hi guys, I'm moving to malta next month and cant wait to get spearfishing again regularly. I used to go all the time when I lived in Miami, all reef stuff, but last couple of years been out of it completely cos no sea where I am. So I'm really looking forward to it and would love to meet up with some of you guys, I'll probably be living in Mellieha.
Once I've got my breathhold back and am comfortable in the water again what I really want to get into is the bluewater spearfishing for dorados (lampuki I think the maltese call them) and maybe even some tuna. Don't want to go too far out, do you reckon you can get into the lampuki and small tuna a couple of miles offshore from a small boat or kayak? Not being able to see the bottom still freaks me out a bit but there's nothing like hanging at 20 feet deep for a minute in 500 feet of water to get the juices flowing! Did bluewater a couple of times in florida and was frigging terrified but loved it!
Anyway, won't go on too much for my first post, I'll be there in a month and it would be great to buddy up with a few guys.
We do not practice deep blue water hunting here in Malta. You can always give it a try !!
You will find the med very different from the Floridian coasts but I am sure you will love it.
Mellieha is beautiful, great location for speafishing. :)
where are u from Spearo
Welcome spearo
Welcome to MFF and soon to Malta. I'm sure we'll be able to meet up for a couple of dives. Keep in touch with us over here.
cheers guys, thanks for the welcome. I'm English but been moving about for years now, haven't lived there since '97.
I would have thought the lampuki spearing would be a big thing over there, I got all excited when I saw they migrate past malta september to december! Why is nobody doing that? Don't really know much about the med to be honest, is it full of big sharks!!?? :o
I'm counting down the days now, walking around the house with my weight belt on...!
We do have lampuki but they are small when they migrate from our waters. You were thinking about the huge Mahi Mahi, which are in tropical waters, unfortunately we get their babies.
QuoteWhy is nobody doing that?
There are three main reasons.....
1) You will be hooked or run over by one of the many amateur fisherman trolling for pukas.......... Ooouch!!!
2) You will be caught by one of the many the purse seines that are used to catch these fish in bulk!
3) You will be shot at point blank range by the owner of the FAD................RIP!!!
Now do you still want to go spear fishing for pukas?
;D ;D ;D ;)
Joking apart, I think it is possible especially if one fishes next to an FAD, but make sure that the owner is not around! ::) ;)
yes I see what you mean, I didn't know the fads were so organised and regulated, just searched on google about them and found this which was helpful:
http://www.faocopemed.org/vldocs/0000871/scrs_2002_049.pdf
But it does say in that pdf that the fads don't start until 7 miles out so what do you reckon the chances of getting into the lampuki are say 5 miles out?
BUT, I have a better idea, what if you were to go to one of the fishermen with the license for his string of fads and rent one off him for the season? They're half to three quarters of a mile apart so if you had permission to spearfish a specific fad then you wouldn't get caught in a net or get shot. You do need to go 7 miles out so that kind of rules out the kayak idea so the renting of the fad and the boat is already pushing the expense and effort up but it's possible right?
markcam, you say they're small, what's an average size brought in by the netters you reckon?
and those fads attract amberjacks and tuna too! ;D ;D
although you do find exceptions, the lampuki start being caught in the 500g region and grow to around 2 - 4 kilos. Once I had an opportunity to swim with the lampuki and Alungi....I managed to swim with them and it was a great experience for me, unfortunately the speargun I had was too small (90) and not enough power to place a good shot, but instead I managed to land a few small aj's and a lampuka, still I loved the experience. This only happened once.
Guys I swam more than once with lampuki. There are particular times of the day when they are all hidden in one part and easilly accessible.
a 2-4 kg fish is still pretty good though, and throw in the chance of an aj or tuna and it's well worth it ;D
So the fishermen that get the licenses for these fad corridors must be registered somewhere for the public to find that information, might look into renting one when I'm there and a few of us can sort a boat out once a week and go bluewater spearfishing without worrying about getting shot!! ;D ;D
how much would it cost to rent a boat big enough to go out 7 miles for a half day over there?
Quoteaj or tuna and it's well worth it
forget the tuna mate... need a permit to catch bluefin, and it must be between 30-50kg..... anymore or anyless, and you'll end up fined or in court..... don't ask, still can't understand this theory myself, except that recreational fisherman have a quota of 3tons (3000kg) i.e. 60 permits up to 50 kg each....
crikey, the lampuki are too small and the tuna are off limits! those tuna licenses definitely apply to spearfishermen too right? Does self defense stand up in court!!??
