Bait Boats

[Anderoo]

Yeah but we keep getting told that anyone who fishes for carp (for instance) is a Noddy because carp are too easy and don't require skill. Even more so on a commercial style fishery.

So where is the skill in learning to control a RC toy when someone else has spent 20 years learning to cast accurately.

Isn't angling meant to be a challenge?

How far do you go before it become "catch at all costs"

 

'Catch at all costs' is fishing for the commercial carp

 

I've seen baitboats misused on several waters, mostly when I was a member of FAS. They were very popular on waters where they offered no advantage, and just encouraged people to fish into other prople's swims, or just drive them about for the sake of it when they got bored, irritating people. On relatively small, busy waters like that, they were an absolute nightmare.

 

But on a big water where you have loads of space and aren't annoying anyone else, and if they solve a specific problem you've encountered, I can't see the harm.

 

I used to be very anti-baitboats because of all the bad experiences I had with them at FAS waters, but since then I've fished a couple of places where I could see what a big help they would be, without interfering with anyone else.

 

But I maintain that if you're on a big water with a low stock of fish, simply owning a baitboat won't help you to catch them. It's just a method of bait and/or rig delivery. It still needs to be delivered to the right place at the right time. I think it's similar to people owning really expensive, top of the range gear...that isn't what catches fish.

 

PS they will never be a genuine solution for me as I could never bring myself to spend that much money on one!

[viney]

They are pretty silent, seen them used on a few of the naa waters, one guy was using one to position a rig on a bar 6-7 rod lengths out

[Rusty]

I see them as a means to an end, used responsibly and in the right circumstances they allow you to bait up a particular area and then drop your hookbait in the same spot. It’s a no brainer really and I don’t understand why anybody wouldn’t use one if they were allowed to. Casting accurately over distance is a skill undoubtedly, one you need to acquire if you want to get your feed & hookbait in the right spot consistently…a bait boat will help you do that in the same way that other tackle improvements/innovations have helped over the years. You still have to figure out where to put the bait.

 

They’re just a tool for a job and a useful one at that.

[Anderoo]

Rusty's conversion to the Dark Side is almost complete...

 

[Dales]

Rusty's conversion to the Dark Side is almost complete...

 

Maybe a new recruit for operation PW?

[gozzer]

Not cheating Dave, I can't see how any legal method can be called cheating. Sporting? That's down to individual interpretation. Annoying? Sometimes, especially when used unnecessarily, and on a small(ish) water. For years pike anglers have used balloons to get a deadbait beyond casting distance, so it's not just the carpers, (even if they do like to think that they've 'invented' everything ).

I personally wouldn't use one. Piloting my self hooking bolt rig out a hundred yards, then waiting for a fish to hook itself is not for me.

 

I've heard some talk of using RM helicopters for the same thing, it gets the bait there quicker.

 

John.

[Sportsman]

I did say that I was toying with the idea. Well, I toyed and decided it's not for me.

Several reasons-

It's another big, heavy bulky item to lug down to the swim. I have enough problems moving what I have.

I think the novelty would wear off pretty quickly and it would end up in the cupboard with the fondue set.

I would use it so seldom that I couldn't justify the expense. I have lots of fishing where I just wouldn't need one.

Mostly though it just doesn't feel right. Cheating isn't the right word but maybe a tad unsporting?

Can't really explain it as I am happy to use a boat or float tube to propel myself to within casting range, but I still have to make the cast.

 

BTW, for those who suggested I fish the margins, if you could see the growth around the edges of my lake you would know why 80% of my fishing is actually done in the margins. When tubing I like to cast right into the edge, landing the fly within a few inches. Exciting fishing

[Tangled]

I think every lake should have an area that is impossible to access/cast to because when you aren't catching you know where the fish are and then sit contemplating how to fish that area but know that it is impossible. A bait boat would take that part of fishing away and I would not have an excuse for blanking.

[Mat Hillman]

If I had a baitboat sitting next to me on a slow day I'd be far too tempted to chase ducks or bugger about in some other way. I'm bad enough with a catapult and a bag of boiles if I get bored and my brother is a few swims away . . . . . . . .

 

 

Mat

[Phone]

All,

 

Home made baitboats abound. Not so much for carp because there aren't that many carp anglers over here. Some of the "catfish" baitboats will hold 60 lbs. (I believe the electronics are all the same(?))

 

Phone