Koper Visverslagen

Nice fishing trip, fishing with artificial baits.

After a long winter, the spring has also comes into the deeper sea, with the successful catches of large specimens of cuttlefish and kalamari (squids) known as "KILOmari" :) 04/19/2018 - After an unsuccessful attempt to fish the whitings, the bora calmed down in the evening and we set to fish for calamari and cuttlefish. A lot of cuttlefish and some calamari were caught, and the winner was a huge calamari weighing more than one kilogram

The mahi mahi season has started great !

Nice surface attack and a strong fight of the dorado. Offshore spin fishing. Great fun!!

Ink season is another name for the cephalopod fishing season, such as - cuttlefish, squid and octopus. We don't fish for them because of the ink, we fish for them, for fun and because of their tasty meat. Fishing for cuttlefish and squid is particulary interesting, because we use artifical bait, in Slovenian language called "pušče" and internationally named "egi". Egi are different from other bait. Instead of hooks they have spiky nets. Manufacturers offer many different types in different colours and for fishing in various conditions (I will tell you more about this, some other time). Cuttlefish and squid inhabit our seas practically for the whole year, but we fish for them in colder months, because their numbers are higher at this time. Amongst fishermen and cooks, squids are more desirable, because some specimens reach up to 2 kilograms in weight (4.4 lbs). We can fish for them from the shore or from a boat. It's best to fish for them at sunrise or sunset. If we fish for them during the day, it's better to move deeper. Foto: ukk.photography

A lot of people are surprised by the fact that it’s possible to fish for Mahi-mahi fish (also called Dolphin fish or golden Mackerel fish) on the Slovenian coast. But coast fishermen know that Mahi-mahi is a regular guest in our seas, approximately from the end of august until november or in other terms, until the sea temperature doesn’t fall under 18 degrees Celsius (64, 4 Fahrenheit). When my fishing colleague Thomas, who has already tried fly fishing before (In Florida), found out, that it is possible to fly fish for Mahi-mahi on Slovenian coast, he was determined to catch his first Mahi-mahi with a fly rod. On a Sunday **hidden content**), we set sail from Koper to Piran. We saw the first school (shoal) of Mahi-mahi on Ronek cape, where they were going after a school of Garfish. Janja was successful, when jigging, she has caught 2 fish. After that, they moved deep to Strunjan natural reserve and we didn’t go after them. We moved on to Piran, trying to set bait on many already known spots, sadly without success. We arrived to Punta Piran also called cape Madona. We have met another fisherman, he said that Mahi-mahi fish were there, circling the area but they did not care for his bait. Good news - so we quickly set some additional bait. Janja set the first bait, and the whole school of Mahi-mahi arrived. Thomas quickly said: “Take the fly rod and throw the streamer”! Luckily I was close to the rod, 2 strokes and the streamer was shining in the water. Another two quick strokes with the string and the first Mahi-mahi swallowed the streamer very soon. I have tightened the grip, the rod bended just as much, to reach few cm under the water. Yes! A very good grip! An epic battle followed, with a lot of strong emotions. The fish was jumping out the water, constantly changing the direction of movement. The fish lost the battle and ended up in the net. Some good jigging action followed, but the fish in the shoal stopped caring about it. So Janja took the fly rod and presented the streamer to the fish. That followed with one of the biggest fish from the flock, getting caught on the streamer. When she tried to tighten the grip, the fishing string burnt her fingers from the speed and the power of the fish coming out of water. After a few minutes of battling the fish, the fish gave up and we pulled it to the boat. The joy was indescribable! Really a beautiful specimen! ☺ The flock of Mahi-mahi was running away, only Thomas that was the most determined to catch one fly fishing, did not manage to do so yet. We took an hour break that we really needed. After that we have met the school again. The school of fish did not care much for any artificial bait we were presenting, except for the Thomas’s streamer. He caught a smaller specimen, but nevertheless, the size did not matter, because it was his first Mahi-mahi caught fly fishing. That day we have caught 9 Mahi-mahi fish.