Does Size Matter?
With our part of the Mediterranean being over fished, such that some drastic new regulations have been introduced (see here), would you rather keep throwing your standard medium sized lures in the hope of a decent bass or blue fish or try a different approach?
I've been like most of you, getting up before the crack of dawn to get to different locations with the same 'standard' set of minnows and topwaters hoping for some good fishing but mostly end up heading home having blanked yet again.
I can count the number of fish I have caught like this in the past 2 years on one hand! Granted I don't get out like some others that have more spare time but I do get out there most Friday or Saturday mornings.
I recently came to the conclusion that spending heaps of money on the latest 'best fish catching Japanese lure' that just hit the market and of course that must have rod, reel and fancy braid that will send my lure far out to where the fish hopefully are (yes I know, most fish are caught relatively close to the shore) after all the more water you cover, the better the chance of catching - well it's easy to convince yourself that it's true when your not catching much.
So what's the point of spending your hard earned money and spending hours and hours going from reef to reef and location to location if your not catching? It could get somewhat depressing!
Now there might not be that many decent sized fish out there but there are still loads of smaller ones and, caught on the right gear, can put up a fight worthy of larger fish on heavier gear. It's all about the fight - that is if you, and I hope you do, practice catch and release.
Since I started using my light game setup I haven't blanked once. So far it's been about 5 fish per session and I'll tell you, those sea bream - wow do they fight and all the way in! Last session, on Friday morning at Ga'ash, I had 3 small grouper, a sea bream, a marmir (striped sea bream) and a small bass which put up a great fight such that I thought it was much larger than it was.
Small Bass on a Rapala Mini Fat Rap
What's not to like about light game fishing? If you are fed up blanking with your regular setup then take some gentle advice and buy some ultra light gear and give light game fishing a try.
So does size matter? Not if it's caught on the right gear!
Tight lines!
