Species Hunting adventures on São Miguel: Part 2.

On day four of our trip Lee and Ross arrived. Lillian and I picked them up from the airport early in the evening and we headed back to the apartment. After they unpacked we all had a meal together and caught up a bit. Our friendship is one of those we just pick up where we left off and it really didn't feel like we hadn't seen each other for over two years! The lads were keen to do some fishing, so we headed out for a couple of hours after dark. We drove along the south coast to the harbour in Vila Franca do Campo, the most productive spot I'd fished so far. Surprisingly, the session was pretty slow, but we all persevered and caught a few small white seabream and some bastard grunt. Lee did hook into something big that stayed deep and started stripping line before heading under a large fishing boat and snapping him off. We could only guess what it was. I also caught a small fish that I initially thought was an Atlantic horse mackerel. It looked a little different though so I kept it so I could examine it further back at the apartment.

A bit of googling when we got back helped me confirm I'd caught my first blue jack mackerel. My forth new species of the trip. We'd see them for sale in the fishmongers the next morning, locally they are called Chicharros.

Apparently they're called bastard grunt from the Dutch word "bastaard" which means "hybrid". At one point biologists incorrectly believed they were not a species in their own right but a mixture of two others.

We headed back to Vila Franca do Campo harbour the next day so that Ross could catch a black faced blenny. I gave him a tanago hook to use and it didn't take him long to catch several, including some females. It was quite a productive session, although I'd caught most of the species already earlier in the trip. 

After a while we went for a drive around the western end of the island. Stopping off at a small pier in Mosteiros, where we caught endless wrasse from the fairly shallow rocky ground around it. This soon became a bit repetitive, so we jumped in the car again and drove east along the north coast to check out Rabo de Peixe harbour. After a quick walk around we decided to fish from a concrete plarform on the right hand side of its entrance. The water here was pretty deep but all we caught was endless wrasse again and the odd Guinean puffer. 

Keen to catch something else I suggested we head back to Ponta Delgada, to fish the slipway behind the fish restaurant. It turned out to be a good decision. Freelining bread and chunks of raw prawn produced plenty of thick lipped mullet, a few salema, the odd specimen rockpool blenny and you can probably guess what else, wrasse! The average size of the fish was a bit bigger though, some of them even bent our rods a little.

Unlike my failed attempts in Crete last year, I actually managed to land a few salema. They're  quite an attractive fish with those bright yellow stripes along their flanks. They're also supposed to be hallucinogenic if eaten. Never tried one myself to confirm this.

Lee and Ross both caught this specimen male blue wrasse within ten minutes of each other. We realised it was the same fish they'd both caught when we looked at their photos later on and noticed the slightly damaged top edge of its tail fin.

That evening after dinner Lee, Ross and I headed down to Praia das Milicias to ledger sardines for stingray with our heavy gear. While we waited for the sun to set I spent half an hour fishing in the surf with my trusty HTO Rock Rover and a piece of Angleworm on a drop shot rig. I only caught three lesser weever, but was happy enough as it was yet another species added to my tally. By the end of the session it also meant I was the only one of us who didn't blank on the beach that night as we had no joy catching anything on the heavy gear at all sadly.

Some fish can adapt their colouration to match their environment so they blend in. Black volcanic sand means a dark fish is harder for a predator to spot. Not sure what fish eats weever mind you as they live under the sand most of the time and are armed with several poisonous spines!

The following day, after popping into town and sorting out freshwater fishing licenses, we drove west to Sete Cidades. It's a small village located in the heart of the crater of an old volcano that also contains several bodies of water. After a nice walk around the side of the main lake we decided to fish from the bridge that crosses it. There were a few carp swimming around but we turned our attention instead to catching some perch on soft plastics. The resident pike had other ideas however and Lee caught two nice ones on his ultra light gear. Ross and I did catch a few small perch and I also caught a roach on a small piece of freelined bread.

Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul make up the largest body of water separated by a stone bridge.

The three amigos fishing away.

One of Lee's pike. Great sport on his ultra light rod and almost got under the bridge.

I was quite chuffed to catch this roach. My first one on freelined bread.

