A bit of LRF in the Aegean!

Today I returned from a week-long holiday back home in Greece. Although this was most certainly not a fishing trip, still the little Spro mobile stick found its way among my stuff along with a newly acquired yet used Shimano Biomaster 1000fb and naturally I had a couple sessions in some of my old haunts... Unbelievably the bad weather followed me there and I didn't manage a single outing on freshwater. Moreover the sea-fish seemed to be affected as well from all that rain but thankfully LRF gear and tactics helped me have some fun!
One particular session stands out as I fished with my cousin Kyriakos, something we haven't done in a while, and catching a good number of fish. It was a long time since I taught him the basics but he soon put that knowledge to good use, managing plenty of painted and plain combers along with an annular sea bream. He was using cheburashka with isome and generally soft plastics while I was using metals, blades and soft plastics as well in the end. This saw me catching loads of painted combers, with the blades and small paddletails being the most effective lures while I lost something much bigger (grouper or snapper probably) on the ZX blade that didn't stick. Towards sundown I got a couple sea-bass on a 2" white Jackall Peke Peke on a Crazyg jighead. But also got a nice hit on a popper just a couple meters away from my feet without a hookup though..
What impressed us was the good size of some of the painted combers along with their expanded bellies so I'm guessing that they could still be spawning! In the end of June?!
Some pics below and a video will follow soon.

A perfect rock mark..

Painted comber will take a large variety of lures..

Chunky goby from the shallows..

Beautiful!

A happy lrfer!

Double hook-up!

A perfect target for Mebaring and Kurodai tactics..

Match the hatch.. If you look closely...

Baby goldblotch grouper

Two banded sea bream on isome..

Most of them with expanded bellies...

A bit of silver..

A good little fighter..

A serious painted comber..

A nice little break from the hustle and bustle of the city and although the weather yet again messes up my plans, I still thoroughly enjoyed my trip! Now I'm curious to see what July brings...


Tight Lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile stick 80 UL
Reel: Shimano Biomaster 1000 fb
Mainline: Gosen mebarin braid PE 0.4
leader: Toray premium fluorocarbon, 6lbs
lure: various

Mytilene recap.

I left Mytilene yesterday and all in all I had a great time there. The fishing was secondary to be honest and whenever I fished it was light rock fishing. Although the island has the potential for good fish and I did have some good fish taking although not managing to land them, I wanted to see what can be caught on proper LRF gear and tactics in the Mediterranean and specifically the Aegean sea. When I was lure fishing in saltwater previously, I tried to target rock fish with the crude equipment I had at the time and the results were mixed most of the time. Especially the bream species were very hard to tempt and catch.
But after this trip I am confident that light rock fishing is THE way to fish in the Mediterranean.
The following are some more fish I caught and some tips for their fishing.

Sea bream.

• Good results day or night, with bigger fish during night-time and when the water was choppy during the day.
• Preference on lures with some scent, 1"- 2" best.
• They come in groups so working an area thoroughly brings more fish.

Combers.

• Painted comber usually solitary and territorial, Common comber may be in small groups as well.
• Can take quite large lures.
• Prefer faster and jerky retrieves.
• Need to move a lot and cover ground.
• Mostly daylight feeders

The above were the main species during daylight, along with some wrasse and a few surprises.

A baby grouper!

In night-time the main target was the Scorpion fish

Biggest one I caught in the island.

• Can take very large lures
• Drop lures straight down the harbour walls and rock holes.
• Creature imitations very effective.

I am now home in Kavala, Greece and will be targeting various species in saltwater and freshwater soon. Im especially looking forward to visit the dams in Drama region, in order to get some of the many perch that live there... 

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used.
Rods: Golden Mean Symphonia, 8,6", 0.6-8g
Reel: Mitchell Mag Pro 1000,
Mainline: Toray Bottom Attacker fluorocarbon, 3lbs
Rigs: mini dropshot and carolina with ssg shot and #10-#12 split shotter hooks, jigheads.
Lures: various