Impression I get from fishing for them all my life and seeing a few spearing is our black bream prefer open water and cleaner ground. Eel grass beds and gravelley sandy areas are their most frequent habitats. Haven't seen any in holes, but then I don't look that closely as its always dark and scary in there :girlie
Is your black bream Spondyliosoma cantharus? If it is it, it is not a "sargo" and indeed this is not a hole fish, it is maybe the less hole-friendly of the whole bream family. As you said it's easier to spot on grass beds and caught by aspetto or agguato.
While the other breams of the sargo family, once very common in the mediterranean and now spotted in english waters (as some of you guys report), are all very hole-friendly fish. I'm talking of what we call striped common sargo bream (
diplodus vulgaris), major sargo bream (
diplodus sargus), big lips sargo (
diplodus puntazzo) they ar all fish that tend to hole up in:
-under the edges of isolated boulders
-under and in between a concentration of many bpulders
-inside crevices between the basement of rocks large or small
-inside small holes (you'll be surprised how really tiny holes can host so many fish!!!).
Common approach and techniques:
where
you may at your option:
1a) investigate every single hole going continuously up and down like the needle of a sewing machine (it's a very physical type of hunting).
1b) choose only a few selected boulders or cracks that might inspire you. Ask yourself: where would I hide if I was a fish myself? Sargos generally choose a preordered hole they may run into in case of danger, and they choose holes and rocks with a particular "look", so they can recognize it very quickly when they nmeed to suddenly run into it. They also tend to choose holes OR rocks as their permanent "dwelling", so also in this case the rock has to has a particular "look" to be dinstinguished from any other: for example an isolated rock in a flat bottom, a hole in a rocky floor with a brighter spot of rock, or right behind a weed bush....
2) first briefly investigate if, besides the entrance hole, there might be any exit hole for them to escape from another side of the rock. In this case a buddy system is very productive to patrol both the entrance and the exit.
How
3a) approach the hole gently, trying to perform some brief "aspetto" laying one meter or so away from the hole: sometimes a fish will come oput to see what's going on and....BANG!
3b) BUT if you have seen a frightened fish running into the hole escaping from outside, don't waste any tiome and quicly peep into the hole with your gun pointed to the inside, use a quick flash of your torch and shoot with no hesitation.
4) don't fall in the traps and tricks of these cunning buggers. sometimes you may find very small sargos staying tranquil and motionless in front of a boulder: there might be a bigger one inside (the small ones feel protected by the big one, maybe). Sometimes you'll see a single sargo exiting from the hole and running as hell towads open see: it's only a diversion to get your attention and drive you away from the hole where his "brothers" are hiding.
Sometimes you may watch into the hole and see no fish: maybe it's on the floor, laying down on his side to be less visible....cunning buggers.
5)
weapons. Of course you need a short gun (to be handled into small holes)armed with a 3, 4 or 5 pronger tip. the 3 or 5 pronger is much better than a tahitina or hawaian tip with flopper, first because you won't have much time and visibility to aim and the 5 pronger will give more hitting "surface" than a single tip. Second because, the hole might have not enough room to let the speartip pass completely through the fish, and in this case the flopper won't open and you won't be able to hold the fish.
6)
torch. You must use a torch. Not necessarily one of those superpowerfu lamps you use for night dives, but a smaller handy spearfishing flashlight such as the Omer Moonlight, Omer Minimicra, Cressi lucciola et cetera. When approaching holed up sargos, take care that only a very brief flash will be enough: the sudden ray of light scares these fish a lot. So be very concentrated, flash briefly while you gun is already aimed inside, and shoot as quick as you can. You may also give up the use of a lamp: if you look into the hole for a little while, your eyes will naturally adjust to give you a better vision in the dark and maybe this will be enough.
I don't know if any of these will ever be useful to my UK friends, but I have the impression that climate change (or God knows what) is driving "southern" fish way north...
