Petra, Lesvos

This was the last full day, and the last possible day I had for fishing as my luggage was to be collected from the hotel early in the morning. I'd caught 9 new species so far, equalling my previous record of 9 species on my trip to La Palma earlier this year. I was really hoping for a big slurry of species on the last day.

My last session of fishing on the jetty and as the previous couple of days, no suprise, it was a tiny comber. Next, caught a species of wrasse, which looked similar to a Corkwing back home, but not as colourful. It had a black spot at the bottom of the base of the tail and a black spot on the start of the dorsal, later identified as a Grey Wrasse [#112].


Comber - Serranus cabrilla


Grey Wrasse - Symphodus cinereus #112


Grey Wrasse - Symphodus cinereus

Next, I had two species of goby, a family of fish that had eluded me for the entire trip, even though I'd seen several in the water. The first of these was an orangish goby with black spots, a reddish head and several brownish streaks on its face. I have identified this fish as a Red-mouthed Goby [#113], but I am not 100% sure. The second species was a Black Goby [#114], easily identified by its long first dorsal and black spots at the base of each dorsal.


Red-mouthed Goby - Gobius cruentatus #113


Red-mouthed Goby - Gobius cruentatus


Black Goby - Gobius niger #114


Black Goby - Gobius niger

It started getting difficult to catch anything after these, Im not sure what it was, but in the next half and hour or so, I had many takes but only caught a single Pandora.

Giving up, I packed all my gear and started walking back, when I saw several nice mullet cruising around the boats in the marina just behind the jetty, so I baited up a handline to see if I caught catch them. Managed a tiny Two-banded Bream and an Annular Bream, but not the mullet. On my very last cast, I hooked into a really good comber, the largest one I'd seen so far on the trip, but as I handlined it in, the hook transfered into a rope used to moor a boat, and I was shattered. I spent rest of the morning (and afternoon) sulking....


Common Pandora - Pagellus erythrinus


Two-banded Seabream - Diplodus vulgaris


Annular Seabream - Diplodus annularis