tips on night fishing.

[fishingdms]

hey guys,

Can anyone give me any tips on night fishing in moreton bay. around peel/mud etc.

Ive been boating for aprox 1 year, and know some of the hazard/shallow areas, but going to fish in the dark is a whole new ball game.

Any tips on :

Safety.
Additional Equipment needed
visability (how bad is it)
slipping anchor (no gps!)

and anything else.

Thanks guys.

[wayne_cook]

go with someone with experience to start with.First hand knowledge is priceless!!

If your not experienced night fishing(boating)is different can be a bit scarry for first timers.

[Nathalie]

Hi Fishingdms

:)I am new to boating myself, but I can tell you from experience as we went on our first night fish recently. #

We went out off Scarbough (not even that far off) the other week and stayed out till after dark, as we thought that we would just follow the beacons back in, but we lost visual of them in the land lights, got way off course and lost our bearings :-?.
Just lucky that I saved the track out from the boat ramp and we ended up just following the track back in. I will say that I was getting a bit worried at first as I had been told a few scary stories but to my surprise the GPS track lead us back safely. But we will be taking note of land marks to navigate for next time (just in case the GPS fails). It is not as easy as it looks it is totally different than fishing in the daylight. Hope this helps. Nat. ;)

[jim_farrell]

As bear said. Take someone who knows what they are doing or go with the same. You won't enjoy your fishing if your mind is elsewhere.
Jim

[tiny_tinny]

Make sure you have an up to date chart or the latest copy of the Beacon to Beacon Directory. They show the lighted beacons and buoys and also what lights they show at night. For example, you will see some beacons with "Fl R 2.5s" which means that the beacon has a red light which flashes every 2.5 seconds. Another might say "Fl G 4s" = flash green every 4 seconds. By counting the seconds, you are sure that you are looking at the correct beacon.

To make things easier, it might be a good idea to do a short trip or two first, and go out in the late afternoon, so you learn the way in the light, then return after dark. It is a bit scary at first, because it is VERY dark out there, particularly when there is no moon. You have no headlights - they would be useless anyway, because there is precious little to reflect the light. Carry a spotlight or good torch, but you should rarely use them. Be really careful not to shine a spotlight on other vessels - it will destroy the other person's night vision and is VERY BAD MANNERS, the sign of an ignorant boatie.

The other thing you need is a compass, because it is very easy to lose your bearings (which is not the same as loosing your marbles). Hopefully, with a chart and compass, your bearings can be retrieved, unlike your marbles. (Bad jokes, I can just hear my kids saying "aaaaaw daaaaad!")

As a previous post said, don't rely on a GPS (if you have one). After all, James Cook circumnavigated the globe, without charts for much of his journey, and only ran aground once.

Once you overcome the very natural nervousness about an alien experience, you should find that boating at night is no harder than day-time navigation, provided you keep your wits, pay attention to your surroundings and follow your course on a chart, until you get really familiar with the area.

A few other things:

Watch out for idiots who don't show lights on their boats.

Show lights on YOUR boat.

Keep the red on your left when heading onto port (or upstream)

Learn the meaning of the other beacons and lights - the Beacon to Beacon Directory has a brief explanation of them.

Good luck and have fun.

Mike

[Mr__Bean]

A couple of things to consider for when you get out there:

1. Make sure everyone knows where the torch and where an emergency knife is to be kept.

2. Make sure your waterproof torch floats. This should be turned on and thrown overboard if someone falls in when in tide flowing waters, the person overboard can see it and swim to it, and you can see it you when you finally get the anchor up and motor over to pick the person up.

3. If someone goes in, immediateley assign someone to keep there eye on the person in the water, nothing else but keep there eye on the one in the water.

4. Avoid clutter in the boat, all to easy to fall @rse overhead in the dark.

5. Make sure you have a good anchor light showing, don't rely on a pissy little fluorescent light for other people to see you.

6. If you are in a fibreglass boat and you and near a channel or high traffic area, get or make yourself a radar reflector. Big boats don't often see little boats.

7. Keep your deck lighting to a minimum, and try to keep your radio etc down, so that you have the best chance to see and hear any approaching vessels.

8. Keep the boat in a ready to start mode, keys in the ignition and motor down ready to go quickly if you have to

9. Make sure you note a compass direction to safe waters, swinging around on an anchor at night leaves you very disoriented.

10. Don't underestimate how cold it is at 4 in the morning :o :o

- Darren

[Chimo]

fishingdms

All the above and if you are going to try to navigate in the dark and read charts at the same time using a nite light ie red light will let you see the chart and also help you keep your nite vision.

Its a little thing but I find it helps.

Good luck

Chimo

[tiny_tinny]

And a couple more.............

If your boat is fitted with one, attach the emergency stop lanyard so the boat will stop if you hit something in the water and are thrown about.

I always wear a life jacket at night, especially if I am alone.

Mike

[marlinqld]

heres a good starting point, read everything on this site.

http://www.amsa.gov.au/

REad anyhting you can get your hands on. And ask questions, the only stupid question is the one that isnt asked.


Mike

[fishingdms]

Thanks for the great advice guys.

cheers.