Has anyone considered carrying small troll nets behind as they sail?

IMHO this is not a good idea at all. This has the potential of causing
all sorts of problems, biggest in my opinion is: ecologically - trawl
nets catch (and kill) every living creature in it's path. You'd be
killing alot of creatures you'd never have any interest in eating.

I've never worked on a commercial fishing boat, but have dragged small
purse seines on research ships. Really lousey idea on a small sailing
yacht.

Best two ways I know of catching fish from a sailboat:

1. Use a decent reel mounted to a stanchion (others have used this and
swear by it).

2. Use a hand line (1/8" to 1/4" dacron) with a long leader and lures
(this is what I've used). It's cheap and works. You only catch what
you will eat, and can release those you don't want relatively unharmed.

You'd be surprised how many meals a 20-30 lb ahi will give you...

I've also met a number of "ocean foraging" cruisers. One couple from
Poland comes to mind, claimed they lived on a bag of beans, a bag of
rice, a tin of tea and whatever fish they could catch (including
flying-fish). Not my idea of fun, though...

Get yourself on a cruising yacht as crew for a while and get some
experience. You'll look back at these questions with a giggle ;-)

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