Fishing in Israel Part 2: Fresh Water

This article continues my interview with Italo Labignan host of the popular television show Canadian Sportfishing.  Italo filmed a 10-day fishing expedition in Israel, covering every fishable water in the Holy Land from the Red Sea to the Sea of Galilee.

In this week’s article, Italo described his fresh-water fishing adventures in the Holy Land:

Italo Labignan: After fishing the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, we headed East through Nazareth towards the Sea of Galilee and then headed north and went all the way up again to the border, almost to the Lebanon border to one of the farthest kibbutz and we explored some of the headwaters of the Dan and Jordan rivers.

There are a lot of fish farms there for rainbow trout. A lot of the rainbows for one reason or another escape the areas where they are being raised into the river system. The fish raising operations use the water from the Dan or Jordan rivers as the source water.

So when you are up there, these rivers look like beautiful glacial run-off rivers that are in Western Canada, pristine water, a lot of overhanging vegetation and on many of the kibbutz there are very large plantations of avocados and other trees so there’s lot of shade.

Pictures: Italo with a rainbow trout and fly fishing the Dan River



In the water, the first thing that you do if you look in the tributaries is that you see barbels, these are a species of fish that are vegetarian so you cannot catch them by angling. There are other species of barbell in the Sea of Galilee, the main one called the large-scale barbel, which is a delicacy for eating, and it is a very aggressive game fish. It will hit lures, spinner, spoons and will also take bait, flies and so on.

You see those but if you come in the water you will also catch these rainbows using artificial lures or imitation eggs and so on. So that was in the north.

The Fly Fishing Rabbi: I heard that you can fly fish in the northern streams in Israel, in the Dan region, for trout, but I had also heard that fly fishing in those streams was illegal. Is that true?

Italo: I am not very familiar with Israeli regulations on fisheries but I know that there are nature preserves and national parks in Israel and those are protected from taking fish or wildlife. I understand that and I think it is proper.

But outside of the national parks, there are many sections of both the Dan and the Jordan River where the water temperatures are cool enough to support trout and other species of fish. On Kibbutz property need to speak to someone and you can have access to a kilometer or two of stream.

I encouraged the people in the kibbutzes, where they already raised the rainbow trout, to work with the government and stock rainbow trout in the waters that are on the kibbutz. If someone wants to fish the water, like other places in North America, they could actually fish quite a long section of the tributaries and fly fish or spin fish and catch and release or catch and keep. It would be legal to fish on a kibbutz with permission.

Rabbi: Where was your next fishing destination?

Italo: From there we travelled south and went to Kibbutz Ein Gev which is on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. I went out on a commercial boat. I wanted to see, like the biblical fishing, when they were throwing the nets in the Sea of Galilee. This was using a net on a large scale and catching a whole bunch of fish.

We caught most of the fish species that are in the Sea of Galilee and we did a segment from the boat catching everything from Chinese silver carp which can reach weights of 60 kilos, over 100 pounds, to some of the common carp species, to the large scale barbel, and different species of tilapia, which most of the people around the Sea of Galilee refer to as the St. Peter’s fish, catfish and so on.

The government of Israel stocks the Sea of Galilee every year with a species of mullet that can grow up to about two kilograms. Even though they are salt-water fish, they do very well in fresh water.

Then we fished right at the kibbutz (Ein Gev) and did a program on the catfish that have been introduced a long time ago by the British. Some of the catfish were up to 15 or 20 kilos that we landed. Many of them broke our lines because they are hard fighting fish. So we were using for bait freshwater sardines, those are the baitfish that are most common in the Sea of Galilee.

Rabbi: I saw that picture of you with the catfish in the article on-line and it was huge!

Italo: We have pictures of all the different fish in the Sea of Galilee that we caught but in the article there was only room for one fish.

Pictures: Italo with catfish, mullet and dining in Tiberias



You talked about fly fishing in the north in the streams. Don’t forget that there are different species in the Sea of Galilee that you can fly fish for also. You can get the catfish by fly fishing! They are so aggressive that they will hit anything that moves. They not only feed on sardines, but using streamers that look like a three or four inch long smelt, alewife or sardine, you will have no problem catching catfish that are twenty or thirty pounds in size.

