How big do Porgies grow?

[Jaffa]

Never fished for a shark and never caught anything more exciting than cod, mackerel etc from the Yak, so I don't have much idea about how you might hook one.

 

On the other hand I don't like the safety (for the yakker or the shark ) ideas I see here, and im pretty much with YY.

 

Why the problem with a mother ship, and how can it be right to include leaving a porgie, with a hook and trailing line, as a part of the yakkers safety drill?

 

If the trip is a success and the pictures good, then what will the consequences be when it goes national?

[richi]

OBE's all round we hope

[nifty]

Hi Jaffa,

There's no problem with a mother ship, if one were available, and there is no good reason to leave a Shark with a hook still embedded in it's jaw, but how many Porgies have you seen caught on charter boats that aren't dead with a hook left somewhere down out of sight?

If I were to entertain catching one then I would like to think that by using non stainless barbless hooks the fish would at least have a chance of survival. There are thousands of Tope caught each year around our shores that are left with hooks in their mouths that manage to survive and be caught again(often on the same day) that don't seem to suffer any detrimental effect.

 

This is something that has not even been attempted around Britain, and I am not trying to say what is right or wrong, just giving my own opinion on what I think may happen and until someone goes and does it. then we will never know. As far as mother boats alongside, I would like to know what use they would be? apart from being a ride to shore for the yakker involved.

 

Any Ideas are more than welcome as this is something that will invoke strong feelings when the welfare of a magnificent creature like this is involved. I can't give you the answer because fishing is like that and we are all guilty of sticking hooks in fish without knowing the outcome, be it mackerel or Shark.

 

nifty.

[darnsarf]

Im with Nifty on this. Sharks have been found with allsorts in their stomachs including bits of cars, wire rope and in one case part of a suit of armour (wonder if anyone was in it?). A rusting rig won't arm the shark anymore than the fight will. This technique is now recommended in the name of conservation. Its has been practiced in the States and Australia for a few years now and their shark fishing has gone from strength to strength.

[SpeciMan]

Sharks have been found with allsorts in their stomachs..... in one case part of a suit of armour (wonder if anyone was in it?).

 

It could have been Sir Launcealot or Sir Galashad

[Fastd]

Hi guys,

Not a yak owner but the thread title caught my eye. Good luck with your quest and if you are ever in the north east give me a shout as every trip out this year I wil be targeting tope and porgies and would be happy to have you guys tag along. I also plan several trips to Luce bay during the summer.

 

I must say that the thought of targeting something that grows to over 300lb in a yak is a brave move . I was wondering about the suitablity of my 16 footer for targeting porgies but from what i have read they tend to be pretty docile when brought alongside.

 

Dave.

[Simon Everett]

Right, I'm back from a very sunny Cornwall - boat is now reloaded with new engine and she flies, even on the tight engine with reduced revs. After an hour or so we gave her one very short - just up and immediately off - blip of the throttle. Ran up to 4800rpm immediately and knocking 50 knots!! I think I might have to get the prop tweaked to put another 1" on it and a bit more cup.

 

Back to yakking. The Porbeagle story is getting sadder by the minute. You see the mark I had in mind is a well known one off North Cornwall, just around the corner from Padstow (where I was doing the boat). Asking about while I was down there produced very sad news indeed - a French longliner has been in and decimated the porbeagles. Time for Ian Burret and Save Our Sharks to get more recognition. There are very few left now and of the 8 boats that were taking shark trips only 2 are left because of the reduction in numbers - they just can't guarantee it anymore.

 

SO, the plot moves. We hooked 2 last year off the same mark where we get the tope! It is conceivable that with the number of baits in the water (when we hooked up there was only the one boat fishing!) that it is only a matter of time before one of our tope baits gets picked up by a small Porgie.

