Suggestions on fishing gear

[sheba]

Am planning to sell out and move aboard our Moody 346. Will be cruising the Caribbean and would like to do some fishing there and along the way but have no idea on what type of equipment to purchase. Went to a local sporting goods store and there were to many choices, ie long or short pole (storage may dictate a shorter pole) spinning or bait cast type reel and line weights.
Anyone have any suggestions?

[joub]

Just bought a GREAT book on how to fish from a sailboat! I''ve done some fishing over the years, and am not a neophite, but I learned more from an evening of reading this book than I managed to pick up during twenty years of casual fishing. The name of the book is " The Cruiser''s Handbook of Fishing" by Scott Bannerot. It''s not cheap.....$34.95 US, but buying the wrong gear can easily cost you much more! I highly recommend this book!

Jim

[turbo800]

I noticed this photo on a cruiser's website.

[Omatako]

Yep the picture displays the best way. Works a treat and minimal hassle. This system beats any form of rod and reel and the only weakness in my opinion is that unless you're reasonably attentive, the fish can be dragged along dead for hours and often something bigger will come along and enjoy your meal before you do.
I found that if you make the bungy cord about two metres long and nicely elastic it works best. 300 lb monofilament? Isn't this the stuff they string tennis rackets with :-)
And talking about ski rope, what I used is a heavily gathered piece of ski rope with the bungy cord inside. That is, pass two metres of bungy inside 5 metres of ski rope and strongly whipping the ends with twine for neatness. That way when the bungy gets to full stretch the ski rope goes tight. This saves a lot of turbulence around the rig and prevents the rig from being kept on the surface.
Good fishing!!

[gershel]

Hi, Just a note, the book "The Cruisers Handbook of Fishing" is available from Amazon.com for about $12.

Marc