Sailboat fishing: expert reveals all the tricks of trolling (and more)

Riccardo Fracchia lives aboard his beloved Clovis 365 days a year and has a visceral passion for fishing-who better to reveal all the secrets to taking great satisfaction with hook and line. In this episode, we talk about inshore and offshore trolling (and surfcasting, in case you can’t go out in a boat)

FISHING WHILE SAILING (AND MORE)

With spring, the first rains and storm surges have arrived. Land and sea consequently begin to change, the first colors come out, and fish fully resume their life cycle.

And this is precisely the best time to practice with good results some fishing techniques that, if well practiced, can lead us with our legs under the cockpit table to enjoy some gifts from our Mediterranean. During spring and early summer, we find very similar sea conditions along the Italian coasts: temperature, tide, moon phase, and other parameters remain almost unchanged from north to south, while it is the spots, prey, currents, and native baits that will vary significantly.

FISH? DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ITS CUNNING
A necessary premise: fish. Excluding small ones, and some particular species–they are not “stupid”! Indeed, fortunately for them, they are far faster and smarter than we imagine: I have had great proof of this on many occasions. They perceive smells, noises, and movements with infinite sensitivity, and as they grow these characteristics improve and refine. So with this in mind, it is important not to underestimate the cunning of our prey, whatever it may be and with whatever technique we are going to challenge it.

leggi anche

Harken tells how exploring the world by sail is within everyone’s reach

ALL THE SECRETS OF INSHORE TROLLING
Weather permitting, it is a lot of fun to do inshore trolling during small daily trips and offshore trolling during larger sailings.

In the former case below the coast, small rapalas or leaded spoons can be used, but I prefer to fish the way good old Salvatore di Lampedusa-Uncle Salvo taught me-using eight to nine small feathers with a sparkling spoon at the end. The quilts will have a sturdy six or four hook inside, depending on the size of the fish that are present in that coastal area.

You can buy them or build them yourself. Salvo made them exceptionally well using a special red and black braided thread and the bristles of an all-dyed nylon broom that he stole from his poor wife, I use various materials that are available in Clovis’ endless warehouse.

These hooks are tied one within two meters of the other on the main line by means of short, sturdy links that allow the feathers natural movement while preventing them from sliding on the line in the event of a bite. This set-up will be to be lowered into the water between 40 and 600 meters from the coast and should be spun at the stern of the boat. When the last of the 10 hooks-the one closest to us-is in the sea we will move it away from the stern between 40 and 70 meters.

This gear is to be towed at 3-4 knots or so by constantly moving it with the hand, pulling it for a stroke and letting it go so as to simulate the acceleration of a small fish fleeing as it is chased by the predator. Always pointing the bow of our boat (or even better, tender) toward seagulls flying in groups and circles above a specific spot, or following the signals of fish jumping to escape predators.

This will make it easy to catch small and voracious amberjacks, the increasingly common and numerous sea pike – a type of Mediterranean barracuda and skipjack tuna-the ones I call chicken of the sea because of the similarity of the meat, and always the ones that are so good to make canned in oil for the end-of-summer week with friends, or even better on the table at home during the winter.

leggi anche

Shower in a click with this accessory (without invasive installations)

DEEP-SEA TROLLING
Whereas in deep-sea trolling, on the other hand, everything is different, first and not least is the speed, which varies between four and eight knots, and the bait size, which increases greatly to allow the large fish to see them and feel the turbulence created by the bait more quickly.

Sailing many miles each year (with Clovis in 2018 we covered more than six thousand) I would be really foolish not to tow a couple of lures, whether I am sailing or motoring. So over time I have experimented with all colors ways and sizes.

By now I have a faithful and legendary ally that is always my favorite choice in any weather and speed. The 14-cm red-head rapala to which I add an eighty-hundred-and-twenty-gram cigarette lead locked by a stainless swivel with a sling swivel saver, ten meters away from the rapala, to aid its sinking and create air bubbles that intrigue the fish.

Leaving the first of the two rods, armed identically, 80 meters from the stern in the wake and a second at 150-170, out of the turbulence created by the evolutionary effect of the propeller.

I have achieved great catches and satisfaction with this technique, in some cases so abundantly that it clashed with my principles. I was often forcibly limited in my fishing because the shipboard needs for the entire week were covered with a few minutes of fishing in the right place. Large dolphinfish and tuna of various species attacked our baits: in all those cases that the fish met the parameters of nature and law…species size and period…. It was immediately cooked with our shipboard recipes and eaten with company!

WHEN YOU CAN’T SURFISH: SURFCASTING
One of the techniques I have practiced for the longest time since I was a child, and one that has given me great satisfaction over time, is surfcasting. I always practice it in strong wind and rough sea conditions: that is, when you can’t sail and maybe you are forced to do, or on the few occasions when I am not on board or near Clovis where I keep all my gear for every fish and type of fishing.

This is because you can practice it like spinning, with little equipment and from the shore, from the comfort of the beach or reefs, during your cruise.

I always use three equal 4.20-meter rods, mounted with large reels that can carry and retrieve a lot of line with each turn of the crank. These, depending on the prey and location, can be rigged in two different ways depending on the position of the heavy lead, which can be: above the hook, sliding on the line, or final, with the hooks on the mother line.

Hooks, lines, sizes and thicknesses will be calibrated according to prey, bait, current intensity and water clarity, and proportionally, the stronger the current the shorter our line will be and the clearer the water the finer our line will have to be, always maintaining a proper trade-off with the size of the bait and the fish we would like to target. A very important expedient is to handle all bait by washing hands thoroughly with seawater to ward off the odors of food, detergents, or even worse the strong smell of tobacco that remains on smokers’ fingers.

In surfcasting from the beach or rocks, different lures will be used: the worm or shrimp for mormoras and bass during the night and the whole mussel or crab for big bream during the day…with this technique we will be able to fish on all those occasions that the sea forces us into port. Prey may vary, but with this technique you will mainly insidiate (very tasty) white fish.

Richard Fracchia

WHO IS OUR EXPERT
Riccardo Fracchia was born 29 years ago in Como. He has long lived 365 days a year aboard Clovis, a 1983 ketch built of aluminum alloys that measures 26 meters in length with a maximum beam of 5.50. An all-around sailor, he fishes with excellent results: from inshore trolling to bottom fishing, from deep-sea fast trolling to bolentino, passing through freediving and more “traditional” techniques such as palamito. Learn more and get on board Clovis: www.clovisyacht.com

HERE THE FIRST EPISODE (AND RICCARDO’S STORY)

NAVIGATE INFORMED!

To stay up-to-date on all the news from the world of sailing, selected by our editorial staff, sign up for the Sailing Newspaper newsletter! It is semplicissimo, just enter your email below, accept the Privacy Policy and click the “Sign me up” button. You will then receive on your email, twice a week, the best sailing news! It’s free and you can unsubscribe at any time, no obligation!