Big Game Fishing in Croatia

   You are completely safe with our captain Zoran Srdarev-Mure. The sea has been his second home since he was three. Fishing is both his passion and his profession and the best places for fishing are well-known to him.

   In 1995 he was the first fisherman of the Adriatic to hook a tuna while participating in sport fishing. After that he has caught numerous specimens tuna fish and sharks and his swordfish weighing 150 kg was the first recognised catch of the Adriatic coast.

   On the Adriatic coast tuna fish has been caught from time immemorial but sport fishing, where tuna fish is caught by using a fishing rod with an artificial or natural bait trailed after a boat, is relatively new. Presently two variants of the same technique are being used.

   The first one, considered to be less sportsmanlike, is used by some fishermen who trail baits after their boats and when fish take them, they throw big buoys into the sea, usually barrels made of tin. While trailing them, the fish get tired and it is quite easy to catch them. This type of fishing is neither allowed nor prohibited, but many people think it is not sportsmanlike.

   The second variant, sport fishing of specimens tuna fish, swordfish and sharks is used by fishermen from Vodice – Zoran Srdarev-Mure and Ivo Vuljanic.
They were the first to offer fishing of specimens as a tourist attraction and they were very successful at catching fish with their boat Saint Anna.
   The crew and the guests of the vessel use the equipment permitted by the strict rules of IGFA regarding fishing lines. If the fishing line is attached to the backing, the backing may not exceed the 60 kg line class and must be of a type of line approved for use in the angling rules. Even with these rules the crew of the Saint Anna managed to catch a tuna fish which weighed 303 kg on the open sea!

   IGFA (International Game Fishing Association) was founded in 1939 and its founders were Michael Lerner, the most successful sport fisherman of the time and Ernest Hemingway. By introducing rules and regulations they wanted to give fish a fair chance in their struggle against fishing rods. The use of buoys is prohibited and game fish catches can only be considered for record status if they are caught according to International Angling Rules.

Every year in September the international competition of Big Game Fishing is organised in accordance with IGFA rules in Jezera on the island of Murter. Boats from all over the world, fishermen's stories, discussions about new equipment create a pleasant atmosphere of this prestigious competition.

At the 6th international competition of Big Game Fishing last year, among 51 crews from many countries, first place went to the crew of the Saint Anna (Ivo Vuljanic, Srdarev Zoran - Mure, Ivo Vulin, Mladen Sprajcar, Zdravko Kaurin i Marko Kucinic), who had 772,5 points for tuna fish weighing 69 and 84,5 kg.