 

Re anchoring. In the light of the above - I think it is possibly worth dropping anchor as a mooring. So deploy anchor with float already fitted. Then just put a bight around the buoy and anchor that way. IF you need to let go in a hurry you just unclip one end and forget it for the time being - it will pull through or round the anchor line and you are away.......take a spare anchor for at the end. Then if you are knackered just drop the hook and have a breather. The mark only needs a length of about 50 feet of line and a small anchor, so no big deal to carry a spare.

 

The Porgies off Wales are small close in where we fish for the tope - 50lbs - 150lbs. The Cornish ones average between 200lbs and 350lbs - a slightly different prospect.

 

I think Specimen's thoughts that going for a big tope is a sound one too - a 50lb + tope is a very good fish, and there are plenty of them there. We just need to get there a bit sooner in the season and get the time on the water. A 76lber was caught in Treaddur Bay last year - a fabulous fish by anyone's standards.

 

The other thing I have learned is that the main Porbeagle marks are in areas of VERY FAST TIDE. They like the strong tide flows - Bardsey sound is where most of the welsh sitings have been in that northern area of Cardigan Bay - 4 knot tide. Off the Cornish Headlands the tide can run at upwards of 6 knots on springs. That in itself leads to problems in a kayak.

 

We need to look for them in more bening territory I think - and that means exactly where we are going already. The tide is easy to deal with. There isn't a huge depth of water and it is easy to reach.

 

I hadn't realised how much they favour the very fast rips - but apparently that is the best place for them. Bit of bugger really. Now we just need to find one hunting on the tope grounds......

[nifty]

Right, Been reading up about how to tackle this Porbeagle Fishing and giving a bit of thought to how best to go about it, and I don't know why I hadn't thought about this before

 

TROLLING!!!!! Back in the 70's there were a lot of Porbeagles caught by the late Trevor Housby and other south coast skippers on trolled baits and over in Ireland, Kevin Linnane and Les Moncreif also had plenty of fish this way. Porbeagles are known to attack a moving bait far more readily than one fished fairly static under a float and the reasons they give for it not being a viable proposition on a charter boat as standard practice are the fuel costs and that only two baits can effectively be fished at one time making it too expensive for the average angler to pay for a whole charter as opposed to having the cost spread between five or six.

Two rods were fished, one in each corner of the stern with a teaser in the middle. The ideal speed was around two knots, nice easy paddling speed. Now how about if we were to tackle these fish in a two seater yak with just one rod and a teaser. Taking turns to paddle and watch over the gear, a lot of water could be covered in a day, there's no need to lug a stone of rubby dubby out and the anchor can stay aboard.

 

If a fish were to be hooked up then two pairs of hands are going to make the job of controlling the yak and getting the fish alongside to release a whole lot easier. When you are being towed, the one with the paddle can at least try and give a bit more resistance with his blade. There will be a bit of reassurance in knowing that you are not alone and there is the backup of two paddlers on the way back.

 

This probably sounds a bit of a wild idea to some that Porbeagles can be caught this way but I know that it can work from some experiences I had 20 odd years ago whilst working a couple of summer seasons on a commercial mackerel boat using handlines. On more than the odd occasion whilst pulling in a string of Mackerel the line would suddenly go solid ( and no, it wasn't snagged on the bottom as the lines were being towed at 2-3 knots in 60-100 ft of water and we only really fished the top two thirds of the water column this way) and after a lot of heaving with the gloved hands the line would suddenly come free and on flicking the Mackerel on to the deck, you would find either a completely mutilated fish or a snood missing. There is a possibility that Tope could be responsible but Tope do not generally feed off the bottom unless they are chasing a hooked fish from the sea bed and the culprits were always presumed to be Porbeagles which were being caught at that time in the same area.

 

I think it is a method that could work, and obviously the more yaks out the better for safety, a hell of a lot of sea could be covered in a day with everyone spread along in a line 100yds apart or so, and it won't be quite so boring as sitting there waiting for the fish to find you.

 

Just an idea, sensible input would be appreciated

 

nifty.

[richi]

I'll get me coat

[darnsarf]

We could troll in formation. Better scent trail and presentation. Almost present a school of fish. Try different depths etc.