Fitting a Navigation Device - Garmin GPSMap 78

Fitting a fish finder earlier in the year has greatly enhanced my fishing capabilities and experience. The facility to be able to see the structure of the seabed, the depth of the water and find shoals of fish has been fascinating and educational. To enhance that experience even more it would be great to be able to mark the waypoints of features I fish over such as rough ground marks, wrecks, pools, gullies, banks etc. This would enable me to navigate back to those marks with far greater accuracy rather than having to use landmarks, a compass, and the fish finder.

Apart from navigating to fishing marks there is the safety element a GPS navigation device would bring.  Being able to mark launch sites would give some peace of mind should the fog roll in making visibility impossible.  A GPS would help me navigate back to the launch site in such poor visibility.  In addition, should I need to give out a distress call I could give coordinates of my current position thus helping any rescue team locate me.

I have been very pleased with the performance of the Garmin Echo 550c fish finder therefore, decided to stick with Garmin and purchase the GPSMap 78.

The device has all the features and specifications I needed.  It comes with a world base map however; there is an option to purchase detailed marine charts called Garmin BlueChart g2 installed via a micro SD card. The blue charts have a fishing chart, which displays detailed bathymetric contour lines; this would be very useful in selecting marks to fish.

  

In addition, with the purchase of the marine planning software HomePort, waypoints and routes can be planned at home on the computer and transferred to the device. This option particularly appealed to me.

Although the unit is a handheld unit that could be kept in a pocket, I wanted to fit a GPS mount on the kayak that would enable me to view the map and route whilst paddling.  To do this I purchased the following components:

1 x Ram Holder for GPSMap 78 (Ram-Hol-GA40)

1 x Diamond Base with 1" Ball (Ram-B-238)

1 x Double Arm Socket for 1" Ball (Ram-B-201)

1 x YakAttack ScrewBall 1"

I mounted my fish finder on a 16" GearTrac.

It was always my plan to use the GearTrac to fit other devices and this is ideal for mounting the GPSMap 78.

First job was to fit the 1" diamond base to the back of the GPS holder using the screws and lock nuts provided.

Next, I needed to secure one end of the 1" double arm socket to the diamond base.

The YakAttack screwball screws on to the GearTrac.

To complete the mount I fixed the other end of the double arm socket to the YakAttack screwball.

The device sits nicely now alongside the fish finder and within reach from my seat and can be tilted forward if necessary.

I mentioned the option to purchase BlueChart g2 marine charts.  Direct from Garmin, I purchased the chart for my location in the southwest called HEU463S - Bristol Channel & England S/W.

The chart is pre installed on a micro SD card that simply slots in underneath the batteries.

I also purchased the marine planning software HomePort, and downloaded the software direct to the computer from Garmin.  HomePort enables me to view the marine BlueChart g2 on the computer by plugging the GPSMap 78 into the computer via the USB cable provided.

There is a choice to view the charts in either navigation mode, fishing chart mode, or both.

Setting waypoints and sending that waypoint to the GPS is straightforward. 

First impressions of the Garmin GPSMap 78, the Blue Chart g2, and the HomePort software are impressive and I shall look forward to using these facilities to enhance my fishing experience even more.



Kayak Sea Bass Fishing and a Mixed Catch

I usually focus on catching Sea Bass from September through to the end of December.  Bass are around earlier but in the autumn, they tend to be more abundant.

I had a couple of free days this week and with a favourable weather forecast what better way of spending that time than out on the kayak fishing.  When I have the time to fish the whole six hours of a flooding tide I sometimes like to vary the methods used and therefore, vary the species caught.

Concerning Sea Bass fishing, experience has taught me that there are times of activity and times when you might as well pack up and go home.  In 25 years Bass fishing I have never caught Bass for the whole six hours of a flooding or ebbing tide.  Therefore, rather than waste the non-productive time in the hope of a catch, I would rather target Bass during the time of the tide when I am most likely to catch and then go for other species.

My chosen mark produces Bass in the first three hours of the flooding tide.  My plan was to spend those first three hours drifting and trolling using lures after which I would paddle out to deeper water and fish at anchor.  At anchor, one rod would be used to fish with bait on the bottom targeting Thornback Ray or Bull Huss and whilst waiting for a bite, I would jig a Herring Rig targeting Mackerel or Herring.

