I did not update for a bit, I was too busy fishing😊, so this is going to be a double entry…

Two days ago, the wind was still South, a bit weaker in the morning and very strong in the afternoon. Heigh tide was around 16:00 so I decided to go for a bit of needlefish, just to rise my confidence and be active for a change. Of course, I still had 2 other rods out with, one with sardine and the other with trusty old squid. And fishing was fairly active. With low tide, there was quite a few needlefish, but also some weevers on two other rods. As the tide begun to rise, I got 2 spotted bass on squid and decided to stop with needlefish after I got about 15… By this time the wind picked up and coupled with rising tide, the current and the weaves were getting too much for needlefish anyhow. However, soon after I switched completely to big baits, a heavy dark cloud started rolling in from the North. I played it safe and left for the day just before the maximum tide

Yesterday, the wind finally changed to North after a long time. Which meant flat ocean and help while casting😊. I have had such a great time from 8 until 14, when the wind picked up and turned to South. I can say little about catch – there were only weevers and one stray spotted bas on clam. Nevertheless, it was such a treat not to have to cast against the wind, and being able to just sit back and enjoy the view of my rods – as the North wind is barely felt on the beach which is protected by sand dunes from the North… Forecast for the next few days says very strong wind, but from the North😊😊😊!!! Tomorrow morning, I will try a bit of spinning… just to mix it up a bit.

Posted by Milko at 3:37 AM EDT

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Yesterday, the ocean was all swelled up from the storm that lasted a few days. Huge weaves, and very, very strong current. I had to use 170 grams triangular lead which digs into the sand just to stay in place. Even so, while the tide was rising, even that was no use, the hooks would end up in the surf to the right of me in minutes. Naturally, there was some grass being pushed about by the current and quite a few branches…

So, I fished only one rod. And I fished with squid only. There was no need for elaborate baits like sardine, clam or the like. The good thing is that fishing was very active – shortly after you cast out, you either had to retrieve because the current had drifted your line in front of somebody else, or there was a bite. The bad news is, the ocean is still riddled with small fish, so the catch again consisted sargo and muharra. I did manage to get 3 medium-sized sargo and another one which could be classified as having been “on the big side”, for the rest it was small fish frenzy. I even got a weaver about 7cm long☹…

The only notable event is that soon after the tide had begun to rise, I got a proper bite not too far from the shore and I got a very, very nice bass! And as I brought it in, it started swimming left and right in front off my feet all the while pulling along the 170gr lead. It was a proper fish. However, after having given me a run for my money, it just spit out the hook some 5 meters in front of my feet and was swept away by the ocean…

I did not stay long, as there were heavy clouds looming over my head and it drizzled intermittently so I left just before the tide was highest. I hope today it goes better,, as it is a brilliant sunny day at Praia da Alagoa in Altura😊

Posted by Milko at 8:15 AM EDT

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Yesterday morning, the forecast was a bit bleak – extremely strong South wind as of 11 AM onwards. Having tried everything I could to get some quality fish the previous days, I decided to go for for an hour or two for needlefish in front of the house. My plan was to take advantage of the few hours of calm before the wind picks up, as I knew I would not be able to fish for a few days after that…

 When I got there, I saw a pile of discarded shells on the beach – obviously someone was dragging a net for cockles while the tide was low, and that is where this person cleaned the net and sorted the catch. I walked to the pile as I knew I could find loads of sand crabs there. And indeed, there were quite a few damaged and half dead sand crab about, so I collected a few and proceeded to set up my rods.

First, I casted a rod with the needlefish rig – popup beads near the size 5 hooks to keep the bait afloat, baited it with a piece of sardine and proceeded to set up a rod for sand crab. By the time I casted in the crab, I already got a needlefish on the other rod… But then the wind stated picking up as forecasted and the tide started getting higher at the same time which made quite big weaves. But then the rod with the crab went off, and I got a nice seabream!!! Yeyyyyyy for me! Finally, a fish! My motivation restored, after getting the second needlefish on the shore, I packed up this rig, and casted in another crab. I even unpacked my 3^rd rod and baited it with squid/clam combo on a 2 hook rig. In the next hour I got some more baits and landed 3 nice sargo, one of which as even bigger than the seabream I was so happy about. And the best thing is that the wind died off completely for about 2 hours – I guess I know now why they say “the calm before the storm”… So, I stayed quite a long time on the beach… But all good things must come to an end, the wind started picking up around 14:00 and the threatening clouds appeared over the ocean, so I hurried home for a cup of tea and my breakfast😊… Now, I can not wait for the storm to be over, usually fishing gets very good after huge weaves dig up sand, exposing cockles and worms… we will see…

Posted by Milko at 9:19 AM EDT

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Thursday morning the weather was unbelievable – no wind to speak of, nice temperature – heigh tide at 11:11 AM – what more can one want for, right???

