wreck fishing

wreck fishing provides anglers with the opportunity to catch specimen fish in large numbers.Unfortunately,most inshore wrecks in British and European waters have now been drastically overfished,by both rod and line anglers,and by commercial fishermen.This means that the top catches are now found on wrecks lying more than 20 miles out,a distance which can only be achieved in good weather conditions by large,fully-equipped licensed charter boats.

Accurate wreck location is essential.A few of the inshore wrecks can be lined up by shore marks,but under most circumstances wrecks nowadays are pinpointed by sophisticated electronic devices.The Decca Navigator is the best know example.The Navigator recieves a continous stream of signals from shore stations.These are displayed as numbers on green,red and purple dials which give an accurate crossbearing of the boat's posistion in relation to 'lanes' on a Decca Chart,which lists the hundreds of wrecks ploted by hydrographoc surveys.

Each wrech has its own co-ordinates,and when these are known it is possible to position a fishing boat right over the site.All wreck skippers keep a record of the crossbearing numbers.However,each year new wreck are located and as each is likely to provide hot-fishing,at least at the beginning,most skippers try to keep newly discovered wrecks a personal secret.Some skippers go to great lengths to preserve thier secret,only working a new hulk when no other vessel is in sight.This is undertandable,for a skipper's reputation is based on the catches he can produce for his charter fishermen.

Should a competitor be sighted,the wreck is quickly abandoned to be fished on a future expedition!

Locating a wreck is one thing,anchoring on it is another and much less simple.Many wreck skippers have brought anchoring to a fine science and before letting go of thier anchor are able to assess accurately the direction of tide,wind strength and how the wreck is lying in relation to prevailing conditions.
Sometimes the anchor will be dropped several hundred yards uptide of the wreck,but by the time the warp has taken up the boat has drifted close enough to the required site for the anglers to drop thier baits right back into the wreck.where the fish are most likely to congregate.

Many different species are found on wrecks,but the sport is dominated by only a few:these are conger,cod,ling,pollack,coalfish and bream.The heavyweights like conger,cod and ling are taken on heavy duty tackle and big baits ledgered on the bottom.Pollack and coalfish fall to medium weight gear,on artificial and natural baits,fished between the wreckage and the surface,although it is generally the bottom 15 fathoms (90feet) that is the productive zone.Black and red bream are caught by using more sesitive tackle fished right into the wreck.

WINTER WRECK FISHING:

most winter wreck fishing is done on the drift.for several reasons the best catches are made during spring tides,when the fast run of water stirs the fish into a bout of frenzied feeding.once in the feeding mood,the fish strike fiercely at both natural baits and lures without hesitation.big tides also ensure fast drifts across the wreckage,which make it possible for anglers to get as many as 30or35 drifts during a single tide.

drift fishing is always most successful when anglers work from one side only of the boat.because a charter boat moves sideways,down the length or across the hulk,the lines stream out naturaly from one side only.working from the wrong side,the lines go under the keel,which makes it almost impossible to remain in direct contact with the bait or with a hooked fish.these lines also often tangle with those streaming away correctly,causing a severe waste of valuable fishing time.

[Fishing Forum Admin]

Great read :well:

I have been on trips and the art of anchoring is one to see

Its the difference between a good skipper and a great one

[steve devon]

:well: