Rocky shore fishing - Terceira Azores.
Hi!
I grew up in South Africa on the Cape South Coast. We had sandy beaches and rocky shores to choose from, lots of fish and simple rigs. Fishing was one of my favourite activities as a kid and teenager. Our deepfreeze was always stocked. Roll on the years with pretty much no fishing and I have retired to a small mid-Atlantic island called Terceira in the Azores archipelago. It's Portuguese.
This is a spectacular spot and I am thoroughly enjoying all aspects of the local environment.......except, I can't seem to reel in the fish!
The island is volcanic, so the shoreline is almost entirely rocky. I have tried a few rigs with sinkers (lots of tackle lost) and floats. I have tried squid, pilchard and shrimp as bait. So far I've caught one needle fish, two blacktail seabream, a conger eel and a triggerfish - all undersized and returned to the sea.
So, what I am after, is some advice on setups and baits from anyone who might have some idea as to how I might return from and expedition with more than an empty bait bucket.
It really is rocky !
Looks like it is mostly boat fishing. From what I can see, land based is not very popular. Which might be a good thing.
The only spot I can see that makes me say 'that looks good', is the breakwall at the boat ramp.
As for dealing with the rocks....You are going to lose gear !!
A float is the best option. Do you have small fish in the area that can be used as live bait?
If you can't get or can't use live bait. The next best option is to use a glitter float. It is just a normal float with shiny glitter tape on the under side. If you use a float you need to get the attention of the fish. A moving live bait or flashing from a glitter float will do that.
For bottom fishing, you can't avoid the rocks. You will lose gear...But you can reduce the loss.
Sphere or ball shaped sinkers are the go. A ball or sphere, is the only object shape that is the same dimension in all directions. That means if it goes in a hole, it can come out that hole no matter which way it is facing.
Using a ball sinker does not compensate for odd shaped holes or your hook getting caught. But it does help.
