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Have we all gone boat crazy?

Ian Wakeford

Well if you can't beat them join them.  Most of my circle of fishing friends have been buying boats of one shape or another, over the last year or so.  Some are very funny shapes indeed - I am sure one is actually a caravan with an outboard on the back; but that's another story.  They have all been extolling the virtues of the freedom it offers.

So I took the plunge this year buying an 8 foot fiberglass jobby.  Primarily, I was interested in using it for Fishery Maintenance and survey work, but I thought it would do no harm to take a rod or two out with me, "just in case".

So what lessons have I learnt that I can pass onto people in a similar position?  Well the first thing that I had to think about was transport, I do not have large enough a drive to store a trailer and I would not leave a boat moored up.  It would get stolen or vandalized.  However I have an estate car, it has no tow bar and a garage that never has a car in it. So it would appear that I needed a boat that would fit onto the roof bars and yet be light enough to be man-handled on and off the car.

I usually fish alone so the weight was critical otherwise I would be limited to fishing from a boat only when I had a partner.  The other interesting fact is that there is a technique to loading a boat onto a car roof.  Assuming that all you have are two widthwise roof bars you just need to keep them quite far apart to support the boats weight evenly.  Now I am not physically capable of lifting the boat onto the roof as it weighs at least 50 kilos and it is difficult to get a good grip of.  But what I have developed is a technique where I lay a piece of bubble wrap sheeting (old carpet will do) on the rear tailgate window and then slide the boat on or off the roof bars letting it slide upon the car.  

The other thing I have learnt is to look for a gently sloping access point to a water.  Dropping a boat off an 18 inch high bank is easy in one direction but you try pulling it out, even two of you will struggle.  Always look for a slipway or a gently sloping beach.

Having got as far as putting the boat in the water the fun is just beginning, I like to attach all sorts of paraphernalia to the craft and the only flexible way of doing this is with "G" Clamps.  I carry at least 5 of these now, two for the Electric Outboard, two for the Sonar Stem and one spare just incase (sometimes I attach a set of buzzer bars to the boat).

Now some words of grown up advice that most people do not bother about but pay heed, one day you may come a cropper.  Never go out in a boat without oars and rowlocks, if you have a motor failure you will struggle to get back to your launch site especially on a river of if it is breezy.  The other thing that I am personally paranoid about is falling in, so I prefer to wear a life jacket.  It is probably because I am a poor swimmer, but I challenge anyone to swim 50 yards back to the bank in the middle of winter, wearing two, one piece suits and a pair of SkeeTex boots.  It does not have to be expensive, I bought a really good second hand one for 25 pounds from a boat hire centre and being designed for sailing it is quite slim line and does not get in the way of casting.  It also has a natty breast pocket for forceps and mobile phone.

An anchor is also the other "must have", even on still waters take one with you and have enough rope for at least twice the depth.  Most decent anchors are not that heavy, but rely on their shape to dig into the bottom.  This "digging in" action can only be achieved if the anchor is being pulled sideways rather than upwards.

OK, so you are afloat, looking for likely looking features and you catch a pike.  Most of the time there is no need whatsoever to even bring the fish into the boat.  A pair of fine nosed pliers or forceps will usually be enough to unhook the fish in the water.  If the fish is needed out of the water for a photo, or to be weighed or even requires more intensive hook removal then just simply use a normal landing net.  Use it without the handle or one of those special boat-use nets, with a very short handle.  Ensure that in the floor you have an decent sized unhooking mat for the fish to lie on.  

Oh and by the way, it helps if you drop the anchor first when you land a fish, otherwise you may find yourself where you did not expect.

Bristling with tackle - low in the water.