Explorer
Tarifa, Strait of Gibraltar (ES)
You’ve heard of the beaches, the gorgeous water, the luxurious golf resorts, but did you know that there is amazing sport fishing in Cadiz ...
Read more..You’ve heard of the beaches, the gorgeous water, the luxurious golf resorts, but did you know that there is amazing sport fishing in Cadiz and southern Spain? Andalucia is a unique geographic zone which has access to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, creating the perfect conditions for non-stop sport fishing.
Along the coast, from San Lucar de Barrameda, Chipiona, Rota, Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz down to Barbate, Tarifa and Sotogrande, fishing opportunities abound. The Straits of Gibraltar is only 14.3 kilometres (8.9 miles) wide and 900 meters (2900 ft) deep, and it is a major highway for pelagic fish species migrating throughout the year.
At Last IV
Gibraltar, Strait of Gibraltar (ES)
This was by far the best charter my friends and I have been on. The captain (Andy) was extremely professional and knowledgeable, we caught fish all day and not to mention I caught my personal record on “biggest fish”. Andy helped hook on to a monster!! Definitely would go back, highly recommend booking!
Edgar Perez
Fantastic day out. Martin knew his stuff and we caught 7 tuna which we weren't expecting. Great day out overall.
Ben Thomson
Andy was very welcoming, knowledgeable and tried really hard to find us a tuna
James Needler
The Gulf of Cádiz is situated between Cape San Vicente of Portugal and the Strait of Gibraltar. The coast of the Algarve, Huelva and Cádiz have bays and mouths that make fishing in Cádiz very interesting. The rivers like Guadalquivir and the Guadalete attract a lot of fish and in turn, small predators feed on them. Bass, meagre, bluefish and the gilthead seabream are the most common species here.
Fishing in Cadiz is ideal for jigging as there are countless reefs and rocky areas which house large predators including pink dentex, amberjack, large snapper and red scorpion fish.
Spinning is also a technique that is very successful whilst fishing in Cádiz, producing fish such as atlantic bonito, amberjack and bluefish.
Pink dentex inhabit rocky areas or areas mixed with sand and rock in waters close to the coast from 0-200m depth. They tend to feed on fish, bivalve molluscs and small crustaceans, hence the colour and taste of their flesh, which is white and compact. Sama can be caught jigging with long metal jigs, inchiku or rubber lures for example. Trolling they can be targeted with live bait.
Bluefin tuna is caught trolling in Cadiz. Big game fishing in Cadiz is mainly done off shore and in the area of the Straits of Gibraltar.
When tuna feed in top water and form massive frenzies they can also be targeted casting poppers, stickbait, jigs.
Meagre are a magnificent silver fish that lives in inshore waters. They are caught with live bait or jigging. Meagre can grow from 40–50 cm to 2 m long and weigh up to 55 kg! They are strong fighters so good fishing tackle is required to fish for meagre.
Mahi Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) are also commonly referred to as dorado, dolphin or dolphinfish. They are recognizable by their bluntly shaped heads, long dorsal fin and their bright colouring, dark blue and green on their dorsal side and yellow on their sides and underside.
The Amberjack species are a game fish that are found both in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Jigging and live bait fishing are the best techniques to target these magnificent fighters. Greater Amberjack can weigh up to 170 lb (80 kg).
The Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is a pelagic fish that can grow up to 500kg (1000lb). The biggest Bluefin Tuna ever caught was 780kg (1496lb). These great fighters can be caught trolling, jigging, casting or drifting; mainly off-shore.
The dentex (Dentex dentex) is a common saltwater fish in the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and sometimes they appear in the Canary Islands, Morocco and Senegal. They have very strong teeth to feed on fish, squid and mollusca. Dentex are a great species for sportfishing and are targetted mainly trolling or jigging. The larger fish are 1m long and can weigh up to 15 kg (35 lb).
The pink dentex (Dentex gibbosus) is a saltwater fish distributed from Portugal to Angola, Canary Islands and the warmer areas of the Mediterranean Sea such as southern Spain and the Gibraltar Strait area, Morocco, southern Italy, Tunisia and Algeria. The larger fish are 1,2 m long and can weigh up to 18 kg (40 lb).
Fishing in Cadiz from April and May is an ideal time for offshore trolling for bluefin tuna, albacore and little tunny. Spring is also a good time for bottom fishing for blackspot sea bream, gilt-head bream, jack, scorpion fish and snapper for example.
Jigging produces species such as pink dentex, grouper, amberjack, snapper, red scorpion fish...
Summer is ideal for big game fishing for bluefin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin, dorado and skipjack tuna for example.
Jigging: pink dentex, grouper, amberjack, snapper, red scorpion fish...
Autumn is an excellent time for light tackle inshore trolling for Atlantic bonito, mackerel, frigate tuna, little tunny and dolphinfish (mahi-mahi).
Jigging: pink dentex, grouper, amberjack, snapper, red scorpion fish...
This time can be great for background fishing and you can find blackspot sea bream, forkbeard, grouper and hake. February and March are very good months to fish for large pink dentex with natural bait such as squid, mackerel and horse mackerel. With this technique it is also possible to catch grouper, denton and amberjack.
Deep sea fishing and reef fishing can be done at any time of the year targeting smaller species such as scorpion fish, gilthead seabream, redbanded bream, snapper, meagre, jack, snapper and conger eel.
You need a fishing license to fish in Andalucia. The fishing charters in Cadiz normally have the fishing license included in the price, so you don't need to buy one if you're chartering a boat.
If you do wish to buy a fishing licence, you can purchase one on the website of the Junta de Andalucia.