Swordfishing

[twoutes]

Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your holiday photos with us. I'm going to be in Malta in August, and haven't been back there in 30 years, so l sure did notice some changes...especially that tall building in Sliema l think. I will be staying in Sliema while in Malta. I didin't view all your photos. I stopped at 200.Did you get any of the fish market? And did you do any fishing while in Malta? It looked like you got around a bit. Well done!

[Alex]

Hi, Twoutes! I am glad that you like my photos, althouth there are too many of them. I stayed in Sliema too. If you go there, never stay in Europa hotel. It is cheap, just 6 Maltese lira a night, but the quality, service and breakfast are not worth even that amount. I liked Water Front hotel in that Sliema's part that is where the Strand is. The nice place to stay is St.Julians, very beautiful bay, close to Paceville. I will now add comments to all my photos. Hope that would help you to scroll them and find those which are of interest to you. As to fishing, I understand that April is not a good time for that, so I decided that it would be too expensive to pay MTL 150 (approx. GBP 300, or Australian $ 600-700) for one day fishing with a commercial operator. What I did is that I went to Marsaxlokk (Sunday fish market and biggest Maltese fishing town) and then to Marsaskala (second after Marsaxlokk fishing town) and tried to find a fisherman who would take me with them as a tourist. To my surprise, commercial charters for tourists are not very, if at all, popular in those cities (could be because it was April, not the season yet). But I managed to find one very old man who was willing to take me with him to fish for 500-700 grams "tuna" as he called them (pls see photo below). That "tuna" very small and it is not game fishing. Just for fun and to experience how he would fish on a line in a small traditional Maltese boat. He asked 8 MTL, which is not much, but I had to be there at 05.30 a.m. and at that time I should have taken a taxi which would cost me another 10 MTL. That fisherman was not commercially minded either and, as I understood him, he would fish for that "tuna" on a long line and I would be there to only watch that as a tourist. I asked him about fishing for swords or lampuki, but he said that his boat is too small to go that far away from the shore. Then I asked, can we fish anything exotic at least (like murena or octopus), but he was not interested. So I decided not to go with him. I got in touch with one guy from this forum, with Busumark, we met while I was in Malta and he was very kind to take me to the fish market in Valletta (at 03.00 a.m., but it was very interesting and worth it!). He and his friend with whom they usually go to fish felt that April is not a good time to go for a big fish and they/me didn't, therefore, fish this time. But they said that from June to September is the right time and if I come, we can go for lampuki (dolphinfish) from cliffs in the south or for offshore fishing for swords. I also mentioned that you will come to Malta in August and he showed interested to meet you, have a drink or go fishing, if opportunity arises. Actually, I am thinking of going there again this summer, may be in August or in September. I understand that both months are good for swords, but September or end of September is especially good for Lampuki (dolphine fish). I think it would be interesting to go there at the same time as you and socialise, try to arrange something, have a drink, have a chat, etc. Busumark also mentioned to me that there is a company which is called Perotta Fishing centre (if I spell it correctly) that organises 3 days trips from Malta to one Italian island (forgot its name) which is south of Malta very close to Tunisia. I understand that they offer to fish on the way tto that island and then also on or around the island and then on the way back. I am trying to find the web site of that company, but so far with no much success. So, that's it. When will you be in Malta?  Alex   

[kempy]

some of the pics were labelled wrong ... you put them as saint pauls bay but they were saint juilans not picking just thought i would let you know sorry i could not hook up with you this time but i was on night shifts the pics are very nice judging by the amount you took you never poot the camera down lol

[Alex]

hi, kempy! thank you for your comments. I corrected the labels. It's pity that you couldn't make it, but we'll have a chance to meet and have a drink. yes, I agree with you. I shall buy a video camera and stop taking some many photos!

[twoutes]

Hi Alex, I will be in Malta between the 5th of August till the 1st of September. I'm all for catching up with you and any other people keen to have a good time, a drink or even a fishing session or three..... I have already aranged for a couple of fishing sessions while there, and very keen for more opportunities. As much as this is a family holiday, my ambition is to come back to Australia saying that l went fisihng in Malta and caught some good fish, regardless of species or size. Even so ,l would LOVE to catch a swordfish to add to my collection of bill fish already captured.Chack out this large black marlin we captured in Cairns last year

[Alex]

twouts,

thank you for you reply. I shall see if I can make it. If I go, I will do it in the end of August, for a week. if I won't be able to come to Malta, I will, most probably, go to fish giand Scotch skates in oban (2 hours from Glasgow). See this: http://www.worldseafishing.com/news/198/ARTICLE/1490/2006-06-19.html

I finally put lables to all photos. I think that you and all other guys may want to have a look at:

(i) Marsaxlokk fish market - see "day 4. Marsaxlokk" (photos nr. 473 to 510),

(ii) Wied iz-Zurrieq, "Blue Cave" restaurant, jaws and photos of the great white that was caught there 20 years ago - see "day 4. Wied iz-Zurrieq" (photos nr.531 to 536),

(iii) Valleta fish market at 03.00am, including photos of swordfish, sharks, Busumark from this forum, his friend John, and that guy who caught that great white shark 20 years ago - see "day 6. Valletta fish market" (photos nr.835 to 909),

(iv) small exsibition in Wied iz-Zurrieq, the fins of that great white, jaws of different sharks, etc. - see "day 6. Wied iz-Zurrieq" (photos nr.954 to 971).