In the Sea of Galilee there are also species of tilapia, also called the St. Peters fish, that we were catching on artificial lures, spinners and spoons. You could very easily catch with dry flies or poppers, because they are very aggressive, or with streamers, wet flies and nymphs.

Then there is the large scale barbel which looks like a trout, which reach weights of about two pounds. These are very aggressive fish. If you find a school of these large scale barbel, whether you are using spinners or flies, you can get ten or twenty very quickly. They are like piranhas, as soon as one is triggered into feeding, all of the other ones want to hit the same thing.

That’s from the shore line, anywhere there is a little bit of deep water, because much of the Sea of Galilee’s shoreline is tapered. In the last two years there has been a drought in Israel so the waters have receded. Some of the best places of fish from the shore, are where there are break walls that go out or where there is a harbor area, where the water drops off from let’s say from zero to five feet or ten feet deep in a short distance. That is quite common in different places, usually where the kibbutzes are and right in Tiberius.

Those places where it is public, you can literally go off the rocks and start fishing, and sometimes you see the fish and you can cast right to them, sight cast.

By the way, There is a carp association in Israel. They have a membership of about 20 or 30 anglers. They have tournaments on the Sea of Galilee for carp. Some Europeans travel over to Israel to compete.

Italo: From there we headed south, quite a long drive, all the way down to Jerusalem. We stopped in Jerusalem to cover the culture. We went to Yad VaShem (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum) and I did some segments in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives and the Old City.

Pictures: overlooking Jerusalem, Western Wall, Garden of Gethsemane




Italo Labignan is the host of Canadian Sportfishing on The Sports Network in Cadana. You can read more about Italo’s adventures on his website: www.canadian-sportfishing.com

My interview with Italo will be divided into three articles:
1. Fishing in Israel Part 1: Salt Water
2. Fishing in Israel Part 2: Fresh Water
3. Fishing in Israel Part 3: Tackle Shops, Fishing Boats and Highlights

For more information on Fishing in Israel, visit: www.fishinginisrael.info 

Fishing in Israel Part 1: Salt-Water

I had the great pleasure recently to interview Italo Labignan host of the popular television show Canadian Sportfishing.  Italo filmed a 10-day fishing expedition in Israel, covering many fishing sites in the Holy Land from the Red Sea to the Sea of Galilee.

In this week’s article, Italo described why he chose to fish in Israel and his salt-water fishing adventures there:

The Fly Fishing Rabbi: Italo, it is such a great pleasure to speak with you. Thank you for being here. Why did you choose Israel as a fishing destination?

Italo Labignan: Well, my wife and I personally have a real love for Israel and Jews in general. I’ve been to Israel five times now and my wife about twenty. I’ve travelled throughout the world producing our fishing shows and also other productions for the last 23 years. Many of the shooting I have done has been international in nature, like fishing in Africa, South America, Alaska and so on. But I had a desire for the last seven years to film in Israel.

Pictures: Jerusalem, Haifa and the beach at Tel-Aviv



A friend of mine suggested that it might be a good idea if I did a fishing show with the Consulate General (of Israel) in Toronto, Amir Gissin. So I ended up doing a couple of fishing shows in Ontario fishing for walleye and other species of fish. And during our conversation, Amir said to me “You know, is there anything you would like to do?” I replied: “Well, you know, I have really had this desire to film in Israel and to do shows because a lot of people know different aspects of Israel but no one has ever heard about fishing there.”

Amir said: “There’s fishing in Israel? I’ll have someone get back to you and see what arrangements need to be made.” Within probably four months we were filming in Israel, working with a wonderful crew. We had a husband and wife team that was our liaison from Canada and working with up to 12 to 15 individuals in Israel.

We travelled about 2500 kilometers starting in Tel Aviv, went north to Haifa, and then East to north of the Sea of Galilee right up to the Lebanon border and then straight south to Eliat and then coming back up northwest to Ashdod and then back to Tel Aviv. And you know what, Israel has some of the best fishing in the world!

