Hello there.
Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm 37, mother of two, and about 4 weeks ago I bought a cheap fishing pole for my 8 year old son and I fished for the first time. Since then I've been hooked. I haven't enjoyed myself like this since I was a kid. I can't believe that you can have such fun with a rod and tackle that cost me something like 10 Euros in total. I have a 3m pole, with a line and hook. I fish with frozen prawns which I buy from the supermarket (not cooked). And I go round the shore. I have to go to shallow places because my daughter is 3 years old and I have to keep an eye on her. I've been mainly in the St Julians area.
The first couple of times I went I didn't catch anything with the rod, but we took a large jar with us, and covered the mouth with a cloth with a hole in the middle and put in some flour and bread. And we placed it in a rock pool. And sure enough we caught a small fish and 2 shrimps. It was a relief that I could show my kids something!
Second time round, again I caught nothing on the pole, but we caught a small fish using a small net and some floating bread. Again my kids were very proud of me. They were having the time of their life on the beach throwing pebbles.
This was in May around the time when the jelly fish were coming in. I was terrorised my daughter might try to go in the water with all those jelly fish around. I never saw that many.
On my third trip I caught my first fish on the line. And boy did we scream and jump! It was a small one but it proved a point. I could catch a fish.
I've been fishing two to four times a week since then, often straight after work. I take a packed lunch for the kids: they eat so much more willingly outside, and some tea for me. I've seen so many beautiful things. We saw a serduq il-bahar. I had never seen one before. One time I saw what I think was a barracuda. Some small fish were biting at my bait, then all of a sudden there was a confusion, and this large, long, narrow fish swam eerily past me. As I tried to move the pole to go towards it, one of the small fish, a cawla, ate a bite and got caught. Thinking back, I should have tried using that as bait. But I'm learning. I'll do that next time. After that fish passed, no other fish came along. They just vanished.
I've caught a few combers, wrasses, a kahla, some cawl and a vopa. Sure, sometimes we go home not having seen something new, but it's very rare. I try different locations, different types of sea bottom, different depths, different times, and I try to fish in the shade, may be of a boat. I've been learning how to pull just when the fish bites enough. But last Sunday I got a special treat. Within five-ten minutes I caught three 'sawrell' about 19cm long. I caught two of them with the same prawn because the first one didn't eat it! I kept those. I couldn't believe it. I finally caught something relatively decent. I think we must have made quite a scene with our screaming and jumping because passer-bys started clapping (Luckily there was no one fishing around me so I was not disturbing other fishermen).
My uncle and I would love to go fishing around Comino and we're seeing if we can hire a little boat from somewhere up North. If any of you know from where we could get one at a reasonable price, would you let me know? Also, he used to like to go for 'Rosette' or 'Rozett' bir-rixa. Do you know what fish that is? I remember it used to be a pink fish. But I can't find it anywhere. He tells me if I go once with him I'll want to keep going! So I'm itching to go.
I'm enjoying the forum. I found it because every evening I spend an hour or so looking up what fish we caught and I was always hitting on it.
What a lovely hobby you all have. Why didn't anyone ever introduce me to fishing when I was a kid? I feel I've missed so much time. I have a lot to catch up on. I'm also wondering whether I should be getting some better equipment but I have no clue really about what would be good for me. Or is it fine to continue with what I've got? Should I try different bait?
I'm using a bobber, but many times I keep it just above the surface and I prefer to feel the tug of the fish. Is that wrong?
I'll be waiting to hear from you. And happy fishing to all.
Thanks
Peprina. welcome to the forum. Nice to know that you enjoy fishing. To help you out on types of fish go to this link and you will find all fises round Malta. Like that you will get to know what fish is around.
www.fishbase.com/Country/CountryChecklist.php?c_code=470&vhabitat=all2&csub_code=&CFID=6136635&CFTOKEN=98553439
Fishing "al tocco" or in maltese "fuq id dejk" will give you direct contact with the fish. You are doing nothing wrong, keep on fishing the way that makes you more confident and keep experimenting. Do not worry about disturbing other fisherman, keep enjoying fishing. Remember fishing is not catching, but cathing is a bonus or a reward for yor effort
If you are from St julian's area we could meet up and i can show you some tricks of the trade as from tomorrow afternoon.... I grew up fishing in St Julian's and know that bay inside out, from the shore and from a small boat. I remember i used to go down with my family on the 'cementa' under the Park Towers and whilst they have a swim, i go fish... and when i was forced to swim, i'd go off snorkling with a line in my hand, catching and releasing fish... those were the days...
