Cruise fishing? Why not! The tricks of procuring dinner

Fish is one of the stars of our cuisine, and eating it fresh, you know, is a whole other thing. We cruise passengers who travel by boat, with a little patience and organization, have the ability to procure excellent seafood dinners. Why not take advantage of summer cruises to do some fishing? Much of the time we spend boating can also be devoted to this fun, and tasty, pastime: transfers, stops at roadsteads or harbors, any time can be good for fishing. So let’s look at among techniques that we can successfully practice from the boat: in this first installment we will look at trolling, then continue with bolentino, spinning, and more.

The trolling

The most classic of the fishing techniques that can be performed on a sailboat. We often make long transfers and could use a good pastime, just drop a couple of lines and we will have something to be busy with, hoping for luck. Trolling is done with the boat in motion, spinning a line aft (ballasted with lead or other sinking systems depending on the situation), equipped with an artificial or live bait (squid, squid, seabream, garfish).

Trolling is the easiest technique we can practice: with a little precision in line preparation and intuition on the right artificial to use according to the conditions, there will be a good chance of catching important prey.

What is needed

The minimum equipment to have is a rod of 8 lb. and up, a rotating reel of 4/0 (this is the unit of measure by which rotating reels are classified), some good nylon or braided line with which to load the reel (be careful to wind no less than 500 mt of it, it could be useful for important prey), some fluorocarbon (a special wire that is invisible in water and particularly strong) for the terminals, hooks from 2/0 and up, simple and large snap swivels (depending on the manufacturer, your local store will be able to advise you), a large landing net, a large bucket with lid, a rod holder and a battery of artificials. For the latter, you will literally be spoiled for choice: from silicones (imitations of garfish, minnows, and small cuttlefish) to so-called minnows and derivatives (darting minnows made of plastic material and equipped with a headstock that determines their depth of action). For such an endowment, the minimum cost is around 200 euros, but this is a price that can also vary significantly depending on the quality of the material chosen.

Towing under sail during a transfer

Since, during the transfer, the course and speed are forced according to our destination and weather conditions, we will have to adapt the technique to the situation. Often the speed of our boat will be too high for a certain type of artificial and for a certain fishing setup: to be ruled out is live bait fishing with the line sunk by lead, the live bait if not towed slowly suffers too much and would die quickly. We will be obliged to use artificials: in the case of minnows, opt for a minnow equipped with a rather important paddle or steel, so that we can fish at least 30-40 cm below the surface of the water and avoid that because of the speed our bait starts to come out of the water thus losing effectiveness.

In the case of silicone baits, which do not have paddles, it will be important to ballast them adequately with leaded heads.

If we are motor boating we will spin no less than 30 to 40 meters of line, taking care to place our artificial at the end of our wake: away from the noise of the engine but in an area of turbulence that can still attract fish and confuse deception.

At this point we will place the rod in the rod holder (a must-have accessory), calibrate the reel brake so that, with a sturdy pull, it will trigger the typical buzzing sound of the line “starting,” and we will stand by.

Recovery

The bite happens suddenly, and the most obvious advice is to keep a cool head. It is generally a good idea to decrease engine rpm, not to stop, and to assist with the rudder any lateral escapes of the prey by trying to keep the line straight and never at an angle to our wake. After ferreting (you tighten the brake and pull up the rod with a sharp, sharp blow), the retrieve begins, or if the fish is large, it will be necessary to give line as needed to cushion its reaction. It is necessary to retrieve slowly but steadily, never letting go of the line. Once it gets under board, you wait until the fish is definitely tired and quiet and wade it. The use of a wade versus a raffle is useful because it leaves us with the option of releasing the fish if the size is not appropriate. If the fish is really large, the use of the raffia becomes almost mandatory. Alternatively, you can prepare a squeeze loop with which to tie the finfish’s tail once it arrives exhausted under board.

Prey and its management on board

With this technique, the prey we “risk” catching can be varied. From the various members of the tuna family (remember that fishing for Bluefin tuna is prohibited), to lampugas, but also imperial garfish, amberjack, skipjack, and mackerel, depending on the fishing area, season, and type of artificial.

Tuna, mackerel, and often even dolphinfish are rare to encounter inshore (except in special situations such as after storm surges), amberjacks and walleye, on the other hand, can hunt along breakwaters or in general even in the inshore.

Once the fish has been brought aboard, it is advisable to store it immediately inside the bucket with a lid to avoid fouling the boat. In the case of tuna family specimens, it may be useful to eviscerate the prey and let it drain overboard.

Regarding the minimum sizes and amount of catch for each species, a guide on amateur fishing should be consulted or current regulations should be consulted.

It is a good idea not to retain specimens smaller than 50 cm, but this parameter varies by species, trying to catch only fish that have already carried out at least part of their reproductive life.