The following morning myself, Lee and Ross got up early and drove up to Porto Formoso harbour where I had booked us a four hour boat fishing trip with North Shore Sea Tours. We started off trolling for pelagic species but had no joy with those so we switched to fishing with jigs on the drift. Pretty quickly I caught a nice blacktailed comber close to the bottom. We also caught a few chub mackerel, blue jack mackerel and bonito higher up in the water column. It wasn't that rough, but despite taking some travel sickness pills in the morning just in case, my sea legs failed me, so I was quite glad when we headed back to dry land again. On the way back to port we spotted an angler fishing from a rock mark that looked pretty good so I marked the location on my phone.

The biggest blacktail comber I've ever caught.

Back at the apartment the lads had an afternoon nap and Lillian and I went down to the coast for a walk along Praia das Milicias, then carried on further along to Praia de São Roque. This spot looked like a potentially good stingray mark. The rocks to the right of it had deeper water in front of them and any large fish hooked could be landed over on the beach. When we got back I told Lee and Ross about the spot and later that evening we dropped the lads off there. Lillian and I went away and had dinner together and then met up with them again afterwards. Just after we arrived Lee caught a small stingray, which was the only one caught of the session.

Lee's stingray turned out to be the only one of the trip.

The following day in the afternoon we headed to the north coast again. This time we headed to Maia where we parked the car. Following the clifftop coastal path west, we then found steps leading down to the rocks where I'd marked the fishing spot the previous day. It turned out to be a great little session and the area was lovely too.

The view westward from the clifftop path was stunning.

The paths were lined with beautiful flowers.

Fenced paths and steps leading down to the sea made accessing the rocks down below very straight forward.

In no time at all the three of us were freelining chunks of raw prawn with a bit of split shot on the line to counter the wind and swell. 

It proved very effective and we had a lot of fun catching several of these hard fighting white seabream.

Ross caught the biggest one of the session.

Heading back to the car we decided to try our luck in freshwater again and drove south from Maia to Lagoa de São Brás, where we would try to catch some largemouth bass. The fishing was tough but eventually we caught a few small specimens.

Eyes bigger than its stomach.

In the evening we headed out locally and fished inside Ponta Delgada's huge harbour. Spotted rockling were the target species but we had no joy catching one. Instead we all managed to catch at least one greater forkbeard each, a new species for all of us and my fifth of the trip.

The greater forkbeard has elongated pelvic fins and a single barbule on its chin. It is the cousin of the tadpole fish, which is also known as the lesser forkbeard.

The next day we headed north yet again to the rocky shoreline to the east of Rabo de Peixe harbour where we spent an hour or so hunting in rockpools for spotted rockling. A few small crabs were found and used for bait on a split shot rig that was lowered into dark holes and in front of potential hiding places. A few dozen rockpool blennies later, we decided that trying to catch rockling during the day was a futile exercise and headed back to the south coast to fish the harbour in Villa Franca de Campo again. We tried a different area but the fishing was incredibly slow. I did catch my sixth new species of the trip though so that was a unexpected bonus.

A small red seabream. Also known as the blackspot seabream due to the small dark mark at the start of its lateral line.

The following day was our last together. Lillian and I were leaving a day before Lee and Ross and had to be at the airport in the afternoon. As we didn't have long before heading off we spent an hour or two fishing in the morning. Fishing in between the fishing boats in the working part of Ponta Delgada's harbour, the fishing was pretty poor sadly, but one species in particular was actively feeding. It was one I hadn't caught yet so I added one last species to my tally, taking my total to thirty one, before it started to rain and we headed back to the apartment.

We caught dozens of black gobies. My last fish of the trip was one.

Soon afterwards Lee and Ross dropped us off at the airport and we said our goodbyes. Lillian and I flew to Lisbon where we stayed for four nights before returning home to Edinburgh. Given the amount of fishing I was allowed to do on São Miguel I thought it might be a good idea if I didn't push my luck on that front whilst we were in the Portuguese capital, so there will be no species hunting adventures in Lisbon catch report to follow.

Anyway, despite the fishing being hit and miss, I was happy with my tally for the ten days and about catching a few new species too. Here's what I caught with new species in bold.

