Fishtales

[KJ]

Inquiry:*** Do you fish off the back of your boat when cruising?

What kind of rig do you use?

And --*God help me for asking this -- what's the biggest fish you've caught on your boat? (gotta have a photo)

KJ

ps do you cookem' on board?


*


-- Edited by KJ on Sunday 2nd of October 2011 08:56:22 AM

 

[KJ]

I thought the folks in the PNW dropped a line over and pulled a salmon in once in a while, or the guys in the South east would catch a Dorado occassionally.*

I see the charter sportfishers use mostly level wind gear,*but was wondering if a level wind reel or a closed face heavy spinning system works better for cruisers.*** KJ

*

 

[FlyWright]

I cruise to a fishing location in the CA Delta, then I fish. I don't actually fish while I cruise.

Here's a pic of my lifetime record. It's a 90 inch, approx 220 lb white sturgeon. I haven't cooked any fish on board yet, but I'd grill one up in a hurry if I had a fish and was hungry at the same time.

All my reels are level wind.

You give me an idea, though. Maybe I should rig a plastic lure to drag along as I cruise at 8 kts...hmmmmmm...


-- Edited by FlyWright on Sunday 2nd of October 2011 06:38:26 PM

 

[KJ]

The Delta is such a cool place to cruise. We used to go down to Frank's Tract for stripers and catfish. My buddy entered the Sturgeon Derby last year out of Bay Point (just west of Anticoh). Good stuff.* KJ

 

[belizebill]

I Always have a line out, Shimano TLD30s, most of the time two, but sometimes three, Looking for Dohlfin,Wahoo,Marlin, Tuna, and running closer to the reef with a down rigger for Grouper and King fish. I use planers sometimes to avoid the hassle of the down rigger. Im allways fishing. The old girl runs at perfect trolling speed, Its just one of the reasons I picked a Trawler. BB

 

[skipperdude]

I do fish while crusing. There are places along the way that I know will hold fish. I often slow and troll by a hot spot or two.

I also stop and fish a few pinicles on the high or low tide Usually just a 30 min stop.

I use spinning reels for salmon and Penn 33o GTI levelwind for the Halibut,Ling cod *and rock fish. I use* electramate electric winder's for the penn reels so I can fish in depths up to 600 ft with a pound of lead on the line and still reel in and not take all day doing it.

I'm not a trophy keeper at all. I eat everything I catch and always, always cook fish on board every time I go out. If it's not fin fish it's shell fish I'm just fortunate to live where there truly is a bounty from the sea.* I need to say I have eaten some pretty strange fish.

This one we didn't cook on the boat but did have it smoked. The best smoked wolf eel I ever had.

If I catch a cod I usually make a fishermans Brewis. It is a triditional From dish Newfoundland* made from hard tac*cod and salt pork.

SD

*

 

[FlyWright]

Our annual Rio Vista Striper-Sturgeon (& Salmon) Derby is next weekend. Lots of guys have great fun at those derbies. I prefer a more relaxed, less competitive approach to fishing.

Franks Tract is just a stone's throw from my marina on the Delta Loop. I love catching stripers near there.

 

[Edelweiss]

Can't say we fish while cruising. *But we stop long enough to catch a nice meal every so often. *These Lingcod make very good eating. *The 48" Lingcod on the left is not a keeper. *Anything this large are females and must be returned the sound unharmed. *The other two are 32" and 34" respectively.*

 

[Marin]

KJ wrote:
Inquiry:*** Do you fish off the back of your boat when cruising?

What kind of rig do you use?

And --*God help me for asking this -- what's the biggest fish you've caught on your boat? (gotta have a photo)

*The answer is.... it depends on which boat we're talking about.* The Grand Banks is next to useless for the kind of fishing we do.* It's too fast even at dead idle on one engine for trolling for kings, and it's too big and cumbersome for fishing in the narrow inlets and passes where we fish for halibut.* Plus we don't want to be idling the engines all day, trolling or bottom fishing.* Also the GB has too high a freeboard for halibut fishing.

If we're talking our Arima (which I know is not the kind of boat your inquiry is about), yes, we fish off the back because that's why we bought it.