When lure fishing for Bass from the kayak I like to combine drifting with trolling.  The idea is to set up the drift over the chosen mark and deploy the drift chute at the stern, which turns the stern of the kayak into the wind.  With the stern into the wind, I am facing down wind, which makes it easier to cast the lures down wind and to the sides covering as much ground as possible.  This also of course slows down the drift giving much more fishing time.

When paddling back up tide/wind to reset the drift, rather than just paddling back it often pays to troll a lure at the same time.  This way in effect you are always fishing.

On day one of my two-day trip, I launched an hour earlier than low water to pick up some fresh bait for the bait fishing at anchor later in the day.  One the bait had been secured I could then focus on the Bass fishing.

The mark is shallow rough ground and I would be drifting over depths ranging from 3' to 15'.  I mentioned in a previous post Top Sea Bass Lures the lures I like to use when Bass fishing.  For this trip, I carried the following plugs, a Tackle House Feed Shallow 128, a Savage Prey 130, and a Megabass Zonk 120 Gataride - Hi Pitch.  These floating diving plugs give me a diving range from 1' to 4'.  Generally, even in the deeper water the Bass will rise up from underneath to take the lure. 

The three hours Bass fishing produced two fish.  One caught trolling and one drifting and both took the Tackle House Feed Shallow.

The three hours spent fishing at anchor produced nothing from the bait rod however, the jigged Herring Rig produced a Gurnard, Mackerel, and to my delight a Squid.

The mixed methods of day one produced a mixed catch which was pleasing.

 

On day two, I planned to repeat the tactics of day one.  First, I needed some fresh bait for later and fortunately, Mackerel showed on the fish finder.   Interestingly, you can see the lure going down to the shoal and jigging amongst them.  A fish finder can be very useful at times and since fitting the Garmin Echo 550c I have been very pleased with its performance, the returns are excellent and very clear.

Once again, with the bait secured for later it was time to focus on the Bass fishing with lures.  This time the session produced three Bass all caught trolling the Tackle House Feed Shallow.  Two of the Bass were undersize and returned.

With the Bass fishing session over the fishing at anchor in deeper water began.  This time the session produced fish on both the bait rod and the jigged Herring Rig.  The bait rod produced a nice Bull Huss on fresh Mackerel, and the jigged lure produced a few more Mackerel and a Horse Mackerel.  Interesting how dark the back is on the Bull Huss.

 

 

 

It is always pleasing when a plan works out and for me the most interesting catch over the two days was the squid simply because I do not usually catch them.  I have read that squid fishing is becoming more popular in the UK.  I may invest in some squid jigs and add squid as a target species to catch for the dinner table.

Bass, Mackerel, Herring, and Anchovies 27-07-13

Although Bass are around earlier, I usually focus on catching them from September through to December.  Bass fishing can be addictive and there was a time when it was the only fish I really wanted to catch however, since taking up kayak fishing, I can now access marks I could not access from the shore, and my target species at different times of the year has become more varied.  Having said that, sometimes opportunities arise that tempts you to change your normal game plan.

A couple of days ago, I was collecting razorfish for future bait stocks and personal consumption.  Out in the bay, I noticed a great deal of surface activity from baitfish trying to escape their predator.  As this was shallow water, I was certain that the predators were Bass.  Judging by the activity, there appeared to be plenty of Bass around therefore; I decided at the earliest opportunity I would return in the kayak.

My plan was to start fishing at dawn, which was about two hours into the flooding tide.  I had fished this location before and caught Bass within the first three hours of the flooding tide.  I am a great believer in the Solunar Theory and the time I planned to start fishing, fell within a major period of solunar activity where according to the theory the fish would be most active.

The mark is a shallow rough ground mark with a mixture of sand and weed covered rocks. Due to the nature of the ground, I fish this mark with surface plugs, shallow diving plugs, or weedless soft plastics.  My choice of lures today was shallow diving plugs.

On arrival at the mark, I immediately noticed the surface activity I noticed two days earlier, which was a good sign that the Bass were here once again.  After working out the direction of the drift, which would keep me close to the shoreline, the fishing began. When lure fishing for Bass in shallow water I deploy a drift chute at the stern. This turns the stern of the kayak into the wind, which means I am facing down wind making it easy to cast the lure down wind or to the sides and work the lure back to the kayak.

