Albacore - Malta, Europe July '07

skip · 02-18-2008, 02:37 PM

We were out today, me, Fin and the girlfriends who did very well. On the excellent advice of Jonathan, we rigged up with very lightweight leaders, in our case 0.46mm 15kgs line as that's what we had although 25kgs would have been better and did this due to the clear visibility of the water that Jonathan mentioned. We also had them weighted down with 300g at a medium distance and long distance using mostly green/yellow squids. We also had a Yozuri Hydro Squirt out just behind the prop wash, connected directly to an 80lbs mono line!!

Had a total of five hits, the first one on the weighted down Green/Yellow/Blue/Silver sparkle squid not sure the make, but it hit our 30lbs rod with a Penn Commander 30 and took off most of the reel in a flash. By the time we added a little drag pressure the fish had gone. We lost the lure, a clear bite straight through the line

Second strike was on the Hydro Squirt, but unfortunately we went into neutral instead of slow forward and there wasn't enough pressure on the line, hook wasn't set and the fish came off.

Next came a third strike, very quick, hardly any line off the reel and it was gone

Fourth strike was on the Penn Senator 9/0 on a 30/50lbs rod, Green/Yellow williamson jethead that was way way back at least 75-100m on a 300g weight. Due to the small diameter line we cautiousl brought it in with a long progressive fight to tire out the fish as we knew we would have to hand leader it up to the boat, and the leader was (ooops) rather long at 10m!! So the snap swivel was up and then 10 meters of line. but the fish was tired and it was a relatively easy gaff. Result 8kgs Albacore.

Fifth and final strike was on the Hydro squirt, again close in near the prop wash. Took off a lot of line from a Lineaeffe 30/50 (dreadful reel), all 80lbs mono all the way down to the Spectra 150lbs backing, but with confidence in the line and connections, I put up a strong drag pressure and a nice fight of say 10-15mins up to the boat where Fin gaffed it in. Result was a 12kgs Albacore which was quite a beauty.

We ventured towards Filfla passing West out to maybe 1 mile out before turning NW and proceeding further. Strikes occured up from the Dingli Radar station at around 10 miles offshore and all the strikes were in the general 5 mile area of that, no more strikes after we were abeam Golden Sands.

I would like to thank Jonathan for his great advice and techniques, sadly at the last minute he as unable to join us. DJS (Dave) had also reported strikes on his Yozuri hydro squirt, not sure what his colours were, but brown/red definately worked, running it close just behind the prop wash.

A welcome change from our previous trips.

Ragman · 02-19-2008, 10:26 AM

Great trip report.

Anyone have links to Map references to where he's fishing so that I can get a better visual on geography?

Nothing specific, just big-picture location in general.

I just returned from the Miami show, and there was some interest in European distribution. I'd like to brush up on my geography! LOL

skip · 02-19-2008, 03:21 PM

I tracked down the pics. Apologies for the contrast but had the camera set on -2.0EV and didnt notice so they all came out very dark.

Also have a video from the same camera hence its a bit dark and coming from a Digicam rather than vid cam isnt ideal.

YouTube - MaltaFishingForum's Channel

skip · 02-19-2008, 03:33 PM

Here are some pics from Google Earth to give you an idea and where we were fishing.

gman · 02-19-2008, 06:50 PM

Wow, its amazing that people from across the world are communicating about the same passion. Hits home for me as our family is from Sicily, I enjoyed reading the reports and watching the video. Thanks for sharing

Pope · 02-19-2008, 07:02 PM

The albacore you guys catch have shorter pectoral fins than the ones I catch on the west coast of the states. Nice fish and great eats!

skip · 02-20-2008, 12:31 PM

Would like to post more Bluefin reports, however last year we only caught two which was disappointing but it was a reasonable Albacore year for us considering the amount of times we went out.

Hoping the EU will ban commercial tuna fishing as they are definately killing them off

02-18-2008, 02:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
skip Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Malta, Europe Posts: 30	Albacore - Malta, Europe July '07 We were out today, me, Fin and the girlfriends who did very well. On the excellent advice of Jonathan, we rigged up with very lightweight leaders, in our case 0.46mm 15kgs line as that's what we had although 25kgs would have been better and did this due to the clear visibility of the water that Jonathan mentioned. We also had them weighted down with 300g at a medium distance and long distance using mostly green/yellow squids. We also had a Yozuri Hydro Squirt out just behind the prop wash, connected directly to an 80lbs mono line!! Had a total of five hits, the first one on the weighted down Green/Yellow/Blue/Silver sparkle squid not sure the make, but it hit our 30lbs rod with a Penn Commander 30 and took off most of the reel in a flash. By the time we added a little drag pressure the fish had gone. We lost the lure, a clear bite straight through the line Second strike was on the Hydro Squirt, but unfortunately we went into neutral instead of slow forward and there wasn't enough pressure on the line, hook wasn't set and the fish came off. Next came a third strike, very quick, hardly any line off the reel and it was gone Fourth strike was on the Penn Senator 9/0 on a 30/50lbs rod, Green/Yellow williamson jethead that was way way back at least 75-100m on a 300g weight. Due to the small diameter line we cautiousl brought it in with a long progressive fight to tire out the fish as we knew we would have to hand leader it up to the boat, and the leader was (ooops) rather long at 10m!! So the snap swivel was up and then 10 meters of line. but the fish was tired and it was a relatively easy gaff. Result 8kgs Albacore. Fifth and final strike was on the Hydro squirt, again close in near the prop wash. Took off a lot of line from a Lineaeffe 30/50 (dreadful reel), all 80lbs mono all the way down to the Spectra 150lbs backing, but with confidence in the line and connections, I put up a strong drag pressure and a nice fight of say 10-15mins up to the boat where Fin gaffed it in. Result was a 12kgs Albacore which was quite a beauty. We ventured towards Filfla passing West out to maybe 1 mile out before turning NW and proceeding further. Strikes occured up from the Dingli Radar station at around 10 miles offshore and all the strikes were in the general 5 mile area of that, no more strikes after we were abeam Golden Sands. I would like to thank Jonathan for his great advice and techniques, sadly at the last minute he as unable to join us. DJS (Dave) had also reported strikes on his Yozuri hydro squirt, not sure what his colours were, but brown/red definately worked, running it close just behind the prop wash. A welcome change from our previous trips.

02-19-2008, 10:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ragman Moderator Join Date: May 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 924	Great trip report. Anyone have links to Map references to where he's fishing so that I can get a better visual on geography? Nothing specific, just big-picture location in general. I just returned from the Miami show, and there was some interest in European distribution. I'd like to brush up on my geography! LOL __________________ Tom www.oceantackle.net *Go Hard or Go Home!*

02-19-2008, 07:02 PM	#6 (permalink)
Pope Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 751	The albacore you guys catch have shorter pectoral fins than the ones I catch on the west coast of the states. Nice fish and great eats! __________________ Pope...translates to "nightmare" in Tunenglish

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02-19-2008, 06:50 PM	#5 (permalink)
gman Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,193	Wow, its amazing that people from across the world are communicating about the same passion. Hits home for me as our family is from Sicily, I enjoyed reading the reports and watching the video. Thanks for sharing

02-20-2008, 12:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
skip Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Malta, Europe Posts: 30	Would like to post more Bluefin reports, however last year we only caught two which was disappointing but it was a reasonable Albacore year for us considering the amount of times we went out. Hoping the EU will ban commercial tuna fishing as they are definately killing them off

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