Taormina is one of the most visited and touristy towns on the east coast of Sicily main island. In general, we do not encourage staying in Taormina to live an adventurous, authentic original and sea style trip to Sicily (check the best way to plan a fishing trip in Sicily).
However, if you already have booked accommodation and cannot move too far away from the Taormina area, it may be an interesting departure port for some specific techniques described here.
The fishing Ground
The bathymetric off Taormina coast are particular ones. The seabed jumps from 0 to -500 meters within 1 mile from the shore. Navigating 7miles distance, the bottom drops down to -1300 meters under the sea level. Going in the direction of Greece, this depth increasing of the sea bottom continues up to -4000m (4km) because of the position in between the African and the Euro-Asian rift.
The techniques
A fishing session in this area of Sicily, usually targets the beautiful Mediterranean Spearfish, the Albacore Tuna, the Dolphinfish (also called Dorado or Mahi Mahi) and less frequently Bluefin Tuna and Swordfish.
The specific fishing here consists of trolling some artificial baits on the surface, in different ways, similarly to the Big game for Marlin and the offshore trolling practised in the Oceans. This may be also called deep Sea fishing in Taormina.
A Mediterranean Spearfish caught off Taormina’s coast
The main species
The MEDITERRANEAN SPEARFISH is for sure the most beautiful and particular fish to fish and photograph. Its spectacular electric colors remind about the Sailfish and the Marlin. This is present mostly into the Mediterranean Sea and some areas of the eastern Atlantic. Can grow up to 50kg and over 200cm of length, with average size around 20kg.The ALBACORE TUNA, also called longfin Tuna, is a fast predator that loves to feed on cephalopods. It lives all around the world with a high migratory attitude. Its big eyes allow to deep dive when is necessary. Average size around is around 15 kilograms, but they can reach over 50kg weight.
Fishing for cephalopods
Another possible technique for fishing in Taormina area is fishing for the giant squid. This may be practised at night if the target is many but smaller squids (usually between 1 to 3kg) or during the day, targeting real monsters of the depth, squid of up to 15kg.
The spectacular Barehanded octopus fishing is possible in specific spots, around Taormina and Messina area. Check the barehanded octopus fishing video.
In general, when it is not possible to reach other areas of eastern Sicily or to join our adventurous multi-day trips, Taormina could offer something interesting in terms of fishing. Checking the right season for the target species it may be a good place to go fishing in Sicily and spend a good day on the water.
