Right, I AM going to catch a fish!!!!

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Oscarpop

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I have a week going up the east coast for the Jubilee, and intend to catch my first fish by trailing a line from the boat.

I have been fishing on and off this way for four years and so far have not caught a thing.

Have tried mackerel spinners and all sorts of hooks bait etc but to no avail. Normally sail at 4-6 kts

Can you offer me a little advice to try and increase my chances of catching something.

cheers.
 
For mackerel I always use a paravane and a single spinner on a handline, similar to this one
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trolling-Paravane-Mackerel-line-/260952645321#ht_500wt_922
but without the orange line - I prefer some 2 or 3 mm braided line, which is softer and easier to tie knots in. The spinner is tied to a 1 m length of 30 lb nylon monofilament line.
You can also catch garfish and (occasionally) bass on the same gear, but if you want a better chance with bass then a Redgill artificial eel towed behind the boat, with no lead weight on a light fishing rod with 10 lb bs line works very well.
Pollack also take this sort of lure if you're in the right area.
It's probably more to do with the area you're fishing, and local knowledge. Look out for diving terns, a sure sign that mackerel and bass are feeding on shoals of small fry near the surface.
The minimum size for bass is 16". Mackerel apparently don't survive when handled and returned, so best kept for the frying pan.
 
Oscarpop said:
I have a week going up the east coast for the Jubilee, and intend to catch my first fish by trailing a line from the boat.

I have been fishing on and off this way for four years and so far have not caught a thing.

Have tried mackerel spinners and all sorts of hooks bait etc but to no avail. Normally sail at 4-6 kts

Can you offer me a little advice to try and increase my chances of catching something.

cheers.
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I bought a flashmer mackareaux set in France. Spinner, feathers, paravane and a foam board to wind the string on. Dropped it in at about 3 knots, pulled it in when the paravane popped up, had caught 3 in 10 mins.
 
Mackeral feathers work for me everytime attached to a handline at a leisurely 3 - 4 knots in the Solent. What l don't know is when is the mackeral season? I've got lucky in August but not tried the other months.
 
Never caught anything until I got a paravane. Then I could almost get cocky and say "mackerel for dinner tonight then" known damned fine we'd get some. Essential kit IMHO!
 
SeaStu1 said:
Mackeral feathers work for me everytime attached to a handline at a leisurely 3 - 4 knots in the Solent. What l don't know is when is the mackeral season? I've got lucky in August but not tried the other months.
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Mackerel tend to arrive in the Solent around April. The numbers increase as it gets warmer and there are plenty around at the moment. Start to disappear in September.

If you spin for mackerel from a sailing boat I find that feathers and a rod are both a bit too much too handle, esp if singlehanded, which is why I prefer a single spinner on a handline. However, if you get into a large shoal, a set of six feathers will get you bucket loads in a very short time.

The paravane has several holes to which to attach both the towing line, and the hook line. Attach the towing line to the forward most hole will tow at the shallowest depth, and holes further back will tow at greater depths. I usually just use the shallow depth.
If you attach the hook line to the left or right hand holes at the aft end, it will stream the paravane to one side or the other, useful if you want to have two lines fishing at the same time.
 
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Oscarpop said:
I have a week going up the east coast for the Jubilee, and intend to catch my first fish by trailing a line from the boat.

I have been fishing on and off this way for four years and so far have not caught a thing.

Have tried mackerel spinners and all sorts of hooks bait etc but to no avail. Normally sail at 4-6 kts

Can you offer me a little advice to try and increase my chances of catching something.

cheers.
Click to expand...

As posted above, a paravane is what you need. You'll probably need to slow down a bit too. At 6 kt the loads on a paravane can be quite high and some say that fish can't keep up with the lure to bite it, although we have caught at that sort of speed. I generally slow down to around 3kt or so for half an hour whilst we catch enough for our needs (it's usually that quick) and off we go again. We call our paravane the 'fishmaker' ...

However, if you're headed up the East coast, then you'll need to catch your fish before you reach North Foreland. The muddy water up here obscures the lure unless you're a long way offshore.
 
Oscarpop said:
Have tried mackerel spinners and all sorts of hooks bait etc but to no avail. Normally sail at 4-6 kts
Click to expand...

The easiest to catch are mackerel ( mind you fit only for pot bait IMO) but 4 to 6 kn is too fast. Its not impossible at that speed ( I've done it) but it is far more unlikely than catching them at 1/2 knots. Or with feathers when stationary.

But what you have discovered is what most yotties have discovered. Fishing actually involves skill and some knowledge of the habits of the fish. Without that, you only catch by sheer luck.
 
your going to fast ,try drifting for a few minutes with a set of feathers ,jusj vary the depth could be just under the boat or on the bottom,try jigging the feathers dropping about 1 metre at a time till you find them you cant fail
 
Decent Anchorage in the Blackwater??

As part of our week cruise we will be sailing from Fambridge to Heybridge this weekend.
The tides mean that unless we get up at silly o'clock we will have to go this in 2 legs and stop overnight on the Blackwater.

Can anyone recommend a good anchorage on the Blackwater, around the Bradwell area?


Many thanks.
 
Another vote for the paravane. (HUGE!! weights can achieve the same effect.) Most of my sailing is done in manky East coast waters. Fishing with lures that the fish are supposed to see is pretty hopeless here in my experience. However have caught mackerel around the North Foreland.
 
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