1. Atlantic Chub Mackerel
2. Axillary Seabream
3. Ballan Wrasse
4. Bastard Grunt
5. Black Faced Blenny
6. Black Goby
7. Blacktail Comber
8. Blacktail Rainbow Wrasse*
9. Blue Jack Mackerel
10. Blue Wrasse
11. Bogue
12. Common Two Banded Seabream
13. Damselfish
14. Derbio
15. Emerald Wrasse
    
16. Greater Forkbeard
17. Guinean Puffer
18. Largemouth Bass
19. Lesser Weever
20. Montagu’s Blenny
21. Ornate Wrasse
22. Parrotfish
23. Perch
24. Red Seabream/Blackspot Seabream
25. Roach
26. Rock Goby
27. Rockpool Blenny
28. Salema
29. Striped Red Mullet
30. Thick Lipped Mullet
31. White Seabream

*Unknowingly I'd already caught this species on previous trips to Madeira so not truly a new one.

Lillian and I really enjoyed São Miguel and we'd like to return to the Azores again, perhaps to explore some of the other islands there. I think a visit late in the summer might be better in terms of the weather and the fishing might be better then too, with some pelagic species coming in shore that time of year. It was great to catch up with and also to catch a few fish with Lee and Ross again. It always is, and on that subject, we all agreed that two years without a fishing holiday together was way too long, and we will be fishing abroad together at some point in 2023 hopefully. We haven't decided where yet but all agreed we need to do something special next time. I can't wait!

Tight lines, Scott.

Species hunting on Gran Canaria : Part 2.

Having reached the midway point of our holiday and having only explored the coast we were keen to see a bit more of the island. We decided to chance our luck with half a day fishing in a dam without the required licenses. Given the license only costs €3.22 for tourists we figured it was hardly crime of the century and really if had been a lot easier to obtain one we would have happily paid for them. Anyway, off up into the island's interior we went and the scenery as we drove was breathtaking. 

The drive was enjoyable until I noticed how much fuel the ascent was using and got a little worried that we might run out before being able get more petrol!

We pulled over and whilst I tried to find out where the nearest petrol station was Ross and Lee photographed this woodpecker that was battering a hole in a roadside tree.

After successfully locating a small town with a petrol station and filling the tank we headed to our chosen dam to target largemouth bass. Things were slow but making our way around it we eventually started getting a few hits on various types of lures. After hooking and loosing a couple of fish Lee and I managed to land a few small largemouth bass. Unfortunately Ross, who'd never caught one before, didn't manage to get one before we left.

My only largemouth bass of the session took a small Salmo plug.

Having successfully avoided the authorities we headed back down out of the mountains to fish legally only to find it was quite windy with a bit of a swell running on the coast. We visited a few new marks that I thought might be potentially more sheltered but couldn't figure out how access some of them and at the last one the fishing was pretty poor so we threw in the towel and headed back to the apartment to relax and have an early night in preparation for another sunrise session the following day.

Returning to Puerto Rico again early in the morning armed with lure gear we had another go for barracuda and bonito but after a few hours nothing had shown any interest in our lures.

Ross casts out a jig as the sun rises.

Whilst Lee persevered with his lure gear once the sun had risen, Ross and I switched to much lighter tackle. We quickly caught some rockpool blenny and madeira goby to add to our tally before switching our attention to a parrotfish that we spotted swimming in and out of the submerged boulders at close range. While we were trying to catch it Ross looked up to see Lee was into a fish. It turned out to be a barracuda but sadly it managed to escape when it thrashed on the surface just as Lee was about to lift it up onto the rocks. He was gutted and understandably so, Lee and I have a pretty poor record when it comes to barracuda with neither of us having successfully landed one of any size. Shortly afterwards we headed back to the apartment and later in the day we headed back out again, returning to Puerto de Sardina taking both our ultra light tackle and our heavy bait gear. Upon arrival we had some fun with the smaller fish and I set about catching a few more Molly Miller. After catching them the day before I had bought a box of Ferrero Rocher and the contents had been devoured so I could use it to get some better photos of their funky "hair".  

Molly Miller has a punk hair style.

