Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:46 pm
After the terrible summer here I was in need of some sunshine so decided to go to Lanzarote for the last week of September (although I appear to have been away for the best best week we had here all summer). I brought one rod with me which I was able to check in at the airport without any problem. Unfortuantely I had some lead weights in my hand luggage (mostly 1/2, 1, 2 oz) which the airport security confiscated 
Fortunately I also has some in my checked in luggage.
Arrived in Lanzarote on evening of Saturday 20th and drank too much.
Sunday 21st - Feeling very hungover, went to the harbour in Puerto del Carmen and looked at the fish - fishing was not allowed in the harbour - there were lots of mullet - some really big ones, a few of at least 6 lb. I fed them some bread which they readily took - pity fishing was banned as it would probably have been easy to catch them. Then I saw a big ray -at least 20 lb I would guess - gliding by.
Monday 22nd - hired a car, went into a supermarked and bought squid, prawns and mussels for bait and drove to the NE coast towards Orzola. There were quite a few locals fishing from the rocks along the coast. I stopped at one place - probably Punta Prieta, there were about 4 guys fishing along the rocks there so I presumed it was a good mark. The bait was only in the water less than a minute when I could feel bites but nothing hook - just the bait gone
I stayed there for about an hour and a half and that was the story the whole time - when I cast in close to the shore I could see swarms of tiny fish decending on the bait and devour it in a few minutes, but my hooks were too big to hook them. If there was anything bigger out there the little feckers would have the bait gone before there was a chance.
I headed to Orzola at the north end of the island and had lunch (Tiger fish!!). After lunch I tried fishing the mouth of the small harbour - again the same thing - swarms of small fish, but I did succeed in catching one of them, a very colourful little guy, an Ornate Wrasse, with a size 4 hook baited with a sliver of squid.
Tuesday 23rd - drove to the northwest of the island and fished the rocks to the west of Playa del Famara. Again I had the same problem with little fish - but this time caught four or five blennies, there were two different species some with vertical stripes and other with lots of speckles. After a couple of hours we went for lunch in Famara village (I had parrot fish which looked like a wrasse to me - and tasted how I would imagine a wrasse to taste). After lunch I decided to do a bit of beach fishing. The water was warm so no need of waders there. I had a few bites on two hook flappers baited with squid and prawn but nothing hooked. Headed back to the village at dusk - but decided to dry a bit of night time fishing off the rocks before having dinner. All I got was a sea cucumber - very strange looking.
Wednesday 24th - I decided that I would have to get some smaller hooks, the smallest I had were size 4. The tackle shop in Puerto del Carmen had closed down, there was supposed to be one at the hypermarket near the airport but that was gone too. I was told there was a good tackle shop in Puerto Calero, the next town down from Puerto del Carmen but that had shut down too. I found a hardware store in Tias to the north that had a very limited supply of tackle, but no small hooks. After that I found a small bay a little further down the coast, had lunch there and afterwards did a little fishing off the rocks - the same thing - lots of small fish eating the bait but no hook ups - it was damn hot too so didn't stay at that too long and got back to the car and did some sightseeing with the air conditioning on full. Had a look at the volcanoes in Timanfaya National Park. Afterwards I drove to the northwest coast but the wind had picked up and some big waves were crashing onto the rocks - didn't find a safe place to fish.
Thursday 25th - Drove to the west coast - had a look at the bay at El Golfo, stopped for a coffee. There was a couple of locals fishing from the rocks so I went over for a chat - the were using these tiny crabs that I had heard about but hadn't seen in any shop. But they were only catching tiny fish - and keeping them
Afterwards I found a likely looking spot further south at Los Hervideros, a small embayment with deep water, but again I was plagued with small fish. After about an hour and a half I gave up on that and headed further south towards Playa Blanca. I spotted another hardward store so decided to give it a try - they had a better selection of tackle and I got some size 8 and 10 hooks. Stopped at Punta Pechiguera (which sounded a fishy type of name) and tried out my new hooks, sure enough I started hauling them in - I got three or four ornate wrasse, a damsel fish, another blenny with the space of 30 minutes. Unfortunately herself was impatient to go so I packed up.