I have my last exam tomorrow morning, so, odds are that straight after i might be going down to st julian's to fish a bit. feel free to join in.
HI Peprina Welcome to the forum you will find as much imformation as you will ever need off the good people on this forum, All you have to do is ask and someone will help you or put you in touch with someone who can, you have now dicovered the secret behind that magical thing that is FISHING, That its fun for all Men, Women, Young,and Old now youve found it ENJOY it. and remember you dont have to catch fish every time out.(but it helps especially if you have youngsters with you ) as for your fishing tackle dont worry about having all the latest fishing rods, reels, and gadgets. most of these are there to catch the fisherman not the fish. Use wot you have until you feel ready to go on to some thing more exspensive, More than any thing go fishing with your children and Enjoy yourselves. SO titelines and I will look out for your posts. PS My wife goes fishing with me and useually catches more than me any way.
Thanks to all for your comments. Thanks mulett75 for the link. It sure is useful. And Robby, you might see me in St Julians, though I'm not sure if it will be tomorrow. But I'm very easy to pick out with 2 kids around.
LOL, my favorite spot is the pier of OKI KOKI Banis.... its best using a hand pole there, always great results for a funfilled afternoon.
I've found the Ruzetta. It's called Pearly Razorfish. I once remember my uncle returning from a boat trip with around 60 of those. That was about 25 years ago. Do you still see any around?
http://www.fishbase.com/Country/CountrySpeciesSummary.cfm?c_code=470&id=4581
Better pictures here:
http://www.fishbase.com/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=4581
Hi Peprina, and welcome to the forum. Enjoy your stay here. I can see that you're hooked ;)
Hi Peprina, I really enjoyed reading your story on how much your enjoying fishing. Over here we are like one big family, and I'm sure you'll find loads of help from my fishing friends. As from my side I really can't help that much as my fishing style is spearfishing and shore squid fishing 4 months a year (October - February). But if you would be interested in learning shore squid fishing you can PM me a month before their season begins (around September) and I'll guide you about what kind of equipment you'll need, good spots and anything else that might get into squid fishing. Till then take care and happy fishing ;)
Hi Peprina, welcome to the forum. You can use the forum search function to look for a particular fish which should be indexed from here http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php?action=gallery;sa=slideshow;id=2774
Arti2's large gallery upload of Fish Found in Malta - Maltese/English Names.
One can always invest in better equipment once you see which type of style you like and there's no need to go OTT you can take a small step up. Ta' Bormla in Mosta near HSBC have some very good packages and can give you excellent advice, or you can go to Mister Fish in Gzira or Iklin as well.
Great writeup by the way :)
Hi Peprina,
Welcome to the forum. I was really touched by your writeup and enjoyed reading it very much.
With regards to the 'Rusetta' they are delicious to eat, to say the least and pretty easy to catch once you know where. You'd definately need a boat, a hand line for bottom fishing with small hooks and shrimp as bait will do just fine. I used to catch loads when I was young but be careful... They BITE!! They have these 2 very sharp long teeth and no matter how you hold them, they always manage to curl round and bite your finger.
Anyway, if interested, I'll be more than pleased to pm you with details of location and possibility of a small boat hire close to the spot :).
Hello acciola. My uncle knows a good spot, but we need a small boat hire from the North of Malta cause he sold his boat about 5 years ago. Do you know of anyone who hires boats around there? I asked at the Tunny Net but it costs a bomb.
Isma, what does pm mean in this forum?
And thanks for the offer Buddhagrass. By September I'll surely be wanting to try something new.
Welcome peprina. I think PM means private message.
Hi Peprina,i have a good place for Pearly Razorfish.Usually(if possible never) i go with the wife and kids to fish for them.You are free to join us on our boat.It will be in summer cause now it's albacore season so i dont waste time on Pearly Razorfish ;) They are very good fish to eat.When you know how to use the PM send me one.
hi peprina, and welcome, i understand notanic on bugibba seafront hire small boats, they seat 5 and are 50 euroes for 5 hours, i know some people that hired last year just for fun and enjoyed themselves, " may the fish be with you ".
