naver been wreck fishing befor

never been wreck fishing what do i do when we start to drift over them
and what is the best type of set ups to use and tackle
thanks

Hi

It depends on what kind of fish you are after... Look at the clohessy article in the november edition of the IA, useful. If you are using pirks and similar, look to purchase lure savers, small split rings that will part company with the pirk or lure before your line snaps. The theory is that you only lose the hook, snagged on the wreck. Even with then you will want to invest in junk leads and rotten bottom connections, these can be very simple like paper clips, rubber bands or simply far light mono...

Talk to the skipper or others who will be fishing and they will be better placed to advise you as to tactics, rigs, tips and tricks...

HTH

It will mainly be cod and ling i will be fishing for do i do 12/20 or 20/30
how do you drift over a wreck without loosing everything

With wrecking the old rule applies: if you’re not prepared to loose it, don’t use it!!!
Depending on the location of the wreck you may find:
Cod: Shadding/jelly worming, jigging may be more productive than bait. The chances of loosing lures is lessened as you will only touch down on the bottom for a second. With jigs use stinger hooks and this will help as well.

Ling/Cod: If there is a chance of a good stamp of fish tie up some single hook (8/0) paternosters from 60-100 mono. A muppet or suchlike on the hook is a benefit (add a few lumi beads and spinner blade/booby bead if you like). You can try using rotten bottom links but you will find that you can still loose a lot of gear anyway. Bait with a half a fillet of mackerel. If there is only small fish showing then use any “hokeye” style trace baited with strips.

Some wrecks are fairly snag free but others can be graveyards. You may even find that some wrecks have snaggy parts while the rest is clean. I can remember loosing thirteen traces on thirteen drifts one day….scary stuff. On a charter the skipper will normally tell you when the wreck is starting to appear. You will keep in contact with the bottom and hope for the best. You can touch the lead off the bottom reel up a bit and as the wreck rises and you feel the bottom again reel in a couple of turns again. That said you really want to be in contact all the time as that’s where the action is.

Let the speed of drift/size of weight determine what rod you use, 12/20 should cope with up to 10oz anything higher go with the 20/30 if it feels right.
:)

:lol: hope you have strong arms,every time i go wreck fishing i have to sit down after an hour or so, to give my arms a rest.for if you hit into the fish, you will be sore an tired pumping the rod up after every drop :lol: enjoy yourself its great crack....safe fishing!!!!

hi there
If you are planning on fishing over deep wrecks make sure you use braid and a adequate weight so you can keep in contact with the wreck also you will feel takes a lot better with braid
best of luck
Brian

Do you have any more tips lads for me

hi mark
maybe you should start over a shallow wreck first,if you know any.
get a good plotter gps and fish finder.
eg. when you find the wreck, mark it on your plotter .
drift over it a few times get the feel of it as such.
if you anchor over the wreck you will have to go uptide of it let the anchor go,there should be a good chain on the anchor too about 6 to 8 feet. let the rope out slowly usually about the speed of the tide the ratio of rope i would use would be about 2 1/2 to 1 or 3 to 1 as in if it was for example 10 mts of water you would let out 25 to 30 mts of rope imo.
these are just a few basic pointers mark. finding the wreck and anchoring over it is the hard part mark it might take a 2 or 3 times to get on top it
just one more thing when pulling the anchor start the engine give it a bit of throttle so you dont drift back into the wreck otherwise you will loose your anchor
regards brian