Corsica?

[101_North]

Hi Folks,

 

I've recently booked a holiday to Corsica in July and was wondering if anyone knew much about the shore fishing potential. We're staying in Sant'Antonino near Calvi. I'd be interested in any information anyone might have.

 

Cheers

 

101

[corydoras]

Hi Folks,

 

I've recently booked a holiday to Corsica in July and was wondering if anyone knew much about the shore fishing potential. We're staying in Sant'Antonino near Calvi. I'd be interested in any information anyone might have.

 

Cheers

 

101

Hello

 

I have an aunt who lives in Ajaccio, and I have had two 3 week holidays there in the last 16 years. I never went fishing once as there were far too many other things to do and see.

 

However I know there is good angling to be had in Corsica, in both fresh and sea water. I found this website for you http://chasse-peche-corse.com/peche.html

 

There is a basic species list on there that should whet your appetite. This is a link to the French google site with the search term peche corse, I would suggest that you have a look through it. http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=pe...=cr%3DcountryFR

 

As Corsica is part of France (although don't EVER tell a Corsican he is French, you are likely to get your throat slit or be shot and that is not a joke) you won't need a permit to fish in the sea. If you want to fish in fresh water then better ask in the carp forum about licences etc but the system is pretty much like here. You need a rod license and permission to fish the venue.

 

Corsica is a 'special' part of France. The Corsicans don't like the French and they are not all that keen on the English either, don't forget that Napoleon was Corse. (I'm OK I have 'blood' there and I am Scots anyway) but they will still make you very welcome. Corsicans don't pay much heed to the law. You will see loads of folk running around on scooters and motorbikes with no crash helmets.

 

Corsicans drive like loonies and they have a habit of torching someone property over vendettas and feuds.

 

Corsica is a beautiful island. The food is top notch, especially the charcuterie and the fromage de brebis (ewes milk cheese). Look out for beignet (doughnuts) stuffed with fromage de brebis and honey, sounds weird but they are to die for.

 

You must have a ride on the island railway line. It's a narrow gage electric affair, not much bigger than OO gauge. The Corsican call it the "Tremblotin" or TGV corse (Train à Grandes Vibrations). It is due to be upgraded in 2008 and it is bound to lose a lot of its character afterwards. No more shouting at the driver to stop at request stops.

 

The Calanques de piana are a must see, so is Porto if you get a chance.

 

This is Calvi

 

I know that you are going to the north, but if you can visit Bonifaciao then go for it. I have to stop now. Sorry if I have rambled away from the fishing but I love Corsica, I am very jealous and wish I were going with you. One last thing though you will probably need to hire a car, and be careful driving on Corsican roads. Some can be very narrow, run along 500m cliffs with little in the way of safety barriers.

 

Final wee note. If you see a forest fire keep a lookout for the

.

 

Tight lines and a smashing holiday to you.

Edited February 2, 2007 by corydoras

[101_North]

Thanks for the info mate

 

Had a quick look at some of the sights and it's certainly whet my appetite. I'm not sure exactly how much fishing I'll get done as it's my honeymoon but I have no doubt that she'll be quite content to sit and read in the sun while I go off fishing! Truth be told she'll be glad to get rid of me for a few hours!

 

I'm still not sure what gear I'll be able to take but it'll probably be a fly rod and a spinning outfit. I have no idea what to use for bait off the shore or what lures to take but I'll enjoy experimenting.

 

We are hiring a car so hopefully we'll be able to get to some of the places you mentioned. We've heard great things about Corsica and your post has got me looking forward to this now!

 

Cheers

 

101

[corydoras]

Thanks for the info mate

 

Had a quick look at some of the sights and it's certainly whet my appetite. I'm not sure exactly how much fishing I'll get done as it's my honeymoon but I have no doubt that she'll be quite content to sit and read in the sun while I go off fishing! Truth be told she'll be glad to get rid of me for a few hours!

 

I'm still not sure what gear I'll be able to take but it'll probably be a fly rod and a spinning outfit. I have no idea what to use for bait off the shore or what lures to take but I'll enjoy experimenting.

 

We are hiring a car so hopefully we'll be able to get to some of the places you mentioned. We've heard great things about Corsica and your post has got me looking forward to this now!

 

Cheers

 

101

Sorry my post rambled a bit here and there, I was up all night could not get to sleep. I don't think I would take a fly rod, unless you are going to do some fresh water fishing for trout. If I were going I would take my 13' float rod (there might be mullet about) and my spinning rod.

[Steve Coppolo]

I worked in Corsica over a few summers and know it well. I was based in St Florent and Propriano, but it's a small island and I travelled all around it several times. (St Florent is magical and well worth a visit while you're there). There are plenty of bass and mullet in Corse, so I definately would take a fly rod. More or less the whole island is classic bass country, and the harbours are full of mullet. I used to watch bass trying to get octopus out from hollow concrete blocks most mornings, so if you try bait fishing I would try squid or octopus.

 

There are also some very, very large fish in those waters, but I don't know what they might be. One day whilst out on the boat I saw something huge come completely out of the water. At first I thought it was the sail of a capsized dinghy as is came upright, but as it splashed back into the sea I could see it was a fish of some kind. I couldn't be sure what it was because it was about 200 yards away, but I'd heard of great white sharks off Malta and Italy, so I made my way back in pretty sharpish. It could have been a big swordfish I suppose, I really don't know.

 

Enjoy your time there, it is a very special place, and the people are special too.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Steve Coppolo

[corydoras]

I worked in Corsica over a few summers and know it well. I was based in St Florent and Propriano, but it's a small island and I travelled all around it several times. (St Florent is magical and well worth a visit while you're there). There are plenty of bass and mullet in Corse, so I definately would take a fly rod. More or less the whole island is classic bass country, and the harbours are full of mullet. I used to watch bass trying to get octopus out from hollow concrete blocks most mornings, so if you try bait fishing I would try squid or octopus.