Hi pepprina I really enjoyed reading your story, and although I am not a fisherman, I felt the need to write you a small comment.
Happy fishing.
By the way, I know that last summer I have been to the jetty at bugibba , and there was a guy renting small boats with a seagull. You could not go to comino, but you have to stay within the gzejjer limits. I have no names or numbers, maybe someone who goes fishing there can tell.
emmmm.... baghira.... Last summer and the one before I towed about 3 or 4 boats belonging to that guy - In fact we've become "friends" but I wouldn't recommend them to someone "new" to fishing from boats.
I've already had one experience of being stranded in the middle of Mellieha bay on a brand new windsurfer. I have no intention of passing through that again. Inqlejt and I had to paddle to the sandy beach. Because the board was brand new everytime I fell off it and had to climb again the antislip stuff scratched my arms and legs. The next day I started a new job as a teacher and I appeared at the school with my face red as a tomato and my elbows and arms all raw. My husband told me they're gonna think I treat you badly. And sure enough I did get asked by the school counsellor how I made those scratches. It took the head of school a few seconds to recover when he saw me and the kids had a good laugh. So, I'm gonna make sure there is a good engine on anything I go on.
hi peprina,
Welcome to the forum,like someone said, here it s true like a big family, everyone will help you for sure and give you good advice how to catch fish. I have been a member for a year since now and this forum has some little experienced fishermen who are very good in fishing.If you need any help just ask and one or other will be happy to help you welcome aboard my friend.
Welcome peprina (if I am not mistaken you are the first official fisherwoman in the forum, excluding Skips better half as administrator),
So 3 cheers to Peprina.
As you have accidentally discovered the effect that fishing has on most of us, and u can appreciate why so many grown ups act like kids when it comes to fishing whether being spear, land or boat with their different techniques.
I am sure that u will find a lot of genuine help from most members of this forum, here we are one big family united in fishing.
tight lines
welcome on board peprina, I really enjoyed reading your write up and I'm sure you will make alot of friends on this forum. Also keep an eye on any social activites that are organised.
Quote from: Peprina on June 10, 2009, 10:20:12 CET
I've already had one experience of being stranded in the middle of Mellieha bay on a brand new windsurfer. I have no intention of passing through that again.....
Hi Peprine, Shame to hear that your first windsurfing experience was a bad one. I used to be a very keen surfer since '79 and even proudly represented Malta in a few events back then. Stopped surfing when I got married 21 years ago and haven't surfed since. This is a fantastic sport but you need to start properly with a good instructor. 3, one hour lessons, in good conditions and the right equipment, should teach you the basics and put you on the right track. Thats how long it took my wife to learn and after the third hour she was crossing Mellieha bay and finding her own way back, which is the most important thing. Trying to windsurf by simply hiring one and thinking you will simply just lift the mast and sail off is a recipe for disaster. The fact that you went to the trouble to try shows that you were interested. I suggest you don't give up and try again, this time get an instructor and I guarantee that you won't regret it :)
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Hi Peprine, Shame to hear that your first windsurfing experience was a bad one. I used to be a very keen surfer since '79 and even proudly represented Malta in a few events back then. Stopped surfing when I got married 21 years ago and haven't surfed since. [/quote]
What stopped when you got married and never ever?????????Why???
Hey Baghira,
This had nothing to do with my wife, she is always supportive to almost whatever I do. Just that I needed to start a new chapter in my life at the time and make way for new experiences thats all.... Fishing being one of them ;) I used to be obsessed with windsurfing and decided that it was enough.
Acciola (aka giwanrua :))
He still has the boards and sails.....:)
Today I caught three brown wrasses and a peacock wrasse. These were around 15cm. I also caught 2 very small fish which I did not recognise. I need to start taking a camera with me to take a photo so I can look up those that I release. I'd like to know which are the species that are endangered. I know the sizes in the regulations. But are there some species not listed there where, even though they pass the minimum size limit, it would be better to release them?
I'd also like to catch more of the silver type of fish. I think I need a longer line for that. I saw people fishing on the rocks in the backwash from the waves. What do you catch that way?