Having been repeatedly disappointed with Paria da Alagoa fishing, I decided to go to Vila Real de Santo Antonio pier… Looks nice, doesn’t it?

Having arrived there 2 hours before heigh tide, I set up 2 rods, one with while clam and the other with razorfish and squid on a two hook rig and waited…expectations were heigh as I had heard that people are catching seabream there regularly. And indeed, there were some 15 fisherman on the pier, all with 2 or 3 rods and it seemed quite busy… The catch was again a big disappointment – I saw 5 or 6 small seabream being caught by others and I got only 3 weevers… When the wind picked up in the afternoon and it got too warm, I simply left, completely demotivated… On my way down I observed what others are doing, and there is a small matter of having the right bait, worms called casulo and americana, and obligatory use of a very long leader line, 2m or linger… even still, the catch was nothing to write home about…

Posted by Milko at 9:19 AM EDT

Updated: Saturday, 24 April 2021 5:23 AM EDT

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It is middle of the night and I am sooooo frustrated that I will write another post rather than go to bed…

Heigh tide was around 21:00 so I decided to try night fishing. I mean if they are not biting during day, they must be feeding at night, right? AND ANOTHER WROOOOOONG!

I started around 20:00 and stayed until midnight. Three rods, one close by, second at medium distance and the third half the way to Morocco! Had sand crab, sand worms, squid, clam and cockles as bait… And yet again all I got is endless tiny little mucharra, attacking everything no matter the distance! Finally, I got fed up and filleted one for bait, and the tiny mucharra picked even that one clean off!!!

At this point I am staring to wander what am I doing wrong… So, tomorrow I will visit Vila Real de Santo Antonio – I hear there is a beached whale so it should be worth the trip just to see that – but more importantly everyone is saying they are catching loads of seabream and sargo – I will stay a while without rods and observe the locals to see for myself…

Posted by Milko at 11:51 PM EDT

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Just got back from the beach and am still itching for something to catch.

I spent the better part of yesterday fishing started with low tide and persisted up until heigh tide. Result – pitiful 4 weevers – or it may have been the same one 4 times😊😊😊…

So, after such bad results, I decided to do some spinning early in the morning – heigh tide was around 7 this morning, so it was ideal. And indeed, the weather was simply great – no wind, moderate weaves on Alagoa beach, and crystal-clear water! Ideal for some spinning – right? WRONG! The surf is full of mullet, sardines and garfish but no sign of seabass, spotted bass, bluefish or any other sizable predator… So, after 2 hours of poppers, pencil poppers, spoons and even mackerel feathers – the most excitement I had is when a garfish started following my BayRuf Manic into the surf… And I did not even get that one!

Finally I gave up, pinched a piece of sardine from a buddy of mine, set up a surf rig with a pop-up bead to keep the sardine on the surface and caught 4 garfish just so I can see something moving…

They are a lot of fun, but I will need a feeder or heavy float rod to really appreciate the action… so, that may be the plan for tomorrow – cast out a sizable piece of bait and fiddle around with needlefish while I wait…

Oh, almost forgot – I was not lazy – I even tried fishing with sandworm… I got a few mucharra far away, so I switched to close by casts – and shortly after casting literally in front of my feet I got a very nice mullet – it put up quite a fight in the surf, everyone come rushing in to see the seabass and were equally disappointed when I pulled out the mullet… Oh, well…

Proofreading this, it seems I had a good morning, eh?  God I am spoiled, but I am still itching for some bass action!!!!

Posted by Milko at 7:45 AM EDT

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My last outing was a mixed feeling kind of thing. The weather was simply great! I went out around 11 in the morning and stayed on the beach until 20:00… I positively enjoyed myself! Three rods, as usually, strong current, and nice big weaves.

