Fisher of Fish ??s

[Neil Gordon]

Now if only Steve had passed through Provincetown with a boat load of fresh tuna stakes while LIQUIDITY was moored there.

[Jim Walsh]

Both are cool pictures. A great striper and a great bluefin tuna!

[Jim Walsh]

If anyone knows what this fish is, please let me know. I keep going back between marlin and swordfish.

Definitely not a swordfish. Definitely a marlin, most likely a white marlin but the photo makes a positive identification difficult. Sub-adult marlin are not easy to identify.

[tjr818]

Was that first one really wearing sunglasses?

[Steve Laume]

I think this is what we need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfNDG_tr6Kg

[barfwinkle]

Steve funny you should post that vid! I have a friendwho is out sailing and he has two HUGE Penn reals (cantalope size) with battery leads on them. Now that a bit much if kyou ask me, and you didn/t!

Fair winds and TIA for the comments.

[Neil Gordon]

Steve funny you should post that vid! I have a friendwho is out sailing and he has two HUGE Penn reals (cantalope size) with battery leads on them. Now that a bit much if kyou ask me, and you didn/t!

Fair winds and TIA for the comments.

I suppose if your boat is small enough you could get double duty and use one to retrieve your anchor.

[Steve Laume]

If you are fishing while cruising, you can't utilize a very big fish.

I looked into getting a bigger outfit just to go out and fish. Even for a used tuna rig, you get into some major money pretty quickly. That is for a non motorized Penn International 300 and appropriate rod. I suppose you could catch bigger fish and handle smaller ones with much less effort but it wouldn't be worth having a rig like that for general use.

If you are cruising, it might be fun to land a big fish with a rod and reel but you are just going to throw it back in. Anything over ten pounds is not a keeper. Even at that you are going to be eating a lot of fish till it is gone. I think I ate Striped Bass for a week on one trip.

After I caught those two bill fish I hooked something else (probably a large tuna) that just spooled me out and broke the line. I lost a nice lure in the process but luckily had the line break at the leader. At that point I just gave up fishing because it was a huge waste of time and energy. That was on my outbound trip to Bermuda and I never did catch an eating fish.

Unless you feel you have the time and just want to have fun catching something big, I don't feel you need a very large outfit for fishing while cruising. The hand lines don't look like any fun at all. One of the advantages of a reel is that you can set the clicker so you have signal that a fish is on. When you hear that clicker screaming away, while down in the cabin, you know it is time to get up there and get to work.

I was sailing down Buzzards Bay a few years ago with the spinnaker flying on a glorious day. I was up by the mast with the vane set and another boat went by, yelling and pointing towards my stern. I was towing a nice Blue Fish. I waved and went back to reel it in for dinner. I guess that one wasn't big enough to take line or I didn't hear it from the mast.

I wonder how many fish you would be dragging around until the sharks ate them with one of those yo yo rigs. You would probably lose a bunch more because they ripped right off or were easily able to get some slack in the line. The yo yo rigs are very simple but don't seem as effective as a rod and reel, Steve.

[Oswego John]

I was born and raised on salt water but now I suppose it is safe to say that I'm landlocked.

I have always used saltwater gear which can also be used safely in fresh water. I don't advise using sweet water gear in salt water.

I am a moderate tree hugger. I have thrown countless small fish back to be caught another day. I caught what I needed and ate what I caught. Most fish are cannibalistic. Cleaned fish skin and entrails are excellant for chum and bait.

Speaking of fish, to me size matters. I think that any fish that is keeper size, the younger the fish, the sweeter it is. I would much prefer eating a snapper than a snapper blue. A snapper blue is tastier than a small blue fish. As the blue fish grows, the oilier it becomes and the gamier the taste. You have to cut the black meat out before cooking it.

The same goes for stripers. I'd much rather eat a small school striper filet than have to cut steaks out of a big, old cow striper This also goes for keeper size flounder and fluke than doormats.

Not always, but many times I have taken fish with natural bait like sandworms, bloodworms, nightcrawlers and p*** clams when others drew a blank with their $4 and $5 super duper lures. I must confess that I'm a believer in surgical tubing that is split on one end.

Come on Springtime,

O J
PS: I love red snapper.

[Sea Hunt Video]

GE to All

So if I were to consider going after fish for an evening meal(s) what tools woud I need? I have fished extensively at a younger age (fresh water) and I do not intend to use a "Big Rig" (rod & reel) so I'll be using a hand line. I have seen line on a kind of "kite reel" but don't know what size line to use (I assume I'll need steel leaders of some? lenght?) and some lures but I have never sought salt water scalies, so any advice would be appreciated.

I do know that not all saltwater fishies are good to eat, so I'll work on that, but just need advise on equipment.

Hope to depart Pensacola on or abt March 1.

Fair Winds & TIA

Bill:

I am not sure where you are at with your sailing plans and fishing. The Sep 2015 issue of Practical Sailor has an excellent article on a simple fishing system ("yo yo") that I referenced earlier in this thread. It gives recommendations of spool size, line weight, lures, etc. Very informative. One of its benefits is its compact size.

Fish on

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Bill,

If you change your mind and opt for a rod, get a "boat rod". Boat rods can be had at 6-feet long or less. You can store a 6' rod down below suspended from the headliner, off to the side and out of the way, when not in use.

Take a look at the Penn boat rods, in particular the Mariners. The Penn Mariner MODEL # MB1025S56 is only 5' 6" long:
http://www.pennfishing.com/penn-rods-sp ... ml#start=1


-Cathy

[Bristol14]

Last year I tried bottomfishing from my Ty in Buzzard's Bay and caught a bunch of black bass and a decent-sized flounder. This year I decided to try trolling with either my 4 hp outboard or while sailing.

The fishing while sailing attempts went ok and I caught a couple of black bass but I wound it catching my sail with a treble hook which convinced me to stick with either using the outboard for trolling or drift fishing. As long as I don't get too aggressive chasing the birds following baitfish near shore this has worked well and I've caught a bunch of bluefish and bass.