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Enjoying a bit of sea fishing now and then, I propose to try my luck here. Observing some of the many people fishing along the PO coast, I am starting to wonder why? Is it just to escape her indoors and get a bit of peace and quiet?
Old boys fishing between the pontoons of the St Cyprien marina intently watch their tiny floats, never seeming to catch anything, meanwhile mullet skulk a few boats away. Lads sat under the Peche Interdite signs fishing in Port Vendres harbour, also catching nothing. I saw a bunch of people fishing off the rocks on the southern side of PV harbour, one caught a bream about 8cm long and the others gathered round, excited to have a look. I couldn’t believe my eyes when he killed it and put it in his bag. It was a baby and should have gone back in the sea!
Tranquillity is often one of the pleasures of fishing, but surely not the only reason. Do any of you out go down to the sea and fish? Am I looking in the wrong places? Are the locals using the wrong bait? Or, are my expectations for this coast just too high?

God knows. The fisheries round here have been fished out for decades. You’re as likely to get a fish 2m off the quai in PV as you are 20km away, so why waste the time, and maybe get wet, and take longer?

God also knows why any sane person would eat a fish taken out of PV harbour. And if you are not going to eat them, why try to catch them?

That said, one or two of the boats who do boat excursions from PV do offer early-morning fishing trips. You need to prowl around the northern end of quai Forgas, and see what’s on offer. Good luck. I’d rather stay at home and cut my toenails.

Id have to agree fishing is poor here, recent tried Barcares beach, Cap Leucate head, rocky area south between Collouire and Argeles, Southern pier at PV

I used exactly same lures etc, as I do in the British Isles ,
Nothing caught in the PO areas above
Plenty in British Isles

Thanks chaps for sharing your wisdom and experiences. I shall set forth with expectations appropriate to avoid disappointment. Who knows, one day.....

An electricien doing some work for me, who fishes from his own boat, said it is better in the summer "when the bigger fish return" So, maybe a day out with one of the PV skippers next year might be worth a punt. I see from the on line charts that there are a few wrecks off Cap Bear. I guess thats among their destinations.

If you wander round the quais in PV, you will find that each lamp-post has a little frame around an old photograph taken at roughly the same spot. I found them fascinating: if you are lucky, the tourist office may still have the leaflet giving you more details.

One of them shows just a huge pile of fish on the quayside: you would have needed a JCB to shift it.

I recall reading that the record catch of anchovies here was 450 tonnes in one night, sometime in the ‘50s. That seems so absurd that it may be false memory: I tried to check it but failed. Even if it was 4.5 tonnes, it would be a hell of a lot of anchovies. Nowadays you would be lucky to catch 450gm.

Interesting, thank you, I must take a look.
Our house was the home of a PV based fisherman, now passed. His daughter was remiscing to me about the days when the fishing boats were rafted 4 deep along the quay. Glory days indeed! Maybe that's one of the reasons that there are so few fish now.

In Sept I have caught large Mackerel from Boat from Port Leucate, using feathers

Most ports will have some kinda of fishing boat trip, approx 30e from 0700 to 1130

These tend to stop mid Sept


I would be interested to see if there is wreck fishing , targeting bigger fish

kenny wrote:I used exactly same lures etc, as I do in the British Isles ,
Nothing caught in the PO areas above
Plenty in British Isles

Down here you have to rub garlic on the hook.

Not quite the same I know but at one time the world record carp was caught at the Lac de Villeneuve de la Raho where huge monsters still lurk in the deep.

Webdoc wrote:

kenny wrote:I used exactly same lures etc, as I do in the British Isles ,
Nothing caught in the PO areas above
Plenty in British Isles

Down here you have to rub garlic on the hook.

Not quite the same I know but at one time the world record carp was caught at the Lac de Villeneuve de la Raho where huge monsters still lurk in the deep.

I’ve always thought of carp fishing a bit like betting on horses: that way madness lies.

Richard and Sharon wrote:now passed

It would be reassuring to know that he’s actually dead, since you are living in his house.

Richard and Sharon wrote:Thanks chaps for sharing your wisdom and experiences. I shall set forth with expectations appropriate to avoid disappointment. Who knows, one day.....

An electricien doing some work for me, who fishes from his own boat, said it is better in the summer "when the bigger fish return" So, maybe a day out with one of the PV skippers next year might be worth a punt. I see from the on line charts that there are a few wrecks off Cap Bear. I guess thats among their destinations.

Would anyone hear have a number or links for wreck fishing in the PO

Samuel Elgrishi may be worth talking to. His website is www.RoussillonFishing.com
I emailed him about fishing trips but my French is either too poor for him to understand or for whatever reason, we did not get anything sorted. To be fair, I was not very persistant with chasing him.

And Martyn, rumour has it that old fishermen never die, they only smell that way. Fortunately we havent sniffed him out anywhere in the house yet.

Actually, revisiting his web site suggests he may have the answers, if any one has. If, Kenny, you dont mind the company, I would be interested in sharing the cost of a trip.

Richard and Sharon wrote:Actually, revisiting his web site suggests he may have the answers, if any one has. If, Kenny, you dont mind the company, I would be interested in sharing the cost of a trip.

God knows whether he has the answers, but he’s got the BPJEPS (Brevet professionnel de la jeunesse, de l’éducation populaire et du sport). I guess you may no longer be very young, and not necessarily populaire, but it’s still a sort of sport, I suppose. Landing a big mackerel can be pretty strenuous.

The French do love their acronyms.

Depends on the definition of young, despite getting Saga junk mail, I have not much chance of even meeting most peoples definition of a grown up yet, and its probably too late to bother about trying.
As for sport, at least Bridge was rejected. Oh, for the chance to fight a mackerel!

Richard and Sharon wrote:Depends on the definition of young, despite getting Saga junk mail, I have not much chance of even meeting most peoples definition of a grown up yet, and its probably too late to bother about trying.
As for sport, at least Bridge was rejected. Oh, for the chance to fight a mackerel!

Getting the welcome email from Saga (or was it so long ago that it was a welcome mailshot?) was one of the less pleasing birthday surprises of the last few decades. It’s not that I make a secret of my age: it’s just that I don’t want anyone to know.

Richard and Sharon wrote:Actually, revisiting his web site suggests he may have the answers, if any one has. If, Kenny, you dont mind the company, I would be interested in sharing the cost of a trip.

Have Pmed you

Fishing fans might enjoy this, if only to know that they have it easy round here. It’s well worth playing the audio clip. If you don’t know strine, a tinny is a fairly flimsy open-decked boat made out of sheet aluminium.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/anima ... wf55m.html

Occasionally fishing from a kayak, that is a scary story!

If I survived being jumped on by a fish that size in my kayak, there is only one honourable course of action. An image from Hemingways Old Man and the Sea, springs to mind, where he lashes the fish to the side of his boat after the fight because it was too big to get on board.

Earlier, during the fight, he said "Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends" Just as that old Aussie effectively did in the link.

For a brief moment, I almost felt relieved that the fish are so small around here.

The safest way, apparently, to view sharks is from within a cage. Or not.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz4bPQmqUrM

(Watch to the end.)