
Mai-Mai II
Beaulieu-sur-mer, Nice (FR)
Known for its Film Festival, Cannes is a city located on the French Riviera. This chic resort is a shopping paradise, full of designer shops and local boutiques. Cannes is home to exclusive restaurants, bars, clubs and casinos. But did you know there's also top class sport fishing in Cannes?
Inshore you can fish in Cannes for reef fish such as snapper, seabream, jack, scorpion fish and nice predators like dentex, amberjack, seabass and pink dentex. Offshore fishing in Cannes is possible from April to October, producing massive tuna, skipjack and spearfish are caught drifting or trolling.
There is a vast variety of fish species in Cannes, ranging from small reef fish to massive offshore pelagic predators. Here are the top fish species from the Côte d'Azur.
The european barracuda is present all year round in the French Riviera, but the best time to target this species is from April to November. They can be caught with artificials spinfishing, trolling or with livebait fishing.
Not the best eating fish, but the strongest fighter you can catch near beaches, rocks and ports. They are a great predator to catch spinfishing poppers, stickbaits, soft baits. During the fight, they will make impressive jumps.
Very popular in the Mediterranean cuisine, the gilthead bream is a fish you can catch from the beaches or the pier using worm, mussle, crab or shrimp as bait. These bream like warmer waters, so the most prolific months to catch them are April to November. But they can be caught during winter as well.
Offshore fishing in Cannes can produce massive bluefin tuna trolling or chumming sardines. The tuna are around from March until October. Biggame fishing in Cannes you may also catch spearfish and albacore.
The Albacore (Thunnus alalunga) has large eyes and long pectoral fins. This is why this species is also known as longfin tuna. The largest Albacore can reach up to 140 cm (4.6ft) and weigh up to 40 kg (90lb).
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 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).
Gilt-head Bream (Sparus aurata) is a common species in the Mediterranean Sea and also in the Atlantic Ocean from Britain to Cape Verde. Popular in the Mediterranean cuisine, the fish is easily recognized by the gold bar marking between its eyes. The largest gilt-head bream are 1 metre long and can weigh up to 7kg (15lb).
Atlantic Bonito (Sarda sarda) is a rapid fish species known for being great hunters. They have striping on their backs with silver-coloured undersides and they grow up to 30 inches long. They have a hydrodynamic body shape, even more so than larger tuna.
The the European barracuda (Sphyraena sphyraena) is also known as the Mediterranean barracuda. This predator is common in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. They can grow up to 1,65m and weigh over 3,5kg.
Frigate tuna or frigate mackerel (Auxis thazard) is a smaller tuna species and can be caught in the tropical oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. They are normally caught trolling small lures and feathers. Frigate tuna can grow up to 65 cm (26 in) and weigh up to 2 kg (5lb).
The White Marlin (Kajikia albida) is a very nice predator which can be caught off shore in warmer waters. This powerful fighter usually feeds during day time on fish, octopuses and squids. They can be caught trolling with artificial lures or with dead bait (bonito, mackerel...).
The Little tunny or False Albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus) is easily identified by the dark spots under its pectoral fins. They like warm temperate and tropical waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The larger Little Tunny weigh up to 35lb and can reach 1,2m.
The skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) have a strong body with black stripes on the side. The largest skipjack tuna can reach up to 100 cm (40 inch) and weigh up to 10 kg (22 lb). Skipjack are mainly caught trolling lures.
The blue shark (Prionace glauca) is a migratory, live-bearing shark that feeds mainly on smaller fish and squid. They can be found in all the oceans and sees around the world.
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.
Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) are probably the most sought after sport fish in the world. They live in the sub-tropical and tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean. Swordfish can grow over 3 meters in length and weigh more than 600 kg (1350lb).
Grouper is common name for all the bass-looking-fish from the Epinephelinae Family. This family also includes sea bass by the way. Grouper are colorful predators who like to live in rocky areas, reefs, wrecks where they can hide.
The common pandora (Pagellus erythrinus) is a type of snapper, common in the Meditarranea Sea, but is also present in the eastern Atlantic coastal areas from Cape Verde to Scandinavia. The biggest pandora can grow up to 50cm (20 inch).
The Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is a pelagic fish that can grow up to 500kg (1000lb). The biggest Bluefin Tuna every caught was 780kg (1496lb). These great fighters can be caught trolling, jigging, casting or drifting; mainly off-shore.
Offshore trolling and spinning can be done from April and May. With these techniques bluefin tuna, albacore and little tunny can be caught. Inshore, drifting or anchored you may catch dentex, grouper, jack, scorpion fish, seabream and snapper on the reef.
Sea fishing in Cannes in summer can produce bluefin tuna by chumming sardines and mackerel (offshore). Inshore, life bait fishing in Cannes can be done by trolling or drifting using natural baits such as squid, mackerel or horse mackerel.
This is an excellent season for inshore trolling with small lures and feathers to fish for various species such as atlantic bonito, mackerel, little tunny and dolphin fish.
The winter is ideal for deep sea fishing and bottom fishing in Cannes. With deep sea bottom fishing (using electric reels), you can find a wide range of species such as the largest bream, codling, conger eel, grouper and hake.