I think the knowledge and expertise to control and navigate your boat should be of most importance. On the fishing side feather for lanceeels, stick em in a bucket of sea water and then use them for live baiting for rollback, coalies and the like. Does your boat have a fish finder?

stay away from the shipping channels is my advice

You'll be fine.
Just drive over to where you see big fishing boats as they know where the fish are.

Going fishing in a boat in the sea with no idea where you are is likely to prove fruitless.

You have no idea where the fish might be, how deep the water is, what fish you are likely to find etc etc etc.

You would be better off going to a cliff and rock fishing - that way you know what sort of fish you will find (by Googling or reading a book), what the best way to fish for them is and what bait to use.

Open water line fishing is mainly done over wrecks (where fish use the cover to live). If you don't know where those wrecks are you don't stand much chance.

If you want to go out in a boat, you would be much better off going to a harbour and paying someone to take you out.

m_f, have you had a sense of adventure by-pass?

BBB, get some bits of fish, on a hook, maybe some feathers, and get out there.

Drop it to the bottom, leave it a bit, wind it up slowly, what's the worst that could happen?

Incoming tide is best, near rocks is best, patience is best. Enjoy!

m_f, have you had a sense of adventure by-pass

How about doing both? "Bezz" around then stop to catch some fish.

Your own freshly caught fish on a BBQ is one of the all time culinary joys of life. Unless you burn it.

They could bezz around with a big net tied to the back - they'll catch more that way.

But they might need a licence? 🙂

Watch for diving seagulls / sea birds on the surface - they're normally after brit (small fish) that have been forced near the surface by larger fish that are feeding on them.

Good way to spot where to troll with feathers for mackerel / herring / pilchards.

Often to be spotted on "tide lines" - areas where two currents meet. Normally visible by different surface texture to water (eg chop / no chop) and often by lines of flotsam where toe currents meet. The flotsam is there because of the meeting of the two water currents, and often so is food / debris in the water column - and fish

Would definately echo the comments on navigation and small boat control.

Even if you know what you are doing you need to be organised if you are going offshore.

Do you know the "rules of the road"?? Give way to starboard, motor gives wail to sail - but don't try this with big ships!!! nearly got run over by Brittany Ferries one time we couldn't get the bloody engine started.

Spare outboard? Oars?
Outboard motors are notoriously tempermental. We used to take a small auxilliary if we were going outside Plymouth Breakwater, and the oars. Have had to row an 18' boat from Plymouth Breakwater to Torpoint (8km or so?) on several occaisions.

Oh, and listen to the inshore shipping forecast

I bet they have some good fish n chip shops around the harbour - leave the boat at home and go for a day in the pub!

Not at all - just seems pointless fishing with little hope of finding any fish!

As I understand it, fishing isn't all about catching fish 🙂

As I understand it, fishing isn't all about catching fish

Please don't just merrily pootle off into the area of busiest shipping lanes in the world without some thought into personal safety!

I don't want to be Mr party pooper captain safety but this has got 999 with Michael burk written all over it! Der Der deeeeeer.
If you literally have only a small dinghy, an outboard and a stick then please don't go out of the harbour/estuary. Going out without just basic forms of safety stuff is like riding down a double black on whistler mountain naked, on a rigid, with the saddle up, with canti brakes, in the wet with hungry bears and cougars chasing you. If something happens the worst case is you die, the best case is that you get rescued by the rnli at great expense and they give you a right bollocking for going out without the right gear.

If there isn't a harbour you can fish in (which will proberly give you better fishing anyway) then keep really close to shore, in sight of other boats and take life jackets, an anchor with enough rope for 3 times the depth, oars or paddles, at least a mobile if not a vhf (training needed), a compass, warm clothes, a knife, spare fuel and a copy of singletrack and/or dirt.

As for fishing, mackeral are around. Go to tide races, look for birds, jig feathers up and down at different depths while holding a cold beer.

while holding a cold beer

In case you hadn't noticed this is a mountain bike forum 😀

Try this instead, I think someone on there will know more than anyone on here.....
http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=31

Good luck though & let us know how you get on.

