The
sand flat of the Puntone hot water channel
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The Maremma coast of southern
Tuscany, in north western Italy, have a nice choice of fishing spots for
fly anglers. Most place are never been
fished with flies but the fishing conditions are relatively uniform in
the area.
Sandy beaches and rocky coasts are mixed
with small estuaries that can have good fishing.
Estuaries are among the best places for
fly fishing but, unfortunately, most of them are subject to some fishing
prohibition. Few people knows where
and when they can fish and often honest anglers are fined.
Many local anglers go fishing in some
restricted area and the guards come only seldom. There is a silent war
between local anglers and local fisheries managers. As often happens, the
reason is at mid way. |
 Nevertheless
most prohibitions are simply too stupid to let you hope you could bring
some proposal to managers who want to hear them. They simply consider two
scenarios:
a) everybody go fishing with their full
arsenal and kill everything
b) nobody go fishing in no way
Nothing else could be possible.
Too stupid to be discussed further.
We only hope things will begin to change
quickly.
However with some attention and some information
you can find good fishing.
Not constant, so you need some luck to
find good fishing conditions.
Estuaries are small but often have nice
sand bars and tidal currents.
The main game fishes are bass (year long)
turbot (winter) bluefish (spring to fall) leerfish (spring to fall).
Try to fish there with sea flat calm and
outgoing tide but fish in whatever conditions you find, both day and night
because there is a lot to be explored and few predictable things
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As you see in the map, from
south to north you find the Tagliata Etrusca near Ansedonia, the channels
that drains the Orbetello lagoon, the Albegna river, the Osa river, the
Ombrone river, the Bruna river, the Alma river, the Pecora river, the Puntone
hot channel, the Perelli hot release, the Cornia river and the small Piombino
lagoon estuary.
Note that the Ombrone and the Albegna
are small rivers and the others are very small.
Almost all the estuaries have total or
partial fishing prohibition. Regulations without any fishery management.
Obviously the results of such bad management are very scarce.
Local small scale commercial fishermen
fish with nets right in front of all the estuaries but restrictions are...restricted
to recreative anglers.
The
red points are fishing prohibitions in the estuaries |
Some local angler would damage the fishery
if they can go fishing in the red areas but absolutely fly and spin fishing
could only add a great value to the fishery resources without any impact.
If most fishing concentrate around estuaries, also harbor
areas are good for fishing. The best spots usually are along and at the
end af the jetties. Fishing the long beaches can be more frustrating because
finding fish can be really difficult.
Here is a small Maremma coast estuaries
guide to know basic things that are almost impossible to find anywhere
else.
Tagliata Etrusca near Ansedonia
- water release from an inland saltwater fish farm; sometimes bass feed
on the current; you are at the and of the beach and fish the release from
rocks; dangerous with surf; often not productive; seldom wave action bring
some bass on the last rocks and the first beach section; in the good strectch
of the channel, on the other side of the road, fishing is forbidden.
Ansedonia channel: fishing prohibition
in the whole channel from the Orbetello lagoon to the sea and in a 200
m range from the mouth; strong tidal currents; very good for bass and for
scads just outside the mouth. There is a reticulate on the rocky beach
but is easy to pass and anglers often fish there at night; high risk of
controls because is very near to the Ansedonia town. Fishing can be good
at the shore bend near the parking where the Feniglia beach start. Surf
often brings a lot of sea weeds.
S.Liberata channel : fishing prohibition
in the whole channel from the Orbetello lagoon to the sea and in a 200
m range from the mouth; strong tidal currents of saltwater from the Orbetello
lagoon; the channel is very good for bass; some anglers fish at night but
the danger of control is high because the area is very easy to be seen
from the main road
Fishing-fordidden
signals at the Ombrone
river
estuary
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Albegna
estuary:
fishing prohibition in the last river
stretch but the river mouth can be fished also in the inner side; small
but not too small river; a hundred meter before the river mouth the Albegna
receive the waters of the third channel that drains the Orbetello lagoon;
fishing is not constant but can be good for bass, bluefish, small leerfish
and winter turbots; a good destination with southern winds because of the
Argentario protection.
In the river above the short closed stretch
you can fish with a license from FIPSAS (Italian sportfishing federation)
that is easy to find in local fishing shops.
There you can find some good fishing at
times but FIPSAS take care only of the license: zero management
Osa estuary:
very small river; can be good for bass.
