Fishing in the Eastern Med

[ModernMosquito]

I'll be cruising on a chartered boat out of Athens for a month next month.
Is it worth bringing fishing gear from home for trolling or squid jigging?
Or have all the fish been eaten long ago. I'm from NZ and fishing has always been a part of sailing for me, but it's a hassle bringing gear if there's nothing there.
Anyone had any luck?

[Airjordi]

It wont be easy. I'm not a good fisherman but I am normally successful on a daily basis while trolling in the Caribbean. Have tried exactly the same stuff out of Athens through Cyclades and in the Ionioan Sea. Also in the Adriatic and Italys west coast and never caught anything.

Presently I'm in Mallorca and same here. There probably is some fish. But not much and the locals are better in finding it. I'll leave my gear at home next time I sail in the Med.

Fishing pressure is high in the Med and if you catch something serious it might be better to hide it from local fishermen, restaurants. At least you dont need a fishing license in Greece as far as I know.

Good luck! If no fish; go for the rest of the Greek cuisine which is plentiful and delicous.

[markpierce]

More efficient to acquire fish at a market.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mosquito.

[Chalifour]

Have been fishing here and then over the last 6 years for periods of 6 months and have caught only one, freaking one fish. Some of our friends have been luckier! The Med have definitely been over fished in the last century so no surprise. We’ve been more successful Calamar fishing at night with a light. Make sure you get the proper jigging lures and good luck!

[boatman61]

They're there.. just have to fish at the right times and the right places.. hooked a nice Tuna for the Missus off the SW corner of Sardinia where currents meet.. she'd been trailing a line all the way from Bari, Italy with no luck..
I picked my place and time.. and 5mins after tossing in the lure I got a strike.
Remember.. its little more than a gigantic salty lake.. so expect lake type fishing.

[Kenomac]

Like boatman, we can report having done lots of fishing, but very little catching.

[GALAWA]

I caught many 10 to 50 lb tunas trawling, at 4 to 7 knots a 5 to 10" "Malboro" RAPALA.
We call it Malboro as it is a red headed and white body lure.
The brand is RAPALA : A rigid plastic lure with a stainless steel lip which vibrates and shines in the water, even under moon light.

I caught Tunas in the western and southern Med, only in deep waters.
e.g; 20 miles south of St Tropez, 20 miles west of Corsica, between the Balearic islands and Marseille, around the Stromboly, East of Syracuse., South and west of Malta, South of Santorin...


but I never caught anything in the ionian , Adriatic, or Aegean sees.
Nor in shalow waters e.g. not in the less tha 100m deep straight between Sicily and Malta

My trawling gear consists of 3 meters of bungee, a small bell , 10 meters of easily seen and handled 4 to 6 mm rope + 300 lb ball swivel + 10 meters of 200 lb nylon + 30 cm of 100lb steel + Rapala;

No rod, no reel, no lengthy & fragile 50lb line .Tuna hoisted aboard by hand without needing to slow down ( except for the bigger ones).

Good luck
Keep us posted on your success

[Dolphin460]

Well I must disagree with most of the comments. I been cruising in the Med for over 10 years and I catch tuna and some other types every year. The normal tuna size is 7 to 9 kg. The time of day does not seems to matter, but the speed for tuna does. I catch when I am going over 6 knots, and using a blue, yellow, red lure. Buy your line and lure when you get here; no pole or reel, just gives. Good luck.

[ATTACH][ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[iliasgeorgiadis]

Originally Posted by ModernMosquito

I'll be cruising on a chartered boat out of Athens for a month next month.
Is it worth bringing fishing gear from home for trolling or squid jigging?
Or have all the fish been eaten long ago. I'm from NZ and fishing has always been a part of sailing for me, but it's a hassle bringing gear if there's nothing there.
Anyone had any luck?

Welcome to Athens but Athens is not in Eastern Med. It is in the Aegean. We the Greeks do fish a lot and often don't return empty handed. I would not really carry the tackle all the way. Unquote

[rabbidoninoz]

Last summer on a yacht charter in the Sporades group of islands in Greece, a member of our crew caught several large fish. Apparently the lure you use is important, as well as the boat's speed, as well as the right spot - our guy found success in the narrows between islands. Good luck!

[Stakaman]

The good fishing times at the Aegean are gone many years before
There will be some fish but don’t expect many things ..

[chuckr]

We use to do a lot of fishing but quit in Italy and Greece -- they are fished out - we say that if there is only one fish left in the Med the entire Italian and Greek fish would be out trying to catch it. We spent 2 winters in Tunisia and they have fish and we caught fish there but only because the Tunisians were very strict about who fished their waters and while we were there they confiscated a few Italian fishing boats that were in their waters - and doing a night sail from Italy to Tunisia we had to be extra alert as there were Italian fishing boats running without lights and radar signatures fishing near and in Tunisian waters.
If I were you I would not bring your gear but get a hand line and lures once you are here. Maybe you will get lucky.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Airjordi

At least you dont need a fishing license in Greece as far as I know.

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

[GALAWA]

i have never experienced a request for a fishing licence anywhere in the Med