Topetastic

[Nautibusiness]

Just for fun and for those that have been occasionally seen dragging a set of mackerel feathers around from their boats...

Just been on a multi boat trip to Alderney.
With lads from the Poole Bay Small Boat Angling Club.

6 boats and 15 people.

We chose to sleep onboard which was interesting in the stiff NE breeze we had most evenings.

Anyway, most fishermen go to Alderney for the rather good Turbot fishing.
For me though, whilst Turbot truly are delicious they don't offer much sport and are akin to winding in a tesco carrier bag in the current.

...We went Tope fishing.

Tope are one of the shark species we have around our shores. Sure, they don't reach the sizes of the fish that are in films like Jaws, but on a fishing rod similar to one people will use for Carp or Pike on a local lake they are superb fun.

On our first morning in Alderney we nipped to a nearby mark and had a blistering session with 17 caught and released (* they are a sport fish, not a good food fish). The best smashed our 50lb weighing scales to pieces.

The second day we fished for a couple of hours and had another brilliant session ending with 17 fish again.

We came home on the last day and fished the wrecks in the channel with great success for Pollack (like Cod) which made up for the lack of fish we kept in Alderney.
...Fish and chips for tea for the next few months!

Here is a badly shot, but fun film of the first mornings Tope fishing.
There may be a few expleitves as it was three smell old fishermen so either turn your volume down or I apologise in advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1sSgdH-bZs

For the fishermen, I hope you enjoy the video, for those who cant abide the thought of the slimey little things, sorry to have bored you!

Tom

 

[PaulGooch]

Thanks for sharing the video Tom, looks like you had a great trip. Was you back out on the 695 ?

 

[AndieMac]

Your mates looked like they where enjoying the fishing Tom.
The sharks looked like our 'gummy' sharks, sold in fish shops as flake. Apparently very important to bleed them a.s.a.p. after capture because of ammonia in the meat.
There appeared to be a lot of line retrieval going on, how deep were the fish down?
Were you anchored, drifting or trolling (shut the engines off to retrieve)?
Looks a though last weekend was a winner for many boaters.

 

[Nautibusiness]

Hi Paul

Yes, I was there on Quest II. She seems to be running very nicely with the new engine.
About 40 hours on the new one and apart from some minor teething problems she doesn't seem to have missed a beat.

We went over with Poole Bay Small Boat Angling Club, http://www.pbsbac.co.uk .
6 private boats from a Quicksilver 630SD to a Procharter 30.

Most inevitably concentrated on the Turbot fishing, but they fight like a Tecos carrier bag in the tide. Apart from Pollack and a solitary Cod on the wrecks we were there for sport fishing and you can't get much better in the British Isles than that.

judging by the replies though.... not to many YBW forumites are smelly old fishermen though!

AndieMac, your Gummy Sharks are much more like our Smoothound. The Tope is closer to a mini Bronzie, complete with a proper set of sharkie dentures.
Much of the Tope fishing is done at anchor, but where we were that would have been impossible through much of the tide as it rips through there at about 5 knots +. Even in the quite at the start and end of the tide you still need heavier gear and up to 2lb of lead.
However we were sat 50 metres from the rip and in an eddy where we were almost stationery. Hence we could use 6/12 class rods and just a few ounces of lead on the drift.
We were fishing in about 100 feet of water. The winding was simply due to the fish running off lots of line.

Tom

 

[MarieK]

Nice fishing Tom, few interesting points. Are you getting a mixture of males and females down there? Was the big one a male??

 

[GrowingLad]

Thanks for posting the vid!

Looks like you lads had a good day out.

 

[sarabande]

Fishing for sport ? I'd classify that in the same category as people who shoot pheasants and don't eat them. Great skill and knowledge, but cruelly misapplied.

 

[Nautibusiness]

Sarabande...
Each to their own, but running your boat engine and gently killing the planet with the pollution is fine.
Don't be such a hypocrit.

As it happens, I eat a lot of the fish I catch. I love eating Cod, Pollack, Bass, Turbot etc etc.

But, if I was to shoot a pheasant then it would die. The fish I release don't. They have a very fine piercing which heals in days. In fact the wound is far smaller than if they have eaten a spikey dinner like a Bass or Bream.

