Wednesday started as a day with hopes of bigger fish. As much as I like fishing for pretty, small fish, I do like a bend in my rod and some line being taken, we therefore decided to try Artrutx Lighthouse in the hope of some Amberjack or something.
The winds were much lighter, the sun was hot and the swell subsiding as we descended onto the rocky ledges below the lighthouse.
We were greeted by a local angler too who was flinging a Bucktail Jig into the depths below, however we were soon informed that he had not caught anything.
Nevertheless We started flinging jigs, metals and plugs about to see if any decent fish could be found along the headland. As time went on it became apparent that once again the larger fish would remain absent, I must admit to being a little frustrated.
Scott had already changed to dropshotting and was catching some Bream and Wrasse. I decided to join him after a brief moan, after all, catching something is better than catching nothing.
I'm kind of glad I did as I caught another two new species for me amongst other things;
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| An Ornate Wrasse |
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| A Cardinal fish |
The Ornate Wrasse and Cardinal fish are both such nice species and the Cardinal fish is pretty unusual indeed, having mouths disproportionate to the rest of their frame.
At this time myself and Scott both started using the Aquawave Ami's, I was kind of tired of using Berkley Gulp and wanted something as effective in clear water, but far more durable. These lures would actually prove indispensable throughout the remainder of our trip!
Soon we decided on a change of location and made our way to Cala Macarella and Cala Macarelleta which were two adjoining coves set at the end of a cliff surrounded valley, they were simply beautiful!
Cala Macrella was the first cove we fished;
The species were much the same as elsewhere and I just embraced it and had some fun;
We then moved to the next cove Cala Macarelleta which was a lot less reefy, featuring a deep sandy bottom. Although Scott had already caught a Lesser Weever, I know he wanted some other Weever species to add to his already impressive tally.
Scott caught some nice fish here including a pretty cool Striped Red Mullet;
I caught a few there but found the fishing a bit slower than Cala Macarella.
We were also treated to sights of a couple of naked ladies there which was quite different to what we are used to in the UK, they were prettier than average too!
About the same time the ladies had gotten dressed and moved on, we decided to head back to Ciutadella (complete coincidence!).
I really wanted to catch one of the Barracuda we had seen in the previous nights and again was lobbing about my plugs and metals, getting the odd follow. I hooked up to something and with previously hearing Barracuda do not fight, thought I was into a small one.
I felt pretty silly when I landed a Common Comber that was just strangely hooked;
As night fell we noticed the Barracuda turning up with some sizeable ones in the mix. They were lying tight to the structure we were standing on and ambushing small prey coming in for the harbour lights, this made it quite difficult to present a lure to them. I walked my Breaden Metalmaru along the walls of the structure when suddenly I got a take of a good sized Barracuda which mad a few searing runs around the platform. At this time there were children congregating to see what was going on and I had to tell them to stay out of my way. The Barracuda then made for some moorings and upon realising this, I tried to bully and turn the fish when ping, my braid snapped at the wire!
I think the whole of Ciutadella heard me yelling an expletive! One of my boyhood dream fish gone with my favourite metal in its mouth, I can't tell you how much my hands were shaking. Barracuda don't fight my arse!
Scott kindly made me another trace and I tried again to no avail, I returned to the hotel sullen and frustrated, thats fishing for you I guess and there's always another day.
Stay tuned for more on the trip coming soon.