Normally when people fish on rocks in the backwash (rima in maltese) they fish for Kahli, that silver fish that you mentioed. These fish can be also fished in calm waters, near the bottom. I am very keen on this fish. I use bread with some cheader cheese added to it. It also can be fished with the "GHAL TA L-AWRAT". You can by this in form of small pallets. You have to soak in water, remove the extra water and after a while it can mashed and be put on the hook.
I'll give it a go mulett75. If I stay somewhere near backwash, do I set the bobber for deep water or surface? And do you place the line in the backwash or behind it?
I cannot believe it! My son is eating fish! Today I cooked the sawrell I caught and my son and daughter were fighting over it, until I got out a frozen piece of salmon, which they also ate. My son usually eats only 5 items. Fishing is doing more for me than I ever thought it could!
Hi friends,
Last Saturday I had a bad day I tried a 50 hook konz,and when I picked it up I found 5 hook missing .
Thats no big deal man ! it happens all the time, but what diameter line where you using maybe its too thin.
No fish ????
it was 0.80.
lizz attack ?
no lizzijiet arent caught on konzijiet. maybe you where stuck to the bottom and cut, maybe moray eels especialy if you find some knots in the line or also it could be puffer fish! they are one of the most common culprids!
Or maybe they where toothy fish such as dentex ::)
Well, I wanted to update you on my fishing experience. I am still at it. On most weeks I go two to three times at least. I have now started going between 8 and 12 pm. The day before yesterday I caught 16 fish (Vopi), most of them in half an hour! But now I have competition: my brother and his family have heard me rave so much about fishing that they have started to join me, so now there are another five fishing rods around me and far more screams and shouts from 5 kids when we manage to pull something. The kids are having a whale of a time. They have started to catch their own and that makes them really proud (and me too). When my neice caught her first fish she pulled it out of the water, handed the rod to her dad and ran over to me and her mum to let us know. Now who'd have thought that I'll end up giving fishing lessons! I am now spending more time assisting them to untangle their lines and to help them hook bait than fishing. It's quite funny to see them fishing all in line. And it makes me so happy to see them out in the open away from their computers and electronic games.
Yesterday though was very slow compared to the last two weeks. There were a lot of very small fish and we were not catching anything. I guess the small fish were nibbling at our bait and so you don't really get a bite. The surface of the sea was also a bit choppy and it was a bit windy so may be it was difficult to notice that the fish were biting? I tried throwing bread at the surface to bring the small fish up, and hopefully attract some 'larger' fish to the bait. I managed to catch a sparlu and a vopa that way. Eventually around 10pm we caught a few vopi.
Today we're going to try somewhere else. So if you see 3 or 4 adults with 5 kids I've given you fair warning!
AND that my friend is what fishing is all about. You have discovered the joy of fishing..........seeing the family united and having fun in the open air ........nothing beats that. Well done.
keep it up! wonderful
Carry on fishing!!!!Carry on enjoying!!!!Carry on cathing
As you say paprina,the kids today just want to play with their computers or gameboys or mobile phones.Its far better for them to go fishing with you in the fresh air and also their starting to learn not just fishing,but about nature,the difference in the sea,the weather and the way it affects life in general. Well done and keep it up. ;D
Hello redbus9, I am very curious to know if you catch anything decent from Marsaxlokk. Let us know the result once you go, unless you've been already.
From Marsaxlokk normally we catch some good sized mullet. Presently they were catching some "SAWRELL TAL IMPERIAL" as well. Both fish gives you a good fight to be brought in and also fun
its always interesting reading your writeups.... keep at it.
Hi Peprina,blueskip and myself are planing a night fishing trip to marsaxlock in september hopefully to catch some BIG morina.We will be fishing where the fish stalls throw all the guts of the fish into the sea.If you want to join us with your family for a few hours in the evening you are more than welcome. ;D
Just let me know and we'll be there. Today I went to Gnejna. There were a lot of bobbin which however we could not catch. They kept coming for the bread we threw and then they quickly swim away but they never seem to go too close to the hook. I tried with prawns and with bread. They seemed to prefer the bread. Two boys told us they catch them with a net. So then I fished for some vopi. But I have to say I was hoping for something more there. An old couple had the line set up different to what I've seen before. They had a big bobber, and quite a big weight, with the hooks above the weight. But to say the truth nobody was catching much whilst I was there. So I'll be very eager to see you experts fishing for some big fish.
