Madeira 2011

[Oliver]

Well it's becoming some what of a tradition to have a Madeira thread running on these boards and I guess now is as good a time as ever to start it!

Last Thursday my good friend and the one who was responsible for getting me "hooked" on Marlin fishing opened his account for the season on his first trip out this year. Capt. Peter Bristow on the Katherine B released the first Marlin of the 2011 season - a 40kg White. If things go to plan it sould be about another month before the blues show up!

Fishing so far this year in Madeira has been seeing somewhat of an upturn. Everyone here told me I would struggle to keep things going over the winter months. It a tough time and most boats were keeping things going by taking people out bottom fishing. We get some good Snapper and Amberjack fishing a short run from the marinas and this really is the mainstay over the winter months. Things have been somewhat different this year as we have had good runs of schoolie size tuna around. In January and Feb it was Skipjack and March it was Albacore. We were regularly running trips and getting into double digits of fish upto 12 kg, but one trip 3 weeks ago saw us put 38 Albacore on the deck in just over 4 hours! The highlight of that trip was the bonus of a 15kg Mahi. We were not the only boat finding fish - "Our Mary", "Lara Jade" and "Brisa do Mar" all got in on the action. So far this year our best Tuna has been a 28kg Big Eye in Feb. We have had 98 Tuna and a Mahi so far this year. This by all accounts is the quiet time! The "Our Mary" has also caught a 5kg Swordie trolling in the day back in Jan.

Things are starting to look better out on the water every time we go out. The sea has started to take on it deep blue color and there is a ton of bait around right now as there has been all year so far.

As we go over the easter holidays I am sure we will be hearing about a few more fish. Most of the charter fleet will be stepping up a gear as far as bookings go as dispite the doom and gloom of the economy Madeira seems to be doing well as far as visitor numbers go. Sure hope we continue to be in the thick of it.

Also maybe worth mentioning here that Marlin University will be in Madeira in July.

Anyone making the trip this year, this is the place to talk about your trip / advice on hotels / travel in general.

Tight lines and hope to see you here real soon.

Ollie

[Oliver]

Well not long after I posted the last report Capt. Jose on the "Our Mary" rang me to tell me that he had just boated a 30kg Big Eye. He also called me up today to say that they had something take the stinger, that shook the hooks while they were clearing the rods. Suspect was a white marlin, although no one on board got a look. Just a fast fish that stayed on the surface.

Things are looking good.

Ollie

[Seth]

Keep it coming Ollie. I pray for a big year.

[rbrdogs]

Suspect was a white marlin,

Ollie

You know what we say in OC don't you?

Bert

[Oliver]

More fish on the grounds today. First Capt. Peter Bristow released another White Marlin - so far the only skipper to get a positive id and release on a marlin this year. Meanwhile on other parts of the grounds "Our Mary" and "Lara Jade" both reported seeing Tunas busting, but were unable to get into them.

We are out tomorrow, Wednesday and maybe Friday or Saturday, so lets hope things keep up and we get stuck into a fat Tuna or a pointy nosed thing!

Tight lines

Ollie

[Oliver]

Top day on the water today all round. 4 of the Funchal charter boats fishing and all saw action. Double strikes, triple headers for Katherine B, Balancal and Our Mary. Katherine B managed 2 for 3 on Big Eye - fish of 70 and 80 kg while Our Mary got one in the boat pushing 150kg. We had some luck today in that a white marlin had a couple of shots at a Saturn 60 that we had out in the hope of a big girl on the 130. Things are looking great and I cant wait to get back out there on Wednesday.

Ollie

[Oliver]

Managed a triple header strike off Big eye today. We only got one fish to the boat, not bad going at 115kg. Dig a photo out later.

Ollie

[Oliver]

Some Photos.

115kg Big Eye

115kg Big Eye

Feb Big Eye and Albacore

Richard with 2 tuna species in a day

Richards catches his 3rd species in madeira in 2 days fishing, this time we took him out on the "Balancal" as we had a small engine problem!


Hope you enjoy. As soon as I can get some pictures from some of the other skippers I will post.

Tight lines

Ollie

[Oliver]

Well I had to shoot back to the UK with the kids late last week but I managed to put in a call today to find out whats going on. Our Mary last week scored a double header of Big Eye for their 80+ year old Japanese angler! THe fish went in at around 80 and 90 kg. Jose tells me he has had a couple more since I have been home. The word is, the fish are here, they are running around 80-100kg and most boats are getting into action with them every few day. I guess that translates to "If you ain't out there, you ain't catching them"

Can't wait to get back on thursday!

Ollie

[Oliver]

Seems everyone is into the Tuna at the moment. Both Joe and Roberto Riberio called me up today with tails of hooked, caught and busted off fish! I even heard that one of my friends on their sail boat managed a double header of 60 kg fish! - Took them well into dusk to get the better of them but all the same a very respectable catch!

It can't be long before the blues show up!

Cant wait to get back out there on Thurdsay!

Ollie