Fishing: starting with nothing and no experience

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

And, leave the fish out there for a bit, let it wear itself out fighting the boat. It's a lot easier to reel in a tired, barely alive fish.

Sent from my XT1080 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Unless of course you are in shark infested waters, then reel in quick as possible and hope you got something left.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

See the other thread. But for simplicity the bottom line is a cheap short stiff rod and good Penn reel work fine. 50+ lb line at least. Weighted Rubber squid are universally good in both oceans. I like to use a Stainless steel leader due to wahoo and barracuda cutting the line. I have caught most every type of fish out there on a rubber squid. I like blue/white or green/yellow. About 7-8" long squid.
I prefer a rod and reel to a handline. But have done both. You know immediately when you have a strike.

Couldn't attach this pic earlier so retrying now:

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

And, leave the fish out there for a bit, let it wear itself out fighting the boat. It's a lot easier to reel in a tired, barely alive fish.

Sent from my XT1080 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Yes. Don't stop, because that would allow the fish slack to the throw the hook and to tangle other lines. Depending on the fish, you may want to reel the other lines in.

Even when landing the fish, do NOT stop, just slow to about 4 knots. Without a rod to maintain tension, you need the forward motion. When the fish gets near the boat and does his final head shakes you really have to focus on keeping the slack out.

[Cheechako]

Yep. Never allow the tension on the line to go slack. It's the only way I've ever lost a fighting fish. They will often run toward the boat at some point, you need to take up the slack fast when that happens.

[sailingunity]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It sounds like the consensus is a basic fishing kit could consist of:

-Yoyo
-150lb test line
-Some rubber squids

I had figured it would be more complicated than this, glad to see it isn't!

[AmyA511]

Hey all, when we first started out a friend gave me a hand reel with a bungee cord on the line. Te bungee cord broke and I'd like to replace it since we use it to troll. Any suggestions for the best knot to use to attached the bungee to the cord at the reel end?

[demacsea]

One way of attaching a bungee cord snubber to a handline is shown at 'Handline Fishing Tips for Offshore Sailors'...

[AmyA511]

Originally Posted by demacsea

One way of attaching a bungee cord snubber to a handline is shown at 'Handline Fishing Tips for Offshore Sailors'...

THAT is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you!

[RedHerring]

Rubber squid on the surface works for tuna and the likes, but for, e.g., salmon - forget it. Deep-diving Rapala plugs work pretty well on all kinds of fish, including tuna. They are expensive and do catch a lot of salad. I wouldn't drag one on a handline though, 300lb with no drag would probably destroy it on the first hookup.

My rig ended up evolving into two rods and a teaser. One with a rubber squid on the surface, the other with either a diving plug or something like a heavy bucktail jig (with a piece of strip bait when I'm really eager to catch dinner). I'm not convinced that the teaser actually does anything useful, but it's impossible to disprove. Every professional fisherman I talked to thinks that they work, and dragging one is not much hassle at all.

[Cheechako]

I liked using a stout short pole. Kept losing fish with a bungee and hand line set up. The scream of a reel let's you know you have something. That way you can get it in before the 'cuda or sharks eat most of it.... maybe!

[a64pilot]

If a teaser is a pipe looking thing covered in mirrors, they do work. In particular they will bring fish up from deeper. I had one decades ago but can't find one now, do you have a source?

[UNCIVILIZED]

Gear wise, it's usually easy enough to find much of your kit 2nd hand in various nautical surplus shops. Ones for sailing equip, fishing gear, general outdoor gear ones, & even in pawn shops in seaside locales. I've snagged some nice rod & reel combo's over the years this way. Ditto on tackle, & lures, gaffs, etc. Even some nice new braided Spectra fishing line, still in it's original packaging.

[Kalimniosjohn]

I work on tugboats and troll regularly while offshore. I use a hand line consisting of 550 para cord and a heavy bungee at the base to absorb all the shock when the fish first hits. This helps keep hooks from tearing out. I have caught fish in the 60-80 lb range without any problems this way.

I attach all my lures to the para cord via a heavy ball bearing snap swivel. The snap swivel lets me change lures easily if they aren't producing. All my lures I keep rigged with a length of about 25ft of 1/16 stainless cable. This is because wahoo and barracuda are common and they easily cut mono. Lures are too expensive to loose this way.

As for finding fish, start anywhere there is bottom structure. Pinnacles, steep drops or reef edges are good. Farther offshore look for color or temp changes in the water as well as rips and weed lines. If you see birds diving near any of these things there is a good chance fish are nearby driving bait up.

Good luck

[Santana2]

we'll be cruising my boat offshore from WA State to San Diego all offshore. We will not be coming in to shore except in an emergency. We will be 3 miles plus offshore and maybe as much as 30 miles offshore. Do we need a fishing license? Thanks.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by AmyA511

THAT is exactly what I am looking for. Thank you!

The bungee is pure myth. You don't need it, and it does not help.

You have > 200 feet of 100-pound mon0 out. A big fish hits, say 30 pounds, and the bungee stretches 100%, about 2-3 feet. But the 200 feet of mono also stretches, about 30-50 feet. The bungee is nothing but a rounding error and only complicates the rig. There is no math nor any measured experience that can show that it helps. Sorry.

41 inches, 28 pounds, no bungee. I caught this one on a yo-yo.