Fishing away we spotted some Zebra seabream in amongst the canary damselfish and ornate wrasse, a species none of us had caught before. The other species around them were much more aggressive however and getting through them proved difficult but eventually we managed to catch a few zebra seabream.

The aptly named Zebra seabream. My third new species of the trip.

As darkness fell we packed up the ultra light tackle, got out the heavy gear and fished large fish baits for shark species. After less than an hour the ratchet on Ross's reel started to click and after letting the bite develop a little he wound down and hooked into a nice fish. After a few runs a nice spiny butterfly stingray came to the surface and after making several attempts to get back to the bottom it was eventually beaten and was successfully landed with help from Lee on the pier's nearby slipway. 

Ross's first cast saw him catch his first spiny butterfly ray and also saw Lee get a little wet.

All excited by this capture we were hopeful this would just be the first of a few but sadly it turned out to be the only fish of the session with the only other brief bit of excitement coming when my rod registered some interest but that turned out just to be an octopus. Pretty tired from a fairly long day we headed back to the apartment.

On the seventh and final full day of the trip we headed to Las Palmas to see if there was anywhere inside its massive harbour area where we could fish. The areas we wanted to fish were all sadly out of bounds but eventually we found a marina where a fishing competition was taking place, located a nice shady spot and began fishing, enjoying a few cold beers. Apart from the zebra seabream the lack of seabream species during the trip had been was noticeable but at this spot we caught a few over a couple of hours in the shape of common pandora, black seabream and common two banded seabream.

It was nice to catch a few more bream species. I caught this black seabream.

Ross and Lee caught a few common two banded seabream.

Feeling hungry we then had a break and enjoyed some tasty Paella, Canarian potatoes and a few more cold beers in a nearby restaurant before having a couple more hours fishing into darkness. Lee and Ross fished heavier tackle in the hope of catching a larger predatory species but didn't have any luck. I fished small baits on ultra light gear and once the sun set I caught lots of bastard grunt.

Our last day on the island had arrived and we got up early and visited a nearby harbour for one last go for larger stuff at sunrise. Sadly the mark was a lot shallower than we had anticipated and we had no luck so we headed back to the apartment to pack and load our cases into the car. As we still had a bit of time to kill we decided to drive all the way back to Puerto de Sardina again for a few final hour's fishing. A bit of groundbait soon drew in several shoals of small fish and we caught loads of bogue, derbio, white trevelly, a few garfish and some puffers.

The puffers, whilst not as prolific as previous trips to Canaries, were still quite annoying, destroying lures and damaging line with their sharp teeth. This Macaronesian sharpnose puffer did have some lovely blue markings on it.

Below the shoals of smaller fish there were a few parrotfish moving around so I dropped down a bigger chunk of prawn to try and tempt one. My bait was barely on the bottom when something came out of the rocks, grabbed it and tried to get back into it's ambush position. It put a a decent scrap but hopes of a nice parrotfish were dashed when a nice black scorpionfish appeared.

Scorpionfishes rock so I wasn't too upset that it wasn't a nice parrotfish.

We were having lots of fun but soon it was time to put the gear into the cases and head to the airport bringing another fishing trip on foreign soil to an end. We'd caught lots of fish using a variety of methods and had a great time on the island.

Here's a quick summary of what was caught...

I caught the following species with new ones in bold...

1. Atlantic Lizardfish
2. Bass
3. Bastard Grunt
4. Black Scorpionfish
5. Black Seabream
6. Bogue
7. Canary Damselfish
8. Cardinalfish
9. Cleaver Wrasse
10. Derbio
11. Diamond Lizardfish
12. Garfish
13. Greater Weever
14. Guinean Puffer
15. Large Mouth Bass
16. Macaronesian Sharpnose Puffer
17. Madeira Goby
18. Madeira Rockfish
19. Molly Miller
20. Ornate Wrasse
21. Pandora
22. Rockpool Blenny
23. Thick Lipped Mullet
24. Wide Eyed Flounder
25. White Trevally
26. Zebra Seabream

Lee and Ross also caught...

