Trolling for fish in blue water

[rotrax]

Mmmmm they look like they have the potential to be decidedly dodgy.........what happens if the line goes off the 'inboard' side of the reel around your wrist etc?

You have that potential hazard with any handline, or, as I saw on a Florida Party Fishing Boat, with a rod and reel.

A newbie to fishing left the large multiplying reel out of gear and got line around his feet.

I have a six inch cuban yo-yo and have used it safely for years.

 

[Neeves]

Lots of really good advise on this thread.

We picked up two game fishing rods and reels from a house hold garbage collection .

We use Dyneema braided line and wire traces. Almost any brightly coloured lure. We have a short section of domestic 40mm plastic piping attached to a stanchion, that we can see from both the helm and through the galley windows into which we drop the rod, also independently secured. We trawl at 2-4 waves back, depends on the size of the seas. We catch tuna, dolphin fish (aka Mahi mahi) and Spanish Mackerel. We once caught a small sword fish - but it got away - and wo would have let it go anyway - we fish to eat, not sport. Our transoms are huge, about 1m long and only 30mm above the water levels - so I sit on one of the rear steps and land onto the transom (suitably attached with harness and tether). Once on the transom the fish are more easily managed. I have a chopping board also tied on and cut the backbone immediately behind the head. We then secure the tail and bleed suspended in the water. I clean from the same location - so any mess is constantly swept into the sea by following waves. Josephine then fillets and the flesh goes into the deep freeze. If we are to anchor for longer than overnight Josephine will make fish soup with the carcass. Our deep freeze is quite big but a whole fish is difficult to accomodate - its easier if you fillet.

We also catch baracouta but they are impossible to eat being so bony. We keep them in the freezer, if we have room, and use them for bait for the crayfish trap. We would keep any fish heads for the same application.

In the tidal and navigable Tasmanian rivers we catch freshwater eel, which are a different kettle of fish , They are boneless, only a central backbone and are stunningly edible. They are not so difficult to catch but a devil to land and even more difficult to clean (being so slimy), any rod will do but you need dyneema.

Its well worth cooking fish before you leave so that you can develop a cross section of recipes and, more importantly, have the ingredients. Fried tuna does get tedious as do steamed crayfish. You really need to have a devoted cook interested in the challenges to make the most of fish as a regular part of the diet.

Jonathan

 

[shan]

I watched this video before and thought it was a good approach…

Good video but he needs to learn how to fillet a fish. Enormous amount of wastage.

 

[shan]

Good fishing video - (not blue water trolling).. A good example of how to fillet Mahi Mahi. A pity they didn't bleed it though and the grill they cooked it on could have been hotter.

 

[rotrax]

Good fishing video - (not blue water trolling).. A good example of how to fillet Mahi Mahi. A pity they didn't bleed it though and the grill they cooked it on could have been hotter.

That Bull Mahi Mahi is called Warren.


Warren ugly barstard......................................................................

 

[Kelpie]

I've just bitten the bullet and bought some fishing gear.
Never really fished before, other than a few mackerel feathers. But I was a fish farmer for several years ago I know a thing or two about what to do with a fish once you've caught it ?.
Somebody gave me a couple of rods and reels. I took one in to the tackle shop here in Almerimar and the very friendly lady there, who spoke no English, sorted me out with some 50lb braided PE line (2*100m reels) plus a couple of lures on 0.77mm transparent monofilament. The lures are all tied up together, maybe to look like one is chasing the other?

No idea if this gear is going to work, but the size looks about right for catching something manageable.

Should I just troll each lure separately?

 

[Pete7]

The lures are all tied up together, maybe to look like one is chasing the other?

No idea if this gear is going to work, but the size looks about right for catching something manageable.

Should I just troll each lure separately?

Got a photo? preferably with something in it we can judge size?

 

[Kelpie]

One lure is a wee frilly squid, the other more like a fish. Both about 12cm long.

 

[Pete7]

One lure is a wee frilly squid, the other more like a fish. Both about 12cm long.

Ok, its when you said they are all joined together that confused me. Or is it just the way they are packaged?

 

[Kelpie]

Ok, its when you said they are all joined together that confused me. Or is it just the way they are packaged?

I seem unable to upload a photo just now for some reason.
The two lures are on a kind of bridle, set up so that the fishy one is trailing after the squiddy one. I was thinking of separating them, seeing as I have two rods anyway.
In my broken Spanish I wasn't really able to be very exact about what I was trying to do. I've come away with 200m of line which seems an awful lot. I was reading in this thread about trolling at the end of my wake. Presumably I can just put 100m on each reel?

 

[Stingo]

Your reel will have a few numbers on it describing the ideal thickness of the line and the max length of line for that reel.

Next, lets say you have 100 metres of line on that reel: As you indicated, the lure sits in your wake/bubbles of your wake approx 10 metres behind your boat. The other 90 metres is there for fighting the fish i.e. let it run, bring it in, repeat several times to tire the fish out.

Always keep a little pressure on the line so that mr fishy cannot shake the hook out of his mouth

 

[Stingo]

As we prepare for our Atlantic Crossing and Sailing in the car, we are thinking about our fishing capabilities. Has anyone had any experience of trolling for fish in blue waters? The advice I’m getting is that ideally one need a boat rod and a rather expensive multiplier reel. I appreciate it’s possible to troll with a hand line, but I hear you lose a lot of fish and it’s hard work trying to real them . The idea of the rod was the it takes a lot of the shocks and allows you to mount a proper multiplyer reel. However the reels that are recommended when I do a Google search are rather expensive. I appreciate you need a reel with a bigger capacity for lots of quite heavy weight line but which sort and make of reel is adequate rather than ‘best’. Any other tips?

Now that you're in Africa, we're all (well, certainly me) are dying to know if you caught any fish?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Now that you're in Africa, we're all (well, certainly me) are dying to know if you caught any fish?

Not yet!

 

[Wandering Star]

He’s waiting until a crowd of 5000 have gathered and then going to land his first fish to test a theory he has.

 

[phanakapan]

Nothing new to add, just a couple more pictures.

 

[Kelpie]

Well we are now chugging along at 5kt, trailing the pair of lures.
They seem very close to the surface. Should I weight the line?

 

[Stingo]

No. The theory is that the lure breaking the surface looks like a fish trying to escape

 

[Kelpie]

No. The theory is that the lure breaking the surface looks like a fish trying to escape

Ok, just a bit worried about catching a seagull!

 

[geem]

One lure is a wee frilly squid, the other more like a fish. Both about 12cm long.

Bear in mind you will likely lose gear, cheap bag of squids is cost effective. Your line is way under sized. 200lb monofilament line or 100kg if you prefer. You need to fit the squid to a 10 ft length of line with a swivel. Fish don't see the line but they see swivels.

 

[Kelpie]

An update and a couple of questions.
We caught three fish on our way to the Canaries. The fish-chasing-a-squid setup certainly seems to work. First strike we got a mahi-mahi on each lure, and the next day we got a Bonito on the furthest aft lure. Very happy!

As originally set up there was no swivel before the first lure. Both the mono leader and the braided line have suffered some damage as a result, so we stopped fishing after we caught the Bonito.

I've been struggling to find heavy enough line here. Best I could get was some 1mm 46kg mono to make new leaders. I've also got a pack of 47kg swivels, and a whole bunch of fairly small lures.

What's a good length of leader to use? I'm guessing if it's too long it will stop me winding all the way in. So a rod length?? Or two rod lengths and hope it doesn't get caught in the eyes on the rod?

I've got heaps of the mono line so I could also just ditch the braided stuff entirely. But presumably I still need to put the swivel somewhere.