Places to Fish in Israel with Maps

I recently came across a great website that gives detailed fishing reports for fishing spots in Israel: www.fishinginisrael.info.  Put together by Nigel Ridley, each article contains descriptions of the fishing spot along with pictures and maps of where to fish.  Below are two of Nigel's articles, with many more to be found on his site.  Enjoy!  The Fly Fishing Rabbi 

Saltwater Fishing Spot In Israel: Tel Dor

South of Haifa, the coastline from Kibbutz Nachsholim to just before the beach at Habonim (where you're not allowed to fish - it's a nature reserve) offers some very good rock and reef fishing. All along this stretch of coastline there is a submerged rock plateau. It is strangely flat and wide with a covering of sea water of about 10cm on a calm day. This plateau enables the angler to fish in deep water even right next to it's edge. 

Further out there are reefs so bottom fishing is not really feasible but float fishing, spinning or fishing with crankbaits will certainly pay off with some good sized fish.  There are quite a variety of fish species to be had from the smaller ones that inhabit the seaweed covered rocks to larger ones such as barracuda, little tunny, spotted seabass, members of the grouper family and others. The best times to fish though are, like most other places along the coast, around dawn and dusk when the larger fish move closer inshore from the deeper water.

Just a word of warning: the submerged plateau is dotted with potholes here and there, so be careful where you are stepping especially in the dark. During the summer months it is not a problem standing in the water in a pair of sandals but if you intend fishing in when the water temperature is not so warm, then you will need a pair of waders at least.

 

Getting There

Turn off the Coastal Highway at the Zichron Ya'akov Interchange and turn left at the Faradis junction. Pass through Faradis and turn left towards Kibbutz Nachsholim immediately after leaving the village. About 3km down the road turn right towards the kibbutz entrance but keep going instead of actually turning left into the kibbutz. The road quickly turns into a dirt track. The track turns left at some fish farm buildings; turn left where you see a small sign marked 'Tel Aviv' pointing back at you. It looks as if there is no through road but it will take you to a small parking lot close to the beach (get there early - it fills up quick!). From there head to the beach and work your way south to the rocks and good fishing. You can also camp on the beach making it more convenient for dusk/dawn fishing. Talking about conveniences, there are none so be prepared to rough it a bit.

I've created a map on GoogleMaps so you can see how to get there.

Tight lines!

Freshwater Fishing Spot In Israel: Jordan Park (Park HaYarden)

Known locally as Park HaYarden, the Jordan Park offers a small quiet stretch of river for fishing.  There are an abundance of small fish, some St. Peter's fish, carp and catfish. It's a great place for a family camping weekend with lots of things to do and trails to hike along. There is also 'Abu Kayak' where you can rent inflatable rafts and kayaks - a great way to explore the river for those hot fishing spots! You can also use it as a base for fishing trips to the Kinneret and the Jordan River, both of which are just a few kilometers away.

Getting There

If you are coming from the Tiberius direction then head north along Route 90 and then right onto Route 87. Continue past Capernaum (Kfar Nachum) for about 6km, passing over Arik Bridge as you go, and turn left onto Route 888 at the Beit Tsaida junction. You will see the entrance to the park on your left after about 1km.  If you are coming from the eastern (Golan Heights) side of the Kinneret then head north along Route 92 and then bear left onto Route 87. Continue for about 1km and turn right onto Route 888 at the Beit Tsaida junction. You will see the entrance to the park on your left after about 1km. 

Tight lines!

To read more about fishing in Israel on The Fly Fishing Rabbi, Click Here

A Fishing Park in Israel

This week, I received a report from Howie in Jerusalem, describing his fishing trip to Dag-Bakfar (A Fish in the Village) fishing park located in the north of Israel. Thank you, Howie for this information and for the great pictures!

Dear Rabbi Eisenkramer,

I am pleased to report back to you about our successful fishing outing this past weekend at Dag-Bakfar Fishing Park in the Yokneam Moshava.

Our ninety-minute drive north from Jerusalem via Highway #6 to Highway #7 went very smoothly. The ninety-minute drive will soon be reduced by at least thirty minutes when the new extension of Highway 6 opens up shortly.

The Dag-Bakfar Fishing Park is located in the Jezreel Valley - עמק יזרעאל. It is a great first time fishing spot for anglers of all ages wishing to enjoy this recreational past time.

The Yokneam Moshav facility offers all the services one needs to catch their first big one. The friendly hosts greet you in the language of your choice. The admission for groups of four can be reduced by visiting their website and downloading a free admission coupon for one member of your group of four.

Our fishing party consisted of three adults and two children. As the only one with previous fishing experience I happily spent most of our five hour visit helping untangle lines, putting fresh bait on the hooks and making sure everyone was happy.

