Safety when boat fishing/trolling the heads

[md5]

Hi guys,

Just looking for some safety advice on fishing the heads off Sydney - trolling/casting close to the rocks or in the wash. I recently got my first 4.8m plate boat and looking to learn some tips as open sea still freaks me out a little 🙂

[big Neil]

8 hours ago, md5 said:

Hi guys,

Just looking for some safety advice on fishing the heads off Sydney - trolling/casting close to the rocks or in the wash. I recently got my first 4.8m plate boat and looking to learn some tips as open sea still freaks me out a little 🙂

Hi, md5. Send a PM to Pickles. He is full of good information on what to do and what to avoid. Excellent angler and a very helpful Fishraider too. I can offer you one piece of advice. If it looks even a little bit risky, don't do it. Good luck and keep safe. bn

[slowjigger]

Find out where the bomboras are and give them a wide berth. Whereabout off Sydney are you looking at?

[md5]

Botany Bay to Cronulla to Marley Beach and Sydney Harbor North Head 

44 minutes ago, slowjigger said:

Find out where the bomboras are and give them a wide berth. Whereabout off Sydney are you looking at?

 

[Sharknado]

My 1st bit of advice would be to check the free boating maps available to everyone-

https://www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/using-waterways-boating-and-transport-information/navigation-and-communication/boating-maps

Edited April 2 by Sharknado

[PaddyT]

Start by trolling , do your first run in any new spot reasonably wide of the rocks so you can watch for bommies/shallow patches etc , sometimes your best way of understanding a spot is to go with a reasonable sea is running-this tends to expose all the bommies and shallow bits.work your way up to casting. NEVER turn the motor off, when you hook a fish just point the boat away from the rocks and drive out , learn the handling characteristics of your boat, you will find that most outboard powered boats have better control with a few revs on the motor. In certain gnarly spots when im trolling baits for kings i will keep the revs on my boat at about 1000rpm just so i have a better handling on my steering, when im trolling lures its not usually an issue because im at 4-5 knots if im trolling bibbed lures and 6-7 with skirts-so plenty of control. , watch your sounder, GPS (preferably with a decent chart)and whats in front of you. When you hook a fish think about your safety before you think about winding the fish in. Its a very productive way to start offshore fishing .

[Renegade460]

If going solo make sure you are wearing a lifejacket and make sure the engine cutout cord is connected to you.

[Steve0]

Nervous people make safer decisions.

Those who fish Eastern suburbs may have seen a memorial for Gary Chapman and Ron Nelson.  Gary Chapman was an amazing swimmer and rock fishing champion. This is a snippet from his bigraphy about his death in a boating accident:

Quote

On 23 September 1978 he and a friend Ronald Nelson set out in Chapman's powerboat to fish off Maroubra beach. The upturned boat was found next day, but their bodies were never recovered: the coroner returned a finding of accidental drowning.

I took great interest in the story when the news broke. The part of the story not mentioned in the article is that the boat's welded in fish box was missing. Valid speculation is that they were returning from the peak in heavy weather when the boat's fishbox welds broke. The loose, heavy-with-fish fishbox moved to one side upsetting the trim of the boat.

The lesson is make sure you have things well secured so they won't move about in rough seas, upsetting trim.

[DrRaymondSnapper]

That`s so sad. The ocean can be very unforgiving at times.