Fishing from a trawler

We are trawler wishing and looking for pros and cons. Right now we have an offshore boat that we use for cruising, some overnights, and lots of offshore fishing. Other than speed, seems like a trawler with decent open stern could handle most all types of offshore fishing.

Anyone use their trawler for fairly hard-core fishing? How's that work for you?

Greetings,
Mr. h. The major drawback I can see for a lot of trawlers is deck height. Netting or gaffing is most easily accomplished when closer to the water unless a long handled net/gaff is used. If one wishes to release a fish, it's swim platform time. The ideal "trawler", IMO would be a cockpit motor yacht.

One problem I have is trolling--for salmon you are better off using downriggers and trolling at 2 +/- knots. I can't get that slow.
Pondered a trolling valve but rejected that idea.
Decided I'll hire a guide and use their boat for salmon--cheaper, easier and I might even catch some.

I can still drift and bottom fish though--using the swim platform as mentioned.

I fish the SF Bay and CA Delta regularly from my trawler. Not quite the same as fishing offshore as our waters are protected and relatively benign. My fish of choice is white sturgeon which my 34 LRC Californian handles quite well. The cockpit is about 6 ft x 12 ft...ample for 3-4 anglers, even better suited for 1-2. My boat has twin Perkins 4.236 85 HP diesels so its cruise is about 7.5 Kts. Other models of this boat come with engines up to twin 250 HP diesels that can scoot along at upwards of 20 Kts. Having a boat with speed as an option certainly has its advantages when fishing offshore.

No gaffs, snares or tail ropes allowed in sturgeon fishing. I wish I had a tuna door to pull the big girls aboard, but I manage with a net and brute force.

One area where I'd pay attention is hull design. Mine is semi-planing so it's flat at the aft sections providing good roll stability at anchor. Other FD hulls might be a bit too rolly for fishing.

My friend has a GB42 Classic that is a bit too high off the water for serious fishing...and a small aft deck that I'd hesitate to call a cockpit. Sitting on the aft cabin makes good water-level access difficult.

My LRC has double aft doors that open wide to provide ease of flow in and out of the boat. My aft galley counter serves as a great bait station, albeit one that needs to be cleaned during use to contain the smell and mess. It helps to have the galley sink right there, too.

I enjoy what I call Slipper Fishin'. My trawler affords me the opportunity to fish and cruise in comfort. It's like having a floating fishing cabin or a floating mancave! It's a retirement dream come true for me but, of course, YMMV.

ktdtx said:

One problem I have is trolling--for salmon you are better off using downriggers and trolling at 2 +/- knots. I can't get that slow.
Pondered a trolling valve but rejected that idea.
Decided I'll hire a guide and use their boat for salmon--cheaper, easier and I might even catch some.

I can still drift and bottom fish though--using the swim platform as mentioned.

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Have you looked into using a sea anchor to get down to 2knots ?

We fish every time we go out.

Best bet is to get a boat that has the cockpit at the waterline height or thereabouts. No aft cabins.

I fish quite often, but it's not the ideal boat. Its soft chines make it a bit rolly in rough water without the sails for stabilization.
I fish from the cockpit, which is just above water level, and I can reach fish with a short gaff. I have a swim platform, but unless I'm in protected water I wouldn't be going out there.

Other than that - I have to clear the cockpit of cushions etc when fishing for bluefin tuna. It tends to look like a chainsaw massacre after pulling a couple aboard. Squid can also make a mess.

Recreational trawlers aren't generally designed to optimize fishing. Some are better than others. Mine isn't, but I fish at the supermarket.

Around here the prime offshore fishing areas are about 30-50 miles out that's a days trip in its self, at trawler speed. I have fished off mine a few times, bay fishing tied to oli field structures, it works out well, especially night fishing we have good 110V electric for spotlights and A/C for sleeping.
It is messy though, be ready for a long boat clean up if the fish were biting. A long gaff and landing net will be a help. No built in live wells or fish holds in a rec. trawler though.

