Rockfish Skiathos! Part 2

A few outside influences aided toward the making of this report; people with experience of the area and a new found fishing buddy!

Talking to Panos in the shop over the road from our hotel proved insightful, as he recommended fishing Koukounaries Marina at night and assured me big fish can be caught there, my friend Dimitrios (who resides here in the UK) also recommended fishing harbours at night and another friend Jon recommended fishing Troulos rocks. Well seeing as I was struggling I was going to damn well try at least once.

Now as I mentioned in my previous post the primary reason for visiting Skiathos was not based on fishing, but actually to attend our friends wedding. Weddings are great for meeting people and though I bored most with fishing talk I did meet a fellow angler who resides in Portsmouth; Stuart.

Stuart had commented that he usually brings a telescopic rod on holiday and wished he had this time, "thas ok" I said "I've bought two set ups" and a plan hatched. 

Myself and Stuart agreed to meet and fish early Sunday morning, (the day before the wedding) as it would be a day Stuart would be mostly sober.

We had to get a taxi at 5:30am to the marina as the buses do not run at that time, this was also the reason I didn't do it often as the taxi's are expensive!

Anyhow we arrived at the breakwater and I set Stuart up with my Bluecurrent 74, Luvias, 0.5PE braid and I selected the jig I thought would be the best one for catching; my only Shout Dangan Mame in Sardine (big mistake!).

I used my Breaden set up and rotated lures and jigs.

Well Stuart had never used light game gear before and was instantly blown away how far he could cast 5g and believe you me, he took to t like a duck to water, in fact he kicked my arse!

First in with a small Barracuda and then on to what I think are False Scad! Although he lost a fair few fish, he caught way beyond me and I just didn't get it.

Here he is;

Scad

Barracuda (one of mine)

False Scad 

Bass 

Garfish 

Another False Scad!

No chance of me getting my jig back, Stuart was having way to much fun.

I did manage a few of the small Barracuda but never managed a Scad or False Scad at all, but it was great to have a fishing buddy and see him have some fun, honest!

I did in the end manage a small Bass on a Reins Swimming metal which reminded me I can actually catch fish!

As the sun rose higher things did die off and I switched to a dropshot rig to see if there were min's available and indeed there were.

Common Comber

Striped Bream

Rainbow Wrasse

Grey Wrasse

All in all a fantastic start to the day!

After returning back to the Hotel, my family had decided we should  go to Troulos Beach for a swim and I thought it rude not to take a rod, I actually took the Bluecurrent this time as it is lighter and easier on the bus.

After a wee swim I headed over to where my friend Jon instructed me, as it is quiet there and away from bathers. Ok I knew it was really the wrong time of day and it was blistering hot, still nothing ventured.......

My first cast actually resulted in a small Garfish and unfortunately I have no picture because the blighter slipped from my grasp and made a bid to freedom, I am only left with scales as proof of its capture.

Jon usually does very well here and has caught a number of decent fish including Dorado, Leer, Amberjack and Derbio, however once again I found the predators elusive and I settled for catching  lots of Painted Combers.

I couldn't get Koukounaries out of my head and how I had been royally owned and therefore decided to quickly shoot down there after a swim with my children.

It was a very different story in the evening though as the Marina was very busy indeed, there was no surface activity at all. All I managed were more small Barracuda, although I must say I had way more of them once I got my Sardine jig back!

Tiredness set in and the lure of the bar saw me heading back around 23:00 after watching the boats sort out their nets.

Well although the majority of fish were not mine and certainly not the larger ones, it was an enjoyable day and the best fishing yet. Myself and Stuart agreed to have another pop on the Wednesday too, I hoped to fare better then!

Stay tuned for another post or two. 

Tight lines