[Alex]

that marlin is just excellent. it's huge!!! for how many hours did you fight with it?

[twoutes]

With the boat backing up on it at 15 Knots, and because the fish stayed on the surface for most of the fight, it only took 20 minutes...But it went crazy at the boat when we put 4 flying gaffs into it.

[skip]

What rig was it caught on? I think that would be quite interesting to know, even the chase bait etc, whether you had live bait....basically the technique.

Skip

[Alex]

Yes, that would be interesting to know. When I was fishing in Mauritius, boat there was moving quite fast trying to find places where there are many birds and probably smaller fish, squid, skipjack tuna and, therefore, marlin or dolphinfish or tuna. Our boat had 6 rods, but only 4 were used at a time, two that were idle, were from time to time used instead of two big ones to fish for shipjack tuna as a baite. I understand that technique is called trolling. Baites that were used look like squid or octopus (see photo below). Bigger bites were intended for marlin, tuna and dolphinfish (lampuki), smaller ones for skipjack tuna, which in turn was used as live baite to fish for sharks. When fishing for sharks, only two rods were used, hooks were put through shipjacktuna's eyes (I understand that it doesn't kill them and they can still sweam and look alive). When fishing for shark, the boat was still moving, but much slower then when fishing for marlin.   

[twoutes]

Hi Skip, yes the technique is very interesting. Firstly, in Cairns we are fishing with 130lb outfits as we are targeting large Black Marlin over 1000lb. We usually run two outfits off outriggers one on each side of the boat, travelling at about 6 knots. For bait we are using a DEAD large Scaley mackrel, Shark mackrel, Rainbow runner,or Mack Tuna of about 70 to 100cm long, which is rigged with dacron and waxed thread to skip on the surface and called a 'Skip Bait'. The hook sits outside the fish about 3cm away from the baits head. On the other outfit we put another dead bait out but rigged totally different, sometimes with a weight tied under its chin to swim naturally like a live fish. For the 'Swim Bait' we like to use skads which are the marlins favorite or Queen fish or any of the other baits mentioned in smaller size from 30 to 40cm. The hook on this bait is stiched within the bait with the use of wire, and having the point of the hook exposed under the belly of the bait. It takes alot of practice to stich a bait and have it swim like a live fish. We use outriggers not only to have the baits apart(about 18 metres) but also to allow a long loop of slack line in the water and then to a wooden release clip at the end of the outrigger. So, when the marlin hits the bait the line comes free from the clip, and the slack line ensures that the marlin feels no resistance untill we are ready to set the hook. Because we use circle hooks we slowly put pressure on the line to drag the hook out of the fishes belly, and once it nearly leaves the fish, hopefully near the corner of its mouth, the hook is able to swing around and connect. Since the use of circle hooks more marlin are released in good condition and not have their guts ripped open. Once we are hooked up the angler jumps in the chair and fights the fish. While the marlin is on the surface the skipper chases the fish to retrive line and capture the fish before it peels the 1000 metres of line off the spool, but also, quick releases gives the sharks less of a chance to attack the marlin while its hooked up. This happens quit often in some areas along The Great Barrier Reef. I feel very privledged to be apart of this type of fishing, and always try to release fish in good condition,as much as possible.I've attached a picture of a 'Skip Bait' for you to check out.

[skip]

Wow,very interesting. And one hell of a bait

Shame we don't get those kind of big game fish here!

[twoutes]

Hi Skip, if you like l'll bring some of my DVD's to Malta, and a few of us can get together for a good night of Marlin Fishing Action Australian style

[Alex]

Interesting link about game fishing in Croatia

http://www.vinko-entertainment.com/big_game.htm

[twoutes]

Hi Guys....it's been pretty quite on the forum lately. Where have you all been? it's getting close to the fishing season there, and maybe you're all getting your boats and gear ready. That's Great! I have just been invited up north to 'Cape York' for a week. It's pretty wild up that way with crocidiles and wild pigs etc along the rivers. We are going to be targeting Barrumani, and hopefully l'll have some good pictures to show you all when l get back.They also catch sarratoga, fingermark, catfish and archer fish, all firsts for me, and all very exciting. We will mainly be fishing with light gear casting bibed lures around tree roots and snags. I've been told to load my overhead real with a 'Braided' line, and hang on if a large barrumandi takes off....hopefully that is the case. Got to go now as l have to go make some 'wind on leaders' for the trip. I've attached a photo of a giant trevelly l caught a while back.....This is only a small one l was told, and just as well because it took of like a rocket on the light gear l was using. Cheers!!!