If you are into surf casting, kite fishing, use a kontiki or set a boat longline then you simply must try the floating trace system developed by Paul's Fishing Kites.

Floating the hook and bait up off the seabed reduces the chances of crabs and sea lice eating the bait and leads to better catches of snapper, gurnard, trevally and kahawai in the crab zone.

In New Zealand paddle crabs are found off all exposed beaches popular with land based fishers.

In light winds the crabs have a nasty habit of grabbing your bait and then burying themselves to eat it at theit leisure. Sometimes they will stall the set.

When this happens you have very little chance of catching a fish if you are surfcasting, and your baits get torn off if you are setting a kite or kon tiki rig through the crab zone.

The reports of fantastic catches of good sized fish taken on the floating bead traces in the few months since Paul's Fishing Kites released them exceeds all expectations.

A few of the fishing reports are detailed below

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Buy ready made Floating Bead Traces or get all the bits to make your own!!!

Abridged from an article printed in "Fishing News" April 1993

I spent my holidays Kayak fishing with a longline at Tauranga Bay in the far North.

MY GEAR

I am a kayak fisherman and as far as I'm concerned the only way to fish successfully from a kayak is with the right gear, you simply don't have room for anything that isn't compact and the best available.

I use a Paul's Fishing Kites boat longline on a handspool modified for use off my kayak. I use only Target snapper hooks and have recently started using some of Paul's new floating bead traces.

THE FISHING

We headed out to a spot where the current slowed and swirled into a deep bay around to a weedy reef ledge.

We set the longline using two floating bead traces in a row then 5 normal Target hook traces in a repeating pattern (six floating bead traces per 25 hook longline).

I got really excited when I pulled in the line. We had several snapper and all were in excess of 5kg each.

After two sets each we had 11 big snapper and 1 barracuda, all the big fish were taken on traces with the floating beads.

The next day was even better, we returned to camp around 7 am loaded down with big snapper weighing from 3.5kg to 9.5kg and again the floating beads caught the biggest fish.

Back at the camp everyone wanted to know more about the gear I was using to catch such good fish when they were struggling to catch legal sized ones.

I told the other campers about target hooks and how they do not gut hook and waste small fish as the majority of them were concerned about of the amount of gut hooked undersized fish they were getting on other hook brands. They were also interested in the floating beads.

I wound up having to part company with some of my spare tackle to prove how superior this gear is.

Glenny, a fellow camper, managed to twist my arm into telling him my hot fishing spot and I told him he would not catch the size of fish I catch without the Target hooks, so the challenge was on for the next morning.

On the 2nd of January I got to the spot we had been fishing during the past week and asked Glenny and his mate Roy, who were already in position, if they'd had any bites.

With a sharp reply of NO, I said, Don't worry guys, I'll get some for you.

Above: My son Peter struggling to lift two of the big snapper

Below: It is interesting to note that all the big snapper (over 5kg) I caught during my holiday were taken on the double floating bead traces.

One of Paul Morris's 20lb plus snapper

I set my longline right beside them, laughing as I again asked them as I passed by if they'd had any bites yet. Again, no. "Well I'm going to be loading up and I may need to borrow your gaff " I replied.

It couldn't have been better; when I pulled up the line I had 4 snapper from 18 to 20 lb on one set from right under their boat, and yet again the big fish had taken the floating bead traces!

The poor guys were laughing with shock and saying they would not have believed it if they did not see it with their own eyes. After two sets I had to put my fish in their boat, as my kayak was about to sink due to the sheer weight of fish. When you can't fit 3 snapper in a large chilly bin you know they are a good size.

It is interesting to note that all the big snapper (over 5kg) I caught during my holiday were taken on the floating bead traces (two beads on each). These guys were so impressed with my longline that they finally talked me into selling it to them before I headed back to Auckland.

I heard later that they did very well with their newly acquired boat longline the next day they went out. So, my advice is, if you want to improve your fishing and catch bigger fish, you can't go wrong with a Paul's Fishing Kites boat longline and the new floating bead traces.

They really do work!

Hi All, I purchased some of the floating beads from you at the Tauranga Boat Show to use on my motorised kontiki.

I had five of them spread over a 25 hook set and caught four snapper and one gurnard.

I thought you would be interested to know that all the snapper were caught on the floating bead traces and salted mackerel bait.

The baby octopus baits were left untouched.

Regards

Steve Higgs

Above: Pete Vesotolu with a nice 5kg snapper

Paul Morris, Pete Vesotolu and I met at Browns Bay, on Auckland's North Shore, for an evening fishing fest on Sunday 26th January.

We set out in our kayaks and headed for an area south of the reef.

We fished in about eight metres of water between 7pm and 10pm that night.

The fishing started slowly with a few pan sized snapper but it improved as time went on. Snapper over 2.5kg were coming in on the later sets but Pete topped the chart with a 5kg beauty.

We had a 25 hook Boat Longline each and put the gear out three times.

I have been trying out the new Floating Bead traces and can confirm their effectiveness.

Over 60% of the snapper were caught on these traces.

Can't wait to do it again.

Regards

Paul Major

Read the full report from Paul Major here

http://www.fishingkites.co.nz/newsletters/newsletter48.htm