Fishing from a small boat

[sailrepair]

At the request of Martin, here are the basics to getting started at fishing from your rib/sib.

There are basically 3 three methods to fish from a boat.

Anchoring -
You find a area where you think the fish might live and you anchor your boat there. Most sea fish live and feed near or on the bottom so you want to lower a baited hook to the bottom using a lead weight, sit back and wait for your rod tip to rattle about indicating a fish is eating your bait. The two main baits for use in the sea are marine worms (lugworm/ragworm both dig from a beach) or a oily fish bait such as mackerel. You need a rough idea of what fish might be in the area so that you can decide what bait is best and the size of the fish so you know what size of bait to use.

Common problems - Obviously there is a good chance the fish will live where there is most food for them which is often in areas that are the last place any normal person would want to anchor such as in the deepest water or strongest tide flow. Both of which will test your ability to anchor. Once anchored you need to ensure you use a heavy enough weight to keep your bait on the bottom, this may be as little as 2oz in a eastury or as much as 3lb if fishing very deep or fast running water.

Drifting
You find a general area where you think the fish might be and you let the boat drift along so you can cover a large area searching out the fish. Sounds easy and often is but small sibs etc have a tendency to drift too fast if there is much wind. If you are drifting over a sandy or mud bottom you can drag your bait along the bottom but if it is rocky your tackle will snag and the line will break. Things like mackerel feathers are popular. A string of small hooks act as lures with a weight at the bottom and you simply move them up and down constantly while drifting along. this is the ideal way to find some mackerel in the summer but can also work for cod etc over rocky ground.

Common problems - drifting too fast. If its windy you will drift too quickly to fish effectively. Keep aware of how far you have gone and that everything is still safe. Higher likely hood of snagging your tackle on rocks.

Trawling - Pulling a lure behind the boat. Fairly simple you want to be doing roughly 2 knts and pulling some sort of lure behind you. Another way to catch and find mackerel in the summer.

Common problems - obviously don't wrap your line round the prop. If you catch a bit of weed on your lure you won't catch any fish until you clear it off.

So those are the common techniques. The only thing left is to make sure you use the best bait for your local fish. Mackerel are a good summer starting point as all you need is a string of feathers with a weight at the bottom. Mackerel tend to like fast tides so are often found off headlands, mouths of estuaries etc. if you have access to sheltered water with a sandy or muddy bottom then anchoring and using small hooks baited with worms is a good way to catch flat fish. Once you have a few of those under your belt you can move on up to the more challenging fish such as bass, cod, dogfish etc.

So there are the basics. Please use this thread to ask any questions and other experienced fishermen can add their 2 pence worth. Techniques vary around the country and local advice is always best. But do remember we are fisherman so take everything with a pinch of salt. Which reminds me, I measured my Frib 330 the other day and did you know it is actually 7.5m long, 330 must refer to the width!

[Martin]

Excellent post John, Thankyou...
I'm currently measuring the afore mentioned craft

I'm a complete novice at sea fishing, but enjoying it all the same. I'm never likely to sit on a beach, shoreline or round a lake fishing, it'll always be out boating when i lob my tackle overboard

Can you give any info on what we're likely to catch and where, What fish at what depths, what times of the year...
What cooks up well, and what makes great soles for your shoes

Feel free to run away with the thread, and please, everyone else join in and make it an informative post for numpty's of the fumble fingered anglers scociety

[Paul]

it'll always be out boating when i lob my tackle overboard

Don't we all when nature calls

[sailrepair]

Ok, Standing to be corrected here are some common fish, where they live, what they eat and what they taste like

Mackerel - All round the UK in the summer, can be at any depth but often near the surface, mackerel feathers or spinners will catch them quite tasty , they are a mini tuna so bbq quite well.

Cod Around the North of England and Scotland all year, live close to the bottom, will eat most baits but worms are a good bet, fish near a rocky bottom. Cod and chips, do I need to say more.