The mouth have a sandy beach in the southern
side and rocks on the north side.
Ombrone estuary.
the very best. Very good for bass, bluefish,
leerfish, turbot.
Fishing is forbidden inside the mouth;
be careful and look at the signals; controls are very frequent and because
you are in a Park the risk is very high; don't try to fish inside.
The border to be respected is the virtrual
line that join the signals on the opposite banks. Best fishing occurs wading
the sand bars with calm sea. |
South shore(Alberese): you can reach
the sea only in the day; guards open a gate at dawn and close it at dusk
(nobody can stay in) and there is a 20 minutes walking from the parking
to the river mouth; in the summer if you enter at dawn you will need to
buy a cheap ticket at the parking (when you exit) to exit the automatic
gate; if you want to enter later in the day you need to buy the ticket
in Alberese to pass the gate. Normally you find few anglers and often sandbars
are better and there is better beach fishing around the estuary.
North shore (Principina): some
local anglers have a license to enter in the day hours with a car in a
private farm road to reach the shore. You can go walking from Principina
parking without hours limitations but it's not a short walk: going fast
you need 45 minutes but it's very nice and enjoyable; very beautiful beach.
This is the place to find one of the best
examples of stupidity in fishery management; inside the river there is
a sport fishing area where is prohibited to fish with artificial lures
and flies! Also with live fish: only dead fish and worms. This way instead
of some large bass and bluefish a lot of very small bass are hooked and
even if released they die for the deep hooking. Is very common to wade
the bars without finding a single fish and then go taking a look at the
narrowest section of the mouth, few meters inside the forbidden zone, and
to find hot surface action of bass, also large ones. This could be a terrific
fly only area if the Park would have a wise management. The Park is managed
by expert biologists, environmentalist, scientist....politics. Be careful
with the signals but if the sea is calm this is the place to go.
Bruna estuary: the Castiglione
della Pescaia harbor is built in the Bruna river estuary; it can be very
good for bluefish and bass; bass chasing at the mouth are not common: most
of them are in the main channel; the mouth is very good for bluefish, mostly
small but occasionally also large; in the summer the point on the south
side is crowded by anglers; fishing is forbidden in the last 50 meters
of this side: this is only for boating ease and at dawn there is no control;
bass, bluefish and leerfish enter the river and hunt for mullets in the
stretch on the other side of the bridge.
Alma estuary: very small channel
with tidal water; at the mouth is easy to find anglers but it's not very
productive; inside the channel is easy to see bass very difficult to catch
because they escape when anglers approach the very shallow water; many
mullets; can be good in the fall for small leerfish. |
Right
outside the Ombrone estuary
The
black line in the middle is a breaking bass.
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Pecora estuary: small channel-harbor
now interested by big works to build the new harbor; often good for bass
but better inside the channel, on the other side of the main road: fish
there at dusk with high tide. The jetties of the new harbor can be very
good for bluefish both at dawn, dusk and at noon too.
Puntone hot channel: hot salt water
discharge channel from a plant; fishing is forbidden on the other side
of the road: some anglers go there and can be very good for bass and small
leerfish; the mouth release a hot current over a 50 meters wide sand flat
that go until the Puntone harbor (Pecora estuary) and down to Follonica
town; best fishing is concentrated near the channel mouth; most time around
the mouth the water is filled with mullets; very good in summer and fall
(best from mid august to mid october) for small leerfish and palometa (derbio)
that can be very abundant and funny to de fished with light tackle.
Perelli hot release: strong release
of very hot water from a plant. There is only a small fishing position
over rocks and fishing is forbidden but anglers go at risk of controls.
Often very good for leerfish and bluefish, especially in late fall.
Cornia estuary: the mouth have
shallow water but inside the mouth you can find bass.
Piombino lagoon estuary: fishing
is forbidden and the risk of controls is high: can be good for bass but
nothing worth the risk.
Remember that to fish inside estuaries
where there is not prohibitions you need the Italy's national fishing licence.
To get one you must go to a municipality office and pay a cheap fee.
The other thing you must consider is that
officially, fishing from sea shore is forbidden in the summer from 8 am
to 8 pm. This rule is for bathers security: a single law for a quick but
not so wise decision. The only places to fish without problems in the day
are around estuaries where bathing is forbidden. The beaches near to the
Ombrone river estuary are very good also for this. The water is not so
polluted as the prohibition could let you think: most time there is no
difference with the places full of happy people in the water.
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