OK, so that leaves us with the amberjacks, they get to a good size, any restrictions on them? And are there any wahoos in the med around malta? I know the name is probably different so here's the fish I mean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo
Quote from: spearo on May 06, 2009, 19:01:55 CET
crikey, the lampuki are too small and the tuna are off limits! those tuna licenses definitely apply to spearfishermen too right? Does self defense stand up in court!!??
OK, so that leaves us with the amberjacks, they get to a good size, any restrictions on them? And are there any wahoos in the med around malta? I know the name is probably different so here's the fish I mean:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahoo
No wahoos, but the amberjacks grow up to nice sizes. You can look at the recent pic in the spearfishing gallery.
One thing is sure, Malta surely isn't the ultimate spearo destination because fish are getting more scarce every year. Still, no harm in trying.
Baracuda are plentiful.... you can take a shot at those....
what's another name for that leccia fish, never heard of a leccia? looks like a jack but not like an amberjack, what kind of depth/habitat do you find them?
Its a Leerfish in english and it is a member of the jack family although they are not all that common here (at least i haven't caught one in a LONG while! :))
cheers mate, ok then, what's the deal with albacore tuna, any special limitations on them?
So assuming you didn't get hooked by a long line (ouch!) if you spent a few hours 2 miles out, dangling a flasher about 20 feet deep from beneath the kayak and diving up and down waiting for something to hit the flasher what do you reckon you'd see? And what kind of depth would you be at 2 miles out?
Quote from: spearo on May 06, 2009, 22:30:17 CET
cheers mate, ok then, what's the deal with albacore tuna, any special limitations on them?
As far as i know no there aren't any limitations only on bluefin tuna;check on the "fishing regulations" button on the main page.
Quote from: spearo on May 06, 2009, 22:30:17 CET
what do you reckon you'd see? And what kind of depth would you be at 2 miles out?
Way out of my depth!! LOL ;D
Only kidding m8! basically i don't spearfish mostly i go spinning from the shore,so the spearos on the forum will be able to answer that one better.. but it would depend alot on what time of year.
Regarding whats the depth 2miles out,that would also depend on where you are e.g east,west coast.Alot of the west coast of the island gets quite deep not too far from the shore.
Check this link out,on there you can use the java app. to zoom in on malta (and alot of the med) the depths are pretty accurate. :)
http://mappe.c-marina.com/partners/apneamap/result.asp?java=true
thanks for that. Don't know if it's me being daft but there's nothing on the local fishing regulations in English thread from the fishing regulations button? There's a post by skip but no link to any regulations. ???
Np mate :)
Also im pretty sure that albacore don't have the same min 30kg resrictions as there is going to be a forum trolling competition for albacore pretty soon & its going to be covered by the local tv!! ;D
Quote from: spearo on May 06, 2009, 22:30:17 CET
And what kind of depth would you be at 2 miles out?
Depending from which side you would go. From the east side you may find still some shallow areas but from the west it will be very deep. Thats from what I'm told. I never done spearfishing that far out, only once in the NE in depth of about 20-25meters.
Depth, depth, depth...you might be surprised of what you might find in shallow waters :) ...shallow water fish (in general) are harder to hunt, so easily spooked and thus provide loads of hunting satisfaction!!!
what's the shark situation like around malta, shallow and deep? Like how often will you see them and what kind/size? Do you ever lose speared fish to them?
Shallow...very shallow...in fact you find them on land...in our streets...everywhere...the worst kind ever, bipedal also...take care not to get bitten. :)
haha, good one spnotta, ;D
sounds just like Miami! ;D
If you see a shark it will probably be on the news and on the local newspaper :P
hi spearo , you brought a smile onto my face while reading your comments , i liked the excitment u you have while comming here , i am new in here too , i have been spearfishing for 2 years now, so i am not an expert but i can say i do pretty well for my class , we have a good time , i am not the right person to give you the best tips on spearfishing lol but try to picture your self, that you are coming to michy mouse land , with our rules and ragulastions you would have a better picture thinking like that , rules are crazy and just as micky mouse you never get to see sharksat sea lol but you get to see them on land just as they said in here ,
so we would like to give you a warm welcome and a good fun stay here :)
cheers maxsimus, yes not long to go now before I'm there, really looking forward to it, would be good to go out spearfishing with you when I'm there, do you mainly shore dive or use a boat?