There were about twenty fishermen trying their luck around the lake. Chairs, tables and lots of shaded areas are provided for you. Everyone seemed to have their own gear. I used my regular rods. I did notice that the more successful anglers used 3 meter and 5 meter poles to cast even further into the lake. These longer poles could be rented from the fishing shop at a minimal price.

My son and his friends had a great time. We lost a few large ones when they were being brought in. We were using a ten pound test line. The lake was stocked with some pretty healthy looking Carp and a couple of unknown species to me (I thought I may have seen some cat fish?).

We caught and released our catch. The fish looked clean and easily ready for consumption. You are able to select live fish from a special holding tank and have the Daf-Bakfar staff clean it for you. I did notice some guest’s bring their catch in the recreational park beside the facility.

We had a great time at Dag-Bakfar. It was my first experience at a fishing park in Israel. They cater to all ages and groups. Overnight facilities are available at Dag-Bakfar, reservations are recommended.

I would also suggest scheduling some time to visit the surrounding mountains in עמק יזרעאל Valley of Jezreel. We concluded the day with a jeep ride through Mount Carmel. The road was difficult to navigate but worthwhile. We stopped off at a local Druze Village near Haifa for some local food and headed back south to Jerusalem.

Pictures: Mt. Carmel



Happy fishing,
Shavuah Tov (A Good Week),
Howie in Jerusalem


Dag Bakfar Fishing Park: www.dag-bakfar.com/en/park.shtml
The Jezreel Valey in Israel from Google Maps: CLICK HERE

More Fishing in Israel on The Fly Fishing Rabbi:
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

Fishing in Israel Part 3: Tackle Shops, Fishing Boats and Highlights

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 discussed tackle stores in Israel, the future of fly fishing in the Holy Land and highlights of his trip:

Italo: During my travels I also had a chance to see three tackle stores.

Rabbi: Where were they located?

Italo: One was in Nahariya, one was in Eilat and one was in Ashdod. The one in Ashdod wasn’t just a tackle store, it was one of two distributor warehouses. I was impressed with the quality of the lures. I actually spent quite a bit of money on lures that I had not seen before and a beautiful tackle box in Ashdod. I was told that there are 40 tackle shops in Israel. This is a big growth from four years ago when I was asking people in Tel-Aviv if there is anywhere I can buy hooks and fishing line and nobody had a clue.



There seems to have been such a growth in the last four years in sport fishing. We spoke to several people, one gentleman’s name was Ido in Tiberius. He owns The Deck Restaurant right on the water. He has three vessels and he long-lines in the Mediterranean out of Israel, primarily for blue-fin Tuna, which reach very large weights, in excess of 500 pounds. He had just purchased his third boat, and the boat was built in New Brunswick Canada. It was an offshore commercial fishing boat that had been converted to sport fishing.

I spoke to several anglers who have upgraded two or three times to get better boats because they realize how good the fishing is. Some of them are using the boats to harvest the fish commercially, some of them are chatering the boats.

There was another gentleman, Roger, who I met in Ashdod. He had a custom built fishing boat from Greece, about a 35 footer that we were fishing out of. This tells me that sport fishing is growing in Israel. I think that this is the tip of the iceberg.

With the boats that I was fishing, they were telling me it is common to go out and get 100 or 150 King Mackerel in four or five hours. That rivals fishing King Mackerel in Florida, the Carolinas and anywhere in the world. You have to stop fishing because literally you get tired of catching fish.

The same thing applies to Amber Jacks, Giant Trevally. I fished for Giant Trevally 1100 miles south of Hawaii at a place called Christmas Island, about 100 miles north of the Equator. I would have to say that the Trevally fishing out of the Red Sea, out of Eliat, probably rivals that. In the Red Sea, you can get Trivially up to 60 kilograms, that is 120 pounds. These Giant Trivially come up and hit top water lures. If you are a fly fisherman and you use a dry fly, can you imagine casting and pulling a lure the size of a bowling pin and having a hundred pound fish hit it.

Rabbi: Could a tourist visiting Israel charter a guide from Ashdod, Nahariyah or Eliat?

Italo: The people that we work with do that, but they are unknown. Sport fishing is alive in Israel but nobody knows about it. Since I have been back, I have spoken to our contacts in Eliat, Nahariyah and Ashdod. These guys are fishing three to four times a week all year long. I asked them to please send me fishing reports and let me post them on my Canadian Sportfishing website or to build their own site, put the rates on, the fishing season. They all have the right boats but they do not see it. It is in the infancy stages.

With a little bit of research, especially someone who has family there and travels back and forth, in a matter of hours you could probably set up a network. People could be taken fishing in the north for rainbow trout and freshwater fishing on the Sea of Galilee and saltwater fishing for the larger game fish on the Mediterranean.

