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Sea fishing around the uk coastal and further

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So the time is coming for me to learn to fish, on a budget... I. Leaving the world behind for a while to live on a boat and thought catching fish might not be a bad idea, but I have no idea apart from put bait on a hook and throw it off the back while sailing

Is there a cheap diy reel?
Do I need a reel?
Can I use a flexible pole and some line?
And lastly, what line should I use?

I'm currently striking youtube, the ads have ruined some of my favourite channels. It's just too much!

I will search elsewhere, but this is the place I get good answers from!
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You are in a great place to go beach fishing, either around WSM, North Devon or even down to the Chesil. My husband and I used to go down to West Bexington, throw in a line when the mackerel were running and haul in enough to stock the freezer. Try looking at www.worldseafishing.com for advice from fellow anglers. Good luck.
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If you want to do budget fishing from a boat use a handline, you don't need a rod or a reel, if you're going to start off the rocks you will need both unless you can find a nice jetty/breakwater that goes straight down.

I used to use a 6ft telescopic boat rod, I had it from age 8 to about 28 when it finally broke, any reel will do but since you're sea fishing you'll be using fairly heavy line about 18lb is what I used to use so you need to make sure that the spool on the reel has enough space for a decent length of line.
You don't need anything that will cast so it'll be pretty cheap, I wouldn't go for a pole and line or any kind of home made reel, if you go that way just stick with a hand line.
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Skandi Rogers wrote:If you want to do budget fishing from a boat use a handline, you don't need a rod or a reel, if you're going to start off the rocks you will need both unless you can find a nice jetty/breakwater that goes straight down.

I used to use a 6ft telescopic boat rod, I had it from age 8 to about 28 when it finally broke, any reel will do but since you're sea fishing you'll be using fairly heavy line about 18lb is what I used to use so you need to make sure that the spool on the reel has enough space for a decent length of line.
You don't need anything that will cast so it'll be pretty cheap, I wouldn't go for a pole and line or any kind of home made reel, if you go that way just stick with a hand line.



Perfect, thank you for your reply!

I shall do some research on using a hand line, will mostly be from the boat to begin with, the water here is extremely tidal near the bristol channel.

If I happen to find a really cheap reel I may be persuaded.

Forgive my nativity so when a fish "bites" I would give it a good tug to set the hook and then slowly pull the line In letting the fish wear itself out?

Next bit will be youtube and a book, gutting and cutting :)
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Mandy Launchbury-Rainey wrote:You are in a great place to go beach fishing, either around WSM, North Devon or even down to the Chesil. My husband and I used to go down to West Bexington, throw in a line when the mackerel were running and haul in enough to stock the freezer. Try looking at www.worldseafishing.com for advice from fellow anglers. Good luck.



Thank you! I would not call myself an angler just yet haha, that gives me some hope! And I think I like mackerel!
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Toby Winston wrote:

Skandi Rogers wrote:

Forgive my nativity so when a fish "bites" I would give it a good tug to set the hook and then slowly pull the line In letting the fish wear itself out?



Basically yes, There's tons of literature on how exactly is best to set a hook and at what point in the "bite" to react, but in general a sharp jerk will work, not too hard though. Using a hand line remember to wear a fairly thick glove on at least the pulling hand the line can cut in. Most small-ish fish you can just pull in you only need to be careful if you hook something stronger than your line, that's where the reel and rod will help you, by absorbing shocks and in the reels case running out on the clutch. But for general fishing off the side of a boat you'll probably be able to just pull anything up. expect lots of seaweed, and other rubbish to begin with at least, the one thing I hate catching is a bit of seaweed with an empty muscle shell on it..that flaps like a fish!

Just for a bit of inspiration here is me aged 8 with my first ever fish a blenny I think it was in the Oslo Fjord. I quickly went to on catch a small dab which I had for dinner.  That rod is 6ft tall and is the one I had for 20 years, I think the reel lasted that long too!

 
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Skandi Rogers wrote:

Toby Winston wrote:

Skandi Rogers wrote:

Forgive my nativity so when a fish "bites" I would give it a good tug to set the hook and then slowly pull the line In letting the fish wear itself out?



