Grouper dusky at dusk in fuerteventura fishing

Its not all about fishing!!!

Packing my gear in my suitcase going on holiday with Michelle and all I could think of is how much tackle can I take!! Shell loaded with loads of women clothes and all i had was two pairs of pants and a pair of shorts!! .... I wasnt bothered I had my fly rod, a spinning rod and my tying kit...winner...
I had read loads of Internet stuff and got so many different versions of what this island had to offer, I had heard of a local shop with decent tackle ran by a angler name Aran, he knew the area like the back of his hand so my plan was to go see him and buy some yo Zuri lures in hope of some local fish holding spots... Its nice to find places yourself but getting advice in local fishing can be priceless..
The sun was blazing early morning and shell got stuck into her book so I made my way down to see the famous 'go fishing' shop run by Arran...

Aran knows the score big time and a class shop with top draw gear

living the dream this Arran

Arran was a superb bloke and chilled out as you could expect for the lifestyle here, I bought some real high end quality gear off him, he set me up with some local well known spots so I was all ready to go....
Around the harbour there was the huge mullet and famous parrot fish,  I dreamed of hooking one of these line strippers but nowadays these places have become very protected from fishing with signs all over the place, nothing like years ago as a kid I would be smashing fish out in the harbours... To be fair these fish are like aquarium fish and hooking one would take no skill whatsoever but the devil in me still can't help thinking what it would feel like with a 10lb mullet in full flow lol
Th e second day was my planned debut fishing session, I took the fly rod and the 6 piece 10ft spinning outfit lined with braid...
I chose to fish off the rocks....the wind was howling straight into my face a the swell was hitting the rocks and made it quite scary..I did not fancy getting drowned on my first session so opted to find a sheltered cove...I was not in mullet land so opted to chuck the lures out in hope of a tuna or a barracuda..
The blue yo Zuri f bought from arrans place are just mind blowing..a real jap special that looks so like a Fish it's quite mad...
Few hours passed by and was chucking away and I felt the electric rattling down the braid and my heart just kicked in and gave me the feeling that only us fishing addicts can ever feel...how can you describe that feelin I don't know, I have never been able to write the feeling and have never seen any one else either but to a non fisherman I can only say it feels like minute before you know you are going to lose your virginity, your so exited with adrenaline but at the same time you don't know what's coming!! As all the 'sufferers' will know exactly what I mean...
I felt then rattle and then the fish give up only knowing that I had hooked something not big enough to handle my heavy tackle, this is not a nice feeling over gunned but I had my first fish hooked, i soon swung in a nasty looking fish that I later found to be a Atlantic lizard fish...not worth eating and thrown back..

.
That was my first session fishing and no wackers and no meal to take back to the mrs who I had promised!! So after some piss take from shell we headed out for a few San Miguels and a burger..this wetted my appetite to get something for the pot...
The next night again I slipped off for a few hours while the mrs had her siesta, a excellent way to not cause massive rows on holiday... I opted for a sheltered spot and looked for a mullet spot, I had bag fills of bread and started to trickle bits in, for a hour I had nothing until the magic witching hour came, now I have wrote on my blog about this time for years and cannot stimulate enough the power of the witching hour has in any type of fishing you ever do..all fish drop there guard at this time and will confidently feed without a care in the world..this again was the case as I saw small mullet and parrot fish come in wackiness the bread... Within minutes I had big mullet in the swim taking over the free feed... I grabbed my fly rod and threw a 9ft tapered leader into the fish with a fly I made perfect for the job(see later) within seconds the rod lopped around and then the line went slack...I had pulled out grrrrrr
Then one of the most amazing things I have seen in fishing happened...
I saw a huge fin pop out the water amongst the feeding mullet and all went instantly quiet and I mean dead..
I soon clicked in what had just happened..a big pred had smashed some mullet and they had all dived for cover..
My heart pounding I leaned back and picked up the 10ft spinning outfit and clipped on a blue yo Zuri and cast it into the choppy surface..
The light had more or less gone and all I had was a red boy flashing 100 yards to my right which was give me some judgement..
people talk of last casts and I remember thinking that's it, one last chuck and I am off, I was now cold and feeling sinking blank coming until I started to reel in..
30 yards out I felt a amazing solid lock up... I thought snag?? No snags there and before I stopped thinking my rod hooped right over! I had no time to sort my drag that was over tight and this fish was clicking line off the reel at its maximum level!! I was powering down at the strongest power I have ever experienced in any fishing, I could do nothing...the rod is quite a power house too at 80g and I was feeling the reel seat bending as I leaned right back into it..
It was now dark and I was absolutely buzzing with anticipation, the harder I pulled the harder it pulled back..after 15 minutes of this I got it quite close and was getting the feeling I was gonna win this battle ....  10 yards out it bolted under a rock infront of me... Fuck I was not even gonna see what it even was..I stood there shaking and thought my next method... Was it still hooked..?? Should I pull for a break ? I decided a old carp fishing trick when snagged.. Just leave it until it thinks it over and swimms out..
Only a minute passed and I saw the braid start to move... Winner she was still on...
Now I was not going to let this fish do me again so I absolutely give it everything I had and to my disbelief the fish surface and came straight in...
What the hell was it.. I grabbed my glove and gilled it in.. It was huge.. Like a perch on steroids with a mouth as wide as my whole fist...
I took it towards the light to see it and it was a pure preditor with huge crushing teeth.. I despatched it immediately... Something I never like to do but it was our meal and that makes it all very different..Arran at go fishing said they eat everything from the sea and that was good enough for me...
I had to carry my rod and ruck sack and this fish as I walked straight through the local beach fronts back to shell..
Local chefs were shouting me with big smiles on there face asking me to take it in... Fuck that! I was gonna to show shell my catch first..
Shells face was a picture as I held it up at the villa window..

Dusky Grouper!! 5 lb 1 oz

We decided to take it down to the beach fronted fish restaurant...it was shells birthday and what a treat it turned out to be...I still did not know until I saw the manager as I walked in.. He had all his staff coming over including a chef with mouthwatering lips!! I knew it was special and they kept telling me the name in Spanish but I had no clue...
A bit of sign language and we agreed on him cooking me some of it... We sat at the bar with full drinks and within 10 minutes they brought us out the nicest set up ever... Dips, sauces, salad lemon the lot...
It was shells birthday and what a present it was.. Sitting in a untouched 60s fish only restaurant eating propped up at the bar and what I can only describe as lamb textured fish with a taste I have never experienced...

I shook hands with the waiter and he would not have a euro off me!! Free drinks all night and full meal for nothing!!

texture of lamb and a taste like nothing else

A night of angling that shall stay with me for ever..........



the hardest fighting fish i ever hooked

The next day I eagerly went to see Aran at his shop and showed him the pictures... He shouted 'grouper dusky!!!!.' one had not come out from here for six months and nothing of that size as far as he knew...he explained it was a very sort after fish for its rarity and it's amazing taste...class ...
Weighed off the gill on my salter scales it was 5lb 2oz

The next few days saw me get the fly rod out and it was just amazing to say the least...post coming soon
'living the dream'