Lampuki Season 2011

[Granitu]

it can be found in all fish as far as I ve been told as there is not much information from what this parasite comes (can be a particular weed (sea weed ) or small fish, however I have been told that cold blooded fish like groupers as far as information permits do not suffer from this parasite.

I know a person who is preparring a thesis for his masters on anisakis, I think he is more knowledgeable in this aspect.

What i can tell for sure that I have found this worm in Sawrell caught near farms, bream, saddled bream, mullet(not port mullet) and once even in a 8kg amberjack.

There is no definitive answer, if you take the necessary precaution you are safe and you can enjoy the beloved suschi and sachimi (forgive the spelling) as much as you like 

[skip]

Went out on Saturday West of Cirkewwa, we ended up approx 23nm offshore where it seems that this year the fishermen based either in the North of Malta and Gozo have perhaps decided not to lay out very many Cimi. I remember a few years ago it was quite hard to navigate offshore without driving across them all!

Anyways.....we trolled with 3 lines (rods ) and we were consistently being hit during the day by Tunnag (tks for the confirmation buddy) in varying sizes, some even coming up 3 on each line, and yet Lampuki were nowhere to be seen. Even if one stayed in the vicinity of the Cimi lines as I often like to troll parallel but staying away from them you can see Lampuki jumping across or coming towards you. In the end we got 10 Lampuki perhaps 500g max each and we counted hooking and releasing around 30-40 Tunagg. It was a fun day out in a bit of a swell but no wonder Lampuki are being sold at €6 a kilo!

Yesterday I tried the NE coast leaving from Xemxija in better conditions as the sea was very calm and the swell almost non existent. There are definately alot more Cimi out on that side and we ended up 25nm offshore pointing diretly at Pozzallo, the sea was really clear but aside from some occasional surface activity it was verrrry quiet and all we got was some Cerviol (4!!) from around 90m away from a Cima.

Now I know everyone is very different, but my own personal rules with Cimi are very simple, I will not encircle them and I will keep a reasonable distance away from them, but I am certainly not staying 200-500m away from them, i don't care what the authorities say nor what the fishermen think. The sea is everyones, but if Commercial fishermen think that they have a right to take the law into their own hands, they are sorely mistaken. I have heard in the past and yesterday witnessed through the binoculas threatening behaviour and actions of these cowboys, so when I read that the Sea Shepherd guys etc were involved in ramming or colliding with fishermen, my sympathy levels drop for our beloved commercial guys who are much happier selling their fish with our tax paying subsidies to the Italians than landing them in Malta. I can start to understand a bit better why people illegally carry weapons/firearms to protect themselves against these cowboys! After having a good go at some poor sod  who wasn't on any Cimi, and trying to ram him and throw stuf at him, these guys decided to turn towards me, even though I was a good 100m away from any cimi lines and travelling across, but as they were on a roll they decided that well the whole damn area was theirs. Needless to say I did not hang around to have a chat with them, but what a shame that one can't even enjoy a few hours in peace! In my opinion it's all about mutual respect which it seems they don't believe in, regardless of the whole argument of they paid to lay them etc. Encircling or netting someone elses Cima is one thing (and we all know they do it even on the Cimi or others), but trolling past in the general area is of very little harm unless you have deliberately gone ahead of a commercial boat going out on his lines.

Insomma! That's my lot for September, will wait a bit more till October and perhaps give it another go but with these experiences at sea, I'd much rather save my €120 worth of fuel for something else!

[baghira]

lampuki are at 3 euro nick

[skip]

lampuki are at 3 euro nick

I guess the guy who my buddy Gareth went to was ripping ppl off then although it was at the begining of last week!!!!!! Did anyone do well this weekend?

[geekorgy]

im thinking of going out south of filfla on wednesday morning, any tips for exact positions of floats etc ?

i have tried the floats on the north of bugiba (all 80 of them) twice, and nothing. im hoping south is better.

but i dont know where the floats are. Do i need a separate permit for the south ? i have the one from the bugiba fishing club. if i need a different one, where do i get it ?

thanks

[geekorgy]

we saw a Hanzir coming out from under the palm we shot him and thereafter we put up our lures and went for the hinzer instead and managed to catch 4 good sized ones.

what is a hanzir ?