Later that evening we had dinner in the old town in Puerto del Carmen. I still had the rod in the car so though I might try to a sneak a mullet from the town side of the harbour - it was outside the official harbour entrance so I thought I might get away with that - but after a few minutes a security guard moved me on, just when I had got the mullet feeding on my bread. There was a pier to the east of the main harbour so I decided to try that. There were a couple of locals fishing there using small sardine-like fish for bait - they are called Bogue I subsequently discovered (thanks Kieran). I decided to use the size 8 hooks first - and caught a Bogue. I hooked him onto a 3/0 hook and cast out. I didn't get anything with it and it eventually came off the hook. I then baited a size 4 hook with squid and cast it out a short distance from the pier - shortly afterwards there was a strong knock on the rod and there was something big on the line which was putting up a bit of a fight - I eventually hauled in an Eagle Ray.
Friday 26th - Now that I had a bunch of small hooks I decided to head back to the northeast coast and get some of the little guys that had been stealing my bait the first day. I found a good spot close to where I had fished previously. I threaded squid tenticle onto the size 8 hooks and dropped it into a deepish pool. As soon as the bait was in the water they were onto it. I got two Ornate Wrasse, followed by two small silver coloured fish Derbio (thanks for the ID Eric) followed by a Zebra Bream.
After that I went to Orzola for lunch. After lunch I tried the harbour for a while but nothing biting so decided to return to my earlier mark. The tide had dropped quite a bit by then and I was able to get out further along a rock ledge. There was a deep crevasse beside the ledge so I thought there might be something big down there. I put on a 3/0 hook on a wire trace, baited with prawn wrapped in squid and dropped it down. After about 15 minutes I got a massive hit - something big was down there - it was putting up a hell of a fight - eventually I got it to the surface and onto the rocks - it was a moray eel - dark brown with a yellow pattern along its sides. Unfortunately I landed it right beside my camera - it was snapping at the line and at me and managed to get itself off the hook and came slithering across the rocks right towards me I jumped back onto a higher rock and he slithering into a shallow rock pool then found a deeper crevase and disappeared into it so I never got a photo of it.
The light was beginning to fade at that stage so I packed up. But that was a good end to my Lanzarote fishing experience - which had been frustrating at times due to the little fish stealing the bait, but at least it was better than lying on a beach all day.
Fortunately I also has some in my checked in luggage.Arrived in Lanzarote on evening of Saturday 20th and drank too much.
Sunday 21st - Feeling very hungover, went to the harbour in Puerto del Carmen and looked at the fish - fishing was not allowed in the harbour - there were lots of mullet - some really big ones, a few of at least 6 lb. I fed them some bread which they readily took - pity fishing was banned as it would probably have been easy to catch them. Then I saw a big ray -at least 20 lb I would guess - gliding by.
Monday 22nd - hired a car, went into a supermarked and bought squid, prawns and mussels for bait and drove to the NE coast towards Orzola. There were quite a few locals fishing from the rocks along the coast. I stopped at one place - probably Punta Prieta, there were about 4 guys fishing along the rocks there so I presumed it was a good mark. The bait was only in the water less than a minute when I could feel bites but nothing hook - just the bait gone
I stayed there for about an hour and a half and that was the story the whole time - when I cast in close to the shore I could see swarms of tiny fish decending on the bait and devour it in a few minutes, but my hooks were too big to hook them. If there was anything bigger out there the little feckers would have the bait gone before there was a chance.
I headed to Orzola at the north end of the island and had lunch (Tiger fish!!). After lunch I tried fishing the mouth of the small harbour - again the same thing - swarms of small fish, but I did succeed in catching one of them, a very colourful little guy, an Ornate Wrasse, with a size 4 hook baited with a sliver of squid.
Tuesday 23rd - drove to the northwest of the island and fished the rocks to the west of Playa del Famara. Again I had the same problem with little fish - but this time caught four or five blennies, there were two different species some with vertical stripes and other with lots of speckles. After a couple of hours we went for lunch in Famara village (I had parrot fish which looked like a wrasse to me - and tasted how I would imagine a wrasse to taste). After lunch I decided to do a bit of beach fishing. The water was warm so no need of waders there. I had a few bites on two hook flappers baited with squid and prawn but nothing hooked. Headed back to the village at dusk - but decided to dry a bit of night time fishing off the rocks before having dinner. All I got was a sea cucumber - very strange looking.
Wednesday 24th - I decided that I would have to get some smaller hooks, the smallest I had were size 4. The tackle shop in Puerto del Carmen had closed down, there was supposed to be one at the hypermarket near the airport but that was gone too. I was told there was a good tackle shop in Puerto Calero, the next town down from Puerto del Carmen but that had shut down too. I found a hardware store in Tias to the north that had a very limited supply of tackle, but no small hooks. After that I found a small bay a little further down the coast, had lunch there and afterwards did a little fishing off the rocks - the same thing - lots of small fish eating the bait but no hook ups - it was damn hot too so didn't stay at that too long and got back to the car and did some sightseeing with the air conditioning on full. Had a look at the volcanoes in Timanfaya National Park. Afterwards I drove to the northwest coast but the wind had picked up and some big waves were crashing onto the rocks - didn't find a safe place to fish.
Thursday 25th - Drove to the west coast - had a look at the bay at El Golfo, stopped for a coffee. There was a couple of locals fishing from the rocks so I went over for a chat - the were using these tiny crabs that I had heard about but hadn't seen in any shop. But they were only catching tiny fish - and keeping them
Afterwards I found a likely looking spot further south at Los Hervideros, a small embayment with deep water, but again I was plagued with small fish. After about an hour and a half I gave up on that and headed further south towards Playa Blanca. I spotted another hardward store so decided to give it a try - they had a better selection of tackle and I got some size 8 and 10 hooks. Stopped at Punta Pechiguera (which sounded a fishy type of name) and tried out my new hooks, sure enough I started hauling them in - I got three or four ornate wrasse, a damsel fish, another blenny with the space of 30 minutes. Unfortunately herself was impatient to go so I packed up.
Later that evening we had dinner in the old town in Puerto del Carmen. I still had the rod in the car so though I might try to a sneak a mullet from the town side of the harbour - it was outside the official harbour entrance so I thought I might get away with that - but after a few minutes a security guard moved me on, just when I had got the mullet feeding on my bread. There was a pier to the east of the main harbour so I decided to try that. There were a couple of locals fishing there using small sardine-like fish for bait - they are called Bogue I subsequently discovered (thanks Kieran). I decided to use the size 8 hooks first - and caught a Bogue. I hooked him onto a 3/0 hook and cast out. I didn't get anything with it and it eventually came off the hook. I then baited a size 4 hook with squid and cast it out a short distance from the pier - shortly afterwards there was a strong knock on the rod and there was something big on the line which was putting up a bit of a fight - I eventually hauled in an Eagle Ray.
Friday 26th - Now that I had a bunch of small hooks I decided to head back to the northeast coast and get some of the little guys that had been stealing my bait the first day. I found a good spot close to where I had fished previously. I threaded squid tenticle onto the size 8 hooks and dropped it into a deepish pool. As soon as the bait was in the water they were onto it. I got two Ornate Wrasse, followed by two small silver coloured fish Derbio (thanks for the ID Eric) followed by a Zebra Bream.
After that I went to Orzola for lunch. After lunch I tried the harbour for a while but nothing biting so decided to return to my earlier mark. The tide had dropped quite a bit by then and I was able to get out further along a rock ledge. There was a deep crevasse beside the ledge so I thought there might be something big down there. I put on a 3/0 hook on a wire trace, baited with prawn wrapped in squid and dropped it down. After about 15 minutes I got a massive hit - something big was down there - it was putting up a hell of a fight - eventually I got it to the surface and onto the rocks - it was a moray eel - dark brown with a yellow pattern along its sides. Unfortunately I landed it right beside my camera - it was snapping at the line and at me and managed to get itself off the hook and came slithering across the rocks right towards me
I jumped back onto a higher rock and he slithering into a shallow rock pool then found a deeper crevase and disappeared into it so I never got a photo of it.The light was beginning to fade at that stage so I packed up. But that was a good end to my Lanzarote fishing experience - which had been frustrating at times due to the little fish stealing the bait, but at least it was better than lying on a beach all day.
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Last edited by RockHunter on Wed Oct 01, 2008 2:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:48 pm
More pics
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Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:58 pm
sounds like you had a fishing festival 
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:20 pm
Thats some report !
Your Missus is a saint lad !
Your Missus is a saint lad !
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:59 pm
man thats some report o if we only had the weather over here nice.sellection of fish
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 4:18 pm
Great fishing there and love the pic's. My trip to Lanzarote in March was miserable and a simple rod could have eased the pain. Your so right about it being better than sitting on the beach.
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:05 pm
Thanks guys,
If I didn't have the rod with me it would have been fairly miserable alright - the island is so small that you can see all the main sights within a couple of days and I just could not sit on a beach all day doing nothing.
