woodstock
Well-Known Member
Does anyone catch fish while sailing? Any hints or tips as to where to start/what gear I might need?
I've only ever caught mackerel!!
I've only ever caught mackerel!!
Fishing under sail
- Thread starter woodstock
- Start date
ChrisE
Well-Known Member
If you are catching mackeral already you are not doing much wrong (others around here would kill for that alone).
If you want to catch other things such as bass then you'll need to a. sail slowly (less than 2 knots) and b. sail near rips and shallow reefs which isn't everyone's idea of fun. Trolling a spinner or a plug about 50m behind the boat. I've done it a few times around Hurst Narrows with some success with smallish (2lbs or so) bass.
Alternativly you can drift over areas with a rough bottom with pirks bouncing the lure somewhere near the bottom that'll pick up bass, pollock, mackeral in the right areas. Right areas? Well, there's Hurst Narrows in The Solent and the Cherbourg peninsula between Cherbourg and St. Vaas for starters. Both are high tide, lots of rocks on the bottom kind of places.
I'd caution about doing any of the above in much more than a light breeze as it can be quite demanding to concentrate on both sialing the boat and fishing.
If you want to catch other things such as bass then you'll need to a. sail slowly (less than 2 knots) and b. sail near rips and shallow reefs which isn't everyone's idea of fun. Trolling a spinner or a plug about 50m behind the boat. I've done it a few times around Hurst Narrows with some success with smallish (2lbs or so) bass.
Alternativly you can drift over areas with a rough bottom with pirks bouncing the lure somewhere near the bottom that'll pick up bass, pollock, mackeral in the right areas. Right areas? Well, there's Hurst Narrows in The Solent and the Cherbourg peninsula between Cherbourg and St. Vaas for starters. Both are high tide, lots of rocks on the bottom kind of places.
I'd caution about doing any of the above in much more than a light breeze as it can be quite demanding to concentrate on both sialing the boat and fishing.
Gerry
Well-Known Member
Yes we fish under sail. Catching fairly regularly too! Suggest you get hold of a copy of 'the cruisers handbook of fishing' by Scott and Wendy Bannerott. We never caught a thing until we began to follow their advice, I cannot recommend it too highly.
www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
Romeo
Well-Known Member
I was laying a long line under sail a couple of years ago. 10 baited hooks with heavy weight at one end, and a small anchor at the other, with a dan buoy attached to the anchor end. I was looking for flat fish. Cannot say that I had much success, but greatly enjoyed the exercise of laying and picking up the line under sail.
R
R
Csail
N/A
So what are the basic tips?
ChrisE
Well-Known Member
um, Gerry, I agree with your choice of reference material it is a good book. However, you're in the Carib where fishing is relatively easy, over in the frozen waters of the UK we have more of a prob. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
andymcp
Well-Known Member
My brother and his son had booked to go for a sail with our dad, and he decided that since the wee man was coming sailing for the first time he'd knock together some fishing stuff to keep the interest going. In one of his old mags he found a design for a float that when towed will descend to keep the bait well below surface. When a fish bites the float is knocked off balance and surfaces. Easy fishing - no float, no fish: float appears, pull in the line.
They caught half a dozen that afternoon. My one's been ordered and is on it's way!
They caught half a dozen that afternoon. My one's been ordered and is on it's way!
halcyon
Well-Known Member
Heard a passing remark on TV SW news about a new EU directive ? missed the report, but the gist was.
you can be arrested for fishing, well catching fish, at sea in the near future.
Anyone heard anything ?
Brian
you can be arrested for fishing, well catching fish, at sea in the near future.
Anyone heard anything ?
Brian
andymcp
Well-Known Member
Think this is what you heard - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7950506.stm
BlueChip
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
My brother and his son had booked to go for a sail with our dad, and he decided that since the wee man was coming sailing for the first time he'd knock together some fishing stuff to keep the interest going. In one of his old mags he found a design for a float that when towed will descend to keep the bait well below surface. When a fish bites the float is knocked off balance and surfaces. Easy fishing - no float, no fish: float appears, pull in the line.
They caught half a dozen that afternoon. My one's been ordered and is on it's way!
[/ QUOTE ]
It's called a paravane, order a couple because you will lose the first when you catch some seaweed or debris. best make your own out of plywood
My brother and his son had booked to go for a sail with our dad, and he decided that since the wee man was coming sailing for the first time he'd knock together some fishing stuff to keep the interest going. In one of his old mags he found a design for a float that when towed will descend to keep the bait well below surface. When a fish bites the float is knocked off balance and surfaces. Easy fishing - no float, no fish: float appears, pull in the line.
They caught half a dozen that afternoon. My one's been ordered and is on it's way!
