After my two-week stay in Baku, Pasha and I decided to go fishing. We decided to ask the locals where the cherished places are. The only place where we meet a large number of locals is the gym, and the best place to ask about fishing in our opinion turned out to be the Sauna. So we started talking about fishing in the sauna, immediately got the useful info where to buy fishing rods in Baku, but as it turned out the guy who advised us the store with fishing equipment was not a fisherman. Our conversation was watched by two boys also sitting busily in the sauna and taking selfies with their iPhones on a stick. One of them spoke to us and said, in plain Russian, that his grandfather was a cool fisherman and went to Artem Island and always came back with fish.
The next day we went to buy a fishing rod. I don’t know anything about fishing and I fish in the style of “Let me hold a spinning rod. So the choice was for Pasha, he gave me the impression of an avid fisherman, thanks to a box full of all sorts of gadgets for fishing, which he dragged from Moscow. In general, Pasha said that we take an inexpensive rod for 26 manat, along with a reel, took some hooks for some “Donka” and drove off.
Following the route of the indispensable navigator, which is not used in Baku due to the lack of correct street signs and house numbers (but about this we will describe in our story about the restoration of my destroyed passport), we crossed the dam connecting Baku and the island. Exactly at this point, I got the impression that we were being joked at. The water looked like an oil sludge, and in the places around the island it was very shallow.
Artem Island is located about 45 minutes from the center of Baku. When we arrived on the island, we spent about two hours looking for a place, but could not find anything, the coast is everywhere too shallow, and there are no hills. At the far end of the island there are checkpoints that say “strategic area banning photography and videotaping, so there did not even go. It was a shame to come back without dropping out once. We decided to look at the topography on the satellite map and found a rocky area on the mainland. Google said it was Beacon Beach. We drove about half an hour from our location to the Lighthouse.
When we arrived at the chosen place, we were pleasantly surprised. The beach is sandy, equipped with cabins, and there was a convenient access to the sea. Not far from the beach is a rocky shore, which is suitable for sea fishing. The stones themselves were very interestingly shaped, reminiscent of Maasdam or Emental cheese. To get close to a place to catch you will have to take a short walk on these not only unusual rocks, but also slippery. Bring comfortable and waterproof shoes.
The Mayak beach was completely empty at this time of year, with the occasional Rubicon on the sandy shore. The weather was humid and it was not really hard for me to walk on the rocks, even though I was wearing Timberlands, which I didn’t regret a bit. Even Pavel was a hero, he was jumping on the rocks in sneakers, but he said that his feet got absolutely wet, and I didn’t, even after I got into the wave. So once again convinced myself that I chose Timberland, I did the right thing.
You have no idea how much I hoped to catch a fish full of black caviar. Yes, he wanted us to catch it, by the shore, with a rod for 20 manat and a “Donka”. In general, as you can guess, for three hours, my hope was not realized, not even a nibble. And we were fishing for shrimp, very tasty, I tried it. That’s probably why we ran out of fish. If there was a Pasha would have caught it 🙂
If suddenly who – someone knows where you can fish and catch something will be very happy to get useful info.
On the way back we noticed a restaurant “Shangulum” at the crossroads. We decided to take a look and we didn’t regret it one bit. While we were waiting for food we met the owner. From the conversation with the chef we learned that this is his family restaurant, where his whole family works, and his mother is a cook. The food we ordered was very tasty and the portions were huge. Mom treated us to cream of lentil soup, lamb shish kebab, all sorts of sauces, pickles, tea and maybe something else I forgot about. But the most delicious was the jam of mini pears J Price for 4 people was 40 magnate, that’s 10 per fish. Which is very inexpensive by Baku standards, 4 times cheaper than in the center of Baku. As a farewell to all of us the owner made gifts. I and Pasha gave roses and our girls a rose, it was unexpected and very nice. Another surprise was that when they brought us the bill they said 36 manat, if you have it. I asked what do you mean? And they explained that it is a tradition that if you do not have it, then you do not have it, or some other time. It really surprised me. Definitely, when we are in those areas will return to this place.
And that day in Baku I had my car towed, just my car out of the whole row. There was a sign that I did not notice, a fine of 40 manat.