The fist cast immediately produced a take on the Savage Prey 130.

The Cornish Inshore Fishing and Conservation Authorities landing size limit is 37.5cm and although I could have kept this fish, I have a personal size limit of 40cm therefore; I returned the fish as there is always a better fish around the corner.

The fish were still very active chasing the baitfish close to the surface so I changed the plug to a Tackle House Feed Shallow, which dives just under the surface, and the first cast produced another fish.

 

 

 

 

This fish was under both my size limit and the IFCA's size limit therefore, returned.

 

The next three fish were all a better size of 42cm, 40cm, and 45cm and all fell for the Tackle House Feed Shallow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As usual, with Bass fishing the activity stopped and the takes stopped therefore, I decided to paddle out into deeper water and jig a Herring Rig in the hope of Mackerel or Herring. 

 

The fish finder showed plenty of baitfish and to my surprise, they were Anchovies.

 

 

 

 

Commercial fleets catch Anchovies in UK waters and have done for several years now but it is a first for me to catch them on rod and line. This highlights the advantage of jigging mini feathers on small size 4 to 6 hooks rather than conventional Mackerel feathers on size 2/0 hooks. There is always the chance of a bonus catch using the small lures and of course, they will still catch Mackerel.

 

I managed to catch more Anchovies along with a couple of Herring and a good bag of Mackerel as shown below.  I apologise for the quality of the following pictures.  Salt spray must have got onto the lens!

 

 

A very pleasing mornings fishing and worth getting up at 4 o'clock although I must admit, I nearly rolled over and said forget it!

 

 

 



Cornish Gilthead Bream Fishing 06-07-13

In the spring and summer months, one fish that I love to target is Gilthead Bream.  To me, they are a great fighting, great looking, and great eating fish.  Although I really enjoy catching and eating Sea Bass, Gilthead Bream have the edge in both fighting and eating qualities.

The Cornish Gilthead Bream season usually runs from April through to early October and in the UK, they are most abundant in the South and South West.

I am fortunate to live close to one of the areas they like to feed which are the creeks of the Fal Estuary.

  

Selecting locations similar to the locations for Flounder fishing are good locations to try for Gilthead Bream.  In addition, like Bass, they will swim right into the shallows hunting for food therefore; the tactics for catching them are very similar to Flounder fishing or scaled down Bass fishing.

From the kayak, I like to use a light 7' 10g to 35g spinning rod and a 4000 size fixed spool reel loaded with 15lb braid and a 15lb nylon leader.  At the business end, a running ledger with a 2ft to 3ft 15lb fluorocarbon trace and hook sizes 1 to 4.  Weights range from 1oz to 2oz and baits can be lugworm, ragworm, peeler crab, mussel, or razorfish. 

The size and the sharpness of the hook are very important.  Gilthead Bream have a small mouth with the first inch lined with rock hard teeth.  This area of the mouth is extremely difficult to penetrate with a hook.  Unless the hook gets beyond those teeth into softer parts of the mouth, there is every chance of losing a fish during the fight simply because the hook has not been able to secure a firm hold. 

Two ways I have found that increase the chance of a secure hook on the fish are to allow the fish to take line after the initial bite giving it more time to get the bait well into the mouth. To achieve this either use a bait runner reel or set the clutch of the reel very light to enable to fish to move away with the bait before the strike. The other is to use strong carp hooks between sizes 1 to 4 depending on what bait is used.  For shellfish, I use size 1 and for worm bait size 2 or 4.  That said due to the structure of the fishes mouth, a percentage of fish would still be lost during the fight.

Today it was low water at 11:20 and it was important that I was ready to start fishing two hours before low water.  Similar to Bass, I have found the most productive time is a few hours either side of low water.  The best time of day is dawn however, it is not always possible to match low water with dawn and fish can still be caught at any time of the day.

My choice of bait today was razorfish otherwise known as razor clam.  Compared to lugworm or peeler crab, razorfish is an underrated bait yet it has a fantastic scent so much so, that it is difficult to get rid of the scent on your fingers long after using it!  It has caught me a great number of Sea Bass in the past and is a very good bait to use for Gilthead Bream. 

