Anchoring and Feeding vs Trolling

[gottie]

Actually the Tad-dilettanti are usually paid for by amature fishing clubs who set out their own 'Rimja'. But no one will say anything if you go to fish around these. However, the amature FAD's are usually not very productive.  Are the fad's on the west coast usually more productive? I usually find the Gozitan ones to be good. But very dangerous. Got chased by a fisherman last year and I wasnt really fishing exactly by the fad!

[skip]

Yeah unfortunately I'm not sure what too close is really....and you take a risk. We had some good success off the gozo ones, but not for Lampuki even though we were at one stage a good 30 miles out and still following a FAD line. Trouble is these boats have Radar which can see a good 15 miles, no doubt with a chartplotter they have marked where their FADs are and can cross corelate the info from the radar on the map. Well they can if they know how to use their equipment!

We make 40 knots if we need to run, but of course if its a F4 we aren't going to be able to do that speed. I think so long as you don't go right over them, they have no right to complain if you're  20 metres off. But if you lure a shoal away they won't go back to the FAD so I can understand a fisherman's position.

On the subject of anchoring and feeding or drifting and feeding, some idea's which may be of use.

Chumming the surface is fine to an extent, but you also want to get chum down below where the bigger fish are lurking. To that extent mix your chum in a bucket with sand, and roll it up into a baseball sized object, before deploying it over the side. The sand will start to disperse but the weight of the ball initially will take it down.

You can also use cans of cat food, or mackeral in oil, pierce the top of the cans a few times and hang them over the side at various depths. Dried dog biscuits (the round balls) apparently also work well for the surface.

Best chum is finely minced pieces of oily fish. Mince them fine so that you avoid feeding, but instead attract fish who can then feed off your bait.

Skip

[Simon G]

i have a meeting with fisheries this week i will ask and let you know.
as far as i know you will be given an area where to put the fads.