Playa Santiago - La Gomera - Canary Islands

I spent a week in La Gomera in 2008, and it is a fantastic location for a sun holiday, with nice black beaches and nice mountain walks. We stayed in a little town called Playa Santiago which was made up of just a few shops and a church which was set into the side a rocky hill. At the end of the road there is a little jetty where the ferry which takes you to San Sebastation and a Whale Watching trip departs. I didn't bring any fishing equipment on this trip but was able to buy a very cheap telescopic rod and reel from the local store and used some nice baguettes for bait. With these necessities, I headed towards the jetty to try them out.

On the way to the jetty, I spotted a nicely coloured fish, with a yellow body and brown stripes. Later on I found out that it was a juvenile amberjack, a proper gamefish. When I arrived at the fishing mark, there was a fishing boat landing its catch and they had a nice haul of Skipjack Tuna. I'd love to catch one of those one day.


Juvenile Lesser Amberjack - Seriola fasciata


Skipjack Tuna - Katsuwonus pelamis

After I started fishing, I realised that hooks I was using were way too big for the fish I was trying to catch on the wharf but even then managed to catch 3 species of fish, all new species to me. First was the Bogue [#51], which was a very common fish. They look like sardines but are actually a species of sea bream that were enlongated instead of deep bodied. I then had several Canary Damselfish [#52] which where black with electric blue fins. Finally I caught a few Ornate Wrasse [#53], a fish I did see them while snorkelling and they are a very pretty fish, but only a few females and not a more colourful male.


Bogue - Boops boops #51


Bogue - Boops boops



Canary Damsel - Abudefduf luridus #52


Ornate Wrasse - Thalassoma pavo #53


Ornate Wrasse - Thalassoma pavo

On the whale watch earlier in the day, I stopped for lunch and threw in some bread to attract fish. I spotted quite large sized Bogue and a few Derbio. They are in the same genus as Permit but are a lot more streamline. In Australia, fish of this genus with the same shape as derbio would be called a Dart.


Bogue - Boops boops


Derbio - Trachinotus ovatus


I saw many fish while snorkelling in Playa Santiago. White Seabream, Blennies, Lizardfish, Pufferfish and Wrasses were seen.


Moroccan White Seabream - Diplodus sargus cadenati


Red-lipped Blenny - Ophioblennius atlanticus