Yacht baiting

[bigal.nz 31]

I have been meaning to give soft baiting/jigging a bit of a go since when we do fish I am really sick of the stink, mess and cost of bait.

Everybody I have spoken to says its important to have a sea anchor so that your drifting at the right speed etc. We are 40ft/13ton - and the sea anchors at Burnsco aren't rated for yachts that big, and I don't quite want to go full nuclear on this problem and get a coppins custom one. 

Anyone have any ideas on what to do here?

AG

[Fish 595]

I'm not really sure why the drift rate matters that much when you are soft baiting. I always thought it was more how you made the bait move and look.

I would have thought the issue was more about keeping your boat head to wind. Maybe heaving to would do the trick for you? Either that or just try the biggest sea anchor Burnsco have.

 

Note, I am one of the most environmentally conscious fisho's about. Despite regularly fishing (with the kids) all I have managed to catch is some fan worm...

Oh, and snapper when using the bait and burly method.

[BOIGuy 137]

I have many times fished by heaving to, even when the wind is quite light, the yacht is much more stable and you drift much slower than with the sails down. 

[harrytom 263]

Had huge success while anchored,just keep s/b about 150mm off the bottom and boat movement keeps it moving,just gone to Zman for zilch,gone back to gulp pink/green 4inch seems to work ok,not a lot but a feed.Gulp has a sauce in packet and zman seems dry and need to add a sauce for it to work.

[chariot 133]

We just go on the drift with s/b. Seem to get a feed. That's on a 30fter. We just tie the helm to leeward, seems to do the trick.

[harrytom 263]

or could try korubas,ball thing with a shirt and hooks,jigs up and down.Idle for rod holder.

[chariot 133]

1 minute ago, harrytom said:

or could try korubas,ball thing with a shirt and hooks,jigs up and down.Idle for rod holder.

My son does well with those.

[bigal.nz 31]

Interesting about not needing the sea anchor. Will give it a go and the heave to method!

 

[Fish 595]

16 minutes ago, bigal.nz said:

Interesting about not needing the sea anchor. Will give it a go and the heave to method!

 

Remember, all the fishos use boats with loads of windage and nothing in the water. Drift rates and windage etc for a fizz boat will be completely different to a yacht. I'd see why they need a drouge

[dutyfree 81]

whether you need a sea anchor is really a function of wind and tide.  I doubt you will need one.  The drift rate matters as does your soft bait hook weight.  You will need different weighted hooks even if the drift rate is low due to depth.  Fundamentally you are trying to get to the bottom.  Too high a drift rate versus too smaller a hook weight and you will not get there.  You may need different sized soft baits, the hooks come in different lengths, the bait needs to match.

Jigs can be good.  There are different types and they work really well if you are fishing in a workup or you can see (fishfinder) a bait ball which is likely to have larger fish i.e. snapper underneath.