Fishing for Lampuki isn't really my thing, not because I don't like it but more that I've not really geared myself up for it in terms of rigs/lures when compared to Alungi/Tuna etc. They're definately great fun to catch and just as good to eat, so as I know many many people like to go out fishing for them, let me ask:
'What do you think of the 2008 season so far?'
Has it been more productive than usual, have things gone quiet, have you found the West Coast more productive than the East Coast, for that matter what are the East coast catches like this year.
Would be good to hear everyone's viewpoint.
Skip
first 2 weeks was good but last week there werent a lot of lampuki. last week the most catches were from land with lmrejkba from imtahleb
This year was my first attempt. I caught only 2 a few weeks ago by the tuna pen of SPB. I heard that it was early for lampuki to be so close to land.
caught one yesterday after 4 hrs trolling from under ghar hassan, poor catch
from my point of view i think it was a good season so far.
It's just you have to be lucky with lampuki! The more the time you have to go out there the more you might be lucky to find them.
The early August days were very good since there were not a lot of FADs around and lampuki got very very near land and were not so much scattered.
I always fish the south part (BBugia -Filfla area) and we made some good catches. In one outing i surpassed the 100 fish mark but that was a one off day as i was very lucky to be out there alone trolling between 2 single FADs.
In all the other outings i always caught from 5 - 30 fish.
Now i'm looking for the wonderful part of it ... when the lampuka grows to reach the good wieghts of 2 - 3kg. The time is from October - November when you catch the big sized ones using slices of klamari instead of the artificial baits. At this time of the year you do not need to travel so much. The lampuka gets very much near land and slow trolling with pieces of fresh klamari is very good thing to try.
thats the south side thats why i like fishing there. on the north side it starts good then eases off. we had decent catches early in season now its a matter of being lucky to catch 3 lampuki. the west is a bit better than St pauls. Gozo also fares better especially the north side thats my 0.02c
Last 2 years I didn t went but I don`t remember lampuki as poor as these years. Yes this year we caught some and as speaking with friends that didn t catch and we do nice catches,. I can say that we get and take our chance, but this year I can t find an FAD taht you can say "I done it from a single cima". Total we caught 146 lampuki in 6 outings and have to say that even the size is nice due that we started a bit late cos of the size.
we went out 6 times and only one we had some fun that we found 1-2 lampuki on each FAD
Now it s time to try with a 6.3mm spear and 21mm rubber loaded to the maximum ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
I think this year hasnt been that bad ..atleast 2 weeks ago we caught 215 in a week !! but now things have calmed down alot !!i go from lapsi
So far this season I have only encoutnered lampuki twice. Once off Fairway buoy and that was a month ago, and last Saturday 6th Sept off a ship on Hurd's bank. Went past several cimi, both on west and east coast but they alll seemed totally empty.
perfectly right the fad's r empty due to the fact that the fishermen's r throwing nets for lampuki by night they managed to find a good method .i am referring to the east fad's
even on the west side my friend. Go from Ghar hasan and Dingli cliffs at night and you can see them with the search light. Why even cervjol its hard to see under neet them? Cos they pic them all up
got told that others are catching with konz ta wicc with tunagg as bait , anybody had good results withths method??
naaaaaa fisherman have been nettin g lampuki at night for quite some time. And we still found lampuki on tad dilettanti. But now it seems that even those are not being productive. I went when we had some rough weather so no xbiki and a lot of the boats didnt go out, not saying I was alone mind u, but not all that traffic and still no lampuki to talk about. Cant figure out yet. Another thing lampuki are still small, we used to get some decent sized ones by now. there are some, but if u catch 10 only 2 or 3 are decent sized.
Quote from: pupu on September 09, 2008, 09:20:03 CET
got told that others are catching with konz ta wicc with tunagg as bait , anybody had good results withths method??
we do that nearly each time and sometimes we mix the bait. There is no difference even we tried with fresh tunnag and we didn t saw any difference. An inportant thing is that it works if there is not so much current.
We dont use tunagg on konz tal lampuki but fresh clamari
I use Fresh Clamari in the beginning and then tunnagg when they grow up but this year it's a record. i never caught lampuki so small. it looks like we have to wait till October to catch some nice ones. I've heard that the biggest caught were from near M'scala fishfarms. The biggest we caught was 500grms. :o
I recently met up with Jonathan of "Sajd bir-rixa" fame..
He was kind enough to take me out on one of his fishing expeditions last Saturday. For somebody who has never managed to catch a decent sized fish before, (except a tunnagga a week or so ago which got unhooked as I tried to bring it onto the boat) it was a really great experience. We managed a couple of lampuki and a tunnag (which I managed not to lose this time) and had some great fun.
Jonathan and Kathleen (his wife) have such a passion for fishing, and unlike many people, they love to teach and share their experiences. I know that Jonathan provides sailing charters (yet another of his passions), hopefully he will start some fishing charters too.. I'm sure he'd get a good response from members of this forum who like me don't have access to boats or yachts to do some real fishing..
Keep it up Jonathan, and thanks for the experience..
Fishfinder from lapsi area ive managed to catch some lampuki of 750grams + but these where further out then on the other cimi u catch tiny ones
Bearing in mind that I am not a regular with respect to fishing for lampuki, it seems that this season I am catching them in greater quantities and closer to shore. We caught more amberjack this year than lampuki, and the odd tunnagg.
Rob
This year was my first time for lampuki. We went out twice and caught around 10 each time, with more than half of them being of good size. We trolled on the west side of commino, and stayed on a couple of cimi very close to land. Last time we were out we caught about 3 in almost pitch dark with a pins minnow rigged on a rod. Hope the weather will be good tomorrow maybe we'll make a better catch.
Lampuki where about 9 euro yesterday per kilo!!!!I think they are a bit scarse this year.Is anyone catching lamuki?It's benn about 2 weeks we didn'tgo for them....not very good weather >:(
Wow ?9 a kilo mela there really aren't very many about!
better Nick, belive me but I feel happy when I see lampuki at that price. The few they get in the market they sell it all and when they have a lot no body wants them. As for me I ate them 6-8 times and its enough but still if i catch some more i will get another try.
Today I was diving on the west side and the sea was getting rough so while I was going in pushing (not pulling) my float (that one made of fiber) I was half of my body on it so I can rest while pushing, and when I wet back in the water I saw a shoal of around 1 dozen of Lampuki. Don t know how long they have been there but was a wondserfull meeting. Just 5 sec and they left. Not even the time to take a picture
ps. their size was a bit small for this time
Same here usually ive caught a few nice sized fish by now by spinning but so far ive only had one small lampuka take a lure from a very small shoal of around 10 fish..& i must have managed to hook the smart one of the bunch as he escaped!!!
Guess we will just have to wait...however as rob1974 ive noticed alot more shoals of amberjacks around than usual..and also alot more imsell/garfish than usual too which wouldn't be so if the lampuki where here!!!!
I see lampuki season diminishing little by little, We used to tell our catch by the boxes. Rarely did I come back in with less than 3 boxes of fish. Now its counting the heads. Few people catch more than 10 fish. At least that's what you hear on the VHF. Some members mentioned larger numbers, but these instances were few.
I don't know where we are going to, or why.
Ramio, over fishing, over fishing, over fishing! Bear in mind that in the past few years the number of people owning small boats has increased at a staggering rate, meaning now that hundreds of people go out for fish like lampuki. Put 5-10 per boat and you have your difference, probably also coupled with a reduction in the general number of fish.
At least that's my basic theory.
i think the over strict regulations regarding hunting has pushed a lot of people to start fishing..at least i think its one of the reasons
Fishing is fast becoming the national number one hobby. We have reached unsustainable proportions in the number of fish being caught. At this time of the year, Lampuki usually sell for 1 Euro a kilo, not 9 Euros!!!.
I feel we have reached a stage where we need a comprehensive approach to the ammount and size of fish caught in the Maltese waters.
I know this will stir up some negative comments and controversy, but my feelings are the following:
1. Total ban on pariti. This indiscriminate way of fishing is having a heavy impact on shore fishing, because all types and sizes of fish are caught in the nets, not to mention the hazards it presents to apnea divers
2. Total ban on long lines within the 3 mile territorial limit. Again, there is no limit to the size of fish caught on these long lines, and usually small fish cannot be released back to the sea since they are long dead anyway
3. Total ban on nets cast from the shore (terrieha), used to catch shawls of kahli, griewel etc. Again, these fish sometimes spawn during their attractive displays on the surf, and sometimes females laden with eggs are caught!!
4. Spear fishing: Guys, I've seen a fair number of small octupus and small grouper being caught by spearmen, please respect the rules.
Some of you will argue that your livelihood depends on fishing using pariti and long lones. But it just so happens that our shores are being over fished. Just have a look at the number of nets(pariti) and long lines cast close to our shores next time you're out fishing. And its not like the writing isn't on the wall....less and less fish are being caught; and the only reason this is happening is because the amount of fish has depleted and the extent of fishing has increased. To put it simply, the mechanics of supply and demand. Demand has greatly increased while supply is decreasing. This is called unsustainable fishing.
Well my take on this is that sooner rather then later the authorities will put a stop to this indescriminate use of fishing equipment (if not, nature has its own way of looking after itself; just to site a few examples, is-sikka l-bajda, and hurds bank...nobody goes fishing there any more for the simple reason that there are no fish left to catch!!!!!).
