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Started by ballootawill, January 14, 2007, 18:53:50 CET

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ballootawill

Hello there everybody. I am hoping that somebody can advise me on shore fishing tactics in the St. Julians area of the island. My wife is from there and we are visiting family at the end of february. Having watched people fishing on our many previous visits, I really fancy having a go at it myself. I am particularly interested in lure fishing as I do this in England and enjoy it a great deal. Will i catch? and which lures are best? and of course, which species may I encounter?
Many thanks
Will :)

skip

Hi Will, welcome to the forum.

I'm not a shore fisherman so I be talking utter rubbish but from what I know, they don't lure fish from the shore unless perhaps they are casting/spinning though this is not that common.

You mostly see people using long poles with baits suspended at a depth determined by the float. Various bait is used, bread mixtures, shrimp etc. Ppl bait up the area and off they go. You could experiment with various depth.

Others may be casting out and bottom fishing but I can't say for sure. Lure fishing is mostly done in a small boat just offshore but you may be able to get some Barracuda's and stuff from shore, not sure!!! lol

Hopefully someone like SimonG or Placebo will drop in or PM them.

Skip

sergio

I mostly fish from the shore so maybe i can help. in malta we don't usually fish using a lure from the shore , unless a few predatory fish are about such as barracuda , which you can catch by spinning from the shore with a firetigre floating lure or a redhead . however , your best bet is to buy a pole rod and fish with a float from shallow areas , or a reel rod and fish for bottom-dwelling fish in deeper water . i love fishing using both methods , it offers hours of fun.

ballootawill

Thanks for your kind advice fellas. Which species may I catch whilst fishing with a float? Are they big ones? Ha Ha!!

sergio

umm well u could catch a couple of well-sized mullett if you're lucky enough , using bread paste as bait. but i guess normally u wouldnt catch many big fish unless u find a good spot for ,say , Sargi (White Seabream) or Kahli (Saddled Bream) but i've never really found a good spot for either , since i'm not such an expirienced fisherman and im still learning....and in malta we have the problem where a fisherman won't tell you about a good fishing spot ( i guess it's coz since it's such a small island , telling someone of a good spot would result in it being full of eager fisherman in a couple of days :p ) . there are other species which i like to catch with a pole rod , such as Marzpan ( parrotfish) which offer quite a fight on light carbon rods. The most common fish u can catch i guess is Vopi ( bouge) but i dont think you'll get much of a fight as theyre small and are mostly caught for making fish-soup :p

sergio

oh and i forgot , a lot of fishermen use the Running Float method with a lightweight reel rod (usually designed for such a purpose) . The catch a lot of well-sized fish coz they manage to cast out quite far, however some other forum members might explain this method better , because i've never tried it out myself ( the reason being that im still a university student and buying new rods for me is expensive). a lot of fisherman however love this method.

ballootawill

Thanks Sergio. I have caught vopa before as there are shoals of them around the small boats in the bay, maybe I can use sections of them as bait? I was thinking of taking some (what we call) waggler floats with me to use with a reel and rod. This would enable me to cast 70 metres if there's no wind. Are there many fish to be caught on the bottom? If so, is it worth casting out a small dead fish with just a weight and using the rod tip as a bite indicator? Also, do you know what the fishing is like around St. Julians bay? I was planning to fish between there and Sliema. So many questions! I don't want to bore you ha ha! ???

sergio

no you're not boring me dude - i like talking about fishing . first of all , casting out a live/dead fish might be a good idea if there are predators around , but to tell you the truth i dont think you will have much sucess since most predatory fish in malta are fished using a boat . as for the waggler - yes it's a popular method in malta. as bait you could use shrimps or korean worms or other kinds of bait found in fishing stores ( like Mr Fish) . for night fishing i would recommend king ragworm and using  a starlight on your waggler.  as for bottom fishing without a float - yes it's a very popular method for catching all kinds of bream, combers, scopionfish, wrasse ,rays,gournard and a multitude of species. i prefer just feeling the fish on the tip of the rod than using a float. but then again, it depends on what you prefer and what species are around and also on the environment that you are fishing in. im quite familiar about fishing in the sliema/st julians area, however i used to fish there from my friend's boat, so it's different ( we used to go out of Balluta harbour to fish near the Casino). we used to catch Pandora and Pearly Razorfish and Annular Bream commonly. this is because there are quite a few sandy areas there. i dont know much about fishing from the shore in sliema ,as i usually go shore fishing in the south part of the island. if u need anything just ask dude !

ballootawill

Thanks. My family live in a house nearly on Balluta bay. I was thinking of going from the rocks near the casino (if they are still there, so much building now!) I also have access to a small rowing boat. Would it be better to go out on that? If so, which methods and baits are best? In England we use a string of feathers with hooks in to catch many species of predatory fish. Do you think this could work?

sergio

well. from a rowing boat we usually used to just rig up a paternoster rig or running ledger with no float (just a heavy weight of about 40 - 50grams) ,open the reel's bail and let the sinker sink to the bottom and then feel the fish on the rod's tip. in sliema it's a good method if you row out to sandy areas where you can catch pearly razorfish ( ruzetta in maltese) or pandora ( Pagella) . bait are usually pieces of shrimp cut in tiny pieces (which you can easily find in any shop which sells fresh fish and seafood.) from the rocks near the casino you can cast out using worms or shrimps as bait.combers and bream are commonly found there. as for the feathers method - i never heard of it before. in malta we DO use feathers as bait , however it's usually a feather with a hook in it which you troll with (using a boat with a motor on low speeds). they usually run the motor slowly with one hand, and with the other they hold the line with the feather on it ( which would be in the water) . basically it's lure fishing but with a feather instead of a plastic lure.

sergio

oh, by the wat , if you want any ideas for rigs commonly used in malta , check out this link :) happy fishing !       

http://www.ksfamalta.org/Rigs/Rigs_Frame.shtml

kempy

hay sergio  thank you for posting that site for the rigs. ;D
A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office

A woman who has never seen her husband fishing,doesn't know what a patient man she married

ballootawill

Yes, thank you Sergio for all your kind advice. I arrive next sunday, so hopefully the weather will be good and the fishing even better. :)

kempy

ballootawill while your here if you feel like comming down for a day of fishing in the south let me know
A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office

A woman who has never seen her husband fishing,doesn't know what a patient man she married

ballootawill

Thank you, I will. However, fishing time is always difficult as there are so many family to go and see ha ha! But if I can get away, I will give you a shout.