Rabbi: I’m so thrilled to hear that! I never thought of Israel as a great place for fishing. You visited a number of places in Israel during your fishing expedition. Can you tell me exactly where you fished on your trip?

Italo: The first location that we fished was on the Mediterranean. The day that we got there the weather was not good to go to the beaches in Tel Aviv as it was quite windy. Instead, we went North to Nahariya, also located on the Mediterranean, near the Lebanon border and we went out and we fished about five or six kilometers offshore and we caught some of the bottom fish like trigger fish and blowfish there.

One thing that I noticed right away in Nahariya was the number of anglers fishing from shore. Wherever there were any rock spits, there would anglers fishing from shore. Many of them used the traditional longer rods almost like the bamboo rods, but made of graphite, sometimes 15 to 20 feet long, using a small float and small hooks to catch pinfish for eating. But there were also many angers, I would call educated, who were using surfcasting rods, high-tech spinning outfits and using plugs, jigs and spoons, targeting bigger fish.

Pictures: Italo with a blowfish and beach casting in Nahariya



Even as we were leaving with the boat from the beach, you could see bait fish exploding on the surface and larger fish probably jacks and species of mackerel chasing them and the anglers casting to them and trying to catch them.

About three years ago, I observed very few people fishing along the Mediterranean and anyone fishing in Caesarea or south of Caesarea, they would be using the long rods with the line catching the small fish. I didn’t see anybody casting plugs or using more high tech artificial lure techniques but on this trip I saw many. I would say there is at least a ten-fold increase from shore-fisherman fishing along the Mediterranean.

Rabbi: Where did you head next after fishing the Mediterranean?

Italo: From there, we went all the way down to Eilat, on the Red Sea. In Eilat we went out and tried catching some squid at night, right on the Jordanian, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian Border, just inside Israeli waters, fishing quite deep, in about 70 to 100 meters of water. There were lots of species of squid and cuttlefish, which tells you that it was a pretty healthy fishery. We were catching those with sardines and then trying to use the squid to catch swordfish. There is quite a swordfish fishery out of Eilat. This past season, the anglers, and there are quite a number who fish there, caught about 600 swordfish. This is an impressive number considering that the anglers only knew about this fishery for a couple of years. Most of the time it is a nighttime fishery so they use the glow in the dark sticks with the squid to catch the swordfish.

We fished that night and also fished during the daytime. We trolled for King Mackerel and jigged for Giant Trevally . I caught one Giant Trevally that was about 15 kilo, in the 30 to 35 pound range. Almost everyday on the seas we were dealing with winds because of the time of year. Anytime other than November or December is best because the weather changes and goes from warm to cooler and that is when you get into your rainy season in Israel.

Pictures: Italo with Giant Travelly from the Red Sea



From Eliat we went to Ashdod where we trolled for King Mackerel. I think it was the first time in my 23 years of trolling in salt water that we had 5 King Mackerel hook up at the same time and we landed all of them! Not a double or triple but a quintuple-header! There was chaos in the back of this beautiful sport-fishing vessel. We did a trophy show there for King Mackerel.

Pictures: King Mackerel and Ashdod




Italo Labignan is the host of Canadian Sportfishing on The Sports Network. You can read more about Italo’s adventures on his website: www.canadian-sportfishing.com

My interview with Italo is divided into three articles:
1. Fishing in Israel Part 1: Salt Water
2. Fishing in Israel Part 2: Fresh Water
3. Fishing in Israel Part 3: Tackle Shops, Fishing Boats and Highlights

For more information on Fishing in Israel, visit: www.fishinginisrael.info

10 Reader's Comments from 2008

Happy New Year! Here are a selection of the many wonderful comments I received in 2008. Thanks for commenting everyone.

The Fly Fishing Rabbi


Comment on: Jew’s Don’t Fish?