Ryan, for the record, all of the fish I looked at closely enough were female bar the only fish we had that was clearly under 30lb. We had one solitary male of about 20lb.

I'll need to check the video and photo (which Chris has on his camera) of the 50+, but I would be amazed if it was a male at that size.

Incidentally, none of them were in pup... but almost all female? Kind of raises the question of why they are there in such numbers.

 

[omega2]

Here we go!!

Tom, you may have left one biggotted forum but it looks like you've found another one, I have put a few up on here, not much interest, except from Andiemac and Drewstos. Do not trouble now. Happy to hear your up and running again, but my that took a long time. Aquabell.

 

[Nautibusiness]

Tom, you may have left one biggotted forum but it looks like you've found another one, I have put a few up on here, not much interest, except from Andiemac and Drewstos. Do not trouble now. Happy to hear your up and running again, but my that took a long time. Aquabell.

Hi Aquabell
Good to see / hear from you mate.

I've not taken any offence nor meant to give any to Sarabande. We are all entitled to an opinion. My own response was to point out that not everything is black and white and perhaps looking at ones own actions before pointing out perceived faults in someone elses may be appropriate.

I made the post on here as many boaters keep a rod in the lazarette. Even if they don't regard themselves as an angler many will enjoy catching a few mackerel for the bbq.
The video shows committed anglers rather than committed boaters having great fun aboard our boat and hopes to share another aspect of our floaty boaty hobbie.
It won't be to everyones cup of tea, but no Sharks were injured in the making of this film!

 

[PaulGooch]

Fishing for sport ? I'd classify that in the same category as people who shoot pheasants and don't eat them. Great skill and knowledge, but cruelly misapplied.

So you'd have been happy if they had killed and eaten them all ?

 

[PaulGooch]

Hi Paul

Yes, I was there on Quest II. She seems to be running very nicely with the new engine.
About 40 hours on the new one and apart from some minor teething problems she doesn't seem to have missed a beat.

<snip>

Tom

Good to hear she's up and running Tom.

 

[sarabande]

Oh NB, you have jumped to huge conclusions. I sail whenever possible, rather than motor; that is what I do on boats.

I fish. I eat what I fish.

I shoot. I eat what I shoot, unless it's deer involved in an RTA, or one that has been wounded for a while.

I do not subject a fish to a "very fine piercing", nor do I handle them with gaffs, nor do I abrade the outer protective dermal layer with tailers. Nor do I pull them out the water and prevent them breathing normally - even for a short time. Nor do I "fight" them.

The 'sport' in sport fishing is for your own pleasure at the expense of another living animal. Any bigotry is in the animosity with which you have answered my posting, and with the irrationality of defending gratuitous cruelty. I do not for one moment underestimate the skills that sport fishing requires, nor the pleasure that a successful catch gives a fisherman. The only intrinsically true purpose of catching fish can be to kill them quickly, and then eat them, as it is with any form of relationship between the human predator and the animal prey.

I kill about five or six times a week on average. I do it for food, to put an animal out of misery after an accident, to provide a balance when human beings have unbalanced the natural system. I try to do it efficiently and effectively; succeeding in those objectives is what gives me pleasure; pleasure in doing a job well and impersonally.

I hope you enjoy your fishing, but please let it be for higher purposes than a "fight", otherwise you are on par with whaling for research purposes.

 

[David of Essex]

Tom
Thanks for posting this fishing post which I find very of interesting. I have MF 925 and have just started to do some fishing, which is another reason to enjoy boating and the sea. What size rod would you recommend for boat fishing and do you wear a harness.?
Any tips or photos would be nice.
David

 

[Nautibusiness]

Tom
Thanks for posting this fishing post which I find very of interesting. I have MF 925 and have just started to do some fishing, which is another reason to enjoy boating and the sea. What size rod would you recommend for boat fishing and do you wear a harness.?
Any tips or photos would be nice.
David

Hi David

Nice choice of boat.
PaulGooch and Omega2 both fish around the general East and South East coast area. They will give you perfect tips on the tackle you need for your area as it really does vary tremendously on what we do in the English Channel.
I suspect you'll be best off with an uptide rod or long multi purpose boat rod, but ask these guys for advice.