In terms of gear, we use Penn salt water reels exclusively.* For salmon we use graphite level-wind reels. However I learned a long time ago fishing in Hawaii for mahi mahi, ahi (yellowfin tuna), marlin, and ono (wahoo) that level wind is not a good feature for a game-fish reel, and while a halibut is not really what I consider a game-fish, they are extremely strong and can take out line very fast.* So our halibut reels do not have level-wind mechanisms on them.* We level the line with our thumbs as we reel the line in.

We use 30 lb mono on our salmon reels.* For decades we used 80 lb dacron braided line on our halibut reels.* The Penn Senator I use for halibut is still rigged with 80 lb dacron but earlier this year I loaded the other big Penn reel with PowerPro Spectra braided line.* This stuff has a square cross-section and is very thin for the weight.* In fact it's not something you want to have run over your boat's gunwale under high tension as it will cut through the gelcoat.* So it would be better on a level-wind reel than a manual leveling reel.

We typically fish for halibut in 150 to 300 feet of water so having a line with no stretch is a must. Ealier this year on our annual halibut trip up the north end of Vancouver Island I used my usual Penn Senator while my friend from France used the reel with the PowerPro line.* A couple of time we switched off and I was impressed with the bottom feel returned up 200-300 feet of the PowerPro line.

Sorry, no photos of fishing or fish from the GB, but here are a couple from the Arima.* I do fish from the GB's dinghy in protected waters.* There is very good ling cod fishing near the island where we have property in the San Juans--- third photo is of one I caught last year. I use a smaller version of the rod and reel I use for halibut and the same bait rig.

Fourth photo is our 1987 Arima and the last photo is the kind of waters we fish in for halibut and salmon.* The GB just wouldn't work for this.* If for no other reason than some of our fishing spots are twenty miles or more away from our base.* Not a time issue at 30 mph but it would be at 8 knots.* Add in the swift currents and tons of rocks and reefs and you need a fairly nimble boat to fish this area effectively.





-- Edited by Marin on Monday 3rd of October 2011 12:37:34 PM

 

[Larry M]

We have lines in the water most of the time with 2-50lb stand up*rods while*under way.* When at anchor we use a spinning rod with 10lb test off the boat and when dinghy fishing we use 25lb on 6.5' med action rods.* I've always said, "fishing is the most exciting thing you can do with your clothes on".* Sometimes I'm amazed that you can still feed your self when cruising.* We use barb-less hooks for*it's easier remove hooks from ones self and to release the fish (all bill fish are*released).

 

[Conrad]

skipperdude wrote:
*

If I catch a cod I usually make a fishermans Brewis. It is a triditional From dish Newfoundland* made from hard tac*cod and salt pork.

SD

*

*Wow - Fishermen's Brewis! Had some of that with Scrunchions and Cod Cheeks during a stay in Newfoundland years ago. Very different, but very good! Didn't think it would be served on the west coast though.

 

[Codger2]

We fish off other people's boats. Our success rate is much higher and we don't have to clean the boat at the end of the day. :biggrin:

Eric:

We stayed one night in your dad's old house in Angoon.

*





-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Monday 3rd of October 2011 01:38:38 PM

 

[skipperdude]

Conrad wrote:skipperdude wrote:
*

If I catch a cod I usually make a fishermans Brewis. It is a triditional From dish Newfoundland* made from hard tac*cod and salt pork.

SD

*

*Wow - Fishermen's Brewis! Had some of that with Scrunchions and Cod Cheeks during a stay in Newfoundland years ago. Very different, but very good! Didn't think it would be served on the west coast though.

*Yes.* I grew up on it. Haven't been able to find salt cod but the fresh works just as good.

I usually keep Sailor Boy pilot bread on the boat. Keeps forever as does the salt pork.

Them's the scrunchions. Diced up and fried out salt pork or fat back.

Very cool you've been to the rock.

SD

 

[Per]

not while underway but otherwise yes.
just yesterday caught halibut, stingray and raybat (or guitar fish) from the back of the boat.
i like to use a sal****er version of a spinning reel (shimano), i have 3 different spools for it, each loaded up with different size line ranging from 10lb to 25 lbs.

