First time Sea Fishing...

[WesJones1984]

I've never sea fished before i've always been a coarse fisherman. I was asked by a friend if I wanted to go on a 9 hour fishing trip setting out early from Liverpool this Saturday. I have been told that were likely to catch fish such as Whiting, Cod and Stingrays, possibly a few others. I'm planning to hire rod/tackle etc from the skipper and there will be bait on offer to buy on the boat. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regards what sort of rig setup I should use for this type of fishing? Also what would be the best bait to use? I'm going to call the skipper later to find out if the weather is going to be ok an the trip is still on. So i'll find out what bait he has on offer, so if anyone suggests a better bait to use that he doesn't have i'll by it to take with me. I've never been on a trip like this so i'm unsure how much help i'm going to get from the skipper or anyone else so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Wes

[scottish_and_mental]

Originally Posted by WesJones1984

I've never sea fished before i've always been a coarse fisherman. I was asked by a friend if I wanted to go on a 9 hour fishing trip setting out early from Liverpool this Saturday. I have been told that were likely to catch fish such as Whiting, Cod and Stingrays, possibly a few others. I'm planning to hire rod/tackle etc from the skipper and there will be bait on offer to buy on the boat. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions regards what sort of rig setup I should use for this type of fishing? Also what would be the best bait to use? I'm going to call the skipper later to find out if the weather is going to be ok an the trip is still on. So i'll find out what bait he has on offer, so if anyone suggests a better bait to use that he doesn't have i'll by it to take with me. I've never been on a trip like this so i'm unsure how much help i'm going to get from the skipper or anyone else so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, Wes

If you phone the skipper and hes not very forthcoming with help you can be guaranteed he will be exactly the same on the day !
Tackle will be really simple with a running ledger being perfect for all the winter species.. baited hokkais will be good if the whiting are feeding well..
bait wise squid,squid and more squid plus 1/2lb rag and a half a dozen frozen mackerel ..
check how much his prices are and if need be hit the tackle shop beforehand..
If hes a good skipper he will be out to look after the anglers and will keep costs as low as he can . most provide free hot drinks ..
Steve

dont forget - waterproofs, hat or balaclava,rag for hands, packed lunch, flask for coffee on way out , choccie bars , plastic bags for your catch , ( fags and lighter or its a long day ) and enjoy the day - its cracking fun on the first trip - infact ive done hundreds now and its still cracking fun

[WesJones1984]

Good advice, thankyou very much.

I'll give him a shout later and have a chat. Thanks for the tips on bait, I take it hokkais are like mackerel feathers? My mate who has organised the trip said the skipper will have squid and rag worm on the boat to buy so i'll price them up like you said.

Thanks again, very helpful.

[scottish_and_mental]

worth getting a couple of frozen makerel to tip off your worm baits as the bigger whiting will go for this..
also use small thumb sized pieces on the hokkais ( like you said , but way better than standard feathers )..
Thornback rays will also take half a fillet cut lengthways

give him a call this evening and find out where,what and how much and let me know how you get on with him .. name of boat too
Steve

[WesJones1984]

Will do, top man thanks again.

[WesJones1984]

I've called the skipper and they sound very helpful so we should get some good help while were on the boat. The trip is £35 per person, £5 for Rod/Tackle hire, then the cost of bait is:

- Box of Lug Worm (£3)
- Box of Squid (£2.50)
- Box of Mackerel (£1)

They said £10 per person for bait is easily enough for the whole trip.

The boat name is Jenson by the way, sounds like were going to have a good trip.

Thanks for the advice and rig tips, definitely going to give half of mackerel fillet a try i'd love to catch a Thornback Ray!

[scottish_and_mental]

Originally Posted by WesJones1984

I've called the skipper and they sound very helpful so we should get some good help while were on the boat. The trip is £35 per person, £5 for Rod/Tackle hire, then the cost of bait is:

- Box of Lug Worm (£3)
- Box of Squid (£2.50)
- Box of Mackerel (£1)

They said £10 per person for bait is easily enough for the whole trip.

The boat name is Jenson by the way, sounds like were going to have a good trip.

Thanks for the advice and rig tips, definitely going to give half of mackerel fillet a try i'd love to catch a Thornback Ray!

Will keep my fingers crossed for the weather mate and im really looking forward to your report

[WesJones1984]

I went on the fishing trip on Saturday and it was fantastic. I took the father-in-law and my brother-in-law and they thought the same. The weather was quite mild and between us we must have caught easily 100 fish. We caught loads of Whiting, Cod and Dabs, an kept around 20 fish for cooking. Other people on the boat caught some dogfish and thornback rays, but unfortunately they eluded us. I think maybe because only ragworm and squid was available, next time i'll take some mackeral fillets for a ray. The skipper was very helpful and the gear we hired was excellent. We fished exactly as you said we would, using 3 hookais on our line. Baited with Ragworm and tipped with squid. Nearly everytime we cast we were pulling in fish, mostly whiting but they were a good size. He provided free tea/coffee and homemade soup for everyone. Good call on the rag for your hands and the plastic bags for the fish. No doubt I wouldn't of thought of that. We all thought it was excellent and we are definitely going to go again in the new year.

Thanks again, Wes

[captain chaos]

Cannot beat the old boat fishing this time of year......as long as your hands don't get too numb and you end up pi$$ing over someone!

[WesJones1984]

Haha yeah the piss over the side of the boat could of gone badly wrong, however it was quite mild that day so we got away with it. We all had our coats off around mid-day it was great. Definitely going again in the new year.