Margie said…

You are so wrong! here in canada pretty much all the jewish kids go to summer camp, for seven weeks! everyone grows up knowing how to fish, build a bonfire, drive a boat, sail and waterski. there are very few jewish girls up here that are afraid to put a worm on a hook. nothing warms my heart more than a set of fake nails hooking a worm.

http://3yrplan.typepad.com/soeursdujour/2008/07/fishing-for-friends.html



Comment on: Fishing for a Whale: The Story of Jonah

Gingerman said...

Another lesson from Jonah, and actually from all of the prophets, is "The sign of Johah." Which is no sign at all. Today, and in the past, we want credentials from the teller before we believe the truth he tells. The prophets enjoin us to test the truth wherever it comes from.

We tend to believe what's right rather than what's true. What is should be rather than what it is. In fly fishing, we have to learn that it's what the fish are taking that's important, not what we want them to take. Or what the experts say.


Comment on: Being Yourself

JB said...

Eric, This is beautiful; thank you.
I was reminded of a song lyric:
"How I am strong is to know what makes me weak", and also a little 'proverb' (using the term loosely) I heard for the first time recently:
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."


Comment on: Incomplete Tasks

Anonymous said...

Greetings, Rabbi.

I just wanted to drop a note to let you know how much I enjoy reading your blog entries, and particularly the recent reflections on incomplete tasks. Indeed, I do find comfort in knowing that our children will (with a lot of guidance and a little luck) continue building the family, fulfilling our aspirations, and goals, and of course, the strengthening the Jewish foundation.

Coincidentally, I recently made a futile attempt to introduce my wife and kids (7 and 4) to the Egg-Cake lady on Mott Street. I visited her many years ago and figured, like other favorites of mine including Moshe's Bakery, Yonah Shimmel, and Katz, she'd still be there serving those delightful cakes. Well, I'm now pleased to learn that her absence was a result of her achieving her goals, rather than being muscled out by another Starbucks!


Comments on: Why do you fly fish? Reader’s Interview

Why do you fly fish?

“As a pastor / caregiver . . . I find that I am "on call" a great deal of the time. Usually once every two weeks, I need to get away for 1-3 hours, to unwind my mind and my soul. Fishing has always been one of the "battery chargers" in my life. Fishing is my sabbath . When I am fishing, I feel as if God has all my attention.” Reverand Rick

“I fly fish because it is magical. There is no better feeling than standing on a lake shore or in a river early in the morning and feeling the world come alive.” John


Have you ever had a religious or spiritual moment while fly fishing?

“Night fishing for sea-trout in South Wales, where you start fishing once the bats start flying, typically around 10:30pm at night. Standing in a river in the dead of the night with no illumination other than the stars, and fishing by sound rather than by sight, both heightens the senses of the immediate environment as well as making you realise how tiny and insignificant we are in God’s great universe. The night passes, broken only by the occasional splash of what must surely be a monster fish. Those long hours give plenty of time for the mind to wander, contemplating matters great and small, public and personal. It’s only afterwards that your realize how little time we allow in our normal daily lives for quiet contemplation, and how beneficial, relaxing and spiritual it can be.” Dominic


Comment on: A Magic Fly Fishing Wand

Kenov said...

I sometimes find myself humming a warrior song that I learned as an ethnographer. Ultimately, though, I think that all of the magic on stream belongs to the trout, and to the Being who created them.

Sure enjoyed having you in Gettysburg. I look forward to further meetings.

Ken


Comment on: The Goldfish Toss and Aquariums

Steve Dobson said...

I have owned aquariums too or perhaps it was that they owned me. I tried everything from a scientific water analysis regimen all the way to a form of benign neglect. Each approach worked in its own way. Life is tenacious thriving to its own measure and in its own way often under extraordinary circumstances. You have a knack for showing us the extraordinary in the mundane Rabbi. Thanks.

Cheers,
Steve


Comment on: Crohn’s Disease and Empathy

Barbara said...

What a great post! one of my dearest friends has had Crohn's for about 12 years and is fully disabled, unable to get out of bed for days at a time and racked with pain.

Empathy is what separates pathological people (narcissists, sociopaths) from the rest of us. It is an important component that helps connect us to everyone around us.