Rockfish Menorca - Es Grau to Mahon

Thursday morning Scott wanted to head back to the North East of the Island to a spot called Es Grau, which is a lovely little village and bay area with foot paths to access the rocky headland.

You are not actually permitted to fish the main bay due to it being a reserve of significant importance, a real shame on seeing the amount of fish present.

Because of the nature of the terrain I had hoped for some Grouper here yet did not find any, it was really much the same as other areas being highly populated with Wrasse and Comber.
We did see a really large fish cruising about and occasionally lighting up, we suspected it to be a Dolphinfish. I spent some time throwing lures to see if I could gain interest, but sadly it was to no avail.

As the day grew warmer the fishing died a little and we headed around to Es Grau for a bite to eat in a little bar/restaurant on the bayside. Fanta Lemon was the drink of the holiday and we enjoyed this refreshing beverage with a tasty Pizza and Mediterranean salad whilst seeking shelter in the shade, we weren't the only ones with this idea!

After lunch we headed down to Mahon Harbour and found a spot well away from moored boats. It was really quite pleasant fishing on concrete instead of jagged volcanic rock.

The water itself was reasonably coloured so I opted for the smelly Gulp stuff here, fishing both dropshot and jig head. Scott was fishing his effective dropshot technique and was first into fish also catching another species I wanted - the Common Pandora;

The Pandora really are quite striking fish and feature blue dots along their lateral line area and some bold colouration an the gill plate edge. I didn't get one unfortunately, but was catching other Bream species.

I also had a small run of Bogue which are apparently a good live bait for Barracuda, was I tempted? Not for a second, these fellas went straight back!

I also caught a Damsel fish which was super nice. Yes I sometimes moan at catching such small fish, but the one I caught in Turkey filled me with pleasure and this one kind of rekindled that memory and feeling, they are an attractive wee species.

I knew we would always catch a lot of Bream away and I was so glad I was right, they are indeed a lovely range of species that pull well for their size;

As darkness fell we made our way to another spot in search of a few more species and found a very snaggy area to fish. Almost immediately I got owned by something here, whatever it was, reefed me in seconds. I rigged up another dropshot rig and slid on a Gulp! fish fry, then cast to the line where the harbour light fades to darkness. Sure enough I got a positive bite and pulled out my first Black Scorpion fish;

Well I was quite pleased indeed, not quite the same buzz as even hooking the Barracuda the night before, but put a smile on my face nevertheless. My Scorpion would be the last fish of the day before we headed back for dinner, nice day indeed!

Stay tuned and tight lines.