Casting off a boat?

**beefcake** · 15-01-2005, 11:13

do you cast off a boat or just drop it over the side?

**gusangus** · 15-01-2005, 11:34

Hi Beefcake.
Casting in a boat, (uptiding) is only done when fishing shallow water the idea is to get your bait clear of the boats scare area which is reckoned to be around eighty feet. the method is used a lot in the thames estuary area and on areas where there are sand banks, Your skipper would be able to advise you if your going to be in an area where this type of fishing would be advantageous. It entails casting your bait uptide of the boat using a weight with gripper wires on when the bait is on the bottom you allow a belly of line out so that the rod tip is under tension and the indication that you have caught is when the rod springs back and the line goes slack.
down tiding which is just dropping your bait over the side and letting it travel back in the tide is the main way of fishing from a boat, by using the correct amount of weight you can drop your bait back in the tide covering more ground this method is particularly useful for tope smoothounds cod, If you read some of mikes method statements on the home page follow the links he will put more substance to what Iv'e said but thats the basics.

**woodbutcher** · 29-01-2005, 20:36

a usfull tip when casting from a boat is to hook you baited hook onto the wire,s of you weight this aid,s in casting and for safety it stopsthe hook length from flying around in a tight space

**gusangus** · 30-01-2005, 10:37

good tip mate, I have seen buckets and clothes being launched over the side by people uptiding so BE CAREFUL!.

**dicky** · 30-01-2005, 16:01

uptiding is a great method in depths upto 100 feet.
also a nice way to fight fish due to the lighter tippier rods.

**Fisher_Nick** · 15-02-2005, 21:10

Boat casting is dangerous with lots of people, however it is reckoned that there is no such thing as a scare area because the sound vibrations in water travel a lot further than on land, so the scare area could be several hundred meters from the boat. besides i have caught fish by dropping it over the side

**Drew** · 15-02-2005, 21:49

Rubbish! Not even worth an explanation.

**Marcus** · 16-02-2005, 01:53

ive only ever dropped over the side,,caught 33lb conger,cod,whiting,doggies,,many spurdogs..

very enjoyable

**gusangus** · 16-02-2005, 12:43

Hi Nick,
I don't know where you got your information from, but I remember when this method was first brought out by messers Cox & Rawle who fished predominatly in the Thames estury area, It improved their catch rates dramaticaly and has been taken up by thousands of anglers, As for dangerous, well you always get idiots but by and large people uptiding will use the front of the boat (by The Wheelhouse) so they don't interfere with the others who are downtiding, and when casting will alert other members of the crew. Last year I crewed with a group of 6 anglers they all had an uptider out and a down tider at the same time a situation I thought was bound to lead to horrendous tangles, but no, they had it all worked out and they had a very good day catching most of the bigger fish by uptiding, common sense being the keyword, when you say you have caught fish just by dropping down I'll bet your bait was behind the boat by quite a distance when the tide was running, and therefore outside the scare area, these areas are a proven fact, during slack water the scare area is reduced because of the reduced strain on the anchor rope and therefore reduced noise from it (it vibrates with the strain) which means the fish will close in, I could go on for ever but I think you may now have an idea of whats what

**Drew** · 16-02-2005, 13:33

Hi Gus,

Thanks. You are more diplomatic than I am, I have never read such drivel in all my life. I realise we have our own opinion and must respect the opinion of others but that reply got me going.

I apologise for being so abrupt.

Cheers

Drew