At this strong-current spot, the flow comes towards me on the falling tide. The layer in which the aji are holding changes with the season—and sometimes from one day to the next.
The area where the current comes in is a place to look, as is the stretch into which it then flows away.
That is roughly the pattern from summer through early winter. From the middle of winter towards its end, however, things keep changing. The fish may be near the surface, in mid-water or down by the bottom. The productive position changes with them, and so does the way I fish.
Letting the rig settle into the layer
My basic approach is to cast and take up the slack. Then I either leave the reel alone or wind very slightly, feeling the rig sink little by little with the current until it reaches the feeding layer.
Once it gets there, the current begins to put tension on the line and pull it. That is the layer I want, so I try to make tiny adjustments to keep the rig there.
Specifically, I use slight draws of the rod and small turns of the reel.
A movement, then a pause
If there is no bite, I give the lure a twitch and wait.
When the aji are there but reluctant to feed, I experiment with how I apply jerks and twitches, looking for the pattern that works that day. All the while, I keep the rig at the feeding depth.
To do that, I change sinker weights to suit the speed of the flow while searching for the layer where the fish are holding.
When a steady retrieve is effective, I use a slightly heavier sinker. When I want to hold the rig at one depth, I go lighter.
Related: the aji’s narrow depth “tunnel”, and my later notes on searching an oncoming current. These observations describe this particular fishing spot.
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