Selfsufficientish.com

FANTASTIC
Russ

Me and OH got a couple of sit-on-top kayaks last year and took them out fishing - brilliant! THe best thing is the kayaks have such a shallow draft, you can take them up estuaries to get to all those great spots that people can't reach from the shore. Caught quite a lot of bass, pollock and mackerel, haven't been brave enough to venture further off shore for cod and ling yet though

to be fair that was from a boat, although not far out, i just sit 1`00 yds of the rocks, i used to fish from the land , but i seemed to loose my tackle all the time, it used to cost a fortune, rods, reels etc, so i invested in a little boat, now i just use a hand line , a bi t of bait or lure and i get something most times, that was a pollack which can be caught from the coast , but usually quite rocky areas, i would use jig heads and artificial lures like fireytail jelly worms, they seem to go for them and not much gear to lose if it gets stuck

I was going to start a new thread to ask if anyone did this and if they could give me any advice. We are pretty landlocked here, but do visit the coast frequently - your average Labrador gets seriously frustrated if he can't plunge into freezing salt-water on a regular basis. Having read this I'm going to think about it much more seriously as a possibility. Any hints and tips for a complete newbie would be welcome. I am female, but doubt I'll have any trouble being hit on.

Nice Pollack SH,

they call them lithe here, I've been getting my lobster pots read and plan putting them out tomorrow. Though I've not actually caught/shot any bait yet so if I don't get a rabbit today or catch a fish tomorrow it's the tin of cat food trick

Cheers, Paul

MikeM wrote:really wish I was close enough to the sea to go fishing. There are plenty of gravel pits near me where I could go, but coarse anglers get narky if you take fish for eating .

You can always fish for pike and eels which are good eating from rivers. Coarse anglers don't like them in the swim. I stopped coarse fishing as I didn't see the point of throwing back (also thanks to watching a river cottage series). I pulled out the pike rod and spinners again last season and had a great time. Hopefully this year will be better still.

Pike and eels were fair game when I used to go fishing too. But I think things have changed a little. At some fisheries, you are now not allowed to take pike, as their beneficial effect on the health of coarse fish populations is beginning to be recognised. Best check your fishery rules first!

I'm lucky enough to live by the coast and used to go cockling when I was little, but my dad would put far too much pepper on them and put me off! Planning on going to see if there are any mussels about tomorrow - has anyone any tips which would save me hours trawling through the rock pools to find nothing?! I think that following the tide out might increase my chances, but really I've no idea!

I would love to have a boat to take out, but wouldn't know where to start - have been mackerel fishing when visiting my big sis in south Wales and the boatman had a fish radar which would be mighty useful I guess!! As with a previous post, any tips for a newbie would be much appreciate :)

Bluemoon wrote:I was going to start a new thread to ask if anyone did this and if they could give me any advice.

I see you are a tyke - Scarborough harbour (the outer breakwater) used to be fantastic for an hour either side of high tide, the best bait was a fresh cockle (from the fishing shop, not the seafood stand) and the target was pollack. When the boats were in it generally only took a couple of minutes to catch supper and then we could try ever more bizarre fishing methods in order to catch the really big fish out there, not that we ever did. I bet things have changed in the five years since I last went but not by too much I'll wager.

The river where I fish (Derbyshire Derwent) is a brown trout and grayling water so we are duty bound to hoik out any rainbow trout for the good of the eco-system. Unfortunately some of the local carp fisheries have had fish thefts, in some cases fish worth hundreds of pounds, which has led to a blanket "no fish taken" policy. I come across night lines with alarming regularity, many have large carp rotting on the end of them, dead from stress at being tethered. Before this situation pike could be taken during the winter months and quite a few people went jacking with a strip of mackerel skin for bait.

I have fished out of Whitby for pleasure and commercially for 25 years. I used to go off jigging in my boat beyond the Dogger Bank up to 105 miles offshore all on my tod. I used to fish shipwrecks and only used 1 rod. A good catch was 60 to 80 stone of Cod with fish up to 25 lbs. Best day I ever had on my own I landed 111 stones onto the fish market. I sold my commercial boat 4 years ago because catches were falling, fish were getting smaller and expenses increasing. There are plenty of fish out there but you have to know where to fish and have the right boat and a deep pocket to supply large engines with diesel. Maybe all the Selfsufficienters should chip in and buy a boat & I will skipper it! However I now have a small sailing boat in Runswick Bay and will be hoping to catch a few fish during the summer. If anyone fancies having a go you are most welcome to come along.

While we are talking big catches. A boat once went out of Whitby with a party of 8 anglers on board and returned later that day with three and a half tons of Cod. The good old days.