Kit needed for a Beachcaster ?

[Spartan]

Does anyone here use a Beachcaster rod / method for fishing while bushcrafting, I thought it might be a viable way to boost the calorie larder. Is there any lightweight ( ie carry aboutable ) stuff available that is actually worth using, or is sticking to an overnight / tidal line possibly the best fish retrieval method ?

Cheers

 

[Robson Valley]

I can only suggest that, for starters, you build your own rod.
This is a real jungle of parts which takes time to figure out what you want in a custom rod.
Me? The damn reel seat for my 9' #9 fly rod cost more than the rod blank!
Bunch of old Hardy Marquis reels & spools to make it up.

I was lucky enough to have an office in between a couple of rod builders.
Whatever you build is worth 3-4X the market.

BUT. You get out on the water with whatever rod you build up and the smile will never leave your face. Never.
Other fishers know in an instant that you have a custom rod and you will get peppered with questions.

Given your location, you ought to find rod building supplies easy enough to find.
As a last resort, Cabellas and LLBean will be good places to start a search.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

To an extent it depends on where exactly you intend to use it….by implication ‘beach caster’ suggests that you want something that will enable you to stand on the beach and cast a baited hook out into the sea, rather than simply lowering a line down from a cliff or harbour wall.
I live on the coast (mouth of the River Humber) so for me keeping it as cheap and simple as is practically possible it would mean…….one Rod (traditionally 12/13’ two piece) length is needed to attain distance on the cast, Cleethorpes beach for instance depth is less than 5’ at 100 meters at high tide. A reel capable of holding sufficient line of sufficient strength (15LB with 30lb leader) and also capable of chucking the distance….an assortment of weights from 2oz up to and including 6oz (multiple numbers of each, snap offs do occur regularly either because of snags or simply on the cast) Since you are asking the question I would guess lack of experience or regular use would mean that a fixed spool reel (more bulky but easier to use) would be the choice rather than a multiplier…selection of hooks, swivels, beads spare spools of line, Rodrest/tripod plus bait…total weight around 25lb minimum and not something that would fit into a rucksack….it would be more a case of doing a bit of ‘bushcrafting’ whilst beach fishing rather than the other way around……I stress that this would be for the area I live in around the Humber other areas may be different but the words ‘beach caster’ certainly suggests more weight and bulk than is practical to carry for anything less than an actual fishing trip……..set lines ( a dozen hooks) used sensibly will fit into a bacca tin and will weigh about 6oz including the tin and will almost certainly catch you a lot more fish…..take some time to learn how to set the lines though and in a ‘none survival’ situation be aware that baited hooks do not only catch fish, they also catch birds and there may also be local rules and regs. with regards to fishing on or from certain areas.

D.B.

 

[forrestdweller]

i have no clue what the regulation for UK would be, but have you thought of a handline?!

 

[Janne]

I have fished for decades, but never managed to get decent fish with a beach caster.
Sure, eatable size, but no trophies...

The rods are quite bulky. I think a hand line with multiple hooks thrown out at low tide should be effective too.
It all depends on the tidal range and how much time you spend in one place.

As an experiment years ago, I did survive easily for two weeks only eating what I caught from rocks and cliffs with a light rod and reel, and picked from the rocks.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

The big problem in the UK especially on the east coast is most beaches are very shallow and it is a long way before you reach deeper water, generally well out of reach with a hand line, unless you want to walk out and place it at low tide, in which case you might just as well use set lines….The hand line would be fine if used on cliffs or harbour walls or for simply catching odd Flounder and Whiting…. The OP asked specifically about beach casters so I assumed the distance thing was a problem he was encountering or anticipating encountering.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

He did mention an overnight / tidal line, so maybe not.
I am not familiar with the waters around Rhode Island concerning bottom profile and tides, maybe OP could enlighten us?

A long line is the most efficient method, compared to a rod. Of course with multiple hooks. Not ure about the time it should be in the water though. If left overnight or until the next low tide a lot of the catch might have been eaten by predators.\

I do use a longline in Norway, and find that smaller fish gets eaten or nibbled on pretty quickly. For me I do not like to leave it more that 10 hours.
I set my line to be partly on the bottom, partly about 1 -2 meters over the bottom.