Hi peprina I would never call myself an expert in whatever I have done,whether it be my work or skills.What I would say that I have experience in various things including fishing. Infact I believe personally that anyone who calls themselves an expert is just trying to hide the parts that they don,t know. I have met a lot of people over the years who have a lot of knowledge but they have never classed themselves as experts in whatever field they worked in.Glad you will be able to meet up with us at Marsaxlokk.
peprina pm me i know a place from where i get down to spearfish from gnejna, i see loads of parrot fish in the area, i tell you where exactly with a photo
all u need is grounding bait and hniex tal korea or gambli
yesterday while spearfishing at gnejna saw about 50 small parrot fish feeding with there mother.The mother probably weighing about half a kilo it was very nice but left it with family only 1 octopus caught.
Question for u granitu, I have a beauchat mask and I have a problem with it, (titapan hafna), I tried diferent methods that i was told like rubing sliced potato, rubing sea grass, rubing with saliva, but no luck.
What can I do?
Thanks.
Kevin,
There are special drops you buy from any diveshop which are used to condition the glass .. after the first bottle most masks will be good enough with a couple of spits ;) Some people have found toothpaste as a good alternative.
Also make sure that you aren't sweating alot before you wear the mask coz otherwise the perspiration will condense with the mask since water temperature is lower than body temperature.
my 2 cents worth ;) gudluck
mm there is only i method which realy works
but you have to be really careful. use a lighter and lightly!!!!!!!(keep the flame 4-5cm away from mask... you need only heat) burn the excess silicone, both lenses... you should see it burning
after this treatment, you need to treat the rubber. i suggest that you fill a container with hot(not boiling) water added with washing detergent(sapun tal platti) and leave it overnight
then give it try and see how it goes. but it works for me. or at least minimizes a lot the problem. ultimately use helps to reduce it, and washing the mask beforehand with sea grass or spitting helps. beauchaut masks suffer this problem because of silicone
i go a lot from gnejna, if you have no buddy pm me and we can go together. sometimes i have no buddy with me although it is not really a concern for me because i love to do some depth
sorry but it is a little off topic, if skip wants to move/ delete, go on
I am still a biginer and when my family or friends go swiming I always take it with me, without any transport i cant go any where i want.
Thank you for the info I will try and let you know.
and sorry for skiping to another topic but I couldn't find how to start a new topic.
by any chance, 2 sat ago you saw 2 as*h***** going down after the boat houses, it was us ta
no i wasn't there lol.
i used jif a well. wash it with jif and then rinse it well. It retains a bit of ammonia smell but otherwise its ok. i prefare to use a type of grass and it usually stays clear.
Thanks to all.
I got curious about the behaviour of the 'bobbin' in the shallow water at Gnejna and I looked up about it and about the behaviour of mullets. I found the scientific link below which has got a lot of interesting information on their behaviour which can give some useful hints on how to catch them.
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-62252007000100012&tlng=en&lng=en&nrm=iso
If you wanne catch the bobin from Gnejna.Go in the water till up your knees with a 4 or 5 meters pole.Use monofilament from 0.10 up to 0.14 a very small float and a small split shot at least 10cm away from the hook.The hook must be size 14 or 16.You better use bread for bait,just soak it in water but don't make it paste and hook small pieces of it or else you can use small pieces of shrimp but they must be cut very very small.When you see the float running pull up because many of the times you will see the float running on the surface and not go under water.Most important please catch and release because the ones that you find at Gnejna are very small not even 15cm.
Actually there was a school of slightly larger ones when I was there besides the very small ones. However I think it was just worth studying their behaviour, the way they swim together and then all dash for the bread. And they reach their goal of confusing any predators.
Last night I went to St Thomas' Bay, Marsascala. The water was beautifully clear. And I spent the night on a boat, my family and my brother's family. Sure I was eager to wake up early and fish at sunrise. As it turned out, I didn't need to wake up: I remained awake all night! I can still feel everything bobbing up and down. It was windy last night. I did fish early but there was only cawl around. In fact a couple of fishermen came on their boats, spent some time and left. So it's not my bad fishing. Till now I have never been successful on windy and choppy days. I wonder if that is a general trend or not. I've also read that damselfish are quite aggressive and they chase away even mullets from their territory. But then for every aggressive creature, there is one more aggressive and I did observe the barracuda chase the cawl away!