[/ QUOTE ]
It's called a paravane, order a couple because you will lose the first when you catch some seaweed or debris. best make your own out of plywood
andymcp
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
It's called a paravane, order a couple because you will lose the first when you catch some seaweed or debris. best make your own out of plywood
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks - forgot what it was called. My one's being made up from plywood by the family expert. And Google didn't help much if I searched for 'sinking fishing tackle towed behind yacht thingy' /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
It's called a paravane, order a couple because you will lose the first when you catch some seaweed or debris. best make your own out of plywood
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks - forgot what it was called. My one's being made up from plywood by the family expert. And Google didn't help much if I searched for 'sinking fishing tackle towed behind yacht thingy' /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Moonshiners
Well-Known Member
Paravanes are great, we always used to drop one while heading home and rarely failed to catch Bass if not mackerel.
4-6 knots fine, long leading line to the paravane and a long trace to a single spinner. Some come with multiple hooks, cut them all off and just run one. Much less tangles.
Bass are more likely to go for a faster shiney lure (4-6kn) than a mackerel which will swallow anything dropped in front of there face at any speed. local knowledge is usefull, but gnereally inshore near a "feature" gully, rocks etc...
Don't be fooled you need to go drop it in 40 clear meters mid channel. 200 yds off-shore in 4m is much more likely.
Plenty of false trips with weed, but well worth the effort and great for sailing.
4-6 knots fine, long leading line to the paravane and a long trace to a single spinner. Some come with multiple hooks, cut them all off and just run one. Much less tangles.
Bass are more likely to go for a faster shiney lure (4-6kn) than a mackerel which will swallow anything dropped in front of there face at any speed. local knowledge is usefull, but gnereally inshore near a "feature" gully, rocks etc...
Don't be fooled you need to go drop it in 40 clear meters mid channel. 200 yds off-shore in 4m is much more likely.
Plenty of false trips with weed, but well worth the effort and great for sailing.
Scillypete
Well-Known Member
This sort of fishing worked for me. You can see the line in the shots attached to the bungy which takes the snatch out when the fish takes and means they will stay on the hook.
matelot
Well-Known Member
Yes - loads of Mackerel which I dislike but nothing much else. From the tender its a lot easier - the yacht is too fast under sail
out_to_sea
Well-Known Member
So what sort of tackle do you need? I mainly want to add a bit of variety and fresh food, I'm not a massive fish eater any way but it does sound a good way to spend some free time on board.
Andy
Andy
MarkJohnson12345
Well-Known Member
Yes for some reason I thought they were called a chinaman.
Very often have it deployed, but don't often catch much unless sailing or motoring slowly.
Be sure you have enough water for them to work, I have lost quite a few on shallow obstructions.
As an shore fisherman, I often use an uptide casting rod, and cast ahead from the cockpit, allow the feathers or lure to sink until the line comes up astern.
Have caught plenty that way, but you do need reasonably calm seas and weather.
Tight lines as they say
Very often have it deployed, but don't often catch much unless sailing or motoring slowly.
Be sure you have enough water for them to work, I have lost quite a few on shallow obstructions.
As an shore fisherman, I often use an uptide casting rod, and cast ahead from the cockpit, allow the feathers or lure to sink until the line comes up astern.
Have caught plenty that way, but you do need reasonably calm seas and weather.
Tight lines as they say
Nico
Well-Known Member
The reason you rarely catch unless moving slowly is because of the depth, hence the success of the paravane. A big lead weight also works but you need a big weight - 8 oz. or more. Mackerel are as fast or faster than bass but tend to swim nearest the surface. Bass like strong tides. Pollack live over kelp and reefs and aren't very interesting to eat. That's about it for lure fishing in British waters (other than garfish maybe).
ShipsWoofy
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
So what are the basic tips?
[/ QUOTE ]Aim for the diving seagulls.
So what are the basic tips?
[/ QUOTE ]Aim for the diving seagulls.
Gerry
Well-Known Member
Yes in the Caribbean now but started using the tips from the book when still in Portugal, immediate success!
The one tip we heartily endorse is to make sure you use really heavy duty line, we go for 300lb breaking strain, with a wire leader. That way it's very unusual to lose a lure to a fish... Sounds like overkill but in 7 years of fishing we have only lost two lures and both of those were off the south coast of Cuba to REALLY big tuna. The kind you don't want in your cockpit!
Trolling works better for us than a rod under way. If we are busy with the boat the fish gets dragged along till it drowns and we have time to pull it aboard.Somehow we always manage to get a bite just as a squall blows up or we are negotiating a difficult piece of water...
www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
The one tip we heartily endorse is to make sure you use really heavy duty line, we go for 300lb breaking strain, with a wire leader. That way it's very unusual to lose a lure to a fish... Sounds like overkill but in 7 years of fishing we have only lost two lures and both of those were off the south coast of Cuba to REALLY big tuna. The kind you don't want in your cockpit!
Trolling works better for us than a rod under way. If we are busy with the boat the fish gets dragged along till it drowns and we have time to pull it aboard.Somehow we always manage to get a bite just as a squall blows up or we are negotiating a difficult piece of water...
www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
PuffTheMagicDragon
Well-Known Member
Speed 5-knots or so, Rapala on 12 kilo monofilament, small multiplier, 5-foot boat rod. --> barbecued dinner for five on the pontoon. Delicious! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