Pollack and coalfish, simillar fish quite wide spread, they love kelp (seaweed) rough ground and strong tides so Maybe not the most boat friendly places . Will take lures and worms near the bottom. Members of the cod family but not quite as tasty.

Dogfish - wide spread up the whole west side of the country, will take any bait on the bottom. Also known as rock salmon but most people can't be bothered skinning them which you have to do.

Bass - Common in the south, small ones can be in shoals and easy to catch while the bigger ones are rare, can take any bait at any depth. Called "sea bass" in restaurants.

Dabs, flounder and other flatfish- everywhere, always on the bottom normally on a sandy or muddy bottom and worms are the best bait, mixed views on how good they are to eat.

There are loads more and hopefully others will contribute to the thread.

[Stray]

Drift fishing for Cod.

The easiest way to catch a cod on the North East coast in summer is to drift over rough ground, fishing artificial baits. The simplest method is fishing a Shad. Shads are soft plastic imitation fish that come in a range of shapes, colours and sizes. Just google shads to see what I mean.
For the inshore rough ground fishing, with water depths usually between 20ft and 70ft, I use 8 to 20lb class rods between 6ft and 8ft long. Either a small multipier or a medium sized spinning reel loaded with 20lb to 30lb line, (I use braid because it doesn't stretch), completes the setup.
The basic end tackle setup is very simple, just a link swivel attached to the main line to clip on the lead weight, and a trace tied onto the swivel with the shad at the other end.



The rig is lowered to the bottom and "jigged" up and down. Bites can be delicate little taps to violent rod nearly pulled out of your hands.
The art of jig fishing is to find out how the cod want the bait presented. All the parts of the setup are veriable, the length of the trace, the amount of lead needed to keep in contact with the bottom, the size, shape and colour of the shad and the jigging action. Jigging can be just bouncing the lead along the bottom, to raising the rod tip high in the air then dropping it down, also verying the speed of the jig can make a difference. Slowly winding in can be very effective, you will often feel the fish nipping at the tail of the shad, don't strike just keep reeling, when the fish finally takes the rod will arch over.

This type of fishing can be voracious on end tackle so be prepared for loses,



but the rewards are worth it.


NB.
My small tackle box usually contains a couple of dozen shads of various shapes and sizes, the same number of leads ranging from 2oz to 6oz, a rig wallet with pretied rigs (just have to attach shad and weight). Also spare line, swivels, hooks, scissors etc.

[Martin]

Brilliant stray, thankyou !!
Keep it coming guys, I feel I'm on a huge learning curve here and lust for more !!!!
In depth info such as above helps everyone. I've always been unsure of weights, so just bought a few to be going on with.

[Stray]

Pollack and coalfish, simillar fish quite wide spread, they love kelp (seaweed) rough ground and strong tides so Maybe not the most boat friendly places . Will take lures and worms near the bottom. Members of the cod family but not quite as tasty.

My wife prefers Pollock to Cod and loves ling.

Here's a local recipe for Coalfish, also known as "Billet" in the North Yorkshire.

1. Season Coalie Filets and leave over night in the fridge to firm up.
2. Wrap the 2 Coalie Fillets in a newspaper. Preferably The Whitby Gazette (To keep it local).
3. Cook in The Oven at 180 gas mark 8, for 22 minutes. Cook in a glass baking tray to avoid paper burning.
4. Remove from Oven and leave to cook through with residual heat for 5 minutes.
5. Unwrap the fish and throw it straight in the bin.
6. Season the newspaper further, then serve with a dash of lemon and some lovely Tartar sauce.

[Martin]

I fear the fishy tails are going to take over this educational thread

[Stray]

Wrasse recipe.

Place a house brick in a suitable sized pan, add a chopped red onion, bayleaf, peppercorns, small pinch of salt and a dash of lea n perrins...

place wrasse on top and just cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 min.


remove wrasse, onion, bayleaf and eat the brick.

[Paul]

Very informative this thread
This is what I love about this forum as the recipes are cracking me up