At the beginning of the session, it was low tide and I had some problems with grass floating in the surf. For a while fished with only one rod. But as soon as the tide started coming in, the ocean cleared up and I casted out 2 other rods.

Catch-wise, it was not so great – all day long was the kingdom of small fish – sargo and mucharra all the time, and all of them small, about palm-size. And while I was happy for a while to have constant action, it got really old soon – when I realized it will be so all day, I switched to big hooks on 2 rods, and baited them with fish fillets, for that was the only thing the small ones would not chop away within minutes. Unfortunately, no action on the big bait – it only confirmed there was no big fish in the surf… I persisted with squid on the 3^rd rod, and managed to get one very nice sargo, around 500gr… but it being the only sized fish all day was a bit of a downer! Surprisingly I did not get even a small bass as I usually do on squid… Oh, well! Today rain is forecasted in the afternoon, but tomorrow is another day!

Posted by Milko at 6:24 AM EDT

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Yesterday was a baaaaaad day of fishing… I was all fired up and ready to go, and indeed, it seemed as though all would be perfect. I got there 2 hrs before the heigh tide, unpacked my tackle, standard 3 rod set up, one with 2 big hook system, one medium size hook long line system, and one 2 small hook system – hook size 4, as I was using sand worms I had dug up the day before…

And indeed, there was some fish to be caught, mainly small sargo and mucharra, but also a small seabream… current was strong, weaves were digging up the sand, it all seemed quite appealing…

BUT, the trouble was the strong South – South-westerly wind. I mean STRONG!!! Not only was I casting against the wind, but it was also not enjoyable to stay on the beach. After 2 hours I began getting nervous, jumpy… And the wind kept picking up and I started getting a headache. So, finally, I was the first one to leave, I could not stand it anymore… Later I heard from others who had stayed behind that fishing actually picked up with receding tide… In my opinion, even if they were hauling monster fish one after another, in that weather, it could hardly be called fishing…

Posted by Milko at 3:27 PM EDT

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It has been QUITE a while since I did any fishing or posted anything - due to the COVID lockdown situation, fishing was prohibited (!!!???? as it is SUCH a well-known group sport!!!!????) in Portugal...

On the 5th April fishing was finally allowed and after having gone through considerable hardship to renew my licence, and even more so to reorganize my tackle and remember where all the things I needed were, I was able to hit the beach!

On the 5th I had my first outing - but this was a discovery expedition - I needed to get back in touch with the ocean, try to re-establish my feel for the flow... And sure enough, I got only one spotted bass...

As I was getting ready to leave, it was starting to get too warm, and, more importantly the tide was going down rapidly, the fish started biting... Hmmm, a very strange development... Activity with the outgoing tide and almost no action with upcoming tide...

That evening I went back to check if it would be better at night - and it was not, there were tons of Mucharra and fishing was more or less impossible - as soon as the bait hit the water it would be chopped off by these little buggers.

So next day, I went out in the afternoon with outgoing tide and had great time - in a few hours I got 2 sargo, two spotted bass, unavoidable 2 mucharra (EVEN AT DAYTIME!!!!) and 2 Greater weever... All in all, a very nice session after so much time browsing the internet and fishing for lures, hooks, tackle...

Posted by Milko at 5:45 AM EDT

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I tried the beach last night with low tide - started about 1,5 hrs befor the minimum and stayed on for another 1,5 after the water had started to rise...

 Regular setup - three rods, two with big hooks and sardine as bait, one rod with a small hook and a piece of squid as bait....

 As soon as I casted in the first rod with a sardine, the small fish were on it and packed it away in miniues... So, I caught me one of these small fish and used that as bait... Unfortunately, no action on live bait....

I tried a fish fillet on the third rod... Alas, not a peep there either.

 The small ones kept going at the squid like crazy, but that was just about it... It seems there are only small fish swimming around... Or so would say those who can not catch anything bigger

Now, I consider this a good session - on account of the extremely cold weather we have had around New Year's Day, all the fish disappeared from the costal area - I would sit there with three rods for hours at a time without so much as a nibble. I am glad fish returned - where there are small ones, bigger fish are sure to follow... Next session will be at heigh tide and with some shells and worms as bait...  I am itching for a catch...

Posted by Milko at 6:57 AM EST

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