[zghajru]

a pig =P or in the fishing sense a Stone-bass

[fisheye]

Last Sunday me and my fishing buddy decided to get another try for Lampuki so by 5.45 we were heading out from Birzebugia towards the closest ship about 8km out. Cruising at about 25knts/hr we were there in about 25 minutes. We put out our lines and went twice round the ship but nothing not even a hit. We were there at the first lights of the day, I always have been told that it is the best time but nothing no fish no surface activity, nothing. So since this was my 5th time this year out  for Lampuki with only 5 lampuki caught I thought that we were heading for another big flop. We went round another 3 ships with no good result only 4 small amberjack (cervjol) so we headed further out. On the way we saw cimi but I prefer to avoid fishing close to them and went for a group of ships anchored at about 12kntm out. We went round the first 2 ships and we caught a few cervjol and about six tunnagg while trolling from one ship to another which we released . The sun was well high up we have been trawling for about 3hrs and the catches were very poor most of all no Lampuki. The sea was great and for a moment we were contemplating whether we should go for bottom fishing and forget about trawling. About a mile further out there were another 2 ships at anchor but these were also tied together most probably transferring fuel or whatever so we stayed away from them and went for another ship. On the way I noticed that very close to this ship bow there was a fishing vessel that was stationery and those on board were hauling a big red net. There were no cimi and they were too close to the ship to be cimi there, so since I was not on the cimi and the ship was mine as much as was theirs I kept on going towards the ship. Approaching the ship from the stern to stay out of their way as possible we had the first good hit and we caught our first nice sized lampuka of the the day in a  few minutes we caught half a dozen plus some cervjol as well. We decide to move to the bow since the fishing boat headed towards the stern and started to throw the net again, but from there we had no hits although we still could see few fish going around we pulled up the lines and off we sped to the next ship which was about 2 miles further east.  There the fish was abundant but hits were not as frequent as one would expect  with such amount of fish that we could see. We caught 30 lampuki and about 15 cervjol, we were using the usual rubber squids and some maggots like white things with a funny tail you just put a hook in start from the head and comes out from in front of the tail but very effective. We also used 7cm minnows on which we landed only tunnagg that we had to release so we stopped using them to minimize their catch as much as possible. To cut it short after about an hour that same fishing vessel as if they had not enough sea where to fish came to throw their net were we where and we decide to leave the ship and start heading slowly towards land and avoid any confrontation with these tugs. On our way back we were approached by the petrol boat and they kindly asked to hand all the relevant documentation including making sure that we had a VHF. After seeing that all papers were in order they asked us to head inwards since we were more than 12knm far from land. By 13.00 we were back in birzebbugia harbour with the best lampuki catch we had so far this year.     

[geekorgy]

Last Sunday me and my fishing buddy decided to get another try for Lampuki so by 5.45 we were heading out from Birzebugia towards the closest ship about 8km out. Cruising at about 25knts/hr we were there in about 25 minutes. We put out our lines and went twice round the ship but nothing not even a hit. We were there at the first lights of the day, I always have been told that it is the best time but nothing no fish no surface activity, nothing. So since this was my 5th time this year out  for Lampuki with only 5 lampuki caught I thought that we were heading for another big flop. We went round another 3 ships with no good result only 4 small amberjack (cervjol) so we headed further out. On the way we saw cimi but I prefer to avoid fishing close to them and went for a group of ships anchored at about 12kntm out. We went round the first 2 ships and we caught a few cervjol and about six tunnagg while trolling from one ship to another which we released . The sun was well high up we have been trawling for about 3hrs and the catches were very poor most of all no Lampuki. The sea was great and for a moment we were contemplating whether we should go for bottom fishing and forget about trawling. About a mile further out there were another 2 ships at anchor but these were also tied together most probably transferring fuel or whatever so we stayed away from them and went for another ship. On the way I noticed that very close to this ship bow there was a fishing vessel that was stationery and those on board were hauling a big red net. There were no cimi and they were too close to the ship to be cimi there, so since I was not on the cimi and the ship was mine as much as was theirs I kept on going towards the ship. Approaching the ship from the stern to stay out of their way as possible we had the first good hit and we caught our first nice sized lampuka of the the day in a  few minutes we caught half a dozen plus some cervjol as well. We decide to move to the bow since the fishing boat headed towards the stern and started to throw the net again, but from there we had no hits although we still could see few fish going around we pulled up the lines and off we sped to the next ship which was about 2 miles further east.  There the fish was abundant but hits were not as frequent as one would expect  with such amount of fish that we could see. We caught 30 lampuki and about 15 cervjol, we were using the usual rubber squids and some maggots like white things with a funny tail you just put a hook in start from the head and comes out from in front of the tail but very effective. We also used 7cm minnows on which we landed only tunnagg that we had to release so we stopped using them to minimize their catch as much as possible. To cut it short after about an hour that same fishing vessel as if they had not enough sea where to fish came to throw their net were we where and we decide to leave the ship and start heading slowly towards land and avoid any confrontation with these tugs. On our way back we were approached by the petrol boat and they kindly asked to hand all the relevant documentation including making sure that we had a VHF. After seeing that all papers were in order they asked us to head inwards since we were more than 12knm far from land. By 13.00 we were back in birzebbugia harbour with the best lampuki catch we had so far this year.     