Just look at what happened to the hunters. They ignored the early signs from the anti-hunting lobby, and now they are being continuously pursecuted and harassed by laws, CABS, birdlife, EU...etc. Its only a matter of time before these lobbiests turn their guns on the fishing industry, and the general fishing hobbiest will get the brunt of their fire too.
...........and there's more....Gee, I'on a ball right now........... ;D ;D ;D
The recent financial crisis should be a lesson to us all....when the going gets good, don't get greedy. Thats what happened to the global financial institutions....the going was good, but they got greedy...then the whole racket came tumbling down....
Same with fishing....you find a good spot, you catch some fish, but you return and return always to the original spot. Ultimately, that shawl is depleted to the extent that it can't regenerate. So we move to another spot...and the cycle continues....
Just catch what you need, and release the rest. Also, release the small ones or the pregnant females.
i totlay agree gaffer....even in shore fishing i try not to go the same place twice after eachother...even if its difficult due to the lack of fishing spots
well the rise in petrol and diesel havn't helped either combined with the ridiculous restriction of having to bring in an amount of fish to keep the MFB status. these all combine to compel one to lay parit or long lines. I know a person because he caught some bazuk from 230mts is now going back there with long lines NOW THATS WHAT I CALL SPORT FISHING SIC!?!
It would have been better if he deploys 30 Hjut instead of all that loglines that they are preparing :o and most probable they will not retreave them back from that bottom and they will still keep fishing for some time since they will be using wire instead of nylon.
with long lines you still wont catch a lot of bazug. they stay together in asmall area and with long-lines you dont have a lot of hooks in that area.
if they dont retrieve back that means we will lose a lot of rigs as the probability is that we will get caught with them. We lost quite a few rigs because we caught some long lines last time we went deep sea fishing. wire is better than nylon i think as it will rust but the nylon is practically indestructible.
yesturday my uncle caught 2 lampuki of around 3kgs each with the rixa. Said everyone tralling for tumbrell and they where the ony boat for lampuki
When the sea calms down a bit,will give a try again for lampuki...dont know which fads...st paul's area or m skala area ???
camkev i have my boat in garage with the intention of relaunching mid october... if we dont catch some decent lampuki then might as well pack up fishing......Gaffer u remember we used to fish Lampuki from inside the grand harbour.. the lack of lampuki in my humble opinion are 2 apart from overfishing that is. 1: the italians are laying fads for lampuki. when we were young they didnt even bother. 2: the Maltese commercial fisherman are laying their fads further and further out at sea keeping the lampuki away from land, so that we wont take their catch......
i agree with the gaffer 100 % , my home town is grimsby, in the uk, at one time it was the biggest fishing port in the uk, now its a ghost town, trust me, my father had 25 years deep sea fishing icelandic waters etc, photos show ice 1 foot thick on the trawler rigging, the reason its now a ghost town, over fishing in the north sea etc,( fish now is as expensive as steak ) OVERFISHING, there will be nothing left for fathers to leave to sons, just a lot of boats in the harbour rotting away, so i am afraid cut back now or pay the price later.
mike. :'(
Was havinf a chat with a friend of mine who is a sports fisherman and told me that the early-closed season of tune might be the effect of not catching any lampuki. There is still a lot of tuna running around and the lampuki is therefore being on if its meals.
I think it makes a bit of sense
Bigboy, you might have a point there. During my fishing trips for lampuki, I also noticed that this year, as opposed to previous years, the number of turtles basking in the sun on the surface has declined, the number of dolphins is on the increase, and huge amounts of Bram {jellyfish} (forgot the english word) in the sea. I'm no marine biologist, but somethings not quite right.
You are right gaffer
and the jellyfish are not the usual small purple ones but large brown blobs which dont seem to have tentacles at least not the long trailing ones we are used to.
A good time to be trying catch and release for tuna and maybe if you're lucky get one that is 30kgs+
Hey guys, what those the latest rules really say regarding tuna fishing? Does it irestrict fishing on all types of the family, tumbrell, kubrit etc?
Ramio, never heard of a 30kg tumbrell or kubrita :P
What I ment Bigboy, does the rules restrict all tuna fished under the spesified limit? U say 30k, or just tumbrell?
Restrictions are on Bluefin Tuna only, not tuna in general. I suggest you all read the post I made with the official response from the ministry on bluefin tuna fishing.......well I don't think we'll be allowed to call it fishing anymore.
has any one caught lampuki trolling close to the shore this year mellieha kemmuna area?i am planning to go next tuesday.last year i caught some lampuki and kubrit close to land but this year i do not know if any body is catching??
is anybody catching lampuki by trolling close to the shore in the northern area? it is almost mid october and usually good sized lampuki should be close.any recent catches?
I did't here of anyone catching them near land in the northern area.I think this year is diiferent.Not even from fads they are catching them :( good luck
looks like the number of lampuki is no good at all this year :/
Today,there was quiet a few lampuki for sale!!I think it was a good day yesterday. :P