Cimi in the south

robby017 · August 10, 2009, 10:58:09 CET

Prosit placebo!!!

was out yesterday up north, lots of activity round the first FAD, had 3 strikes on the first cima i went round but no hook ups, finally one got hooked but whilst bringing it in, in its acrobacy, it managed to unhook itself.

the b**** !!!

Later, whilst trolling in open water, hooked a nice tumbrell on a 9cm Ghost rapala X Rap that i was trolling some 250 feet away from the boat. (Finally some exitement)

Later met SteveGB as we both approached the same FAD out of channel between Comino and Gozo, and after a quick chat, continued to troll around the FAD, no strikes! Decide to check for fanfri, but all there were was circa 20 cervjol and a hanzir. Whilst i was about to start engine and untie myself from the FAD, i heard splashes behind me, i turned and so a huge shoal of lampuki coming towards me with around 20 at a time leaping out of the water, and they were not small, i'd say, 700g each easy. Tried spinning but no strikes, they seemed to be more interested in some poor bait fish.

After the spectacle was over, underneath the boat was full of lampuki, and i mean loads of them.

Tried trolling the area for 30 - 45 min but no more action. Headed back at trolling speed towards land, but no further strikes. $:-\$

Finally decided to call it a day at around 11 am and sped in to land, had a good swim and dive then settled on the boat under the canopy eating freshly caught rizzi and hobz biz zejt with really great company..... Agh yes, thats the life.........

benri · August 10, 2009, 12:39:29 CET

Did you see a lot of FADs up north? Where were they?

robby017 · August 10, 2009, 12:43:05 CET

in the sea benri!!!!!! lol there isn't alot, but there's enuf to have some fun around.... most are low and black so keep a good look out...

benri · August 10, 2009, 12:50:27 CET

Good one Robby017! The reason I'm asking is that I've heard that lots of FADs up north/northeast were cut off by the authorities last week.

robby017 · August 10, 2009, 12:59:59 CET

maybe, but i don't think so..... nahseb iktar adu irejxu maghom huma...

LapsiBoy · August 10, 2009, 17:09:52 CET

Be carefull dont let the owner of the fads see you on his fads because they wont be happy. I know i wont

benri · August 10, 2009, 20:37:13 CET

....especially when you tie your boat to them and make yourself at home!

skip · August 10, 2009, 21:25:30 CET

Perhaps some of you guys who are into commercial fishing or have relatives that own commercial fishing boats can comment on this. Cimi that are located quite close to the coast say up to 10nm seem to have much smaller palms like just a branch and then the further you go out the bigger they get. Presumably this has been done to keep the fish offshore, and not make it easy for people to just rob your cimi.

However it would be great if we could arrange with different commercial fishermen to pay them a fee and use their cimi that are located within the first 10-20nm in various locations around Malta. A couple of lines in the south, some on the East Coast, some off Gnejna and some off Xlendi, Gozo.

Everyone knows there is a cost involved, but I also think that it might be beneficial for some commercial fishermen to lease out their cimi that are closer to shore to the recreational guys or to the forum. For example they would say you can use Cimi 1-35 on these co-ordinates against payment of a fee.

As the forum we could centralise this fee based on location.....at least the commercial fishermen will be recovering some of their costs. Whilst it's illegal we all see many people fishing on Cimi that don't belong to them, so perhaps like this some kind of midway could be reached.

I know some clubs lay their own......the other option is to arrange to have cimi lines layed for us on payment.

placebo · August 10, 2009, 23:04:31 CET

i bet how much is this possible! the idea is great but the few people left working lampuki will not let you ruin their stock as they want the lampuki settled to catch via nets.

others who does not work so regularly may lend us a place but they will ask for good money for sure!

laying FADs is not a joke it costs money and time.

Moonwalker · August 10, 2009, 23:40:17 CET

I think its a good idea and worth discussing Skip. Commercial fisherman usually only use the far out Cimi where there is abundance of fish so I think that some of them might be interested to cooperate. Let us know.

