Sport Fishing

For anyone who has ever attached a worm to a hook and tried to tempt an unwitting fish to feast on it, this is the absolute zenith of the sport. Battling with fish that can grow as big, if not bigger than yourself, before hauling it ashore or on board a motor launch is one of the best feelings any angler can experience. 

Naturally, thoughts of this activity would not even be entertained here on Malta if there were not plenty of exciting species of battling fish to target. But it’s the big brutes of the fish world we’re after - the ones that make you spread your arms like a crucifixion when asked about the size – and that’s where Malta is especially blessed.

This small island is bang in the middle of the Med’, relatively speaking. It’s small but there’s plenty of water around it to go at, plenty of space for unsuspecting large fish to exist and grow to a decent size before you turn up with your rod. And the other big advantage to Malta is it has the climate to support year-round fishing trips.

Having said that, for sport or game fishing as it’s also known, the best season tends to be late summer (around September-ish). This is because the water temperatures are peaking after months underneath the blazing summer sun. It’s also when shoals of pelagic fish such as garfish, dorado, amberjack and little tuna come close to the shore, allowing you to dip your lures and enjoy some major successes.

Regular river, canal or shore anglers will benefit from sport fishing too because it requires and teaches you different techniques. So you can try your hand at rock fishing, beach ledgering, spinning or standard float fishing. These can all be carried out in any of the sheltered bays, or from the piers along the shoreline.

But for the really big ones you need to head for the wide-open water and cast your line from the back of a boat. Employing this tactic vastly increases your chances of landing one of the bottom-dwelling species like painted comber, wrasse and bream or maybe even predatory species like amberjack, barracuda, albacore tuna, skipjack, dentex and dorado.

Malta is a place with lots of coast and lots of fish so it’s very easy to find all the tackle you’ll need to have a go – whether buying or renting. You’ll also be able to furnish yourself with local information on the best places to go and the best techniques to use – all you need to do is trawl the web or ask other local anglers when you arrive.

You’ll find plenty of skippers with boats that offer dedicated sport fishing excursions from the island. There are scores of these but the link below should give you a good start in hunting one out.