes to cover a single drift, which will
inherently keep fish on the bite with little to no pressure.
© Timothy Kusherets 2008/09 Copyrighted
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