Lots of fish are caught by trawlers. Not the ideal platform for the reasons mentioned, but doable. The bigger variables are if there are fish there for you to catch, if you're at the right depth, using the right bait and if you're trolling, at the right speed. Do a little intel work.....ask the locals where the action is and also watch where they are fishing......there may be disconnect.

FlyWright said:

My fish of choice is white sturgeon which my 34 LRC Californian handles quite well.

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Fishing for sturgeon in the Delta should be on everyone's bucket list. There is nothing quite like it.

Steve said:

It is messy though, be ready for a long boat clean up if the fish were biting. A long gaff and landing net will be a help. No built in live wells or fish holds in a rec. trawler though.

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Good points. An aft RW washdown hose helps with cockpit messes. If you have a solid swimstep, a bait tank and a very large cooler mounted back there can be useful.

I have done a lot of it, and it works well, something to be said from a dedicated fishing vessel, but as it is a important part of my usage, we have installed trolling valves, installed a custom pot puller (removable, and complies with the boss's aka wife, requirement to not make it a fishing vessel), installed down riggers. A few photos of the results! Nothing like fishing and cooking bacon in the morning for breakfast.

Fished from Washington to Alaska,

nautibeaver said:

I have done a lot of it, and it works well, something to be said from a dedicated fishing vessel, but as it is a important part of my usage, we have installed trolling valves, installed a custom pot puller (removable, and complies with the boss's aka wife, requirement to not make it a fishing vessel), installed down riggers. A few photos of the results! Nothing like fishing and cooking bacon in the morning for breakfast.

Fished from Washington to Alaska,

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Some pretty good fishing holes and lots of good eats there!

we have 2 rod holders in the cockpit gunnels, I'm looking to add 3 more shortly. We often hang a line or two off at anchorage. We've only done a couple hardcore offshore trips in our boat but with some success!

My boat was used extensively for fishing by three previous owners. They installed outriggers, fighting chair, 10 rod holders and four plugs for electric reels. The rear cockpit opens to the swim platform. I don't know why this would not work well, but will be trying later this year.

Gordon
OA 456

Underway, off shore, we have a minimum of 2-50lb stand-up rods in the water. It can be a bit of challenge when we get a big fish since we can't back down on them and also trying to keep the fish stern to but we make it work with a single engine. Traveling at 6.5-7 knots is just about right. The fly bridge is indispensable for us. We can spot fish, weed lines or debris. It's pretty cool to see a dorado streaking across the water hitting the feathers.
The King Fish I caught the week.

hjorgan said:

Other than speed, seems like a trawler with decent open stern could handle most all types of offshore fishing.

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ktdtx said:

One problem I have is trolling--for salmon you are better off using downriggers and trolling at 2 +/- knots. I can't get that slow.
Pondered a trolling valve but rejected that idea.
Decided I'll hire a guide and use their boat for salmon--cheaper, easier and I might even catch some.

Click to expand...

gaston said:

Have you looked into using a sea anchor to get down to 2knots ?

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Our ride is obviously different from most trawlers but likely similar enough in some features to be able to comment. We troll for striped bass (locally: "rockfish") in the early Spring "trophy season" with 16 lines at about 2 kts plus/minus.

Helps to have trolling valves, otherwise we couldn't go that slow. Our gears are ZF 280-1As and the ZF trolling valves (came with the boat) look to me to me very simple add-ons. Boat neighbors without valves have tried pulling buckets to slow down enough, with limited success. New boat neighbor told me recently he could get slow enough if he deployed three clusters of 3 buckets each... but then that's beginning to clutter up the works, I think.

Helps to have a transom door, plus a decent net... and useful netting technique: net, then lift with the handle straight up, don't let weight bend the handle. (Can't use a gaff here, at least during that season.)

Doesn't hurt to have a swim platform; we've had to do some intermediate lifts, first to the platform, then into the cockpit.

Parts of our dinghy mount would be in the way a bit, but we have the luxury of being able to temporarily remove bits of that for our trolling season.