27. Black Tailed Comber
28. Common Two Banded Seabream
29. Gilthead Seabream
30. Salema
31. Spanish Sardine
32. Spiny Butterfly Ray
33. White Seabream

More importantly though the three of us had really enjoyed each others company and hopefully it won't be too long before the three of us are fishing together again. We've all agreed that we need to meet up more often and later this year the three of us are planning a week's fishing on a Greek island, most likely Crete. I'm really looking forward to another fishing adventure with these two lads.

Tight lines, Scott.

Species hunting adventures on the River Ebro and Catalonian coast : Part 2.

On the forth day of our trip we went down the Ebro in the afternoon to try for largemouth bass again. We had successfully avoided the morning's heavy rain, were hopeful that the remaining cloud cover might improve our chances and at the first bay Martin was in almost straight away. After that though the bites dried up quickly.

Martin's white bodied red tailed Berkley Ripple Shad proved deadly once again. 

At the second bay we fished my first cast produced a fish. It was clear however that the resident largemouth bass very quickly became much more cautious once a few lures had been cast into their midst. 

A bit bigger than my first one the previous day. 

After catching a second largemouth bass, that was almost as small as the one I caught the day before, we moved down river again to try a third spot, the one where we had seen the fish sunbathing the previous day, but couldn't locate any of them. In the afternoon we targeted perch and zander but things were tough and we only managed a few perch between us. To the west the sky was still dark grey and we could hear thunder and see the odd lightning strike. More heavy rain was forecast for later in the evening so we headed to a bridge to fish for zander that we could shelter under if the rain did start and was particularly heavy.

All our efforts were rewarded eventually. 

A small black Lunker City Ribster nose hooked on a drop shot rig and given the odd twitch is a good leech look alike.

The rain in Spain is mainly a couple of bends up the river.

As light faded later that evening we had high hopes but the fishing was pretty hard going. On the bright side the forecast rain didn't materialise and whilst I hooked two zander frustratingly both managed to throw the hook. 

That night I was in two minds about what I wanted to do the following day. Despite Lee working very hard to put us onto fish and plenty of them regularly showing on his fish finder, Martin and I were really struggling to catch them. I felt that I needed a break and the draw of the coast and the prospect of some relatively easy fishing was quite appealing. I ran this idea past Martin after a few tapas and beers in the hotel bar that night and got the green light to bugger off on a solo mission the following day while he persevered on the Ebro with Lee in the hope that he would be rewarded with a big zander.

In the morning I said goodbye to Martin and Lee and made the drive to the coast. I headed to the rocks down the coast opposite the harbour breakwater at L'Ametlla de Mar. 

I liked the look of this area when Martin and I had fished from the end of the breakwater opposite. 

Starting off with the idiot proof Angleworm on a drop shot rig I was getting plenty of bites and catching fish from the first cast. All of them were the same species though, rainbow wrasse. 

The area was full of these. 

Working my way along the rocks trying different areas I kept catching them, my bait rarely being on the bottom for a few seconds before being attacked. To try and catch something else I tied on a small metal which I cast out and worked back towards me, jigging it as close to the rough volcanic rock sea floor as I dared. This eventually produced a take from a greedy common comber. 

Using an assist hook helped minimise snagging although I did still loose a couple of metals. The crystal flash dressing on them is also probably an added incentive for fish to bite. 

Moving around to another spot I tried some other soft plastics on a drop shot rig. This produced a few more bites and as well as a few more rainbow wrasse I caught my first painted comber of the year. 

IMA Trilobite, another strongly scented lure, is always a good choice for wrasse and comber species. 

Switching back to Angleworm for a while then saw me catch a goby from close in amongst the boulders. 

At first I thought this might be a red mouthed goby. I'm now pretty sure it is the closely related slender goby. 

Highly defined black lines of sensory papillae on the face can be used to identify some species of goby which is useful. 

By the middle of the afternoon it was very hot and the action slowed down so I jumped back in the car, turned up the air conditioning and headed further down the coast to the next big harbour in L'Ampolla. Fishing from the rocks at the back of its breakwater saw me getting lots of bites and landing a few small but feisty fish. The ground out past the rocks was very clean and all fish came from close range although this meant I lost a fair amount of end tackle. 

I'm pretty sure this is a juvenile gilthead seabream.

This common comber swallowed an Aquawave Ami. 

