FISHING IN TURKEY

I have just returned from a short break in Turkey and despite having read and heard of mixed reactions to the quality of fishing both boat and shore fishing that was to be had or not had there, I was a little apprehensive to say the least.
I was booked into a very grand all –inclusive hotel, The Jiva Beach Resort at Fethiye, and with talking to the hotel holiday rep they put me in touch with Captain Ozay’s Sport Fishing, which was established in 2004.
The company is a family run business run by brothers Ozcan & Ozay Karagoz who have fished these waters since they were small boys. In 2003 they approached the local Tourist Board with their ideas for starting up charter fishing and things took off from there giving them now a ten year old business that is going from strength to strength with not only regular returning holiday makers but with fishing able to take place virtually 365days a year the keen local anglers are also keen to get on board for a Days fishing.
The boats both operate out of the town of Oludeniz at the moment with plans for 2015 for one of the boats to operate out of Fethiye itself next year so that no days will be lost to bad weather.
The Oludeniz waters are normally fished by both surface and deep trolling for all sorts of fish including the likes of Blue and Yellow Fin Tuna, Amberjacks, Barracuda, Garfish and Dorado to name just a few. Fishing out of Fethiye is more predominantly bottom fishing with Bream, Red Snapper and Grouper along with a whole variety of Wrasse and exotic and colourful Mediterranean fish.
The cost of the fishing trip is £50 if booked through any Rep, but if you book online then you will get a £5 reduction. If on the other hand your partner just wishes to come along and sunbathe then a reduced rate is available for this also.
The day begins with being picked up from your hotel by Ozkan himself and on arrival you are welcomed by the crew and told to relax and enjoy the day. There are plenty of seats for you to fish from and everybody has their own rod, there is no rod sharing on these boats. I was informed that we would leave between 9am and 9.30am with the return being between 3pm and 3.30pm. Be warned this crew like fishing so much that I never got back before 5pm and was fishing virtually right to the end of the trip, so please don’t plan on being back at the hotel bar for 4pm.
The fish that is caught in the morning of your trip is served up for you to enjoy at lunch time along with Chicken, Pasta, Salad and Rice which is all included in the price of your trip. Tea and soft drinks are available all day at a very low cost, but there is no alcohol on board.
If you are a complete novice at fishing or have never been then the crew are there for you, they will bait up for you if you are bottom fishing and will handle all fish that are brought on board. For those who are more expert then you can get on with it yourself if you wish, but be warned there are several species out there that have poisonous spines and several species look very similar.
I spent two days out with these guys and had a great time, not only was the fishing good but the other anglers all had a good laugh, you are told to treat the boat as your own, when anchored up for lunch if you want to dive overboard and swim you can, if you wish to put the rod down and just sunbathe for a couple of hours you can at the forward section of the boat.
The fishing as with any fishing can be brilliant or not so good, but the days I spent on board the fishing was good with everybody catching fish on both days. I have nothing but good things to say about Capt Ozay’s , very friendly, up for a laugh and as they say themselves, they do fishing trips not sailing trips, fishing is their passion not just a job.
If you are planning to go to this area of Turkey for your next holiday then looking up Captain Ozay’s Sports Fishing is a must, they can be found on Face Book and they also have an e-mail address.
The e-mail address is info@fishingturkey.com
The web site is www.fishingturkey.com
Face Book is oludeniz.fishing