Expedition: Cyprus!

Last week saw me visit the beautiful island of Cyprus with only one thing in my mind... That was fishing and more importantly, fishing for one of the top game fish around. The largemouth bass!
I had made contact with a friend that was willing to offer accommodation and show me around his local dam that held a good population of these fish. Of course I grabbed the chance and arranged my flights.
So last Thursday my friend Charis picked me up from Pafos Airport and drove to Limassol that was our base. On the way back he broke the bad news that there had been bad weather for a week before I got there and this had put the fish off feeding. The weather was getting very hot again though and I wasn't too concerned.
We fished the same day, later in the afternoon and despite seeing a lot of activity we blanked. Thankfully this wasn't to be for the next few days as we managed to get in amongst the fish but it really wasn't easy.. The fish fed for very short periods of time during the day, peaking at dawn and dusk whilst almost ceasing feeding at night. We got fish in midday as well especially when there was some wind (face on better) but overall it was hard going that demanded persistence and many changes in presentation and location.
We managed to get fish on most methods and presentations available! Such as: texas rig, carolina rig, wacky and shaky head on soft plastics. As for hard baits we got fish on Spinnerbaits, Jerkbaits and poppers.

Kouris dam.

My first!

Spinnerbaits very effective.

Charis with one.

Chunky fish.

A good spot.

At dawn.

Surface fun!

Greedy little perch!

Most of the fish were between 500g-1600g and also got a pleasant surprise when I landed a nice zander on a shaky head worm. Uncharacteristically this fish fought so hard that we both thought it was a big bass and were left with our mouths open when we saw it was a zander!

fought like hell!

On my last day we decided to fish another dam near Pafos, so that I could get on the Airport straight after. This dam was very different to Kouris, with crystal clear water and plenty of weeds and vegetation in and around the dam. A really beautiful place that inspires you to fish there but alas the crystal clear water in combination with unstable weather made the bass very hard to locate and catch. We only got a few small ones but still very pretty with different and more vivid colours than their cousins in Kouris.

Beautiful scenery...

...but only smallies.

It was my first time fishing in Cyprus and for the largemouth bass, and I can only say that I'm hooked! The place is beautiful and the largemouth bass is an amazing fish. I cant think of another predatory species that can be caught in so many ways and techniques. The fellow Cypriot anglers have shown me great hospitality and I have to thank Charis for everything! I cant wait for the next time as we are making plans for Spring when the big mammas will be around...

Thanks for reading and tight lines!

Gear used

Rod: MajorCraft Rizer, 7-28g
Reel: Ryobi Zauber
line: Power Pro 20lbs, 13lbs Toray Nitlon DFC fluorocarbon leader.
rigs: anything weedless!
lures: various, better results with creatures/craws. Spinnerbaits, poppers and 10cm suspending jerkbaits.