THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

me there from Calangute where I was
staying, at last there was the promise at
least of some proper fishing.
You need to watch the taxi drivers
there. My driver demanded a fee from
Tony for introducing me to him as a
customer, despite the fact that I'd
previously set the whole thing up
myself from the UK. He then moaned
all the way back because I'd left fish on
the boat instead of keeping them for
him. Needless to say he talked himself
out of a tip there.
Emperor Snapper
So off we went to fish the reefs around
a couple of small islands called Iiha
Grande and Iiha de Sao Jorge, trolling a range of rapala lures. And while we didn't catch much, what
we did catch was a couple of quite sizeable groupers, plus a very nice emperor snapper which I took
back to the hotel and had cooked in a light coconut sauce later that evening. A fish which very nearly
didn't make it to the kitchen.
Having somehow managed to get itself wedged under a rock leading up to a stalemate situation, Tony
put on his scuba diving gear, went down and freed it, then gave my line a good pull to let me know to
start winding again.
On the way back in that day, we also came across a boiling shoal of small jacks which proved to be a
nice bit of a distraction. But as far as the lure fishing went, that was pretty much it. So on the second
day I suggested we try a bit of bottom fishing with small hooks and bait, which was interesting.
Nothing big, but heaps of fish. Lots of
variety too, though with the potential
for so much more if we'd only had a bit
of half decent bait. Tony had brought
along a box of long dead prawns which
were way too soft to stay on the hook
properly. The fish liked them well
enough, but would usually rip them
free before you could manage to strike.
Those fish we did catch included lots of
trigger fish, parrot fish, dollar fish, and
various breams, plus several other
species which never even got a name.
Also a spectacular looking lion fish
which we had to shake off the hook
Assorted reef fish species
because of its dangerous spines, all of
which was very enjoyable. But not a venue you would want to go to specifically with serious fishing in
mind.
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