Beginner Fishing... Torbay?

[blackrandomapple]

Evening all,

So ive spent 10 years bombing around in speed boats playing with wakeboards, waterskis and anything tow-able and generally having fun in Torquay, teighnmouth and weymouth.

Now, at 30 years old ive bought myself a Jeanneau Cap camarat 565 and want to try my hand at some fishing, ive done some here in the uk but ive done much more on the reef in Australia.

Ive got rods, reels and fishing line, A navman plotter and fish finder... Im ready!

where do i go, what am i fishing for and how do i go about it... Id like to catch dinner and cook it there and then on the boat!

Any advice on the best way to go about this?

 

[PaulRainbow]

As this is "Practical Boat Owner" you might get a better response somewhere like World Sea Fishing.

 

[James_Calvert]

No idea really but I heard somewhere that you've got to "think like a fish".

That will apparently help you avoid situations when eg

You are fishing where there aren't any fish

They are there but are not feeding

They are feeding but not on your bait

Etc, etc.

 

[[70521]]

Have you considered joining a Sea Angling club. I know there are some very keen anglers at Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club. http://www.starcross-fcc.com/

 

[BlueChip]

I found the easiest way to catch Mackerel which are delicious freshly grilled is to tow a paravane with a small Mackerel spinner off any headland at a knot or two .
The paravane will get the spinner down into deeper water where the larger fish are and usually we catch enough for a nice meal or bbq in an hour or so

 

[SiteSurfer]

**DRIFT ALERT**
How do you prepare the fish on board for cooking?

 

[MonniotC]

**DRIFT ALERT**
How do you prepare the fish on board for cooking?

Slit its belly open and pull its guts out. Throw the guts away. Cook and eat the bit that's left.

 

[clyst]

The best way to eat Mackeral is to ,once gutted and head and tailed, poach in a pan of sea water ....has to be sea water ( home made brine just isn't the same ) .......... Then sandwhich between two slices of heavily buttered bread . Lovely !!

 

[[70521]]

Slit its belly open and pull its guts out. Throw the guts away. Cook and eat the bit that's left.

The head might be a bit crunchy.

 

[MonniotC]

The head might be a bit crunchy.

You can always leave the crunchy bits on the side of the plate!!

 

[TQA]

Traditional method for catching mackerel is a set of 'feathers' aka a murderer.

6 to 10 hooks each with a coloured feather on a trace with a weight at the bottom. Dropped through a shoal of mackerel would result in 5 to 9 mackerel.

Nothing to stop you casting a set and retrieving them fairly slowly varying the depth with each cast.

Alternatively a minnow spoon or small sand eel lure works.

IMHO fresh mackerel is one of the finest eating fish around as well as giving great sport on light tackle.

 

[[163233]]

The head might be a bit crunchy.

Suck on the head, the brains and eyeballs are quite juicy.....

Nah, not for me, however the fillets do curry quite well, smear with tandoori powder mixed with a bit of yoghurt for glue then BBQ if you don't have a tandoor on your boat.

 

[KellysEye]

Use swimming lures they have plate under the chin that makes them wiggle like fish. Buy different colours as different fish take different colours, ideally use two rods so you have two colours. All fish will come to the surface if they see anorher fish so you don't need a paravane. As an example I was towing a red and white lure and blue and yellow lure all the mackerel took the blue and yellow lure.

 

[PaulRainbow]

If you want to catch Mackerel the feathers mentioned are the simplest way. You can catch hundreds of them in no time at all (not that you'll want hundreds).

If you want a bit of sport with them, use a very light rod with a single feather. Towing a lure as above will work, but you'll need a heavier rod, which takes the sport element away.

Towing lures at low speeds works for Bass. You want about a 15lb class boat rod and have 100m of line out.

 

[blackrandomapple]

Thankyou for all of your info.

went out yesterday 30/06/2016, with some advise on catching some see bass whilst trawling.

Managed to catch 2 mackerel using a feather type rig sold by local tackle shop.

No seabass but... I have some rigs and advise from a family member (from who i bought the JEANNEAU) on catching some conger etc...

Was happy with the mackerel but to be fair ive caught hundreds of these in the past, not all doom and gloom, it was my partners first time out on a boat so she was over the moon eating mackerel for tea.

Watch this space.... Ill get some monsters!!

 

[TQA]

Thankyou for all of your info.


Watch this space.... Ill get some monsters!!

If you want monsters find out where the local wrecks are and bottom fish using live bait. Just have a gaff and be prepared for 20 lb congers.

 

[Tammany]

Your best bet would be to visit a local tackle shop to find out local baits & rigs that work. It all depends on where you live as the advice I could give you even though I've been boat & kayak fishing on the east coast for years would be completely useless to you on the south coast as it's a different type of fishing as your water is clear. I know that spinners, plugs, lures & mackeral feathers work well in your area though as it's so clear. No good round here as water is basically runny mud.

https://torbayfishing.com/index.html

Round here it's mostly cod & whiting and best bait is lugworm. I suspect best worm bait for you is ragworm.

 

[blackrandomapple]

That's exactly what I did.. unfortunately the guy couldnt even be bothered to stand up... sold me some suggested gear by pointing followed by "you won't catch anything" and "you will loose all that gear by the end of today"

I didn't loose any gear and caught 2 fat mackerel...

Thats success in my eyes...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Thankyou for all of your info.

went out yesterday 30/06/2016, with some advise on catching some see bass whilst trawling.

Apologies for my pedantry, but if you were towing lures you were trolling, not trawling