moving to malta

spearo · May 05, 2009, 05:58:34 CET

hi guys, I'm moving to malta next month and cant wait to get spearfishing again regularly. I used to go all the time when I lived in Miami, all reef stuff, but last couple of years been out of it completely cos no sea where I am. So I'm really looking forward to it and would love to meet up with some of you guys, I'll probably be living in Mellieha.

Once I've got my breathhold back and am comfortable in the water again what I really want to get into is the bluewater spearfishing for dorados (lampuki I think the maltese call them) and maybe even some tuna. Don't want to go too far out, do you reckon you can get into the lampuki and small tuna a couple of miles offshore from a small boat or kayak? Not being able to see the bottom still freaks me out a bit but there's nothing like hanging at 20 feet deep for a minute in 500 feet of water to get the juices flowing! Did bluewater a couple of times in florida and was frigging terrified but loved it!

Anyway, won't go on too much for my first post, I'll be there in a month and it would be great to buddy up with a few guys.

markcam · May 05, 2009, 09:20:54 CET

We do not practice deep blue water hunting here in Malta. You can always give it a try !!

SPNOTTA · May 05, 2009, 09:35:49 CET

You will find the med very different from the Floridian coasts but I am sure you will love it.

Mellieha is beautiful, great location for speafishing.

shanook · May 05, 2009, 10:09:46 CET

where are u from Spearo

Seahunter · May 05, 2009, 13:41:57 CET

Welcome spearo

Buddhagrass · May 05, 2009, 14:10:53 CET

Welcome to MFF and soon to Malta. I'm sure we'll be able to meet up for a couple of dives. Keep in touch with us over here.

spearo · May 05, 2009, 14:45:11 CET

cheers guys, thanks for the welcome. I'm English but been moving about for years now, haven't lived there since '97.

I would have thought the lampuki spearing would be a big thing over there, I got all excited when I saw they migrate past malta september to december! Why is nobody doing that? Don't really know much about the med to be honest, is it full of big sharks!!??

I'm counting down the days now, walking around the house with my weight belt on...!

markcam · May 05, 2009, 23:32:07 CET

We do have lampuki but they are small when they migrate from our waters. You were thinking about the huge Mahi Mahi, which are in tropical waters, unfortunately we get their babies.

e-fisher · May 06, 2009, 00:41:40 CET

QuoteWhy is nobody doing that?

There are three main reasons.....

1) You will be hooked or run over by one of the many amateur fisherman trolling for pukas.......... Ooouch!!!

2) You will be caught by one of the many the purse seines that are used to catch these fish in bulk!

3) You will be shot at point blank range by the owner of the FAD................RIP!!!

Now do you still want to go spear fishing for pukas?

Joking apart, I think it is possible especially if one fishes next to an FAD, but make sure that the owner is not around!

spearo · May 06, 2009, 03:07:39 CET

yes I see what you mean, I didn't know the fads were so organised and regulated, just searched on google about them and found this which was helpful:

http://www.faocopemed.org/vldocs/0000871/scrs_2002_049.pdf

But it does say in that pdf that the fads don't start until 7 miles out so what do you reckon the chances of getting into the lampuki are say 5 miles out?

BUT, I have a better idea, what if you were to go to one of the fishermen with the license for his string of fads and rent one off him for the season? They're half to three quarters of a mile apart so if you had permission to spearfish a specific fad then you wouldn't get caught in a net or get shot. You do need to go 7 miles out so that kind of rules out the kayak idea so the renting of the fad and the boat is already pushing the expense and effort up but it's possible right?

markcam, you say they're small, what's an average size brought in by the netters you reckon?

spearo · May 06, 2009, 03:12:56 CET

and those fads attract amberjacks and tuna too!

markcam · May 06, 2009, 10:30:42 CET

although you do find exceptions, the lampuki start being caught in the 500g region and grow to around 2 - 4 kilos. Once I had an opportunity to swim with the lampuki and Alungi....I managed to swim with them and it was a great experience for me, unfortunately the speargun I had was too small (90) and not enough power to place a good shot, but instead I managed to land a few small aj's and a lampuka, still I loved the experience. This only happened once.

mellieha · May 06, 2009, 12:27:44 CET

Guys I swam more than once with lampuki. There are particular times of the day when they are all hidden in one part and easilly accessible.

spearo · May 06, 2009, 16:22:59 CET

a 2-4 kg fish is still pretty good though, and throw in the chance of an aj or tuna and it's well worth it

So the fishermen that get the licenses for these fad corridors must be registered somewhere for the public to find that information, might look into renting one when I'm there and a few of us can sort a boat out once a week and go bluewater spearfishing without worrying about getting shot!!

spearo · May 06, 2009, 16:29:24 CET

how much would it cost to rent a boat big enough to go out 7 miles for a half day over there?