Connor Lands A Huge Dentex – Palamos Fishing Part 4

Part 4 of our Palamós adventure was always going to be a special one.

Ever since arriving in Spain, both Connor and I had been counting down the days until our booked fishing charter. As anglers, the thought of getting out onto the Mediterranean in search of species we'd only ever seen in photos was incredibly exciting.

The day began before sunrise as we made the walk through Palamós towards the harbour.

The town looked absolutely beautiful in the early morning light, with the first rays of sunshine reflecting off the boats and calm water. It was one of those peaceful moments that reminds you why getting up early is always worth it.

Of course, Connor managed to provide some entertainment along the way.

While eating an Alpro yoghurt for breakfast, he somehow convinced himself it was a traditional Spanish delicacy. To this day I'm still not entirely sure where he got that idea from, but it certainly gave us a laugh as we walked towards the harbour.

Once we arrived, we met our skipper for the day, Robert from Divateam.

Or as viewers will notice throughout much of the video, "Roger."

For reasons that still escape me, I somehow spent a large portion of the trip calling the poor bloke by the wrong name. Thankfully, Robert was an absolute gentleman and saw the funny side of it. Once I finally realised my mistake, we all had a good laugh about it.

Originally, we had hoped to book one of Divateam's big game fishing trips in search of larger offshore species. Unfortunately, their big game boat was currently undergoing repairs during our visit.

Instead, we booked a five-hour coastal fishing charter.

As it turned out, we couldn't have been happier with that decision.

Before leaving the harbour, Robert explained the plan for the day. First, we would catch live bait, mainly mackerel and sardines, before heading offshore to target species such as barracuda and dentex.

Excitement levels were through the roof as we left the harbour and headed out onto the Mediterranean.

The first part of the trip went smoothly, and before long we had plenty of live bait swimming in the tank. With bait secured, it was time to start trolling for larger predators.

Suddenly Connor's rod bent over and he found himself connected to something powerful beneath the boat.

Watching him fight the fish was brilliant.

His face lit up instantly as he worked the rod, trying to gain line while whatever was on the other end fought back hard.

As the fish got closer to the boat, Robert suggested it could be a dentex.

Moments later, the fish surfaced and confirmed exactly that.

Measuring 67 centimetres in length and weighing 8.12 pounds, it was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the entire trip.

Its colours were incredible, its strength impressive and its teeth looked capable of biting through almost anything. One glance at those jaws and it was obvious this was a serious predator.

Connor was absolutely delighted, and seeing his excitement made the whole trip worthwhile.

The fishing continued afterwards, and while we experienced a couple more opportunities, they unfortunately didn't result in landed fish. Several of the missed bites appeared to come from barracuda.

One of the live baits was eventually retrieved sporting some impressive tooth marks, suggesting a predator had certainly taken an interest.

According to Robert, many of the barracuda currently in the area were still relatively small and may have struggled to properly take the bait.

Instead of trolling, we moved to fishing squid baits on the seabed in the hope of finding snapper.

Unfortunately the snapper never showed up.

However, we still managed to catch several species that were completely new to us.

One fish I do remember was the Serrano, a colourful species that provided plenty of fun on lighter tackle. There were several others too, although identifying every species will probably require some help once we're back home reviewing footage.

By the end of the trip, Connor had caught around five different species while I managed four.

Most importantly, we'd both had an incredible day.

Despite the fishing being slower than hoped at times, Robert worked tirelessly throughout the trip to try and put us onto fish. He constantly adapted, changed locations and explored different tactics.

That level of effort is all you can ever ask from a skipper.

At the end of the day, it's called fishing, not catching.

Some days everything goes perfectly. Other days the fish simply don't play ball.

What matters is enjoying the experience, and thanks to Robert and Divateam, that's exactly what happened.

We took Connor's magnificent dentex back to the apartment and enjoyed eating it over the following two days.

Fresh Mediterranean fish doesn't get much better than that.

If you're planning a trip to Palamós and are considering a fishing charter, we genuinely couldn't recommend Divateam highly enough. Professional, friendly and hardworking from start to finish.

We'll definitely be back.

And next time, hopefully we'll finally get out there in search of the ultimate prize — Mediterranean big game species such as tuna.