Our fishing boat
The fishing boat “Nikolakis” has its own history in Georgotzis family.
Before the tourism exploitation in Corfu, the first job of Dimitris Katsaros was an engineer in cargo ships traveling around the world. After his last trip, he bought a small fishing boat for the family’s needs.
 In 1980, Dimitris along his wife Frosso established their first tourist business in Kalami, a snack bar under the name “Kalami Beach”, which in 1984 continued more organised as a taverna – bar, the “Kalami Beach Taverna – Bar”.
Dimitris has already been fishing professionally with the small boat supplying the taverna with fresh fish. During fishing, he used to take with him his second son, Giorgos Katsaros, who loved joining his father in his “little journey”, learning from a very young age the art of fishing.
In 1995, when George returned from the special forces of the army, he was confident that the only job he ever wanted to make, is fishing. The business had to be expanded, as the size of the boat was not satisfactory for the tavernas needs.
 The new fishing boat “Nikolakis” is much bigger and organised with all the necessary equipment for the difficult and sometimes dangerous job of fishing.
Giorgos is the soul of the boat, working with the knowledge, the love and the experience. He is considered as one of the most skilled and spirited fishermen in the area.
The fishing boat is into the sea all year round, (except a small period when is out of the water, for general maintenance).
During the summer, Giorgos supplies his brother Niko at the Kalami Beach Taverna with his daily catch of fish. In the winter, both brothers, Giorgos and Nikos go fishing together and sell the fresh fish to the locals.
If you are wondering what happened to small fishing boa, Dimitris still owns it! His main job now is vegetating the garden for fresh vegetables for the taverna, but he always finds the time to go fishing for white bait and sardines. Besides, who could disagree that these little fish is the delicious “meze” to start a meal?
Fishing, every day is different and unique experience. We welcome you to “Nikolakis” boat with captain Giorgos and let him introduce you to a typical fishing day.
A typical fishing day
“ The two main ways of fishing are either with nets or with long lines.
Fishing with nets varies on the selection of fish we wish to catch. You can find nets in different sizes and colours.
 During the summer season and depending on the weather, approximately at 13:00 noon, we decide on the location we will net, after having consulted technology, such as the fish finder and GPS.
We start netting. Usually, there are 2 people on board, the first is handling the boat and the second is handling the nets. These people must have perfect communication, as any mistake can cost.
Depending on the amount of fish we need, we net the proportional metres of nets. During the summer, we usually use 3 - 5 km of nets. As soon as we finish with netting, which is lasting about 5 hours, we return to the port, where the boat has to be cleaned and maintained.
We then hope for luck on the next day and that the sea is generous to us.
On the following day, just before the sun rises, we set sail for our destination, provided we have already worn our water-resisting uniforms.
We start to collect the nets, whilst the sun ris es. When the fish appear, we take them off the nets and put them in cool boxes with ice, in order to keep them fresh.
After the collection of nets and the gathering of fish, we return to the restaurant delivering our fresh catch.
We finally go back to the port, where we clean the nets from stones and various sea herbages, as we need them ready for the evening. This procedure can last 4-5 hours and more.
Fishing with long lines is easier and more pleasant than the nets, but not so productive.
Usually, we start very early in the morning before the sun rises.
We take bait with us. The bait varies from sardines to octopus or squid.
We choose the location, depending on the weather, and net the long line, which usually leave from 2-4 hours in the water.
 The collection of the long line is lasting the double time we dedicate to netting.
I hope that I have presented to you with a small part of my job and how a typical fishing day looks like. We are working hard every day during the summer, contributing to the success of our restaurant.
We are glad to see our repeat customers to enjoy our fish dishes every year.
We invite you to visit our restaurant and choose from our menu a dish of your preference. I am sure you will come to appreciate the flavour and taste of a freshly caught fish.”
Giorgos Katsaros
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