sea fishing equipment

Phoenix of Hamble

Phoenix of Hamble

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East Coast
mishapsandmemories.blogspot.com
As a complete newbie to the art of fishing off the boat, some advice wanted please!

I've been given a brand new 8' sea fishing rod.....

Previous experience is limited to my days as a teenager doing a (very) little bit of coarse fishing... I have caught the odd crab in marinas!... and have previously borrowed a rod and caught a Mackeral off a boat, but many years ago.... so best assume I know nothing!

What reel should I buy to go with it?...... what breaking strain line should I get?... what lures should I use? (or is there something more appropriate than a lure?)... what else will I need?
 
Depends where you are. On the East Coast nothing beats a lead weight and a worm. Lots of flatfish for supper. West of Dover use feathers. Lots of Mackerel for supper. Reel is a matter of personal preference, but if you've not done it before I would suggest avoiding a multiplier. Go for a fixed spool or a centre pin (if you can find one).
 
I have limited experience fishing but trawling offshore used homemade lures with a a piece of frayed white nylon line, with a splash of red if available. 100lb breaking strain wrapped around a pice of wood. Cleated off with a clothes pin supporting a slack section with bungee for when the big one hits. The line only broke once (glad we did not catch that one!). Many delicious meals from this. Seems to work inshore too. Biggest fish caught was a 54" wahoo off the coast of St Vincent. Wrapped the line round a winch handle for a bit more strength with that one.
 
Duncan and Chris-E are the expert and gave me loadsa info but it really depends what you want to achieve and how much effort you want to make, like will you go out deliberately to fish or just take opportunities as they arise. The problem usually with sailing is we are going too fast, or if too slow don't like the extra drag, catch 22!

We have 2 boat rods with multiplier reels and one light spinning rod with a fixed spool reel, OTT maybe but they stow easily on our stern gantry and it looks like we know what we are doing! Both boat rods are fitted with 22lb line or thereabouts, one is set up with either a Rapala plug lure or a rubber sandeel lure, the other has a set of mackerel feathers (large size and actually foil rather than feathers), the weight to sink the feathers is a heavy fish type jig lure rather than just a chunk of lead, you never know your luck. We don't tow the feathers but stop and drift when we use them, the rubber sandeel or the plug we use at speeds below 3 knots usually, above that we might use a simple no-rod mackerel line with spinning lure, up to 5kts maybe. The light spinning rod I use when we are anchored up or off the rocks or in the dinghy, it has I think about 12lb line and you can cast a Rapala type plug quite a way with it, these float but dive as you wind in. I sometimes set this rod up also to float fish from the boat.

If you want to do more and either catch dig or buy bait then there are other rigs for drift or bottom fishing.

What else you need depends on you, ask at a friendly tackle shop but certainly:-

Hooks, selection of sizes
Weights, selection of weight types and weights from torpedo to pear shaped, round bullets, a few pinch on ones.
Some lighter line to make up end tackle traces etc
Swivels, a selection of sizes some with snapclips, some 3-way
Selection of lures, like feathers, plugs, jigs, shads, rubber eels etc
Filleting knife
Hook removing forceps
Floats
Plastic beads
Large bucket of good luck
Rubber bands
Book on How to Fish...
Landing net and gaff for the bigger catch (I wish)
Imitation baits like plastic worms, crabs etc

One excellent tip Duncan gave me was to get a cat litter tray (they are usually a good size) and a plastic cutting board to fit in the bottom of it. You can cut bait in this or gut and fillet your catch without decorating the whole boat with blood and gore, it is easy to wash off too.
 
Thanks Robin,

Thats just the sort of info I was looking for....

Suspect that fishing will be restricted to either slow warm drifting type days or when at anchor... so sounds like a good start would be some feathers or a rubber lure.... I'll skip the multiplier, and go for something simple.... and a few bits like swivels and weights....

Will get a lightish line, perhaps 12 to 15lbs.... not interested in specimen hunting... just a bit of lunch occasionally!

Hadn't thought about where to do the gutting, so good tip....
 
Get a small (6500) multiplier reel, ambassador is a good make with level lay for putting line on neatly when retrieving. For line I would go for 20 - 25lb breaking strain braid. It's dearer than nylon but a lot thinner so not as affected by tide and no stretch so you will feel every little bite (or big if you get into a smoothound as I intend to next week.

As far as terminal tackle (weights, etc) go, a trip to a decent angling shop will be your best bet and you can buy rigs already made up.

Around your neck of the woods, flatties are about at the moment and small hook(s) and worm / rag bait is likely to work best. Bigger stuff include Bass - falling to live bait according to friend who's out in Thames regularly and smoothound. Need bigger terminal tackle but a lot of fun if you can get into them. Also some skate around too. Again any reasonable tackle shop should put you straight.

As for fishing on the move - forget it unless you buy a big net /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

If you really fancy finding out more, quickly, go for a day out on a charter boat. They regularly have days for individual bookings.
 
Oh, and gutting a flattie, basically chop most of it's head off from what would be the top if it was a round fish (like 3/4 of the way rthrough) and then with a twist and a pull remove the head with the guts attached and then clean out cavity with finger........... hope that makes sense and sorry to the squeemish /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
do not forget mackerel feathers we do catch em in the wash

a cheap fish finder is handy

best advice go out with a pro /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif






fisherman

cheers Joe
 
The multiplier reels are fine if you get one with a line layer thingy (most are) and don't try and cast with them, for trolling or feathering they are ideal. Whatever you get makes sure it is designed for saltwater use.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You'll need a fisherman anchor.

And two baskets hanging in the foretriangle.

An autopilot that changes the boat's heading utterly randomly also seems to be de rigeur.

[/ QUOTE ]

Plus massive deck lights to mask any navigation lights

Ability to sing loudly and badly in Spanish on Ch16

Spare bits of torn nets to use as groundbait
 
Ours is a spinner slung off the back of the boat with homemade paravane (shop bought ones are available) and some string. Mackerel just fall over themselves to get caught.

Speed of boat doesn't seem to be factor. Sunny or cloudy does.

Haven't felt the need for more exotic stuff. And it stows really, really well too!

Mackerel recipes now available from all good bookshops. BRING IT ON!
 
Last year we caught in the wash it was sunny but a bit choppy

in the nearest "hole"? slice the skin carefully and braai em

cheers Joe
 
I wish they would fall over themselves to get caught. I have been dragging a set of feathers around the Bristol channel this year and caught NOWT. I know NOWT BOWT fishin too but this is getting frustrating. Actually they are not actually feathers but long hooky things covered with rubber in different colours. At the end of the line is a fish shaped thing with hooks underneath and at the end. The whole thing is weighted down with a good heavy lump of lead ahead of all the 'lures' (technical term for something that gets stuck in your finger, the lifebuoy and anything else that gets in the way). I dream of eating a catch. PLEASE HELP! I am not fussy what I eat so long as it is fish.
 
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