Do you fish while cruising?

[frankstar]

If we have the ability we fish. We often look for new lures at https://easylures.com/ before buying and test them. It's like a sport interest. Who can catch more will be a winner and others will pay the next cruise. But it's only if we fish while cruising).

[slug]

Originally Posted by SVRocinante

Mackerel & Calamari caught off Rocinante while in Provincetown, MA.
Broiled, Fried & made into a Portuguese style stew!

I realize a lot of folks simply consider these bait, but they are delicious!

Question, for those of you with teak decks... how do you handle the blood, fish goo, etc.? I jumped through hoops to keep these little guys from getting all over the place, don’t know what I would do with a “real” fish!

I have no idea how to defend against an angry squid blowing ink all over the place

And Nothing wrong with calamari ....Tasty buggers when grilled
Sepia are always hiding around the sea walls and rocks ... jig em and stand back , they blow ink like crazy

Tuna , mackerel and the other oily fish are best left in the sea or if you must keep , chop Into chunks , tie a string to a chunk and use it two catch blue crabs ... at least a bucket full ... heave the females back , they taste bad

If youre lucky enough to be catching flounder , flatfish ...you will have very many friends

If you are Walking on the beach , see some squirts erupting from the wet sand.... mine some New England soft shell clams , you have struck gold
The best clams in the world

Keep a long handle dip net handy in your tender.... bay scallops are very tasty

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by slug

I have no idea how to defend against an angry squid blowing ink all over the place

And Nothing wrong with calamari ....Tasty buggers when grilled
Sepia are always hiding around the sea walls and rocks ... jig em and stand back , they blow ink like crazy

Tuna , mackerel and the other oily fish are best left in the sea or if you must keep , chop Into chunks , tie a string to a chunk and use it two catch blue crabs ... at least a bucket full ... heave the females back , they taste bad

If youre lucky enough to be catching flounder , flatfish ...you will have very many friends

If you are Walking on the beach , see some squirts erupting from the wet sand.... mine some New England soft shell clams , you have struck gold
The best clams in the world

Keep a long handle dip net handy in your tender.... bay scallops are very tasty

If you're throwing tuna back, but eating soft shell clams....What is a blue crab??? Dungeness or nothing for me

[Michael Cobbe]

I used fish on every passage. Be aware that diffferent fish take different coloured lures. Sailing to Gibralter I had two rods out one had a red and white lure the other yellow and blue.The mackerel went for the yellow blue one.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

If you're throwing tuna back, but eating soft shell clams....What is a blue crab??? Dungeness or nothing for me

Dungeness are good and found on the NW Pacific side while IMO the blue crabs are sweeter. They are found throughout the warmer waters of the Atlantic and Caribbean basin.
Just depends where you are and need to work w/what's available for the types of fresh seafood. It's a hardship, but someone has to do it....

[MicHughV]

there is "fishing" and there is "catching"......two entirely different things...
"fishing" is throwing something off the back of your boat and hoping for the best and making do with whatever ends up on the hook....
"catching" is a methodical way to go about it. This requires a knowledge of the fish you are targeting, the correct rod and reel, the correct line, the correct lures, bait, the correct distance behind the boat, etc....
I "fished" for years until I had the good fortune to meet a true fisherman, who took the time to teach me the difference between "fishing" and "catching"....and the end results were staggeringly different from my puny prior efforts.

There are books a-plenty about this subject, but nothing beats a true fisherman showing the way.

[MicHughV]

can't finish this without also commenting on the fact that bringing a big fish onboard a boat will likely require a gaff...this brings with it a whole new set of issues to deal with...
and then there is the mess to clean up...

[George_SD]

Fishing while cruising is :

1) easy
2) fun and entertaining
3) good supplement of fresh fish to the regular food selection

We set a couple of rods trolling rapalas, Taddy, or anything else we can think of.

[MikeFergie]

https://youtu.be/ywBCj3m1BrA

This was a busy trip !

[wholybee]

I usually fish whenever the conditions are such that I would be able to easily land it, provided I have room in my freezer. I would average a fish every 3-4 days while a line is out, so on a long passage (20 days) I would fill the freezer, and have fish for the whole trip.

I go for simplicity. A handline, 300lb test, with a shockcord snubber. I have a variety of lures, they all seem to work, but the blue squid is my goto. I don't usually put out two lines, as it results in two fish at the same time, even if I use 2 different lures.

I am not able to land a fish from the stern of my boat, so I tie the lines forward, and pull the fish along side. I cleat the line with the fish still in the water, then gaff it. It took me a while to perfect it, but I now easily do it singlehanded.

[Dpackie]

Reviving this thread to ask specific questions on Fly Fishing. My Dad and I got into it when he sold his Boat. I live in Vermont, I fly fish for trout and bass. I have fly fished for Striped Bass in Maine coastal waters, and once you understand the fish, it's productive. While I don't really have the itch to stalk Bonefish or Permit on the flats of Belize for hours and hours, I do plan to bring a couple rods on the boat. I have a couple of big-guns, 10 and 12 wt Spey rods, and one 8 wt single handed rod. Hoping I can target some fish while on the hook, or in the surf. Spey casting off the stern of a sailboat or from the beach is actually really easy. Actually much easier than trying to find to room for a back cast or proper D Loop on the bank of a Salmon river flowing through the thick forest of Northern Quebec. I'm curious about what is abundant, eats good, and will take a fly in the common cruising grounds of the southeastern US and beyond.

Sailing as a kid we had a hand line out all the time and were successful pretty often. I don't see a reason for a rod to troll from the boat.