fantastic post! thanks for all the detail, there is hope!! iv been out about 10 times this season and have not hooked myself a fish yet ...

[The_Gaffer]

lampuki are at 3 euro nick

I guess the guy who my buddy Gareth went to was ripping ppl off then although it was at the begining of last week!!!!!! Did anyone do well this weekend?

Went out on Saturday to my usual place, but apart from a ton load of hits by tunnag which I released, I only managed 1 lampuka.  Continued to troll further out, and came accross a wide piece of wood, probably the remains of a big box.  Whammmm, lampuki everywhere.  Managed to hook up about 2 dozen, and alot of Cervjol (hurrab).   All in all, a great day fishing, with lampuki in the 1kg 1.3kg range.

[malvizzu]

Very nice detailed account fisheye. Thanks for sharing. It seems that only up north there's no lampuki at all. At least out East of the tuna farms there's nothing. Only caught one of 320g. At least had some decent catches of cervjol around the coast, 9, 5 and 2 in three consecutive days.

[placebo]

guys there are lampuki ...... change the method of fishing. Lampuki from the early start are not very much interested in lures. Bait fish has increased a lot in recent years. Try learning more the way of fishing lampuki with baits instead of artificials ... you will surely catch more

[geekorgy]

guys there are lampuki ...... change the method of fishing. Lampuki from the early start are not very much interested in lures. Bait fish has increased a lot in recent years. Try learning more the way of fishing lampuki with baits instead of artificials ... you will surely catch more

can you describe in more detail, exactly how you were catching them ?
what bait?, with what rig?, did you use a surface float ? where did you catch them ? did you drift ?
id love to try it, but its not enough info.

[skip]

but i dont know where the floats are. Do i need a separate permit for the south ? i have the one from the bugiba fishing club. if i need a different one, where do i get it ?

thanks

You would need to contact the B'Bugia Fishing Club and enquire how many cimi they have laid, membership rates etc.

The Professional lines of Cimi that you might see offshore are allocated on a line by line basis to commercial fishermen, each year they get different positions in the same general area, at least that is my understanding.

Your other option is to try and make friends with some who have cimi lines and get permission to go on them.

The Bugibba club just has a few up North only.

[geekorgy]

thanks!

is 70 only a few? cause the club gave me the co-ords to a 6 mile row of 30, another 6 mile row of 30 and a 2 mile row of 10, making 70 floats (okay, a couple may have been missing) ... how many is more than a few ? ) not trying to be a smartass i really appreciate all the tips, just wondering if im missing out on something bigger/better! i was pretty impressed with that many fad's being out for the club.

I do have a friend who keeps promising to take me to their private fad's, but hasnt yet ... i'll be saving that co-ord when he does!! he's taken boxes upon boxes of lampuki so far ... i think around 50 boxes so far this season, or so he says.

Im not even after quantity just quality, for the fun of it, ill probably release most except what i plan to eat myself.