Cyprus

Hi JWC and Happy New Year !

News Server's (aka Mark) instructions on places is excellent - I came back
last year after 4 years out there fishing ... oh and working too lol

A few things - firstly the licence fee is (was) £4 a year per dam or £10
for all dams. As far as I know there is no daily ticket but at these prices
we can't complain.

During the summer months the farmers still continue to drain a lot of water
from the dams and that leaves all the fish in very little water and easy
pickings for pelicans and other fish eating birds. Akhna dam lost most (if
not all) its bass but the carp are still plentiful - these average about
5lbs and top out to around 8lbs. I believed they were stocking tilapia in
Akhna and more tench but the latter never seem to grow larger than 1lb !!

Yermasoya dam (Limassol) is a very big dam and you can still catch
largemouth bass there also carp and catfish.

If you want trout, the dams around the mountain but they are only stockies.
One exception is Lefkara dam but you can get mobbed by people trying to sell
you "lace". Lefkara is one of a few dams that does hold some large trout
(though rare) and also some "wild" carp that are actually carnivore.

For hard fighting carp I found Kalavassos was incredible, very nice setting
come late February through to May as wild orchids are everywhere - but watch
out for the snakes !!!

Best days fishing I had was Polymedia dam on the mountain road from
Limassol. I fished a 5 hour match there and caught 300lbs of carp .... and
came 13th !!!!

Baits: sweetcorn always works !! boilies are starting to take off and meat
baits too. Worm (difficult to find) but good for bass - DO NOT USE maggots -
they are actually banned on the island !!!! Spinning is very good for bass.

Mark mentioned that the place to get a licence is pretty hard to find -
there are now a couple of places you can get a licence, one is easier to
find than the other. The place you need to find (or get a taxi to) is the
Port Authority which is between Larnaca town center sea front and before
Larnaca airport sea front. It is by a little boat harbour and the entrance
is actually on the coast road. Just take your passport with you and £10
cypriot. The inspector is a good bloke and will also give you a free guide
on what dams are open, what fish is in each dam and even provide directions
for you.

Hope this helps.

Steve




Homepage: http://www.stevebb.com
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