Transparent Sea, no good?

Tracina · April 21, 2011, 07:02:32 CET

Hi Everyone,

it's a couple of days the waters have been crystal clear... So clear, in fact, that if you are in a place with little or no wind you can see the details of the bottom several meters away from shore!!! Even though I have drastically reduced the diameter of the fluorocarbon or nylon I use, the "serious" fish are nowhere to be seen... Maybe it's just me and my usual "luck"...

I think I am going to replace my classic running ledger setup by adding a feeder... maybe this can help?

Tracina

skip · April 21, 2011, 07:52:09 CET

What brand of Fluorocarbon are you using? Coated or 100% Fluoro? And what diameter lines are you fishing with / what size fish are you targetting.

We were discussing this yesterday at the jigging seminar about the need to reduce line diameter mostly in the case of jigging to reduce resistance of the line against the current but also to minimise line visibility especially the leader (which is fluoro as well in jigging).

Tracina · April 21, 2011, 08:19:00 CET

Hi Skip,

I am using 0.178 NINJA 100% Fluorocarbon... I immagine that is not coated... If you have a secondo please tell me the difference as I also have a spool of 0.18 Spiderwire that I don't use (It has a much lower breaking strain than the Ninja

1.8kg! While Ninja claims 3.2 kg..... Why is this?). The fish I would like to target when I ledger are Sargi and, of course Awrat (usually ranging from a few grams

to about 1.0 kg (my personal best ledgering here in Malta)). Bait is mostly Korean worm placed on either #10 or 12 hooks using the needle (full worms). I have tried "Skal" (actually if you could give me the exact Maltese spelling I would be grateful). These are harder to use when ledgering; they seem to die quickly even when I hook them by the last segment of the tail. I am constantly bothered by small SParli (I would like to learn how to avoid them). I Usually fish SLiema creek, but I would like to give the grand harbour a go... is it really that different? Maybe the water is deeper... I usually prefer running ledger as I think it is a more "sensitive" technique than "Paternoster"... For example my 3 Maltese Awrat have all come from running ledger... I would love to join one of you local ledgering experts at least once.

Thanx for the help and congratulations for the forum

The_Gaffer · April 21, 2011, 08:36:26 CET

Get friendly with Robby017, he's one of the rod fishing experts here.

robby017 · April 21, 2011, 09:18:35 CET

easy with the word expert gaffer haha

Tracina · April 21, 2011, 09:55:20 CET

Hi robby017 any tips? Glad to meet an expert

. I am thinking about using more specific baits. For example I know in Italy we often fish Awrat using live crabs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf3GKwkaH5s

or sometimes WHOLE muscles. I think they pry the valves open just enough to slide the hook inside and then allow them to close up again (sometimes even using elastic thread to close them). Then they let the amazing teeth this Sparid has do the rest... Or, like in this video, tie one on the hook and insert it into another one...:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFKn9PyKQ8

To be honest I am a firm believer that every place has it's bait. If these baits are not normally on the Awrat's diet here in Malta, then they are not effective... The only results I've had so far have come from Korean worm. But then again, that's what I normally mostly use... I've tried fresh calamari and sardine in the past, but with little luck. Before trying something new and waiting hours and hours for nothing, I need to "trust" the bait. Any tips?

I sometimes use live "rock shrimp" that I patiently collect myself from the tide pools, but apart from being a pain to get, they get devoured by any little MO-FO fish that swims by, and anyways I usually use them with a very light float setup for casting reasons that you can immagine...

Now, most important: where? I can Immagine these are trade secrets, but even a personal vague message would b welcome. Do you mostly fish harbours? Rock-fish?

Any opinions on the Grand Harbour?

Sorry for the hastle and thanx in advance.

Going fishing any time soon?

Ciao

Tracina

robby017 · April 21, 2011, 12:20:21 CET

Hi Tracina...... lets get something straight...... i am no expert..... i just take shore fishing seriously and keep in touch with the tlatest tackle but as i said....... i'm no expert.

I have never fished with crabs for awrat, but I know of a few places we can try for awrat, if you feel like catching the crabs hehe....

since mussels are not present in malta(like in the video) i never tried these either, however, i'd buy a couple and give them try.....

my favorite baits, unless bread, must be alive..... i use crayfish, small shrimps, koreano, americano and bibi worms........ imp that it is fresh and alive.

QuoteNow, most important: where?

QuoteI can Immagine these are trade secrets, but even a personal vague message would b welcome. Do you mostly fish harbours? Rock-fish?

mostly in harbours , creeks and bays..... i try target bream and mullet(mullett with farka) mostly.... but some times i get pandoras and blue runners and the odd awrata

QuoteAny opinions on the Grand Harbour?

deep waters.... means bigger fish should be more reachable from the shore.

QuoteSorry for the hastle and thanx in advance.

np

QuoteGoing fishing any time soon?

yes, hopefully this weekend....... if you can make it, feel free to join, just pm me. greenhorn94 might be joining on saturday.

Saturday morning .... probably mullet and light ledgering.

Sunday afternoon.... mullet in gozo...... and freshly bbq'd 5-10 min after being caught :-D

SEAFOX · April 21, 2011, 19:13:26 CET

Rob...... cant believe that Sunday all you are going to devour is BBQ'd mullet...are you serious?

robby017 · April 22, 2011, 10:54:20 CET

then in the evening we go out to eat ux!!!!!!

Tracina · April 23, 2011, 23:00:13 CET

It was a great day of fishing! Rob IS a pro, he even let me handle the "big one". Of course I lost it.

But I think he forgave me

But you guys try with a 0.08....!!!!

"The sea is not inifinite!, we need to learn to respect it", and that is the phylosophy I like!

C&R all the way!!!

robby017 · April 25, 2011, 10:26:58 CET

yep.... from the action of the rod and the drag going out...... it did look like it was big.......

skip · April 26, 2011, 06:22:06 CET

Glad to hear to enjoyed your fishing trip with Robby, he's a great chap who's very knowledgeable and dedicated to shore fishing and by the sounds of things a great teacher too willing to let you handle the big one even if it did get away, that's all part of the learning curve