Basically yes, There's tons of literature on how exactly is best to set a hook and at what point in the "bite" to react, but in general a sharp jerk will work, not too hard though. Using a hand line remember to wear a fairly thick glove on at least the pulling hand the line can cut in. Most small-ish fish you can just pull in you only need to be careful if you hook something stronger than your line, that's where the reel and rod will help you, by absorbing shocks and in the reels case running out on the clutch. But for general fishing off the side of a boat you'll probably be able to just pull anything up. expect lots of seaweed, and other rubbish to begin with at least, the one thing I hate catching is a bit of seaweed with an empty muscle shell on it..that flaps like a fish!

Just for a bit of inspiration here is me aged 8 with my first ever fish a blenny I think it was in the Oslo Fjord. I quickly went to on catch a small dab which I had for dinner.  That rod is 6ft tall and is the one I had for 20 years, I think the reel lasted that long too!



Haha thank you! That's brilliant, and the empty muscle shell that would really make me doubt my fishing abilities!

I hope that they still make poles and reels like that!

So as far as bait what would you recommend? I wont have a fridge  or freezer onboard so ideally something I can store below the waterline would be a bit chilly but not fridge temp

 
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Bait depends on what you want to catch, worms are a good place to start, and I mean ragworms the type you dig up on muddy/sandy beaches at low tide. They are free for the taking all you need is a bucket, spade, some wellys and a copy of the tide times. I will warn you they can bite. If you have any rocks around limpets work as well, just knock some off the rocks smash their shells and let them sit in the sun to urm "mature" a bit. They work really well for crabs.
Since you say you are on the Severn at the moment, I guess flatfish would be something you would go after, and worms, limpets or strips of old fish work well for them, if it gets to mackerel or herring season then you might want to get some spinners but start with things you can find free/cheap.
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Skandi Rogers wrote:Bait depends on what you want to catch, worms are a good place to start, and I mean ragworms the type you dig up on muddy/sandy beaches at low tide. They are free for the taking all you need is a bucket, spade, some wellys and a copy of the tide times. I will warn you they can bite. If you have any rocks around limpets work as well, just knock some off the rocks smash their shells and let them sit in the sun to urm "mature" a bit. They work really well for crabs.
Since you say you are on the Severn at the moment, I guess flatfish would be something you would go after, and worms, limpets or strips of old fish work well for them, if it gets to mackerel or herring season then you might want to get some spinners but start with things you can find free/cheap.



You are a scholar and a gentleman!

That sounds like all sorts of fun!  

Best bit... urm  "mature" 😂😁😁

Thank you for such invaluable information, as soon as I'm water bound I will post a picture of my first fish just for you!
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Toby Winston wrote:
I'm currently striking youtube, the ads have ruined some of my favourite channels. It's just too much!



I've had great success in blocking ads using the Opera browser, it has a built-in adblocker (there's a toggle under options to select this feature).
Runs great on Windows 7, also works with Mac & Linux OS.

https://www.opera.com/download


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Pete Podurgiel wrote:

Toby Winston wrote:
I'm currently striking youtube, the ads have ruined some of my favourite channels. It's just too much!



I've had great success in blocking ads using the Opera browser, it has a built-in adblocker (there's a toggle under options to select this feature).
Runs great on Windows 7, also works with Mac & Linux OS.

https://www.opera.com/download




Evert post just gets better and better! Thank you pete!
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When using a hand line it's good to have something to wrap it around.  I find that if I'm pulling up a line quickly and letting it lay on the deck the line tends to get very tangled.  A broomhandle or a smooth stick will work.  If you get something big on the line it's easier to pull on the stick than on a line.  (lift up or back with a hand on each end of the stick, move it forward quickly and get a roll of two on the stick, repeat until fish is close enough to the surface to lift into the boat).  You want just enough weight on the line to take it to the bottom pretty quickly (varies with the tide).
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Hi Toby, if Opera doesn't seem to work for you, there is another free program you can download called AdBlock Plus.
And i hope you'll catch more than Skandi Rogers in the photo, otherwise you might have to get into seaweeds. Good luck on your journey and tell us all about it!
seaweeds
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