A common two banded seabream. Even these fairly small bream gave a good account of themselves on the tackle I was using.

After a while a shoal of small bass came along from my left. They were hugging the rocks and I soon caught one on a small paddle tail fished on a jighead but it managed to flip out of my hand as I took a photo. Switching to a 10g Savage Gear Sandeel and working my way along the rocks casting it out and retrieving it slowly up through the rocks saw a second caught before I decided to pack up and head back to Caspe. As I left a barracuda appeared and cruised along the rocks. Perhaps that's what the bass were avoiding. I was tempted to rig up again but it disappeared out of sight and I had a long drive to make.

My second bass of the day and my last fish from the sea. 

Over dinner Martin told me about his day, another tough session unfortunately in terms of numbers but his efforts had been rewarded with a 6lb 6oz zander which was a new personal best for him so in that respect his perseverance had paid off.

Martin's new PB zander.

Enjoying a few more drinks we discussed our final session on the Ebro the next day and decided we would focus on zander again making an attempt to refine our approach slightly to maximize our chances. Launching the next day, feeling quite relaxed after my day on the coast the day before and ready to face another potentially difficult day's fishing, I jokingly said that my expectations for the final session were to enjoy a day out on the river, top up my tan and if we caught any fish it would be a bonus. We fished around a bridge and along a rocky shoreline that is a known zander holding area but it was quite windy and things were tough again.

I relaxed and let the motion of the boat do all the work. 

Despite my lazy approach I managed to catch one small zander, my stinger placed right in the tail of my lure doing its job. Plenty of fish were showing under the boat but they just didn't seem to be interested in anything we threw at them. Martin retained his focus a bit better than I did and using a Gary Yamamoto Swim Bait that Lee gave him eventually hooked a couple of zander only for them to throw the hook. The second one was a big fish, perhaps even into double figures. Martin vented his anger with a short colourful outburst that echoed under the bridge. This would have been a rotten way to end the trip but I was glad when he hooked a third zander and this time it didn't come off. 

Martin hooks a third zander. 

It had engulfed the lure and was well hooked on the jighead. 

At just over 6lb it was a nice fish and it would turn out to be the last fish of the trip. 

Meeting up with Lee later that night in the hotel bar we reflected on a hard week's fishing over a well earned drink. It may have been difficult at times but it had also produced some nice fish and good memories. I don't think I could be a guide. Lee knew the river like the back of his hand and worked extremely hard, gave us great advice, the use of his catfish gear and the odd lure too. Most of the time plenty of fish were showing on his fish finder. It wasn't his fault that the fish didn't want to throw themselves onto our hooks or threw our hooks once they were on them. It must have been very frustrating week for him too. He's a lovely guy and whilst my holidays are all used up for the foreseeable future I'd definitely go back and go out fishing with him again. I think next time I'd like to mix it up and do some pellet fishing for carp and catfish from the bank too though, especially if lures weren't tempting the fish. Martin on the other hand will no doubt have a few nightmares about the zander that got away and as he has his heart set on a double figure fish he might be going back later in the year. All in all it was a great trip (late night mountian road ibex close encounters and embarrassing baitcasting setup mishaps aside).

Here's a summary of everything I caught, new species are in bold.

From freshwater...

1. Largemouth Bass x 3
2. Perch x 22
3. Wels Catfish x 4
4. Zander x 4

From saltwater...

1. Annular Seabream x 10
2. Bass x 2
3. Black Scorpionfish x 1
4. Common Comber x 3
5. Common Two Banded Seabream x 1
6. Damselfish x 3
7. East Atlantic Peacock Wrasse x 1
8. Gilthead Seabream x 1
9. Lesser Weever x 1
10. Painted Comber x 1
11. Rainbow Wrasse x 15
12. Ringneck Blenny x 8
13. Saddled Seabream x 7
14. Slender Goby x 1
15. Striped Red Mullet x 1

As ever fishing with Martin and watching him have the odd meltdown was a real pleasure and I'm looking forward to fishing with him again in the near future with a day afloat out of Port Logan in the pipeline and an evening targeting three bearded rockling also on the cards a bit later in the year.

Tight lines, Scott.