For the record, I rarely wear a harness unless we are talking really BIG fish like big Marlin of Tuna.

For photo's you are very welcome to go and view my various folders in the Photo Gallery at my local clubs website.
http://www.pbsbac.co.uk
Click on Photo Gallery, then User Galleries and then hunt for my name.
I have several hundred pictures on there of boats, fish, fishing etc etc.

Good luck with getting started and "tight lines".

Tom

 

[Nautibusiness]

Oh NB, you have jumped to huge conclusions. I sail whenever possible, rather than motor; that is what I do on boats.

I fish. I eat what I fish.

I shoot. I eat what I shoot, unless it's deer involved in an RTA, or one that has been wounded for a while.

I do not subject a fish to a "very fine piercing", nor do I handle them with gaffs, nor do I abrade the outer protective dermal layer with tailers. Nor do I pull them out the water and prevent them breathing normally - even for a short time. Nor do I "fight" them.

The 'sport' in sport fishing is for your own pleasure at the expense of another living animal. Any bigotry is in the animosity with which you have answered my posting, and with the irrationality of defending gratuitous cruelty. I do not for one moment underestimate the skills that sport fishing requires, nor the pleasure that a successful catch gives a fisherman. The only intrinsically true purpose of catching fish can be to kill them quickly, and then eat them, as it is with any form of relationship between the human predator and the animal prey.

I kill about five or six times a week on average. I do it for food, to put an animal out of misery after an accident, to provide a balance when human beings have unbalanced the natural system. I try to do it efficiently and effectively; succeeding in those objectives is what gives me pleasure; pleasure in doing a job well and impersonally.

I hope you enjoy your fishing, but please let it be for higher purposes than a "fight", otherwise you are on par with whaling for research purposes.

Ever wondered why sail boats usually have five times the hours on their engines as us stinkies boats have?
I had spotted you were a WAFI, but thought my last sentence was common knowledge.

By the way, I would never gaff a fish I didn't intend on keeping to eat, possibly with the exception of a Common Skate and then only to keep it steady whilst preparing to release it.

Also very few fish I catch that I don't plan to keep will be brought into the boat unless there is a specific reason. I endeavour to release all specimen fish in the water using a T-bar. I couldn't say this happens with all my fish as some anglers want a photo or a quick weigh on the scales may be required for a competition, but the majority do not have to "breathe" air.

Your final statement is utterly ridiculous and shows no understanding of the human predator V animal prey scenario.
Whaling is pretty sick and cannot be compared. If you really have such a confused brain that you are trying to link Whaling with Angling then you must also be very upset with yourself when a fly squashes on your windscreen or you hit a mouse with your car.

On many many occasions we have returned a fish and recaught the exact same fish at a later date. This tells me it suffers little from the effects, especially if handled correctly.
On quite a few occasions we have returned a fish and caught it later that same day, in several we have recaught it moments (seconds on one occasion) after the first incident.
This suggests that whilst the fish may be a little confused by the whole experience it really hasn't been bothered to the point of suffering. I know when I am ill I certainly don't have much of an appetite! But then my thought processes and nervous system are a little more complex than that of a Tope...

 

[Nautibusiness]

Just for the record...

I thought this was a boating forum. A forum to discuss and share tips and information including the fun we have on our boats.

I didn't realise it was also a Greenpeace forum for demonising anyone that does anything we don't like on their boats.

I am sure that Greenpeace would be very welcome on here as they have a few boats too. I bet they could give some tips on collision avoidance etc, but if we really want an animal rights debate (cross that out, it should be a fish rights debate) then I feel sure that Greenpeace have a forum just for that.

 

[sarabande]

sorry, most acronyms I know but WAFI ?

Do sailboats "usually have five times the hours on their engines as us stinkies boats" ? It would be interesting to find the basis for that statement. Care to post it please ? Or retract it.

For your info, my most recent boat had 3430 hours on the engine after 31 years. A motor sailer to boot.

