Hi all,
as I'm new here in this forum, would like to ask for some help and tips regarding shore fishing "fuq l-idejn" for VOPI (sabiha :o)and other possible descent sized fish from shore... l-importanti il-gibda!
Rod length? (probably depending from where fishing), but i can setup the rod/s between 4 to 7mtrs.
Bait? I guess gambli or hniex? What about bread? When I was a kid, I remember we used to fish even with ("bebbux") snails (those white ones which you find on trees).
What about the hook and tackle sizes for good sized VOPI and any other fish that may be caught from shore?
Does it has to be a single hook, a "zewg" or even more hooks? Or not important?
Is there a relationship on the size of swivels you use with respect to the hooks and tackle/line?
What about the depth you set the hook when fishing with the "sufrun"? Obviously depending on how deep is the sea... but in general?
Do the VOPI tend to get closer to shore in this period for feeding or due to climate/water temperature?
What are the "best" wheather conditions? (I guess not calm sea... ??) What about the moon? (ghandu x'jaqsam?); And wind depends on which coast you are going to fish?
Is a cloudy or rainy day better than a sunny day?
Time of the day? Early morning, during the day, sunset?
Is October to December the best period for VOPI sabiha?
BTW> any tips on a couple of good places will make my day ;)
Thanks in advance for all your contributions...
I am very keen for big vopi. The season is from mid December till end February. I use a 7m rod with 18mm line and 16.mm trace. No 7 or 8 hooks. normally I fish 2 hooks but not the old way of "zewg". Sufrun 3or 4 grms.
As regards bait if you are lucky and will be fishing alone you can use bread, but if someone else is fishing with gambli you have o use gambli as well.
Any type of weather condition is good for vopi but mainly the NW wind is the best. Another hint is if you see a lot of jelly fish prepare your tackel as it will come in for sure.
I usally goes to Ahrax tal Mellieha and Armier. Sometimes even in Sliema ,Ghar id-Dud comes in. Another place is Marsascala near il Bajda u Sewda.
Thanks Mulett75.
Sorry for my stupid question, but what is a "trace" when you said trace 16mm...? (or maybe tell me in Maltese)?
Something else, when feeding (t'ghalef), is it something you do before you start fishing only or even continously while fishing?
And what is the "approx" depth that you set the sufrun?
Re gambli, yes we are using gambli, but just as soon as the tackle touches the water, the bloody small vopi and other small fish attack the bait immediatley. In fact every casting is almost always a catch! But so far we only caught small vopi and the other small fish >:( , thus throwing it back to sea immediately...
10X
Last week I saw a large shoal of good sized vopi in the delimara area, if anyone is interested!
When I say trace it is the last piece of the fishing line(il fera). When there are lot of small vopi, try to put a float with a bigger grams, go up to 6 grms. Feeding (taghlef) all the time, especiallly if there atre the small vopi. I ground bait all the time with every throw. Like this I keep the small ones feeding all the time closer to the shore and keep the big ones a liitle bit further from shore but not eating the ground bait.
Approx depth of the sufrun. 4 meters will be good. lways try to bring the vopi up from the bottom. The only way is to groundbait all the time. By the way Dellimara is asldo a good place for big Vopi as mentioned by markam
Thanks mulett75, I will follow your suggestions, many thanks for your contributions... 10x to markcam also...
When shore fishing, I guess that the sea conditions make a big difference, i.e. if calm, choppy, rough or very rough...
When it is rough or very rough with big waves, is it still good for shore fishing? I mean do fish still get very close to shore?
thanks
well sharktail when really rough thus big waves you must 1st think it through. Like....is it safe???
Anyway depends how rough as a lot of people tell me that when there is rough sea it is good to fish for sea bream (sargu). A very good way for sea bream is with the "mitluq" technique. Where you don't use any weight or maybe just 1grm or under and leave it to swell with the waves and use rag worms. But there is a bit of disadvantage with this technique, 1st you must be extra careful to were the line is going and it will be a bit difficult as the best time for sea bream is during the night. 2nd to be able to know if it touches or not you either have to hold the rod all the time or els find a good place to rest the rod and attach one of those fluorescent tubes to the tip of the rod
Hello owenbullu, thanks for your reply.
Re rough sea, well yes, I had to say "very rough but still safe"... thanks for the concern ;)
I was asking because last week I went limits of zonqor, but sea was very rough on the front, and although i found a place were i could cast and still be safe, i did not have a single bite... I was fishing with a 7mtr rod (not reel) and with shrimps...
So i was thinking that with such rough sea, and "big" waves hitting the shore so violently, fish may not get so much close to the rocks/shore?!? ???
Then I went further inside zonqor, were sea was still rough (imma kien hemm il-kenn) and it was much better as I had some good bites... although did not land any descent sized fish... >:(
Any comments are welcome...