Razorfish is soft bait therefore; it can be difficult to keep on the hook.  One way to make this easier is first bind the bait with bait elastic making a sausage.  Once done, it is very easy to thread onto the hook in exactly the same way as you would thread on a lugworm or ragworm.

The first bite came well before low water but unfortunately, the fish was lost close to the kayak.  Gilthead Bream are very strong and fight very hard with repeated runs.  As mentioned above, fish can easily be lost in the fight.

Fortunately, I had another bite around low water and I gave the fish plenty of slack line before the strike and managed to land the fish.  The initial pull and the fight of a Gilthead Bream is something to experience!

I fished on but that was the only Bream of the day however, when Bream fishing you often catch small Bass.

Apart from the fact that this Bass was under the legal size limit, I was fishing in a Bass Nursery Area, which means from April 30th to January 1st, all Bass are protected.  It was good to see this Bass returned safely for future stocks.

It is always pleasing to catch a Gilthead Bream, They are a challenge to catch, the fight is tremendous, they are great looking and even better tasting so it was off home to prepare the catch for the barbeque.





Update June 2014:

Although you can fish for Gilthead Bream from April to mid October in Cornwall, I like to target them in June, July, and August.  With a warm settled forecast, I decided to head out for my first Bream trip of 2014. The trip contributed to the making of the video below.

Cornish Pollack Fishing 30-06-13

Unlike other parts of the UK such as the east coast, Cornwall is not really known as an inshore Cod fishery.  Rod and line anglers do catch the occasional Cod but not in the same numbers as other parts of the UK.  Instead, we do have an abundant fishery of another member of the Cod family Pollack.

Once known as a fish you feed to your cat, Pollack has now become more popular as an alternative to Cod and Haddock.  Some people enjoy eating Pollack others hate it personally, skinned I enjoy it.  Whether you enjoy eating Pollack or not, one thing is for sure, for the rod and line angler, they offer great sport on light tackle.

 

Pollack start to populate the inshore reefs in April and are abundant in the height of the summer through to the autumn.  The bigger fish tend to be over the deep water wrecks however, Pollack up the about 4lb and the occasional larger fish can be found around rough ground marks closer to the shore therefore, accessible by kayak.

 

The mark I fished today is mainly a clean sandy seabed however, there are some small isolated rough ground patches that act as an oasis for the fish particularly, Pollack.   My plan was to lure fish over both the clean and the rough ground.  Over the clean ground, my target species would be Mackerel and over the rough ground Pollack.

 

For kayak Pollack fishing, I carry a variety of lures for example, Sidewinder Sandeels, Savage Sandeels,  Twin Tails, Sidewinder Shads, and Nordic Herring Jigs.  All will catch Pollack and it is more a matter of finding the feeding fish and the method used than which lure is presented.




If I was only targeting Cod I would jig the lure close to or on the bottom because that is where the Cod tend to be however, Pollack tend to be suspended above and around the rough ground therefore, the method is to lower the lure to the bottom then slowly and steadily retrieve up to a certain depth.  The Pollack will follow the lure and occasionally you feel a tug before the actual take.  If you feel the tug, the secret is to keep winding and more often than not, the fish will take the lure.  Although the rough ground is not showing, the following example shows Pollack suspended near rough ground.

To enjoy the fight of the fish I like to keep the tackle light and use an 8' 15g to 45g bait casting rod with an Abu bait-casting reel loaded with braided line and a 2' fluorocarbon leader.  The thinness of the braid means lighter weights can be used and the lack of stretch gives a greater feel.

My plan was to set the drift up over the clean ground, jig a Herring Rig for Mackerel, and when the rough ground started showing on the sonar, switch to a rod set up with one of the larger lures for Pollack.

Jigging the Herring Rig over the clean ground produced Mackerel and a Gurnard.

One of the rough ground patches showed several Pollack suspended above and fortunately, I managed to catch some using the Savage Sandeel.

Whenever lure fishing there is always the chance of catching a species of fish you are not really targeting and the rough ground also produced a couple of nice Wrasse.

 

Pollack on light tackle offer great sport and the dive after the initial take of the lure as the fish tries to get back down to the rough ground is a lot of fun.

In general, although a lot of paddling involved trying the different rough ground patches and paddling back up tide/wind to reset the drift, a productive day with a mixed catch.