@benri - I've been in the area today and can confirm that many Cimi are without Palms. Dont know if they were cur or maybe the palms were not installed yet.
Did not have much success with lampuki today. We had some action around one Cima and managed to land a small lampuka.

LapsiBoy · August 11, 2009, 10:46:38 CET

They leave them without palms till Santa maria so then they have less work to do when the season starts. Like this it is legal.

mellieha · August 11, 2009, 12:18:58 CET

I would like to comment on what Skip said.

This year is my first year I am not operating cimi but I still consider myself part of the fishermen who utilise this technique.

Being from Mellieha we are allocated a spot in the East of the island that is (unforyunately for us) easily accessible from San Paul, Xemxija, Ghadira, and the rest of the east coast.

We use a double palm system on the propper fads. i.e. a group of 3 palms at the -3 phatoms and an other set of 3 palms either at -6 pkatoms or at the surface. We have not yet found the right mixture.

With this being said, the inner most fads are very spaced out and equiped with 2 palms at -3 phatoms.

For our mishap we have discovered that the best to catch lampuki is when they are still 'vergine' (i.e. no boat has gone round the fad.) The lampuki are in the spot waiting for you but as soon as you make one turn they change position either go deeper or go away from the fad. Sometimes one turn is enough to ruin that fad. Lampuki most often than not do not attck the bait but they still follow it. They are pulled out of the fad and when one gives gas to go to the next fad the lampuki lost the fad and bye bye fishing with the net.

I for one dislike the idea of someone renting the fads even if the one's near me. We know what we do, we change fads easily with total disrespect for the fisherman who has put loads of work and money in them.

Last year costings where Euro 4.50 of line per fad, stone's were free of charge, 2 swivels each .75 each, 3 to 4 hrs work per fad to prepare lines and the fad itself, and a tonn of obligations to people who let us use their palm trees. I can let all of you imagine the amount of diesel one spend to do all the laying etc. I am not adding the issue of the net and the amount of daily repair it requires as every fisherman has to buy and service his equipment.

I am sorry but this system will only work if the recreational fisherman stay only on those fads they paid for, but it is like saying to a person working at a candy store not to eat candy.

5/6 seasons ago we were unfortunate to be allocated a spot exactly before the San Paul committee. It was incredible all of them, all not even one stayed only on the one's he contibuted towards. It was a terrible season for us and we only managed because we worked night but this increases the risk for us. Its a pitty.

I am sure their are some people on this forum who fish on fads they have not asked permission for. Kindly respect the fisherman who puts effort into them. I am sure you would not like if one jeopardises your lively hood or your part time work.

Mellieha

LapsiBoy · August 11, 2009, 12:29:17 CET

I agree with mellieha 100%.
Guys you should organize between yourselves and get out a fee each to pay and haul some fads.
Use a black marker and make it very small, mark it with the gps so the commercial fisherman wont surround them with nets. Its quite expensive and time consuming to lay fads! Everyone would like to catch lampuki so everyone should lay some fads.
Im not telling you not to pass near a cima if you see it but not pass trough a whole row of them and turn round them. It's not fair.

benri · August 11, 2009, 13:03:14 CET

@Mellieha - Sorry for asking a stupid question but I'm quite ignorant on this topic. What do you mean by

Quote from: mellieha on August 11, 2009, 12:18:58 CET
The lampuki are in the spot waiting for you but as soon as you make one turn they change position either go deeper or go away from the fad. Sometimes one turn is enough to ruin that fad.

skip · August 11, 2009, 13:04:15 CET

Thanks for the info Mellieha. You raised an interesting point Lapsi where you said use a small marker to stop the commercial fishermen from surrounding them with nets!!! I guess what goes around comes around...and if one did put FADs down, some commercial fishermen would surely net them at night, and loads of recreational guys would use them.

I was just trying to find a happy median for everyone, seeing how amateurs will fish on Cimi no matter what...and the owner of the cimi cannot be in every place at once. Nowadays everyone and his brother goes out in some kind of boat to fish for Lampuki....I remember seeing a 12 foot boat around 25nm out fishing for lampuki. It was crazy.