 

There are also some very, very large fish in those waters, but I don't know what they might be. One day whilst out on the boat I saw something huge come completely out of the water. At first I thought it was the sail of a capsized dinghy as is came upright, but as it splashed back into the sea I could see it was a fish of some kind. I couldn't be sure what it was because it was about 200 yards away, but I'd heard of great white sharks off Malta and Italy, so I made my way back in pretty sharpish. It could have been a big swordfish I suppose, I really don't know.

 

Enjoy your time there, it is a very special place, and the people are special too.

Hi Steve

 

Did'nt know you had been to Corse. It is true that there are some big fish round the Corsican coast. One day we went out on the glass bottomed semi-submersible submarine type boat that sails out of Ajaccio and I saw some large dorade or something similar. Difficult to say axactly how big they were because the curved polycarbonat hull has a magnifying effect, but they would have put a bend on your road, thats for sure. I was sorry that I did not have a rod with me. The next time I go and visit my Tata Yvonne I will not be leaving my rods in Blighty.

 

Do you speak French BTW? I am not sure if many Corsicans speak English, but being a French speaker I never even thought about trying out my English on the locals.

[n4lly]

French wit

[101_North]

I worked in Corsica over a few summers and know it well. I was based in St Florent and Propriano, but it's a small island and I travelled all around it several times. (St Florent is magical and well worth a visit while you're there). There are plenty of bass and mullet in Corse, so I definately would take a fly rod. More or less the whole island is classic bass country, and the harbours are full of mullet. I used to watch bass trying to get octopus out from hollow concrete blocks most mornings, so if you try bait fishing I would try squid or octopus.

 

There are also some very, very large fish in those waters, but I don't know what they might be. One day whilst out on the boat I saw something huge come completely out of the water. At first I thought it was the sail of a capsized dinghy as is came upright, but as it splashed back into the sea I could see it was a fish of some kind. I couldn't be sure what it was because it was about 200 yards away, but I'd heard of great white sharks off Malta and Italy, so I made my way back in pretty sharpish. It could have been a big swordfish I suppose, I really don't know.

 

Enjoy your time there, it is a very special place, and the people are special too.

 

I take it the bass will take lures - wedges and the like? And the mullet bread?

 

Really starting to look forward to this now.

 

Good to hear that Corsica is a nice place - it certainly looks it from the photos I've seen and I've yet to hear a bad word said about it!

 

Thanks for the replies folks.

 

101

[Steve Coppolo]

Hi Steve

 

Did'nt know you had been to Corse. It is true that there are some big fish round the Corsican coast. One day we went out on the glass bottomed semi-submersible submarine type boat that sails out of Ajaccio and I saw some large dorade or something similar. Difficult to say axactly how big they were because the curved polycarbonat hull has a magnifying effect, but they would have put a bend on your road, thats for sure. I was sorry that I did not have a rod with me. The next time I go and visit my Tata Yvonne I will not be leaving my rods in Blighty.

 

Do you speak French BTW? I am not sure if many Corsicans speak English, but being a French speaker I never even thought about trying out my English on the locals.

 

 

Hi Corydoras

 

I absolutely love Corse. I will go back one year but it isn't the easiest, or cheapest, of places to organise a family holiday. Just as well really or it would soon be spoilt.

 

I don't know what that big fish was that I saw that day, but I estimated that it must have been about 12 feet long!

 

I did speak a little French at the time, a case of having to really because I only met one Corsican who could, (was prepared to), speak English! My French was never that good, and the Pastis certainly didn't help matters! But I never had any problems with the Corsicans who I found to be top people, again just as well given their liking for guns!

 

Hi 101 North

 

Yes the bass will take lures. There are a lot of rocky headlands that will be worth a try, and the sandy bays are well worth a try early in the morning when the sea is flat calm and crystal clear. Look for any structure or underwater feature. You'll be surprised at how just a small feature can hold fish. The bass I used to see every morning were attracted by four hollow concrete blocks that were used to anchor a small jetty about 20 yards out from the beach. They would be there every day when I arrived on the jetty at 7.00 am, harrassing the octopus, (octopi?), who lived in the blocks! They were about 7 or 8 pounds and there were half a dozen of them. I also saw bass whilst diving over an inshore reef.

 

The mullet in the harbours take bread quite readily. There are always a few in the harbours, but one day the whole of St Florent harbour was covered in mullet, and I mean every inch! The whole of the surface was broken by a mass of fins and tails. I don't know what brought them into the harbour that day in those numbers, maybe some predators were lurking just outside? I remember it was a very hot, humid and cloudy day, maybe that had something to do with it?

 

You get some nice weather effects in Corsica too. The day before a Mistral you get a huge cigar shaped cloud over the mountains in the North. On the day of the Mistral the air is so clear that you can see for miles, and the colours are so vivid you can see what the impressionist painters saw when they painted some of their famous paintings. If you get the Sirocco winds blowing from North Africa, the mountains turn red and orange in the evening sun, and you'll sweat buckets just lying on your bed!

 

I'd better stop now or I'll be down to the travel agents on Monday booking flights!

[Norm B]

Hi Corydoras

 

I absolutely love Corse. I will go back one year but it isn't the easiest, or cheapest, of places to organise a family holiday. Just as well really or it would soon be spoilt.

Big snip.

I'd better stop now or I'll be down to the travel agents on Monday booking flights!

Go on then, you know you want to. Be impulsive.