Sailing and Fishing

[jwil]

Hi everyone. Like the title says, "sailing and fishing" how many of y'all do it and what type of vessel are you doing it from? I have never been on a sailboat so have absolutely no experience in sailing. I have no intentions of buying a boat anytime soon but do plan on taking some sailing lessons and gain as much knowledge as possible before I do decide to purchase one. Eventually once I become confident in sailing I plan to buy a coastal cruiser for sailing within state waters off of the Texas coast and dropping anchor so I can wet a hook.

[ABfish]

I've caught a lot of Spanish mackerel and bluefish trolling from sailboats. Five to 7 knot trolling speeds are ideal for lots of species of fish, including bluewater types like mahi and tuna.

[SVRocinante]

I've limited experience trolling off our sailboat... Translation: have not caught a darn thing! That said, I have caught dinner on more than one occasion while at anchor, but at that point, it's not really "sailing and Fishing", it's just fishing

[Vasco]

Her's a mahi, caught in the Bahamas.

[belizesailor]

If you really want to learn about fishing from a cruising sailboat then here is a link to the ultimate text on this subject:

https://www.amazon.com/Cruisers-Hand.../dp/0071427880

There are also several existing threads here on CF so give them a search.

I fish a lot when we are cruising, and some when we are not.

Some catches while cruising:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xtdagqse77...elize.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1anwp5d1iv...10003.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mood3c36er...mage1.jpg?dl=0

[Cheechako]

Stout rod, heavy line (60-80#) weighted rubber squid maybe 8" long. You can catch all kinds of stuff.

[dcstrng]

We’ve fished from a few sailboats with spotty success… in truth, the sailboat was never the factor, just my lackadaisical attitude toward fishing in general… I’ve never trolled bait, but have trolled both surface lures of various configurations and deeper ones with planers… at least in coastal areas it helps to be aware of the bottom formations as you would with any fishing… the biggest issue with sailboat fishing is, if you are under pure sail, boating the fish… but have had a modicum of success over time with blues, mackerels of various sorts and strippers…

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by dcstrng

...… I’ve never trolled bait, but have trolled both surface lures of various configurations and deeper ones with planers…
…

Properly rigged live bait is almost always more productive. Even rigged dead bait is often more productive than artificial.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by dcstrng

We’ve fished from a few sailboats with spotty success… in truth, the sailboat was never the factor, just my lackadaisical attitude toward fishing in general… I’ve never trolled bait, but have trolled both surface lures of various configurations and deeper ones with planers… at least in coastal areas it helps to be aware of the bottom formations as you would with any fishing… the biggest issue with sailboat fishing is, if you are under pure sail, boating the fish… but have had a modicum of success over time with blues, mackerels of various sorts and strippers…

That's my mode, "throw it over and wait until something gets caught"... works for me. The bait vs lure debate goes on forever.
I started using a reel and rod because I would lose fish to barracuda or sharks as they were dragging along back there on the hook. With a reel, when a fish hits it makes a lot of noise immediately.
Fishing for King Salmon in Canada, I insisted on using herring. The others in our group of 4 boats were all using lures. It wasnt long before I switched after a day+, as they were all catching more fish than me. And I was spending a lot of time not in the water rebaiting.

[Eleuthera 2014]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Stout rod, heavy line (60-80#) weighted rubber squid maybe 8" long. You can catch all kinds of stuff.

WOW!!! Biggest Mahi I've ever laid eyes upon. Must be 20 kg (45 lbs) Remember to freeze it if serving as sashimi...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Eleuthera 2014

WOW!!! Biggest Mahi I've ever laid eyes upon. Must be 20 kg (45 lbs) Remember to freeze it if serving as sashimi...

Yeah, that was a big old hog for sure. Tasty. I fileted it on the galley counter of the catamaran and had sushi for a couple days. The rest was frozen for cooking. Good thing I had a long counter!
I have caught one bigger though. Best sushi I had was a big eye tuna though. Very oily for tuna. man that was tasty. I guess it rivals Bluefin.

[nautical62]

The issue I see in fishing from a sailboat at anchor is that one usually wants to anchor where the bottom is fairly barren and not the best fish habitat, as well as being a bit farther from shore and deeper than one may wish.

That said I have caught a few fish from an anchored boat, especially if in a cut with a current.

[Cheechako]

Yeah, anchorages may not be good. Kids love catching Grunts etc at anchor though.

[atoll]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6X92PzMBSg

[zeehag]

i use no rod nor reel , i fish mexican style using my rig and a slipknot to show the fish is on. works great. i am not sporty fishing i am dinner fishing, a huge difference. when using pole and reel, i broke 3 poles. oopsy. lost lures and fish. hand line with hand over hand retrieval is functional for dinner fishing. is especially functional with ketch rig.. hitch the line onto mizzen shrouds and use a separate slip knot and ignore it until the slip knot slips. then ye have dinner.