Fishing in Balearic Islands

The Balearic Islands have a rocky sea floor rich in fauna and flora, very interesting for fishing. One of the best examples is the archipelago of Cabrera, declared as a National Park with a major natural value. Throughout history it has been isolated from human contact and its coast and marine bottoms have been unaltered to the present time.

In the rocky bottoms live groupers, scorpion fish, red scorpion fish, congers and morays. Other common species are sea bass, guilthead and dentex.

Offshore fishing in the Balearic Islands is very popular and the fishing areas for bluefin tuna, albacore and swordfish aren't far away. On the southeast of Majorca for example, it’s only 6 miles to reach the dropoff with depths over 500m deep. 20 minutes after leaving port, fishing charters in the Balearic Islands start offshore trolling.

The Ibiza Channel, which separates Ibiza from the spanish main land, the Mallorca Channel between Ibiza and Mallorca and the Menorca Channel between Mallorca and Menorca also have very interesting features for big game fishing and deep sea fishing in the Balearic Islands.

The trolling and deep sea fishing season starts in May; this is when we start catching species like bluefin tuna, albacore, swordfish, shortbill spearfish and dorado (mahi-mahi). The bluefin tuna pass through the Ibiza Channel, go through the Gulf of Valencia, passing by the Ebro Delta to spawn near the Balearic Islands, the Gulf of Lion and other areas.

Recent studies found out why the Balearic Islands are their preferred spawning areas. Atlantic currents coming from the Gibraltar Straits hit the Balearic Islands and with marine currents coming from the Gulf of Lion. These conditions provide them with the ideal water temperatures, salinity and food to spawn here every year.

During the months of May to August, the albacore make their way north on the south side of the Balearic Islands.

In May and June good areas are the so-called “S” and the “Torre”, situated on the south of Majorca. In June and July the albacores move more towards the southeast side of the isle, to zones such as “Ses Mamelles”.

End of July and August they are found much closer to Menorca. August and September are good months for fishing giant bluefin tuna and giant swordfish up to 300kg. Chumming is usually done and the best areas are the area of Alcudia, areas between Majorca and Ibiza, north of Cabo Formentera and also in an area located on the East of Porto Colom and Porto Cristo. 

When autumn arrives, it is possible to practice light trolling and spinning , to fish small tuna and dolphin-fish (between 1-10kg). The rest of the year you can practice jigging and specially bottom fishing.

Bottom fishing you can catch grouper, scorpion fish, red scorpion fish, conger... 

If you want to go fishing in the Balearic Islands, you need a fishing license. Children under 14 years and persons older than 65 years need the lincese, but it's free of charge. The Balearic Islands have fishing licenses for shore fishing, boat fishing, spear fishing, traditional fishing techniques and also other special licenses to be able to fish in protected areas.

Buy your license for the Balearic Islands here.

Remember that the fishing charters in the Balearic Islands normally have the fishing license included in the price, so you don't need to buy one if you're chartering a boat.