

Luna
Puerto Banus, Marbella (ES)
For us fishing enthusiasts, fishing in Marbella is the best outdoor activity you can do in this lovely village. Situated on the Mediterranean coast between Málaga and the Straits of Gibraltar at the foot of the Sierra Blanca, Marbella is known for its warm Mediterranean climate, its nighlife and its 26 wonderful beaches, stretching over 27.9km of coastline.
Inshore you can fish for reef fish such as snapper, seabream, jack, scorpion fish and nice predators like dentex, amberjack, seabass and pink dentex. Offshore, from April to October, massive tuna, skipjack and white marlin can be caught drifting or trolling.
Marbella is probably one of the best places to combine family holidays with sport fishing.
Fishing in Marbella is a pleasure for all fisherman, who can enjoy the four ports of the most iconic city of the Costa del Sol. These ports are: Puerto Virgen del Carmen (located downtown near shops and the beach, offering a yacht club and a professional scuba diving school), Puerto Banus (a luxury port with 1000 moorings), Puerto Cabopino and Puerto Marina la Bajadilla.
The pink dentex (pagrus auriga) is usually quite large (90cm) and can weigh 11kg or more. Its colour is usually pink at the time of capture and gets more red later.
The species is caught mainly in rocky or mixed areas of sand and rock, normally not deeper than 200m. The best fishing techniques to target the pink dentex are trolling live bait with downrigger or vertical jigging with rubber bait, inchiku and long blades. You can catch this species practically all year round, but February and March usually offer the best months to catch this sought after species.
In Marbella, dentex can be found between 0 and 200m deep, with the young closer to the shore and the old out deeper. Dentex feed mainly on fish, crabs, molluscs and their favourite, squid. Trolling or drifting with live bait with downrigger or vertical jigging with rubber bait, inchiku and long blades. You can fish dentex practically all year, being April and May the most productive months to catch them.
Bluefin Tuna (thunnus thynnus) can weigh up to 500kg (1000lb+), making it one of the most wanted species in Marbella. Tuna are targeted chumming natural bait or trolling artificials offshore in waters with more than 500-1000 meters depth in the Alboran Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar. The fish arrive early spring from the Atlantic Ocean and migrate towards their spawning areas in the Mediterranean Sea. The best tuna fishing in Marbella is from April to September. In March and April, tuna - especially younger fish, come closer to shore and can create spectacular frenzies. In these situation it's great to start casting poppers, stickbait and jigs towards the frenzie hoping one of the predators attacks it.
For spinfishing for tuna, we recommend the use of a good reel (Saltiga 4500 or 6500 type or Stella Daiwa 18000-20000 Shimano, for example), an adecuat robust spinning rod and strong braided lines 60lb-80lb, because the fight with a bluefin tuna may extend for over an hour easily.
The grouper fish camouflages perfectly to the seabed. The best technique to catch this fish in Marbella is fishing live or dead bait close to the bottom, in rocky areas such as the Las Bovedas reef. Trolling slowly with the help or a downrigger or drifting would be the best way to target Grouper in Marbella and the Costa del Sol. They can be found all year round.
The young bream are located closer to the coast in shallow water and they swim grouped together in large schools. As their age increases, they live in deeper and sandy places. Fishing black spot sea bream in Marbella is done chiefly in winter, and in deep waters (which means between 200 and 400m deep). Electric reels are of great help here.
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).
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 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 Red Scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa) live in sandy and rocky areas from 20 to 180 meters deep. They are found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between the British Isles to Senegal, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde. The species can grow to a maximum length of 50 cm (20 in) and weigh up to 3 kg (6.6 lb). Red scorpion fish feed on small fish, as well as crustaceans and molluscs.
Redbanded seabream (Pagrus auriga) is a fish of the bream family Sparidae, just like gilt-head bream, red porgy and dentex. Redbanded seabream are found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the south western Mediterranean Sea. They mainly feed on shellfish and cephalopods. This wonderful fish species can grow up to 1 meter long and weigh more than 12kg.
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).
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.
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).
The northern red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) is a popular fish often caught reef fishing in the Atlantic waters of Florida, Gulf of Mexico and also the Caribbean. This sought-after game fish can reach 1 m and weight up to 50lb.
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 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.
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 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...).
Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) or simply mackerel have a great back with irregular black bands. They're very common and like the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and the northern Atlantic Ocean. Mackerel are typically between 25-35cm.
The horse mackerle (Trachurus trachurus) is a common species found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean off Europe from Norway to South Africa and into the south-eastern Indian Ocean to Mozambique. They are normally between 20 and 30 cm, although the larger fish can grow up to 70 cm and weigh around 2-3kg.
The Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) is known by anglers as being a fast, aggressive and strong fish of the ocean. They are fun to target and give a real challenge to anyone who comes across them while fishing. They inhabit temperate and subtropical waters around the world. Bluefish have extremely powerful jaws with razor sharp teeth. They can grow over a meter and weigh over 10kg.
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).
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 ever caught was 780kg (1496lb). These great fighters can be caught trolling, jigging, casting or drifting; mainly off-shore.
Offshore trolling and spinning can be practiced from April and May. Using these techniques we can fish bluefin tuna, albacore and little tunny. Drifting or anchoring the boat you may catch dentex, grouper, jack, scorpion fish, seabream and snapper on the reef.
During the summer months, tuna fishing in Marbella is mainly done trolling and chumming. Tuna are normally found off-shore in the Alboran Sea, 30 miles off shore; and in the area of the Strait of Gibraltar. In the Straits, due to the strong currents and the heavy maritme traffic, only trolling artificials is possible. When the weather conditions are right, chumming sardines and mackerel is a great way to catch tuna.
Inshore, fishing in Marbella is basically trolling with natural baits (squid, mackerel or jack mackerel) or artificials to target dentex, pink dentex, grouper or amberjack. Reef fishing is great to target seabream, snapper, jack, conger eel, scorpion fish and other smaller reef species.
This is an excellent season for inshore trolling with small lures and feathers to fish various species such as bonito, mackerel, little tunny or dolphin fish. Reef fishing in Marbella during fall is great to target seabream, snapper, jack, conger eel, scorpion fish, dentex...
Winter
The winter is ideal for deep sea fishing and bottom fishing in Marbella. With deep sea bottom fishing, a wide range of species such as blackspot seabream, codling, conger eel, grouper, snapper and hake can be caught. February and March are usually very good months for fishing the bigger pink dentex deep trolling with natural bait. This technique is also good to catch grouper, dentex and amberjack.
In any season, deep sea fishing or reef fishing in Marbella will be the best technique to bring fish on board.
Nobody is a foreigner in Marbella. This cosmopolitan town, with all the charisma of a large city, is home to 137 nationalities.
Marbella, one of the best places in the world to live, is famous for its internationally renowned and privileged climate. The annual average temperature is around 18.5º C, with 320 days of sunshine a year. Weather forecasts do not suggest any significant changes and the rain here does not usually exceed 50 days each year, December and January being the time of year with the highest precipitation.
This climate is due to its unique geographical situation, namely the mountains which surround Marbella, the Sierra Blanca and the Concha, visible from the entire area. Allied to the position of its coastal inlet, the effect is to shelter the town from the northern winds, allowing it to enjoy a special microclimate unique in the world and one which has become one of its great tourist attractions.
You need a fishing license to go fishing in Marbella and Puerto Banus. The fishing charters normally have the fishing license included in the price, so you don't need to buy one if you're chartering a boat.