Brittany fish ID

[StriperflyRye]

I've taken a couple sailing trips off the coast of Brittany, and brought the 9-weight just to see what I might find. I've heard they have a smaller distant cousin of the striper over there, but never hooked into one. Off Belle-Isle (it really lives up to the name) I hooked into some sort of big mackeral. Fast as hell, not super-strong, real skinny, about 2 feet long. Lost it dingy-side so never got a real good look at it. Any ideas?

[Tord]

Hi

The cousin of the striper you are mentioning is known as the Sea Bass. Scientific name is Dicentrarchus Labrax.
http://www.barracuda-peche.com/infos.php
http://leloupbar.free.fr/galery.php

Any specimen above 2 or 3 kg is considered large. The fish depicted on the first photo is an unusual catch.

The other fish... From your brief description "mackerel like" it might have been been either Scomber Japonicus, cousin of the regular Mackerel or Scomberomorus Tritor, cousin of the Spanish Mackerel. Given the size estimate you give, I am enclined to believe the second one.

[StriperflyRye]

Hey Tord, thank you! Searched for pics and I'm pretty sure you got it right -- Scomberomorus Tritor. http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=141 Have you fished around there too?

[Jacob K.]

doesn;t the face of that sea bass look just like those "mutant" stripers that someone catches every year? wouldn't be cool if those mutants were just a hybrid and that stripers went WAY off shore in the winter and mixed with these sea bass....

[Tord]

Hey Tord, thank you! Searched for pics and I'm pretty sure you got it right -- Scomberomorus Tritor. http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=141 Have you fished around there too?
Yes. Actually, I have spent half a dozen summer vacations in Brittany.

[Tord]

doesn;t the face of that sea bass look just like those "mutant" stripers that someone catches every year? wouldn't be cool if those mutants were just a hybrid and that stripers went WAY off shore in the winter and mixed with these sea bass....
That fish is a sea bass. I am 100% positive. Yet I agree there is a clear resemblance with striped bass.

[stripah]

Tord,
Nice to see some other places represented on this board. :)

[StriperflyRye]

Yes. Actually, I have spent half a dozen summer vacations in Brittany.

Awesome ... it's one of my favorite places in the world. Any fishing tips for the next trip would be much appreciated! We usually charter out of Lorient and sail to Belle-Isle, Groix, Hoedic, and Huat.

[Tord]

To tell the truth it was back in the 70's. I was kid/teenager by then. We used to spend whole vacations sailing, fishing, snorkelling. Fishing was done with bait, sometimes spoons. Places I stayed included the area you mention (Morbihan), southern Finistere (Quimper), and also the N/E part (Saint Malo). I made a "deja-vu" visit back in 1992, travelled around in a VW camper. Did not fish, though.

Hoedic and Houat (spelling) are familiar places to me. I remember fishing was good there in the 70's. There we fished mainly for sea-bream and wrasse (not feasible on a fly rod). Belle-Isle was a bit too distant for our small sailing boat.

If you want to shore fish for sea bass, rule of thumb is sandy beaches at low tide, or rocky coast on the rising tide. Surf is likely to be noticeable so you may have a tough time with a fly rod. If you are a skilled caster and have a stripping basket, it is doable on calm days. Preferred fly should be a flashy baitfish imitation, 2 - 3 inches or so. The Quiberon peninsula should be a good place to try. It should also be possible to fish sea-bass from boat (trolling) but I have never done that, and I guess it is somewhat a lottery.

The site I listed seems half-serious and they appear to speak english ;) They may be able to give you some hints, and/or offer you a guide. If you need to decipher some of the information written in French I can quickly translate for you.

Other species that would be possible to fish with a flyrod are pollack (from rocky shores), mackerel (from boat, occasionally from deep rocky coast), garfish (from boat), mullet (estuaries, harbors).