Easy, free Fish & other food while living aboard

[liveaboardL]

What's the easiest way to catch some legal food while anchored in a saltwater river?

In March? In mud? 30' deep from the boat, or from a nearby shore? Water temps=54 degrees F. Murky water w/ lots of dolphins.

I've been wondering about this for a while. Oysters are usually illegal to harvest near any city, but probably would be the best bet if outside of a city anchorage.

Crab traps are rather pricey, & require some sort or bait, usually chicken, and I have no idea how many crabs would be caught per trap in March to know if it would be worth it. I read they don't bite much in winter.

It seems too cold for cast netting. I've never seen any fish in the water, but they're there. I don't know about throwing a castnet blindly into murky shallow waters. Might give it a try. The fishfinder says there are fish here. Dolphins are all over.

The fisherman's mousetrap seems like a worthwhile investment. Need to look more into that. $15 per trap & it hooks onto the fishing pole's line, so it should be as legal as pole-fishing, which is practically legal everywhere, since it's the most inefficient.

Flounder jigging at night seems like the best calorie meal for the time spent.

Sharks are becoming difficult to catch, due to their fin's value, which is increasing the ray population, which kills the clam & shellfish population.

Seems too cold to dive w/out a diving-suit, & then I'd need a spear-gun & goggles. Not certain if the other equipment would be required. Might be a good investment in the long run.

The things I've tried so far haven't caught nothing.

[pistarckle]

What part of the country ?

[a64pilot]

Murky water, forget shooting fish
I don't know where you are, but as a kid I used to catch all kinds of crabs all year round in the Fl. panhandle, more than one man could eat although it takes a lot of patience to get the meat out. Best traps were the rubber covered wire ones, haven't bought one in forever, but they were made out of chicken wire is all.
Cast net if there are Mullet and you know what your doing is awfully productive too. but it is a learned skill, not as simple as it looks
Flounder gigging we did at night on sand bars in shallow water with a Coleman lantern and a pie plate to keep the glare out of your eyes.
My experience if I had to eat, crab traps are the best bet for Fl. panhandle anyway

[Azul]

A nice crab trap is only $30 to purchase, or you can make one out of chicken wire (google directions.) Then get any fishing rod and attach a $2 Sabiki rig to the end, along with a small weight (a fishing tackle store will stock these and show you how,) drop the rig to the bottom and in about 10 seconds a little fish will bite that you can cut up and put in the crab pot. You will catch plenty of small fish along with the crabs.

If this method doesn't work, there just aren't any fish around. Where I live, it works all year except the two or three coldest months. In the summer I get about three stone crabs per day.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by pistarckle

What part of the country ?

Or more to the point - what country?


If it weren't for the water temp, I'd say barramundi or black bass together with mud crabs would definitely be on the menu.

[liveaboardL]

America, East Coast, cruisin & anchoring.
I've heard that the fisherman's mousetrap might work, a sabiki rig, popping cork, or a caroloina rig.
I've read that casting isn't anygood till september. Can you blind-cast into murky water & get fish? I'll find out.

[sparrowhawk1]

What is a fisherman's mouse trap?

[a64pilot]

I'm thinking if there are that many Dolphin around, there is probably mullet

[WebWench]

In my opinion, and this is what I do....I ask the locals, especially the fisherman...what is biting and what to use for bait. Sometimes you can even buy fish off of them.
We bought a crab trap last year and put scrap from the raw chicken (buy a whole one and cut it up yourself for meals, use the ecess skin, neckbone etc.) in the trap and in a day or two have enough crabs for dinner for the 3 of us.
Whatever you do...get a fishing license or it may end up costing you more than you think to eat fish.

[liveaboardL]

Its an auto-set device. $15. Hook it between the line & the runner. When it detects enough tension, it snaps the runner so the hook gets jammed in the fishes lip. Might be worth the money if it works. I haven't heard anyone talk about it, but I found it while doing a googlesearch to see if I could attach a mousetrap to the end of a fishing-line...

[sparrowhawk1]

Originally Posted by liveaboardL

Its an auto-set device. $15. Hook it between the line & the runner. When it detects enough tension, it snaps the runner so the hook gets jammed in the fishes lip. Might be worth the money if it works. I haven't heard anyone talk about it, but I found it while doing a googlesearch to see if I could attach a mousetrap to the end of a fishing-line...

Yes thanks there's a cool video on youtube about it. also about people using mouse traps for fishing I specially like the one where a fishing pole is bent and line is attached to the mouse trap when tension is put on the hook the mouse trap releases the pole setting the hook

[Cheechako]

just bait a hook with something fishy and put a line over maybe 2 ft off the bottom. See what turns up.

[fishin4bogey]

I second asking locals, and above all get a license. Here in Florida the fines are substantially larger than the cost of the license.

[a64pilot]

I know there isn't, but there ought to be a distinction between sport and subsistence fishing. Guess I could never be a cop

[Cheechako]

My universal lure for fresh and salt water is a silver spoon for casting. Not saying it's the best for everything but sayin there isnt much that wont taste it!