After that month-long fishing season, we clean the cockpit, replace the cockpit carpets... and it reverts to wifey's boat.

-Chris

Have you looked into using a sea anchor to get down to 2knots ?

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Hadn't really considered that but pulling a sea anchor and lines on downriggers would be a potential mess, I think.
But-it would be one way to slow me down.

We moved last year from a 26-footer that was great for fishing to a 37 Nordic Tug that had not been used that way. Fortunately it did not have stantions at the rear corners to support the boat deck - I imagine they would have been in the way. Considered adding a trolling valve to the transmission for slower trolling, but decided the complexity was not worth it.

Added power downriggers, small shrimp pot puller, rod holders, big cooler etc and did fine on the Inside Passage last summer. Big halibut bottom fishing, king salmon mooching, coho trolling at 3.5 knots, crab, and spot prawns. We easily net salmon or harpoon halibut from the cockpit, but ours is relatively close to the water compared to some.

We essentially live on the boat from April to November on our small Nordic Tug 32/34. Do a lot of cruising and a lot of fishing. Cockpit is rigged with rail rod holders, plus several more attached inside cockpit and salon roof. Rods are carried in rail racks on salon roof. My walk-thru transom to swim platform makes landing large fish easy. Landing smaller fish over the rail with a net also not an issue. Trolling is a problem since at idle in gear, I'm doing over 3 knots, unless I'm going against current. Most of my fishing is in-shore and either drifting or anchored up. I also carry a 10' kayak on the salon roof rigged for fishing (kayak photo is my old 8' footer). I'll anchor out away from shore and take the kayak into the shore and rocks, giving me access to real fishy areas, like Block Island, Montauk, Cuttyhunk, Fishers Island, to name a few. I can use the dinghy as well for away-from-the-boat fishing. Go for it.

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We have used troll valves and dragging chutes on prior boats. Our current boat pulls chutes. They are secured from the bow cleat area and drag back to about midship. The trip line off the aft of the chutes is secured near the aft fishing deck. This arrangements keeps the chutes away from the Downriggers and the fishing gear and permits easy retrieval of the chutes and storage on the side decks.

hjorgan I wish I could add to this conversation but since I don't like to eat fish I don't fish for it either.

However, my advice is to decide whether you are more interested in fishing and cruising coastal, or more interested in true offshore passages. A large cockpit close to the water does not go hand-in-hand with passage making.

Troll valves are a simple installation for most transmissions if you want to go slower than 4 knots. Much simpler and safer than sea anchors in the water when fishing.

We usually troll at 5-7 knots for tuna or snook. These species seem to match trawler speeds very well.

makobuilders said:

hjorgan ...... A large cockpit close to the water does not go hand-in-hand with passage making.

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There are many owners of sportfishing boats who would disagree with you on that point. Me included.

Ken E. said:

There are many owners of sportfishing boats who would disagree with you on that point. Me included.

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I'd agree that a big cockpit can be a liability if it doesn't have adequate drainage, but I see no problem with a low cockpit.

AusCan said:

I'd agree that a big cockpit can be a liability if it doesn't have adequate drainage, but I see no problem with a low cockpit.

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...and adequate speed to minimize overtaking waves.

Thanks to all, I'm encouraged by the fish pics. We haven't pull the trigger on a trawler yet. This thread helps me know that features will make fishing more of an option.

I fish from my swim platform. I use one engine and have outrigger poles, flopper stoppers and drags to slow down enough for salmon. With outrigger poles it's easy to set speed doing S turns. Fish coming on the outside pole means you were going too slow, etc.
Tuna like a fast lure. On commercial gear, you troll on the surface and set your speed to just below where the hook is ripped out when they strike. After the early morning bite, planners will keep the tuna biting. If you get in a school, the swim platform is a good place to pole tuna. I have a rail that's removable. Commercially, I have landed a ton in an hour by myself. I carry 2 small freezers just for tuna.

FlyWright said:

...and adequate speed to minimize overtaking waves.

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Totally agree, but then again, technically speaking, I don't really have a 'Trawler' anymore.