Fishing in the Eastern Med

[Chalifour]

I might reconsider my yesterday reply on the subject of fishing!
.
6 kilos Sword fish off the coast of the island of Symi Greece.

[Chalifour]

Just this afternoon! 3 hrs ago!

[ModernMosquito]

Thanks for the replies. And the photos!
As usual it seems the middle way is best. I've just set up 2 handlines with 100 kg line and wire traces. A few of my favorite lures, and strike bungees. Small bag of tricks maybe = nice fish. We'll see.

[tedowens]

How do folks handle the drag from the boat sailing/motoring when trying to reel in a fish? If I let the boat keep sailing, the pull of the fish plus the boat's speed is too much if the fish is more than small. If I try to stop the boat, a Chinese fire drill ensues and the fish can get away and/or some thing/one gets broken/hurt. If I am close hauled, I have had success in tacking over to a heave-to position, however if I am on a broad reach or run, the sails are not properly trimmed and that method doesn't work very well. Does anyone have a better technique?

[Chalifour]

Originally Posted by ModernMosquito

Thanks for the replies. And the photos!
As usual it seems the middle way is best. I've just set up 2 handlines with 100 kg line and wire traces. A few of my favorite lures, and strike bungees. Small bag of tricks maybe = nice fish. We'll see.

Good luck! I used a medium size Rappala diver on a 20 meter lead and dropped 40 meter of line. Boat speed 6 kots. Caught our Sword fish during a feeding session, so keep a watch over the water as they usually feed at the surface.

[Stakaman]

Originally Posted by Anders

I believe you need two! One for you and one for the boat.

No you don’t need license any more for fishing lines and spearfishing after 2016..
But there aren’t allowed any kind of fishing nets ...

[Palarran]

You will be sailing one of the better places to fish. There is a regular run of tuna off the coast of Sounion, South of the tip of Kea, and around Kythnos. We catch them and have found that the more often we put the lines in the water, the more often we catch something.

But it's not like the Atlantic. We slay them there. Yes, I'm bragging.

[digitalnomad]

Hi,

After a year of sailing the Mediterranean, the boat is now in the yard, and my mind started thinking, WHY did I fail to catch a single fish this year?

Even when I snorkeled at anchor with a line in the water, I could see all the fish just ignoring my lures and bate-covered hooks. But the second I dropped some bate in the water, the fish would eat it all up. It was like they could see the line, or the way it was moving with a line was telling them it was a trap.

So, I would love to fish next year while sailing, do some trolling, and fishing at anchor. How to do this, what do the fish like to eat, what lures should I be using, what time of the day is best, what style of fishing?

[Palarran]

We didn't fish much in the Ionian this year so I don't have much recent experience. But, I did run into another cruiser who said he was slaying the fish. He said he was using smaller lures. Smaller squids, smaller Rapalas. I'd give that a try next year. I also still believe it has a lot to do with your speed. 8 or 9 knots.

[sv Grateful]

In the past three three years we've caught tuna, tuny, dorado, and mackerel in those waters. In my experience:

Go small - three inch squid skirts with an egg sinker in the head and a single hook no longer than the skirt are our go to. If I can succeed in keeping it out of the soup pot, a carefully trimmed piece of tuna belly on a single hook / egg sinker is unbeatable.

Go light - 8kg leader. The water is clear and the fish leader shy. While we have caught fish over 15 kg, most are in the 3-8 kg range. You'll lose a few fish, but you can't boat a fish that never took the lure.

Go far back - usually at least 25 meters, more is better especially if you want swordfish. In the open Atlantic and Caribbean, we've seen curious tuna right at the transom. In the Med they seem to be boat shy.

5-8 kts are the most productive speeds.

Seek feeding birds, current breaks and obvious bottom contours.

We've caught fish at any time of the day and even on moonlit nights. That said, the hour before sunset seems the most productive.

[digitalnomad]

Interesting. I did try a three inch squid skirt with a few shot on the line about 20cm from the squid, 50 meters from the boat at 5-6kts. I didn't use a leeder only the line to the hook.

So your suggesting a small egg sinker in front of the head. Touching the dead of the squid or a few cm in front of it? ... what weight?

[sv Grateful]

Originally Posted by digitalnomad

Interesting. I did try a three inch squid skirt with a few shot on the line about 20cm from the squid, 50 meters from the boat at 5-6kts. I didn't use a leeder only the line to the hook.

So your suggesting a small egg sinker in front of the head. Touching the dead of the squid or a few cm in front of it? ... what weight?

Tying the bait onto the main line might work OK in the mid-Atlantic. Doing so in the Med will just eliminate your chance of getting bit.

I slip the egg sinker into the head of the lure from behind and run the line through the nose of the squid and through the drilled out sinker and then tie or crimp the hook aft of the sinker. The size of the lead isn't critical, just something that fits inside the rubber squid.

With the lighter leader, you can snell the hook rather than crimping. If you do tie the hook, I recommend putting a bead between the hook and the sinker to prevent chafe.

I'm not really a believer in 'the magic color' and usually run a variety (we always troll four lines off of our cat) until we figure out what's tasty today. That said, the most productive color combo over the past couple of years has been white belly, pink back and gold/green spots. I have no clue what this mimics, but it works.

Good luck.

[goboatingnow]

I simply cant catch fish, even in the supermarkets I miss the special offers !!