Cyprus Expedition 2: Freshwater.

I am now back in the UK after 10 days of hardcore fishing in the beautiful island of Cyprus. The fishing was far from what I was expecting but after much persistence and with the help of my Cypriot friends we had some exciting sessions with unexpected results.
To take things from the beginning, this was gonna be my second time on the island and wanting to catch as many largemouth bass as possible as well as possibly breaking my pb, I was informed by my Cypriot friends that April is considered the most stable month in terms of numbers of fish caught and their size. Thus I booked my tickets back in January and was expecting a similar pattern as was described to me by my friends.Unfortunately the weather had other plans. February was very mild and fish had already started moving shallow. By the end of March my friends were reporting impressive catches and I was psyched-up, ready to experience them for myself. In the beginning of April though there was severe rainfall and even snowfall on the Troodos mountains that feed some of the dams. The weeks before my arrival saw very poor catches and the Cyprus Bass Fishing competitions only reported a couple fish caught by more than 25 anglers taking part!
Undeterred, we fished hard in a selection of dams but it really felt futile at times. Even when we identified fish in the shallows they were extremely hard to catch and they would only occasionally bite in jerkbaits worked erratically (reaction strikes). The same picture emerged among other anglers and this lack of a pattern/system was particularly disturbing since my friend Pampos and I were to participate in a bass fishing competition on Germasogeia dam. I was silently hopeful that fish would show there but until then (last Saturday) we decided to target other possible freshwater fish with lures.

Even on this size they were hard to find..

The master of Kouris..

Where we had to go in hopes of better fish..

Kouris dam

On lrf they are so much fun!

 The number 2 fish species on my list was my nemesis from my childhood years, the pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus). I would target this fish with lures when I first started lure fishing back home in the dams of river Nestos and they would infuriate me with their short bites and lack of interest for my unsuitable lures. After a few phone calls we found out in which dam they were active and we set off with the LRF gear. We fished at Xyliatos dam for them and they seemed to be inactive although it was still early in the day. After some lure changes and walking about, the fish seemed to become more active and I started catching a few. They are a really fun fish to target and put up a great scrap! In the summer they fish for them with tiny poppers and I cant think of something more fun on the light gear. Tiny paddletais (1"aprox) worked best for me.

A stunning little predator!

My pb pumpkinseed.

The other freshwater predator I was really looking forward catching was the Tilapia. I had never seen this fish in the flesh and  my friend Pampos assured me that they are found in huge numbers and are quite willing at times to hit small lures. These fish had already shown up in the shallows for spawning a month ago, but they were interrupted by the cold weather and many (mostly smaller ones) died. We found thousands of them in the shallow bays of Germasogeia dam on the day of the competition. In the end we quit the competition two hours before the finish time and fished for them on the light gear instead!
They were not feeding but preparing to build their nests and thus quite aggressive. We tried for them with small spoons and dropshot and managed to catch a few although they would hit out of aggression and not for feeding. Hence most of them were not lip-hooked. They were serious fish though and we had a much needed blast catching and fighting them on the light gear..

Perfect tilapia water.

Another beautiful fish.

They are good fighters too!

On the day of the competition we tried really hard but as mentioned decided to switch targets as there was no point fishing for fish that aren't there. I did spot a few fish with a good female among them moving around dense vegetation in the to part of the lake where the river enters. I practically tried everything I had with me that day and visited the spot several times but they would just not bite or even show interest. Anyway the comp ended and as expected there were only two small bass caught. One on a jerkbait and the other on a small popper. What I found out though is that a fellow angler lost two fish that got hooked on his DUO Spinbait but managed to open the trebles as he was using a heavier setup. With this in my mind I decided to visit the same place next day. That lure was the only one we didn't use even though my friend had it with him so I was keen to give it a go and in the worst case scenario we would fish for tilapias again. That's what my friend did while I tied the spinbait on my LRF gear via a rapala knot ready for some spybaiting (!) as the presentation its designed for is called. In essence it is a slow retrieve near the bottom with frequent drops on loose line when the lure rides too high. The lure has a very enticing roll and a shimmy on the drop. A few casts later and I got a bite OTD. After a short but frantic fight I managed to land a small bass, probably the one I saw the day of the comp. Knowing that the big female was in the vicinity I kept casting only to loose my lure to a snag. Not having another spinbait (they are expensive!) I tried to mimic the presentation by using a senko mounted on a Decoy Screw worm hook 106. These hooks have a small prop at the front and by bending the blades even more I got them working even on the fall. I made my cast a bit further away from where the last fish was caught and let it drop on semi controlled line. Once it reached the bottom I started a slow steady retrieve and soon after I felt a solid take and on striking the rod tip stayed down. This was a sign of a better fish and it soon appeared on the surface making a couple jumps. It was the female I had seen before and I shouted for the net at Pampos. I kept the rod low so as not to encourage the fish into jumping more. It made a few more runs and hen moved parallel to the bank. This was quite stressful as the bank is full of submerged brush and snags but she knew what she was doing and took me straight to a bush. My only choice was to apply what I do here and give her loose line in hope she moves. Thankfully that's what she did and was soon expertly netted by my friend. What followed were screams of joy, hand-shakes and man-hugs of success! This was the fish of the trip for many reasons: Firstly it was my pb weighing in at 1.7kg, secondly it was caught on LRF gear, moreover the finding of the successful presentation after many trials and the many hours we put in for them just made it special to my eyes.

Spybaiting works..

Even imitations work...

The fish that made it all worthwhile..

The successful presentation.

These were in all my results from freshwater. The lack of the other predatory species (perch, zander, pike) is evident but I suppose they were already in the deeper areas. Event these results came after a lot of footwork, perseverance and hours of fishing under the scorching sun with obvious side-effects as you can see on my pic. Of course local knowledge was the most important factor and I cant thank my friend Pampos Stavrou enough for this.
I will soon post the saltwater results and they were pleasantly surprising and kind of made up for the slow freshwater action. Moreover some cool vids are coming as well.. 

Tight lines!

Gear used.
Rod: Spro Mobile stick 80 UL
Reel: Shimano Stradic 1000 fc
Mainline: YGK G-soul x3 PE 0.4
leader: Sunline FC guide special fluorocarbon, 6lbs
lure: various