Since I have been back, I have been trying to get some of the department of fisheries and agriculture from the Israeli government to travel to North America to meet with fisheries people in Florida primarily. In the US, Florida has taken leadership on fish and wildlife management because they have so many anglers, both from a recreational standpoint and commercial and charter boats and guides and so on, both fresh water and salt water. So that these key people from Israel would become familiar with some of the conservation practices that have worked and then modify those to use in Israel.

I am trying to work both sides, the fisheries government side to recognize that there is a viable sport fishing produce. And I am trying to encourage the anglers to get websites up and running and grow their businesses. That way when a person travels to Israel, maybe he will be on one of the Biblical Pilgrimages, or visiting the archeological sites and so on, they can add on two or three days of fishing. Or maybe they can go on a fishing tour to Israel, much like ours, 10 days, non-stop, covering all of that distance and experiencing a whole different side of Israel. That is what I am presently working on right now.



Rabbi: That’s wonderful. I love the idea of adding a few days of fishing on to an Israel trip. If a tourist were to come to Israel now, could they go to one of the tackle stores and find a way to go fishing on their own?

Italo: If they went into any of the tackle shops, I am sure that they would get the information in that region for the people to fish with, either freshwater or salt-water. I don’t think that many of the tackle stores have websites. If you know the name, you can find the contact information. For example, the one in Nahariya is a dive and tackle shop. The gentleman there provides dive boats and diving and also has a tackle store and does charter fishing.

If you type in fishing in Israel, very little comes up. There are websites out there, but they are really not known and they are not used enough to be noticed by the Google search engine. I am trying to encourage the people to redo that.

Rabbi: What was one of the highlights of your fishing trip in Israel?

Italo: I would have to say that the quintuplet King Mackerel catch. There were four or five of us on the boat and we were trolling. We were looking for a school of King Mackerel and we were getting a little bit complacent.

Rabbi: This was on the Red Sea?

Italo: Yes. We were having a nice social time, eating a variety of things. Then literally five rods started screaming! For someone who has not experienced the havoc and confusion of five adult men, who are all crazy anglers, diving for rods and trying to keep the lines from tangling up. We landed all of them. Not a double or triple but a quintuple-header! It will make for very good reality television that is all I can say.

Picture: Two of the Five King Mackerel



That was probably the highlight, other than meeting Israelis that love to fish. They are crazy for fishing like you and I are. They go out three or four times a week. Most of it is for their personal enjoyment. Some of it is for guiding. I love to see the passion in their hearts, whether it is freshwater or saltwater fishing.

Rabbi: Italo, thank you so much for being here and sharing your amazing fishing adventures in Israel.

Italo: Thank you for having me.

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 is divided into three parts:
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 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

Fly Fishing in Israel

Israel is a small country, the size of the state of New Jersey, but has great variety in its climate. The south is scorching desert. Tel Aviv is a warm costal town, surrounded by fertile valleys. The area surrounding Jerusalem, the Judean Hills, is filled with some of the most desolate and beautiful spots of solitude and peace found anywhere. And in the north of Israel stands Mt. Hermon, Israel’s only mountain, a snow-capped peak in the winter. Flowing down from this mountain, there are spring-fed streams that empty into the Jordan River. Not too long ago, a number of trout farms opened, making use of the cold water creeks. Some of the trout escaped, and live in those streams.

Many of the cold-water streams are situated in designated nature reserves, where fishing is prohibited. Those who chose to ignore this law are subject to fines, and rangers patrol the stream to stop anyone from fishing.

According to a friend in Israel, unfortunately some people chose to fish illegally on the streams in the nature preserves. Since there are no regulations, they use any method they like, including spear guns, and keeping every fish they catch, no matter how small. These tactics are clearly not good for the fish or the natural sites.

While the small rivers may be off-limits, Israel does offer a taste of fly fishing for those so inclined. Here is the report from my friend in Israel: “Kibbutz Dafna has a trout farm and they opened one of their pools to pay fishing. They stock it with half to one kilo rainbow and charge slightly less per kilo for caught fish than you would pay at their store. I have taken orders from friends and fished there, catching 4 or 5 fish in less than one hour. It is like fishing in a barrel! It is not easy to fly fish the pond, so I have used spinners, but it is possible to use a fly rod, especially if you are there when no one else is. So I guess you can say there is fly fishing for rainbows in Israel! The price for caught fish is about $4.5 per pound (40 IS per kilo), so the average fish cost about $5.” This fly fishing friend of mine in Israel also runs a terrific guesthouse near the Sea of Galilee. For more information: Click Here.

Here are some pictures from the year I lived in Israel in the late 90s: