[Bobcat]

As I have only just got a boat I was wondering what mapping systems there are available for the wrecks in my area?

Is it a case of; find them yourself or are there maps that one could buy?


Cheers all

Bobcat

 

[Guest]

You can buy charts that will show the approximate positions of the known wrecks. http://marinestore.co.uk/page/mrst/CTGY/admiralty-charts/
The Pandora website will give the coordinates of some. http://users.pandora.be/tree/wreck/wreck-database/wreck-database.html
Or you can fit a plotter which with the chart for your area will show all of the known wrecks. This is what I have done and is far easier to use. Once you find a wreck and plot it properly you can go straight back to it time after time.

 

[Bobcat]

Top man thanks for that Cascars, I'll have a good look.

 

[MarieK]

Keep in mind though that the position on the chart is not always (rarely) the position where the wreck lies.

 

[Guest]

They will usualy be within a couple of hundred yards but occasionally up to 1/4 mile or so

 

[Salar]

And...what a chart calls a wreck is often not what an angler (or fish even) would call a wreck. Off the South Coast the seabed is littered with crashed aircraft which have little left but the odd bit of metal sticking up to snag on nets. They are still marked as wrecks, same as the ship Cuba which is a couple of hundred feet long! Best to get a dive book that describes the wreck and what is left of it.

 

[Glyndoree]

Have a look at some of the diving sites on the net that are around your area. You can even get GPS locations off some of them, with photo's showing the fish around them.

 

[SPECIAL'M']

Try Dive Pembrokshire It A Good Site And Gives Gps Readings

 

[whitesnake]

try these.

http://www.divernet.com/

http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/

http://uboat.net/

lots of info here if you search :boat:

 

[Afishionado]

No one has yet mentioned 'How to fish a wreck'. It's not just a question of turning up and dropping your hook. Actually it is more of an art form when performed by an experianced skipper.
Try to join a local sea fishing club and if you can go along to a wreck with a buddy boat skippered by a more experienced guy. Or go on a charter trip and watch carefully how the skipper positions his boat.
Some wrecks (a few) you anchor up UP tide and fis down to them. Some you drift over, some you fish on one side etc etc.

Also as a lot of us have learnt over the years you can pass over a load of fish on the way to a distant wreck that might not even be there! Wrecks are not necessarily the holy grail of sea fishing. It might be better to sharpen up your boat fishing skills and boat handling on inshore marks first.

Afishionado

 

[Pelamid]

Oh, this is where your fun starts!
You will probably get you wreck info from a mix of paper charts, chartplotter wreck marks, divers, commercial fishermen and books.
Much of what is on Imray charts for my local area is historical - many wrecks broken up so much they will barely be noticed on the fishfinder - and some wrecks simply recorded in the last position the ship was seen, often sinking miles away.

The positions for these wrecks will have been recorded in a number of ways - lat/long, Decca and Satellite derived positions. I have a note added to my Shipwrecks of the Forth book - SAT DERIVED POSITIONS MOVE GPS .12 min WESTWARD.
Now I get confused - do I add that on when going to the GPS or do I take it away.:blink:
Anyway, when you track down a few coordinates allow yourself a day to search the area. Pick a calm day with neap tides. Your first clue of being near a wreck may be just some blurry weed marks on your fishfinder. Do a block search around anything interesting and you may find your wreck.
My best wreck mark barely shows on the fishfinder - but it has fished cosistently for many years. One of the more obvious wrecks has never fished well.
Have fun!

 

[Bobcat]

Thanks for posting everyone, you have given me some good things to think about. Sounds like I should collect as much data as poss and go for a days recon.

Cheers all

 

[MarieK]

It can certainly be very frustrating - if you are steaming offshore, try and pick an area with a few options for the days fishing. Nothing worse than steaming for hours to not find the wreck then have to turn round and steam another distance to get a few fish.

Ryan

 

[TraceMate]

You could also try Kingfisher wreck charts, I've found these more reliable for the position.
Gary

 

[Tony H]

You could also try Kingfisher wreck charts, I've found these more reliable for the position.
Gary

Allthough kingfisher charts can sometimes be very accurate many of the positions are derived by" fishermans fasteners" Snagged trawl nets so therfore can depend on angle and direction of tow and amount of warp out at the time of report

 

[ebgb]

s'pose we're lucky up in the north east as we've got thousands of them, and many are still huge great lumps on the finder.

One thing I would add to everyone else's sage wisdom on the subject is the GPS marks you might be given/find. I'd almost guranteee your plotter will give you slightly different numbers. When you get to a mark as plotted from the given numbers you might end up hunting around a good few hundred yards in any direction to actually find the wreck