10X
When there is rough sea normall one could see people fihing in the surf for kahli and xilep. In this case one has to ground bait a lot (taghlef hafna). At this time this is my prefered kind of fishing. Yesterday was not very good. Got only 6, but the previous Sunday got 23 at it was wonderful. By the way I got soked with the waves 3 times, just to indicated to you how rough the sea was.
10x mulett75.
Me too I got soaked, but then i even started to find it hard to cast as the wind was increasing...
Something else, regarding the hooks sizes on standard 7mtrs rods (not reel), i was using size 10 (did not use bigger sizes like 7 or 8 so far), but I was still getting some small fish hooked. Should I go for size 7 and 8? Do these larger sizes help NOT to hook small fish? Or still you can catch small fish with these sizes? (sorry if its a stupid question)...
And when fishing with bread, I remember my uncle and his friends that they used to make large "bread balls" with the hook, in the form of a large "elongated drop" (hope I am clear). Is this correct? Or bread should be as small and thin as possible with the hook, i.e. ONLY just to cover the hook?
One last thing, re the float (sufrun)... What is the difference in using these long shaped floats (like pencils) VS the round shaped floats (like balls)? Is it because the long shaped floats give you a better indication of a bite?
thanks to ALL...
First re size of hooks, it depends what you are looking for. When I fish for mullet and there are lots of small fish, I use size 4. Like this I can bait a bigger piece of bread so it can arrive at the bottom before being nipped by the smaller fish. Also since the mullet and even other fish, like kahli and sargi, still can be hooked as their mouth is not so small. Yes it helps not to hook small fish with a bigger hook.
My way of putting the bread on the hook is in the form of a shoe, (even in maltese we call it zarbuna shaped). In this way the bread the bulk of the bread is on the tip of the hook and when you strike you have about 60% more chance of hooking the fish. The % is almost correct as me and my frien done some experiments and we came out with this figure.
RE floats. The long pencil shaped ones are used in calm waters. They are more sensitive than the round ones and even a small fish can pull it down without big efforts. The round ones are used for choppy waters and even rough seas. Normally in rough waters either I do not use a float or one of the hand made (thos black ones).
Hope that I answered you queries.
Quote from: mulett75 on November 03, 2009, 07:26:48 CET
Hope that I answered you queries.
Perfectly... many thanks mulett75!
Any one herd of this or tried it? I was in Barcalona a month ago and watching locals fishing from the pier this is the bate they were making thay would tip white plain flour on the floor then add a half tin of sardines in tomato sauce, then need it like pizza DOA adding a bit of water until the past was just perfect, they were fishing with rod and reel a float and hook about size 10, bottom fishing ,the past was about half as a normal marble, in 2 hrs I saw 3 men catch about 40 fish ranging from about 500 to 1000 gr, I think they were some sort of bream not sure, I bet someone in the forum has tried this bate. Max
Quote from: mulett75 on October 22, 2009, 20:49:21 CET
Another place is Marsascala near il Bajda u Sewda.
where exactly is bajda u sewda, please?
on the checkered flag! kidding mate! really i dont know.
Quote from: tancred on November 09, 2009, 10:53:38 CET
Quote from: mulett75 on October 22, 2009, 20:49:21 CET
Another place is Marsascala near il Bajda u Sewda.
where exactly is bajda u sewda, please?
between Zonqor Point and the water polo pitch under that big coloum painted black and white
thanks
What are the best times of the day for nice vopi? Do they bite late evening/early night?
Tancred, when we used to catch it from Valletta, there were no best times as it will bite from morning till late night. Now adays, It will start biting about 15 minutes from sunrise till say noon / 13.00. The best times, now adays are from 8.00 toll 12.00.
thanks
mulett jien kif bat post qablek biex inwiegeb il tancred u tijaj thassret?
bil hsara jew ghax nehejtuwa inthom xi darbtejn gietni hekk
since the post was started in english, anything in maltese is deleted... to be safe, always try to communicate in english.
gzarb, I cannot delete any post that others send.
gzarb, try and observe the forum rules please :)
Only the Administrator (me) or the Senior Moderator team can delete your post. Thought it wasn't me who removed your posts but I am sure they were removed for a valid reason.
The exception to the rule is sometimes the person who started the question.
If you feel you can only write in Maltese, then please put (Please translate)
ok tks
hi mulett,
I was of the impression that the "best" time for VOPI was around sunset, and not late morning. I guess I am wrong, as you said from early morning to noon...
resqet jew? >:(
10x
Yes resqet. Presently it is being caught in good number.
Does the vopi bite at all after sunset? What about Bugibba pier or Gnejna (chicken area)?