San Vito lo Capo is still a resource for fishing today. Every morning, in the marina, you can buy fresh fish.
Even today, the San Vito sea is very rich in fish: groupers, sea bream, amberjack, croaker and snapper are common prey, and not only for the excellent local fishermen; divers and surface fishermen here have the opportunity to make the richest game bags.
The large local fishing fleet is dedicated to small-scale coastal fishing, using fixed gill nets ("tremaglie"), "conzi", the "paranza" or trawl net, the "cianciolo" or purse seine net, the "nasse ", the mirror and the harpoon on the shallowest seabed, the traditional line for bottom fishing and trolling. In the morning at the port directly on the boats that have just returned - or in the second-hand shops - you can buy bream, amberjack, grouper, lobster, salpe, seabream, sea bass, squid and octopus that are still alive.
For non-professional fishermen, there are two fishing systems most commonly practiced, and more entertaining because they ensure good game bags and happy hours: trolling and fishing for squid , cephalopods similar to squid but with a stronger flavor (many gourmets prefer them to their more famous). The two types of fishing attract a very high number of enthusiasts to San Vito, but they are profoundly different from each other.
Trolling is practiced during the day: long lines are lowered from the moving boat at almost minimum speed with natural bait (squid, small fish) or artificial bait (feathers, fake fish, rubber octopus, metal spoons and so on) at the end. they deceive predatory fish (amberjacks, snappers) who believe they have found the meal and instead end up hooked. Then there is another type of trolling, which is also good for non-experts and which in the September - November period ensures fun, surprises, and excellent delicious fish dishes. This involves trolling for "caponi" and tuna, blue fish that in the autumn months complete their migration passing off the Sicilian coast: the sea in front of Capo San Vito seems to be one of the best areas for this type of fishing, also widely practiced by professional fishermen, who however use a particular purse seine net.
The other type of fishing is squid fishing , which is practiced at night, preferably when there is no moon. From the stationary boat, carried by the current, to a depth never lower than 50/60 metres, a long line is lowered at the end of which, instead of bait, there is the so-called "totanara", a metal or lead cylinder with a crown of hooks pointed, equipped with an intermittent light powered by small batteries: in the depths of the sea the squid, an animal that hunts for small fish at night, mistakes the artificial light for the trail of fleeing prey, and, grabbing onto the tool, is captured by the do you love.
Fishing with the bottom fishing line (or with rod and reel) from the boat still ensures rich game of violets ("donzelle" in Italian) and serranie, with the always possible surprise of luvari ("pagelli") and small snappers, all small fish excellent for frying. For the location, just move away a little from the coast: the results are similar everywhere.
Another "product" of this generous sea deserves a separate mention, the most precious of its gifts: coral . For centuries the seabed of San Vito has given fishermen the most beautiful coral, which traders paid as if it were gold. In 1300 the coral from Trapani, San Vito lo Capo and Bonagia was known throughout the Mediterranean and considered to be of the best quality. On the rocks of Cala Mancina and "Taglio Spada" (an underwater precipice a mile and a half from the shore) the wonderful Corallium rubrium, the red gold of our sea, still lives, and it is possible to purchase some beautiful branches that ended up by chance between fishermen's nets.
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