 

[Janne]

I spent many a weekend with my son fishing on the South East coast. Cod, flounder, whiting. Baby size. The highlight was spending quality time with my son, not the fishing.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

I stopped setting lines on the beaches around me simply because though I was more than happy to have a 5lb Codling hook itself by grabbing a 6" Whiting a Fox paddling out in nearly a foot of water on the out going tide to pinch the afore mentioned Codling was not as amusing. It got quite funny at times when matches where held along the Sea Wall, fish would be un hooked laid on the ground at the top of the wall, the angler would re-bait climb over the wall onto the beach to pinch a couple more yards on his next cast and by the time he got back in position at the top of the wall the Foxes had snaffled his fish and legged it... lots of shrimp nets used to be put out at one time but they were eventually banned because of foxes getting into them and drowning and in the River Humber, if you set a line 2 meters off the bottom the hook would often be on the surface, 4 fathoms I believe is the deepest 'natural' depth of the Humber, though there is a deep water channel dredged for tankers and container ships.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

Must have been hilarious to see Foxes staling the fish!
We only caught fish less than one pound in weight...
The best places were the Victorian piers on the south east coast. Eastbourne, Hastings.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

It tended to go in cycles here on the River Humber with the average size of the Codling altering each year….seemed like a 7 year cycle but that may have been fanciful thinking/folklore and a bit of coincidence but certainly they did seem to get bigger each year with numbers getting fewer then suddenly the following year you were back to the little 1lb fish again, 15LB was a very big fish for the Humber and in 40 years of fishing a rod and line there I have never had one over 13LB…..When I was fishing the river with my own boat I was generally out about 8 tides a week and bait digging between tides I could sometimes catch as many as 300/350 Cod/Codling per tide (I would normally shoot 1000 hooks) It was great, Grimsby Docks was alive and thriving at the time If I filleted my own fish too rather than selling them whole it was a case of having to have days off so I could find time to spend the money. Winter fishing for Cod and Summer going for Skate and Dogs if I didn’t stink of fish I smelt of Beer and Rum. Those are days that will never be seen again.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

15lb IS a big fish today in British waters!

I remember too the old days, when the only Herring fit for humans was the Icelandic Herring. The local, Swedish herring, was given to the farmers as fertilizer or animal feed.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

It used to be quite funny here, a 'bonus' for many of the filleters on the docks was they got to keep and sell the offal from the Cod and Haddock they filleted, this was sold by them to the 'fishmeal' people who made it mostly into fertilizer....the offal was sold to the fishmeal people by weight of the box and I have lost count of the number of times I saw filleters 'making up the weight' by hiding Lemon Sole, Dover Sole, Squid, and other 'rubbish' in the bottom of the boxes..... as a very young boy 12 years old I would 'borrow' the large Cod heads from the filleters and cut out the Cheeks and Tongues I would keep and sell them for pocket money and the heads would go back to the filleters for the offal.....as kids we would walk through the dock with our fishing gear (rods and reels with a bag of tackle) the filleters would shout "here tell your mom you caught this" and would throw 20lb Cod at us....we would wrap them in big yellow bicycle capes and often take home 6 or 7 stone of fish .....there was so much of it at the time who would have believed what it is like now. You used to be able to cross any of the three Docks in Grimsby from one side to the other just by stepping from one trawler to another, literally hundreds of them...all gone now. And talking of gone, I think this thread has gone a bit off track, sorry.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

Interesting to read that you were eating Cod cheeks and tongues in UK too.
My son is the expert filleter, the carcass is pure bone...
I am the de-skinner, and cheek and tongue remover.

In the more old fashioned parts of Sweden and Norway, those are still eaten!

I have been told that one filleter in the local factory used to put one specific piece of offal, the swim bladder, in a bucket, and he told his work mates he liked them cooked. He took his and the other guy's.
It took them years to discover that he salted them and sold to a brewery.
Isinglass, to clear the beer.

 

[Drain Bamaged]

When I was a teenager the Cod Wars were pretty much in full swing and Grimsby Docks was getting a lot of fish other than the normal Cod and Haddock though often not in full measures….the established filleters demanded the small amounts of Cod and Haddock that did come in so I learnt to prepare many weird and wonderful fish that they couldn’t make money on whilst doing piece work. I learnt to fillet most of the Flat fish from Plaice to Mock Halibut, I skinned Dog fish and Shark, tailed Monk Fish, filleted Tusk, Hake, Pollack, Whiting, cleaned Squid, dressed Crabs and Lobster, all kinds of shell fish…long hours, freezing cold, wet most of the time had to work pretty much according to tide times rather than the clock and by this time there was not a lot of money to be made….AND I LOVED IT.

D.B.

 

[Janne]

Tusk id one of the fish ai target. Love the flavour and texture, almost crab like. Wonderful in soups and stews.
Hugely under appreciated fish.

Shark of all sizes are also nice. We used to get ( for free) Gurnard from the fishermen at Hastings when we bought some sole.
My son told me recently that gurnard is expensive now.