If I didn't have the rod with me it would have been fairly miserable alright - the island is so small that you can see all the main sights within a couple of days and I just could not sit on a beach all day doing nothing.
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 6:01 pm
RockHunter wrote:Thanks guys,
If I didn't have the rod with me it would have been fairly miserable alright - the island is so small that you can see all the main sights within a couple of days and I just could not sit on a beach all day doing nothing.
Ah sure God love ya!
Nah all joking aside you're Spot on. I always travel with a telescopic. Fishing in foreign climes is great fun, never know what might crop up.
As a matter of interest, how big is that ray
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 9:15 pm
Great report and photos Rockhunter, nice way to spend a week in the sun,,,,sounds like you found some nice out of the way places,,, a beach packed with holidaymakers is my idea of hell on earth 
.
.
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:27 pm
Thanks Dave,
That would be my idea of hell too
- we were staying on the outskirts of Puerto del Carmen but I never once set foot on the beach there - in fact I never saw the beach until the afternoon we were leaving when the bus that collected us drove past it on the way to the airport.
There were some nice spots on the island well way from all the holidaymakers and the beach at Playa del Famara in the northwest was almost deserted - the only reason I fished it
eyesreilly wrote:a beach packed with holidaymakers is my idea of hell on earth
That would be my idea of hell too
- we were staying on the outskirts of Puerto del Carmen but I never once set foot on the beach there - in fact I never saw the beach until the afternoon we were leaving when the bus that collected us drove past it on the way to the airport.There were some nice spots on the island well way from all the holidaymakers and the beach at Playa del Famara in the northwest was almost deserted - the only reason I fished it
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:28 pm
blaker wrote:As a matter of interest, how big is that ray
The wing span was close to a meter wide, not sure on the weight, maybe 5 lb?
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:03 am
Weird...
the guy who is painting my house has a holiday home in Fuerteventura where he heads off with the wife for four months in the winter. He has landed big beasts including morays, rays and bass across a wide variety of tactics. He will be back if we get a few days decent weather to finish the job and I will try to pin him down and maybe extract an article or similar. Might even put a paypal donate button beside it so he can earn a few Euros as he is semi retired. Would that be an option, would people be interested? He is a fully qualified fishing guide here btw and covers mostly pike and game angling here in Mayo...
FWIW
the guy who is painting my house has a holiday home in Fuerteventura where he heads off with the wife for four months in the winter. He has landed big beasts including morays, rays and bass across a wide variety of tactics. He will be back if we get a few days decent weather to finish the job and I will try to pin him down and maybe extract an article or similar. Might even put a paypal donate button beside it so he can earn a few Euros as he is semi retired. Would that be an option, would people be interested? He is a fully qualified fishing guide here btw and covers mostly pike and game angling here in Mayo...
FWIW
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:15 am
Fuerteventura is a different kettle of fish to Lanzarote ...The water is a hell of a lot deeper and would seem to hold a lot more Fish.
All the information on Fuerteventura can be found on world sea fish forums for Free
All the information on Fuerteventura can be found on world sea fish forums for Free
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Thu Oct 02, 2008 2:57 pm
Hi
yeah, but some of it is just plain wrong!
...and I'm thinking more about the shore than off a boat.
FWIW
yeah, but some of it is just plain wrong!
...and I'm thinking more about the shore than off a boat.
FWIW
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:19 pm
Yeah if your looking at the same article I was reading it would seem too good to be true.
A mate of mine has fished it a few times from the shore and swears by it !!
According to him though you have to know the marks for the better fish........a bit like here really !!
A mate of mine has fished it a few times from the shore and swears by it !!
According to him though you have to know the marks for the better fish........a bit like here really !!
Re: Fishing in Lanzarote
Fri Oct 03, 2008 12:35 pm
Kieran - that sounds like a good idea.
When I go on holidays I never return to a place I have been before so it is unlikely that I would be back to Lanzarote but Fuerteventura could be an option for the future so it would be good to get the info from somebody with plenty of experience fishing there.
In Lanzarote I mostly fished places where I saw locals fishing - although I didn't see anybody getting any big fish - they were mostly catching tiny fish.
When I go on holidays I never return to a place I have been before so it is unlikely that I would be back to Lanzarote but Fuerteventura could be an option for the future so it would be good to get the info from somebody with plenty of experience fishing there.
In Lanzarote I mostly fished places where I saw locals fishing - although I didn't see anybody getting any big fish - they were mostly catching tiny fish.