Take:

A mobile phone in a waterproof case.
A flare.
Suncream x lots

And enjoy!

Unless you head WAY out, you'll get nowhere near any shipping lanes.

Such a good forum esselgruntfuttock 🙂 Very helpful and positive people on there. You get a very different response on there when you enquire about a rod or reel equivalant to an Apollo!!

😀

Oh and take a cool box and replace each beer consumed with a fish.

I'm not familiar with lepe but Surf-mat is probably right about the shipping lanes being a fair way out. Plenty of other ways to get stuck up sh*t creek though like not wearing a kill cord. Never ever ever ever ever have the engine in gear without wearing the kill cord. Being run over by a spinning prop has got to hurt and being in the water with your boat motoring its way off into the channel on its own its not a good position to be in!

IIRC BBB is based near Southampton so the biggest hazards are likely to be the Ferries steaming through the Solent and the WAFIs. The Napoleonic fort's probably a good place to dangle your hook round that area - easy to reach and plenty of passing traffic. (But do the basics - tell someone where you're going and when you expect to be back, and to call the coastguard if you're not back by a few hours after that).

Just make sure you head West and remember that the water around the IoW has very bizarre tides. I'd head for the mouth of the River Beulieue and see how you get on. The water is very shallow around there though so not ideal for fish.

We have safely vests. We have a Garmin. We have some flares. we have mobile phones. We have 2 outboards. We have some beers. We have family who know where we will be going and when we should be back. We are not planning on leaving sight of land.

That should relax the (sensible and correct) worriers.

So basically we look for birds, current changes and stuff like that.

It is called fishing, not catching so I fully expect to fish and not catch. Just relax on the boat for a couple of hours watching the world go by and possibly kill the occaisional passing fish.

It is called fishing, not catching so I fully expect to fish and not catch. Just relax on the boat for a couple of hours watching the world go by and possibly kill the occaisional passing fish.

Make sure you also have an anchor, chain and rope. also when you throw the anchor overboard the other end is attached to the boat!!! VHF is advised over a mobile phone.

sea fishing on a boat ****ing RULES.

as has been said, wear a bouyancy aid, take some flares even, catch a mackerel or something, chop it up, stick it's head on a great big hook and CATCH A SHARK. Yay.
Conger eels are good fun too. Until you get one in the boat...
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Running out of bait is not as bad as running out of Beer!

Best advice I have had about fishing 😉

Take a life jacket. One that inflates when you need it to.

Dont get pissed, its a good way to die on a small boat.

Don't throw an anchor overboard unless you are very sure it will reach the bottom.

Take a mobile in a waterproof bag and leave details with someone when you will be back.

Have a graet time. I love sea fishing and have done it for a job in the past.

But mehearty be ware, dick about too much and you can drown very very quickly.

Fish near rocks or harbour walls, known wrecks, you are more likely to catch something.

Catch fresh mackerel, fillet, roll in beaten eggs with salt and pepper, roll in oats, fry and eat with brown bread, heaven on earth.

I fish off a sea kayak these days, oh the peace and joy.

I'm not familiar with lepe but Surf-mat is probably right about the shipping lanes being a fair way out. Plenty of other ways to get stuck up sh*t creek though like not wearing a kill cord. Never ever ever ever ever have the engine in gear without wearing the kill cord. Being run over by a spinning prop has got to hurt and being in the water with your boat motoring its way off into the channel on its own its not a good position to be in!

Been using small boats for the best part of 20 years without a kill cord and only once nearly fallen overboard with the engine running, and that was when I was jumping breakers. Not bad advice I suppose though.

Don't throw an anchor overboard unless you are very sure it will reach the bottom.

Not sure why that matters really? If it reaches the end of its tether it'll just hang there practically vertically and you can see you're drifting.

Depends how big you're anchor is compared to your boat. Wheelies are only cool on bikes.

ah...you can't beat a good day out in a boat, covered in scales, guts and blood. awesome.