Derek Moody wrote:
In article . com, Jeff
wrote:
Hi chaps,
I'm sailor and not really a fisherman. Some years ago I was with a
bloke on a Yacht, he had a bit of wood about 9 inches by 3 inches that
he towed behind the boat. The wood was rigged so that it was held below
the surface untill a fish grabbed it, this caused it to trip and then
it rose to the surface. I had never seen one before and have never seen
one since
I am doing a crossing from the West Indies to the Med and thru to the
Adriatic and some nice fresh fish would supplimennt the rations, anyone
got any designs one of these.

It's a paravane. It works like an otterboard or underwater kite. When a
fish takes the lure attached to the 'tail' it collapses the diving angle and
the whole lot rises to the surface. An alternative is a -spherical- lead
which tends to be a better hooker but does not rise so neatly. If you just
want the odd fresh meal and don't mind missing a few then a selection of
paravanes would be fine. You don't say which port you're sailing from but
anywhere with a sport fishing fleet will have mass produced paravanes
available - they use big ones for billfishing and small ones to catch bait.
Ask one of the skippers where they buy them. Get several (cheaper by the
dozen?) as you'll lose a few to sharks.

Make sure you specify -diving- paravanes, there are also types designed to
stay at the surface and take a line out parallel with the boat to prevent
tangling when several surface lines are trailed at once.

I have some basic info for yachtsmen available via my site (below) - meant
for UK coastal day-sailors rather then blue waters but it might be useful.

Have fun,

Cheerio,


--
Fishing: http://www.fishing.casterbridge.net/
Writing: http://www.author.casterbridge.net/derek-moody/
uk.rec.fishing.game Badge Page:
http://www.fishing.casterbridge.net/urfg/

Hi Derek,
Thanks for the reply, think i've tracked some down both on Ebay and
from Tacklebargains.co.uk. When you know its name, its quite easy to
find.
I suppose mackerel spoons are the bait of choice for the chance of a
bite from most fish?
jeff