Go ahead and feel upset that I have challenged the cruelty aspect of sport fishing on the YBW forum. I didn't start the thread about fishing, and I am not feeling defensive about gaffing fish and then returning them. As for the debate on "do fish feel pain ?" it has been answered many times; probably the most definitive study was by the Royal Society in Science News - 30 Apr 2003 , when they concluded:-

"that pain produced profound behavioural and physiological changes in fish over a prolonged period of time, comparable to those in higher mammals".

As for your last sentence, you - and all of us - are here only because the shark superfamily has remarkable powers of resilience and powers of survival under conditions such as mass extinctions. I suspect the simple thought processes and nervous system of fish will long outlive us clever pipedal triploblasts.

 

[David of Essex]

Sarabande.
Thousands of fish are dumped on a daily basic from commercial fishing men due to EU quoter's.
The end result of all fish being returned to the sea are they are eaten by others to supply the food chain of the sea.
David

 

[Nautibusiness]

sorry, most acronyms I know but WAFI ?

YOU WOULDN'T LIKE IT...

Do sailboats "usually have five times the hours on their engines as us stinkies boats" ? It would be interesting to find the basis for that statement. Care to post it please ? Or retract it.

I SELL BOATS AND ALL YACHTS WITH ENGINES HAVE DAFT NUMBERS OF HOURS CONSIDERING THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SAIL AND NOT MOTOR.

For your info, my most recent boat had 3430 hours on the engine after 31 years. A motor sailer to boot.
THE AVERAGE MOBO USER WILL PUT 50 TO 100 HOURS PER YEAR ON THERE BOAT.
WELL DONE, AS A SAILOR YOU ONLY JUST FALL OUTSIDE A MOBO'S AVERAGE!

Go ahead and feel upset that I have challenged the cruelty aspect of sport fishing on the YBW forum. I didn't start the thread about fishing, and I am not feeling defensive about gaffing fish and then returning them.
NOT UPSET AT YOUR COMMENTS, BUT NOT SURE WHY YOU AREN'T POSTING THEM AT "GREENPEACERUS.COM" INSTEAD OF HERE.
AND ONCE AGAIN, I DON'T GAFF FISH I AM RETURNING.
As for the debate on "do fish feel pain ?" it has been answered many times; probably the most definitive study was by the Royal Society in Science News - 30 Apr 2003 , when they concluded:-

"that pain produced profound behavioural and physiological changes in fish over a prolonged period of time, comparable to those in higher mammals".

BLOCK OUT ONE EYE OF A HORSE AND IT MAY WELL GO IN CIRCLES.
PULL ON ONE SIDE AND IT DEFINITELY WILL.

PULL ON A FISH AND IT PULLS BACK, BE THAT BY THE TAIL OR BY THE MOUTH.
YOU CAN STEER IT TOO.
A SCIENTIFIC STUDY CONDUCTED BY SOMEONE WITH A VESTED INTEREST RATHER THAN BY PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY SEE THE FISH AND THERE RESPONSE EVERYDAY.... I'D BELIEVE THE FACTS RATHER THAN THE PROPAGANDA

As for your last sentence, you - and all of us - are here only because the shark superfamily has remarkable powers of resilience and powers of survival under conditions such as mass extinctions. I suspect the simple thought processes and nervous system of fish will long outlive us clever pipedal triploblasts.

I WOULD GUESS THAT WITH ZERO TRAINING AS AN ICTHYOLOGIST I WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE AS MUCH OR MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU ON THE LIFE AND HABITAT OF MOST FISH SPECIES FROM THE SEVERAL HUNDRED SHARK SPECIES THROUGH TO CEPHALOPODS. SO PLEASE DON'T TRY TO COME ACROSS ALL SUPERIOR, YOU MOST DEFINITELY ARE NOT.

YOU ARE BEGINNING TO BORE ME NOW SO ON THAT NOTE I SHALL NOT BOTHER RESPONDING TO ANYMORE OF YOUR SILLINESS, BUT THANKS FOR YOUR VALUED CONTRIBUTION TO THIS THREAD AND ALL THE OTHERS YOU HAVE HELPED WITH.

All in caps in the body of the quote...
Now where is the smiley that has the big Yawn. BORED!