How to ... Fish and other things (no hitchhiker jokes please)

[cagey]

Have never fished but Im hopefully off to Scillies in a couple of weeks with a couple of mates and I thought it would be cool to catch and eat some of our food so the questions are
What sort of fish can I expect to catch.
Where to drop hook(fishing) then stationary or move slowly or drift.
What is the cheapest tackle( rod) to buy and where
What bait and how to get off fish hook
Now the orrid bit
How to kill and gut.
A good recipe and how to cook.
Did a google but answers were too dry lacking in pbo humour.
Most importantly there is a 1 pint bet for the biggest and the smallest catch so this is now important.
Think Ive lost my hunter gatherer genes prefer Sainsburys but it will only be catch to eat.
Thanks everyone
Keith

 

[VicS]

for all you need to know Click here

 

[[70521]]

Fishing is like watching paint dry. In all of my 53 years I have caught one fish; at the instance of the other people I was on the boat with. Very, very over rated.

 

[KellysEye]

On passage I used swimming lures and a wire trace, the lures have chin plate so they wiggle like fish. Use a rod and multiplier reel and buy diiferent coloured lures, different fish take different coloured lures so if you are not catching anything change the lure. Use 50lb line. Fishing kit is not cheap so if you are not going to use it regularly don't bother buying it.

 

[lampshuk]

Dead jealous of your Scillies trip!

Cheapest way in is:
Get a cheap paravane and handline off ebay. They usually come with some simple flashy lures on the end. Chuck overboard while sailing - preferrably below 3 knots but I have had luck up to 5. The paravane should pop to the surface if a fish takes the lure. This will also happen if weed gets on the hook or paravane.
I use a single lure, just to keep things simple, so if your paravane has multiples remove all but one.

We used this in our recent trip to Plymouth and back, catching mackerel pretty much every day. We've also had a herring off Dartmouth, two garfish in the Solent and a little bonito tuna off the IoW.

If the mackerel are still around you'll be knee-deep in them.

To kill: whack smartly on the head 3 times with the back end of a marline spike. A heavy screwdriver should also work. Mind your fingers!
To clean (do this straight away, unless you've already got another fish on the line):
use a sharp knife, cut from the back of the head, through the spine and down to just past the little fins
Then insert the point of the knife in the anus, slit the skin up towards the head to the first cut.
shove your thumb in the back end of the slit, run it up the inside, pinching off the intestine from the anus. Grab the head and guts, rip it all off and chuck overboard.
(sounds yucky, but it's the quickest way. Just get on with it, ya wimp)
Sluice the remaining body of the fish in a bucket of fresh seawater. Run your thumb up the spine again, to squeeze the blood out (if you leave it in you'll get a strong taste in the fish meat, particularly if you keep it a few hours).

** When recovering the line and cleaning the fish you will need both hands for the job. If you're doing this in the cockpit I strongly advise wearing your harness and clipping on, unless it's totally calm. You'll be heaving buckets of water about, too. Better not to be acting as your own groundbait.

To cook: "butterfly" them by cutting up through the ribs and past the backbone, then spread them out like a kipper. Grill with salt and pepper while fresh. That should stop them twitching. Loads of other recipes exist.

I've never had much luck fishing whilst moored, but when the mackerel are about it can be non-stop.

 

[PeterV]

We went to the Scillies 2 weeks ago. Son used a paravane with a spinner on it between the islands and caught 4 Pollack and 6 Mackerel in a couple of hours. Whilst at anchor in St. Mary's, New Grimsby and Tean Sound he caught a couple of Mackerel in each place using a spinner from a rod, usually in less than 15 minutes. We gutted the fish ashore and either cooked them on a barbecue on the beach or an open fire.

 

[salar]

This link may help - "Fishing From a Yacht" http://www.boat-angling.co.uk/Hints_and_Tips/Fishingfromayacht.htm The killing, prep and recipes are on the cooking pages on the same site.
If you are going further afield there is an excellent book in the RYA library on what you can catch when blue water sailing and in the tropics.

 

[Wansworth]

You will need to partially de frost the little blocks or fish lookalike things to get the hooks to sink in.... cooking instructions on the packet.

 

[stu9000]

for all you need to know Click here

Ha ha

 

[EdWingfield]

Use one of those collapsible lobster pot things. Night fish for shrimp but make sure it remains above the bottom or it'll be full of harbour crabs.

 

[Quandary]

I keep a copy of 'The River Cottage Fish Book' (yes, I know it is him) on board for the day when I have time to do some serious fishing, but so far I have dragged a paravane around to very limited effect. However I like the book, idiots guide to what you can catch and how to go about it with simple recipes on how to cook it if I am ever successful. The difference with this book is that it is written for those who know very little about it but is detailed enough to be interesting.

 

[Babylon]

I keep a copy of 'The River Cottage Fish Book' (yes, I know it is him) on board for the day when I have time to do some serious fishing, but so far I have dragged a paravane around to very limited effect. However I like the book, idiots guide to what you can catch and how to go about it with simple recipes on how to cook it if I am ever successful. The difference with this book is that it is written for those who know very little about it but is detailed enough to be interesting.

Good book - also well worth getting Hugh's 'Catch & Cook' DVD. I've learnt loads from both - but the most important lesson is that you're EITHER going to go out there to sail/cruise OR you're going out there to fish. There isn't normally the time (or the ability to split your mindset) to do both.