 

[Tidahapah]

I use the boat for fishing all the time. Go away on fishing trips with the boys a couple of times a year for 2 weeks at time (out to the Great Barrier Reef) and the Boss and I fish all the time whilst we are cruising.
On the boat fish is a staple part of our diet
I troll for all the surface fish when we are travelling, 8 knots is a terrific speed for Wahoo, Spanish Mackerel (King), Tuna, Sails, Black Marlin, Dolphin Fish etc.
Never use level wind reels as they are to prone to failure under pressure.
Salt Water Fly fishing is a passion (addiction) so I fish the beaches and creeks wherever we anchor.

I have attached a few photos of cruising caught fish and fishing trip fish and one of the good Doctor doing a stich up job on one of the Boys who got his heel in the way of a Spaniards sharp teeth.

 

[Marin]

Benn--- We trolled at about 6-10 knots in the open ocean in Hawaii for the gamefish we were after there. However that kind of speed is too fast for salmon, particularly kings (chinook). It can work in some situations on or near the surface for silvers in some places. Up around Quadra Island in BC is one place I know of where at certain times of the year fast-trolling a big fly on the surface can be very effective for silvers. But downrigger fishing for kings is a slow game--- one to three knots at best. And a boat like a GB just isn't set up for that sort of thing in my opinion.

What kind of fish is in your last photo?

 

[Giggitoni]

...and what took a bite out of it?

 

[Tidahapah]

What we call a Red Emperor one of the Lutjanus family.
I rate them the best eating fish on the reef others prefer the Coral Trout. You can allways be sure the tax collector
will turn up to get his percentage.
The sharks can be a bit of a problem at times but at least they leave enough for the night time BBQ.

 

[RCook]

We fish while cruising BC and SE ALaska, and have fresh seafood on board 90% of the time.* Some pics:

Cindy fighting her first halibut on a salmon rod

Cindy's halibut

A couple of nice Coho's

A nice King

Fillets

Dungeness crab

Spot Prawns

Pacific Cod

And the biggest so far:* a halibut we brought alongside to measure before releasing.* It was 6-6.5 feet, or somewhere between 190 and 270 lb.

*

*


-- Edited by RCook on Tuesday 4th of October 2011 08:25:04 AM

 

[Per]

Rcook:
that butts is plenty amazing..
i figure its mouth must have looked like that of a good size dog.
do you use a metal leader for fishing butts?

 

[Marin]

Per wrote:
do you use a metal leader for fishing butts?

FWIW I started out using jigs but after observing the bait guys outfishing me by about 100 to 1 I switched to using a halibut spreader with a*16 or 24 ounce*weight*with a dual-hook setup on a short steel leader.* For baiit I use a whole herring plus an octopus chaser.* That rig has proven to be fantastically productive, particularly once I added the octopus.


-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 4th of October 2011 07:27:07 PM

 

[RCook]

Hi Per,

We don't use leaders.* We fish butts with 50lb braided line - plenty strong, and real skinny, which is great when you're jigging the bottom at 100-200 feet.* It isn't pulled away from the boat by the current as much as thicker line, and you can really feel the bottom.* We use 8 or 12 oz BigN jigs with 10" grub tails, tipped with octopus, squid, or a bit of halibut skin.* Also use 13 or 16 oz Crippled Herring jigs, re-rigged with the hook attached to the top so it doesn't catch in the rocks.

OTOH, Cindy caught her first butt, nearly 100 lb, on 14lb mono - fishing at 30 feet or so with a sinker and a hoochie.* We switched to braided for butts, but still use 9 foot salmon rods, and salmon-size reels or only a bit bigger.* Works fine for up to 100 lb or so, but it did take Cindy an hour and a quarter to bring that super big one to the boat.


-- Edited by RCook on Wednesday 5th of October 2011 07:13:19 AM

 

[belizebill]

Hay Grumpy, I see you too have to fight the sharks from getting the good parts. BB

 

[Tidahapah]

Belizebill,
Yeah, if you are quick enough or the sharks are a bit small at least you save the shoulders,wings and importantly the cheek pieces in the head.
Cheeks in a big fish are a real prize.