Deep Sea Fishing

[malvizzu]

What is the best type of bait for deep sea fishing with rod and reel from land and what type of seabed - rocky, sand, algae? I use calamari and bogue (vopi) but I always catch eels (morina). I would love to catch some other kind of fish such as sea bream (sargu), red porgy (pagru), dentex (denci) or the likes. Also I loose loads of weight cause they get stuck between rocks and I have to cut the line. Any idea how not to loose any?

[ken82]

Hello,

i do some deep sea fishing and i am no expert . For not losing the whole fergha when you get stuck tie the lead with a thinner line (eg. .22) to the main line. It works as it happened to me yesterday. i lost the lead but not the whole fergha.

As for bait hniex (tal korea) is said to be good never tried it i use squid (klamari) yesterday i also tried with bacon fat and caught fish on it too.

There is a thread regarding strange bait.       

[Kevin G]

when i get stuck i usually pull the line with my hands but still your my leave the weight there, or try to reel as much as you can and let it go out ata sudden.

Try using small weight it makes a difference even with fish

[ciappinu]

Malvizzu, Deep sea fishing is when you fish in a dept of at least 150 metres. From land its better described as Bottom Fishing. Always try and find drop offs which you can reach with length of your rod. Catching Denci and Pagru from the coast is quite a challenge and you need to look for remote places. On the other hand, a sargu is more possible. You need to buy a hniex ta l-imperjal and go during the night. Change places every 20 minutes, ideally in ports and well lit areas.

With regards to the line, do a fuse which will cut between the weight and the first hook.

[jean]

Malvizzu, as Ciappinu correctly said best bait is Imperjal - but do not rule out Korean, Bibi (live ones), Americano, and tal-palella. You can also add shrimps (gambli), muscels (you can bait them with the shell too) and crab (although i never tried the last one). As for fish - sardines are excellent, bobin (little mullet) and vopi are all good but you have to be quite experienced to hook them properly and use proper rigs and stretchy nylon to fix them well cause when you cast they fall off.

As for loosing the weight (comba), even they way you retrieve at times makes a difference in certain rocky places - but from my experience using very heavy weights (100g +) at times increases the risk. Hence i use heavy weights on sandy bottoms. Try and give a strong pull to the rod when you start reeling in when there is no fish on your line so that you get the weight off the bottom and reel in fast. The reel you use might makes a difference (and don’t forget to close the drag properly) also the rod. I use mainly surf rods and surf reels with either a good braid or nylon depending on where i am fishing and how far out I want to cast. 

What type of rigs are you using? I always prefer to use one hook (two depending on the bait) - with stoppers and proper beads so that my bait can swim as freely as possible. Also keep in mind the thickness of the line which has the hook on it - in calm waters thin lines are best as the bait swims freely, line reflects less and fish get less scared. In rough waters use thicker lines.

As posted in the spinning section I have not fished in quite a while but memory is coming back fast hehe.  If you have any other questions just post

jean

[ken]

I like deep sea fishing especially from high cliffs.  I use quite a thick line as I use 150g as weight because of the strong currents.  Sometimes in certain types of currents I loose about 5 weights!!  However I prefer heavy weights as I like to cast far out.  As bait I use pieces of squid, octopus and even tumbrell.  Well I don't target sargi etc because  as said earlier I use thick line(35 and 45) however I catch serran and sometimes pagell and when you're lucky you can catch something decent.  However these decent cathces are quite rare....the nets fisherman throw seem to be everywhere....

[shanook]

guys as stated before this is not deep sea fishing its bottom fishing. Deep sea is self explanatory its fishing the depths in excess of 150mtrs. needing weights of Ikg.

[ken]

Yep you're right.  Where I fish the sea is about 50m deep so that's why I need about 120 - 150g as weight and sometimes the weight doesn't even touch the bottom with the strong currents.

[malvizzu]

Thanks guys for the info. Most of the time I use a 50g weight. As bait I use most squids and bogue. One of the reasons why I probably loose many weights is that when I cast out, i reel in the excess line, place the rod in a whole in the ground and fix a gongol (english ??). The line will become tense probably because the weight gets into a hole.

[ken82]

i don't have a rod and reel for bottom fishing (don't know the specs).

i use my spinning rod, obviously i use light weights (1 and 1 1/2oz.), 0.40 line and a 2 hook paternoster.

what are the specs of a true bottom fishing rod?

Thanks

Kenneth

[shanook]

according to what depth u aim to fish. Its the weights that u have to use to get to the bottom in as vertical as possible that make the difference, the size of weights depend on depth and currents........

[jean]

I never fish from cliffs, mainly rock fishing, ports, and sandy beaches. Yet i agree whit Shanook perfectly.

I have a Grauvel surf caster with a heavy action 100-200grams and also a maver surf caster with a 130g max action.

Off sandy beaches i use one or the other depending on the waves coming in. Big waves I use a a 160g weight with a spike (hence the grauvel), but when sea is flat i use the lighter weights (maver) with a 100 gram weight. When fishing off rocks I decide upon the rod in a similar way to above, but usually i reduce the weight considerably - maybe on the grauvell 100g and the maver 60-70g.

The way i retrieve makes a difference and when i changed to a bigger reel it got quite better. Yet i still do get stuck so having a slightly thinner line for the weight is the best options when fishing on rocky bottoms and in new areas. Yet on sand i use a shock leader cause the cast has to be strong.

In ports i love best light weights and rods - tipo bollentino rod with a 40 gram weight, and running ledger. My best catch was on this type - 8 sargi all between 500 - 900 grams! The day of my life hehe

Now im thinking of trying to use a feeder too when fishing on sandy bottoms - but still have to experiment a little. Also note that the sandy beaches here in Malta have noting to do with foreign surf casting - but fishing off the sand is so relaxing....

jean