Fishing "the soup" from the shore or from a boat is an age-old practice that allows locals and holidaymakers alike to have fun catching different species of fish.
The different ways to catch rockfish
The search for rock fish is fairly straightforward. Of course, you need to fish in a rocky area, from shore or by boat, and use bait.
To rockfish are not difficult to catch, with small bits of shrimp, peeled mussels and small pieces of shellfish flesh. You can fish either with a cork or with a leaded line resting directly on the bottom.
Blackbirds often come out on top
The girelle is often the first species of fish that will literally pounce on your bait. Opportunistic, they live in small shoals and are widely present in Mediterranean waters at depths of 1 m or less.
When the waters start to warm up, they start frantically searching for food close to the shore. They have tiny, toothy mouths and will quickly clean your hook if you're not careful or if it's too big.
Sarran follows closely
The common saury, or goat saury, is often the first species to compete with waxwings.
More solitary, it is nevertheless unsuspecting and its gluttonous nature leads it to bite bait presented near the bottom.
The rovers close the loop
Rouquiers are actually fish of the Labridae family, part of the Crenilabra class. They include the peacock crenilabra, the ash crenilabra and the Mediterranean crenilabra, among others.
Less aggressive fish that take their time to arrive on the bait offered. They have small mouths and the hook size will have to be small enough to hope to bite them.
Other species may join the feast
Other rock fish living on the bottom are likely to bite on your hooks. Rascasses, blennies and mostelles are less frequent catches, as there are fewer of them. If you fish off the bottom or between two waters, other species will invite themselves to the fishing party.
First of all, the unloved beavers and buggers, which will quickly clean out your mounts. Oblades, saupes and sars complete the picture, with some nice fine-line battles thrown in for good measure.
