When the Village Pond is No Longer Enough

You already own five rods, three reels and a box of lures whose price you'd rather not mention at home. The carp know you by name and the local pike lock their jaws when you turn up. Perhaps it's time to broaden your horizons. Say, to where the land runs out.

A short detour to big water: seven places where an angler's daydreams turn into a proper adventure.

Some anglers need nothing more than a favourite pond, a comfortable chair and well-prepared bait. They know every bend of the bank, every sunken branch and possibly a few of the carp in person. And then comes the day you start wondering what lies beyond the horizon of your home water.

What if, instead of a carp, a halibut took the bait? What if the fish on the end of your line were a tuna with no intention whatsoever of visiting the deck?

Fishing doesn't stop where fresh water does. At sea you fish from the shore and from boats, close to rocky coasts and far from land. And besides the fish, you have to reckon with tides, currents, swell and the weather, which always has the last word on open water.

Five ways

Five ways to fish the sea

You know the principle from home: bait, hook, patience. Everything is just bigger, heavier and saltier.

  1. Surfcasting

    You stand on the beach and use a long rod to cast a heavy lead and bait out beyond the breaking waves. Think of it as legering's seaside cousin, with an ocean where the pond used to be.

  2. Sea spinning

    Lure fishing as you know it from pike or zander: cast an artificial lure and work it back. You do it from rocks, piers or a boat, and every piece of tackle has to survive salt water.

  3. Jigging

    You drop a metal lure straight down from the boat and make it dance near the bottom or in mid-water by lifting and lowering the rod. It's the classic way to catch cod in Norway, and after an hour you'll know exactly where your shoulders are.

  4. Trolling

    The boat keeps moving and tows the lures behind it. This is how crews search for the fast fish of the open sea – tuna, marlin and sailfish. For a long time nothing happens. Then everything happens at once.

  5. Bottom fishing

    A weighted bait sinks to the seabed, sometimes tens of metres below the boat, and you wait for the bite. It's the closest thing to legering at home – except you're lifting the fish from a depth your pond has never seen.

7 ×

Where to cast one day

We've picked seven places where anglers' dreams turn into adventure. Click a point on the map to see what swims there.

A small warning: browsing this map may cause a sudden urge to buy plane tickets, a new reel or a boat. The editors accept no liability for what happens when you explain the family budget.

Norway · North Atlantic · Norwegian Sea

The kingdom of cod and halibut

Rugged fjords, rocky islands and deep water. Norway is the classic of European sea angling. Every winter Arctic cod migrate to Lofoten to spawn, and for many anglers a halibut is the fish of a lifetime.

Instead of a carp, you may hook a fish that shows you what a difference a few dozen metres of water under the boat can make.

Signature fish Atlantic codAtlantic halibutsaithe (coalfish)

Good news: hardly any mosquitoes by the water. Bad news: that's because they're too cold.

Indicative point: Lofoten Islands

Iceland · North Atlantic

Fishing at the edge of the world

A volcanic island, a cold ocean and a coast where fishing is as much a part of life as the weather. Boats head out from the Westfjords mainly for cod – and the catch is only half the experience. The landscape reminds you how small a person is at sea.

If a halibut bites, it goes back. The species is protected in Iceland and releasing it is mandatory.

Signature fish Atlantic codhaddockAtlantic wolffish

In summer the sun barely sets. ‘It's getting dark, I'd better head home’ is not an excuse here.

Indicative point: Westfjords (Suðureyri)

The Mediterranean · Mediterranean Sea · Spanish coast and the Balearics

Blue water and fast fish

Here you swap the Norwegian waterproofs for sunglasses. Spinning around the reefs, boat fishing and trips after the powerful fish of the open sea feel nothing like the north.

Mind the bluefin tuna: it is covered by strict rules, special authorisations and quotas, and recreational fishing for it can be closed in mid-season.

Signature fish Atlantic bluefin tunamahi-mahi (dolphinfish)greater amberjackcommon dentex

You tell the family it's a seaside holiday. Technically, you're not lying.

Indicative point: Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Florida Keys · USA · Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico

Adventure in turquoise water

Islands linked by a road across the sea, crystal-clear flats and, a short run away, the open ocean. The flats are home to hard-fighting tarpon and shy bonefish, often taken on the fly. The Gulf Stream brings sailfish and mahi-mahi close to the islands.

Signature fish tarponbonefishmahi-mahi (dolphinfish)sailfish

Locals call the bonefish the ‘grey ghost’. It behaves accordingly the moment you finally make the perfect cast.

Indicative point: Islamorada

Costa Rica · Pacific Ocean

When the fish starts to fly

A tropical coast, ocean currents and big game fish. Costa Rica is famous for sailfish and marlin that leap high out of the water during the fight. Sport crews generally release them afterwards.

The right lure is no longer enough here. What counts is an experienced crew, well-prepared tackle and respect for the power of the ocean.

Signature fish Pacific sailfishblue marlinyellowfin tuna

At home a fish might splash your boots. Here it sails over your head.

Indicative point: Quepos, Pacific coast

Mauritius · Indian Ocean

A tropical dream of the big one

Just beyond the coral reef the seabed drops away steeply into deep water, so big ocean fish can be found surprisingly close to shore. Mauritius is best known for marlin, tuna and the lightning-fast wahoo.

Signature fish blue marlinyellowfin tunawahoomahi-mahi (dolphinfish)

Everyone else is thinking about the beach and a cocktail. You're wondering whether your reel holds enough line.

Indicative point: Black River (Rivière Noire), west coast

New Zealand · South-west Pacific

To the other side of the planet for a fish

Islands, rocky reefs and strong currents. The most coveted prize is the yellowtail kingfish – a powerful fish that heads straight for the rocks once hooked and tests both your technique and your fitness.

Snapper, meanwhile, is the fish almost everyone here goes out for.

Signature fish yellowtail kingfishsnapper

You can't get any further from your home pond. Past a certain point you start coming back.

Indicative point: Bay of Islands, North Island

The map is here for inspiration, not as a guide to permits. The points are indicative only. Availability, seasons, protected species (the rules on bluefin tuna, for example) and local restrictions change – check the current official rules for the country before you go.

Whether you end up on a boat off the Norwegian coast, in the tropical Pacific or simply back at your favourite pond, one thing stays the same: you never quite know what the next cast will bring.

And perhaps it doesn't matter in the end whether the fish weighs two kilos or twenty. Just don't say so to an angler who has just ordered a new sea reel.

Read on

From the magazine

  1. Catch and Release: Respect for the Fish Starts Before the Bite
  2. From Water to Plate: Freshwater Fish Without Fear of Bones
  3. Hemingway, Zane Grey and the Rest: When Fishing is More Than a Hobby