A hot spot in Portugal

As Portuguese mariners under the command of Columbus ventured further west, prior to discovering the Americas, they explored Madeira and then this archipelago. With concerns over pirates attacking supply routes they built a fortress on Faial towards the end of the 15th century. (That’s now an excellent hotel – the Estalagem de Santa Cruz.)

Then the literary buffs amongst you may remember that it was off ‘Flores in the Azores’ – Flores and Corves are the most westerly of the islands - where Sir Walter Raleigh encountered a superior force of Spanish men o’ war and the outgunned Revenge, reduced to a smouldering hulk with most of its crew dead or injured, was captured after an epic battle. The Spanish took it in tow, attempting to return it to Spain as a trophy of war, but it sunk in a violent storm.

Also have any of you read Moby Dick by Herman Melville? In it he describes that the bravest harpoonists came from the island of Pico (in the Azores). And their descendants still hunted Sperm Whales – using handheld harpoons from open boats – right up until the 1960s.

The harbour at Horta (Faial) was also the trans-Atlantic staging post, in the pre- and immediately post-World War 2 period, for the majestic flying boats. (I’ve got some wonderful old photographs of those moored in the harbour.)

And, in more recent years, it is a recognised stop-over for trans-Atlantic yachtsmen. The cartoons painted by visiting yachtsmen around the harbour describe many of their epic voyages. And they, and sportfisherman, regularly gather in the famous Peter’s Sports Bar, renowned for the largest private selection of scrimshaw – carved Sperm Whale’s teeth.

But, enough of its history. I first became aware of its fishing potential in 1985/6 when British anglers like Trevor Housby and members of our Club – Sportfishing Club of the British Isles - visited there. Initially they reported captures of Blue and Mako Sharks. But then the first reports of Blue Marlin and Big Eye Tuna started to percolate through.

It was in early October 1986 that the Club’s first organised trip to Faial occurred. And I have to say we went there with some trepidation, having elected to take a slot at what was right at the end of an already extended season. What would water temperatures and the weather be doing? Well those concerns proved unjustified. We caught Blue Marlin up to nearly 800lbs, White Marlin, Big Eye Tuna and Mako Sharks. One member also caught the islands’ first rod & line caught Broadbill Swordfish – a small fish of 46lbs.

Also our first day out, which through an enforced propeller change ended up as just a half day, yielded 10 strikes from Blue Marlin, including one ’double header’. That was fishing the world famous boat, the Double Header. And the Raboa, a locally built 32’ Pacemaker copy skippered by Ted Legg, managed five Blue Marlin in one day!

Then literally days after we left the boats encountered huge Bluefin and Yellowfin Tuna. It really seemed to be the new ‘El Dorado’ of gamefishing.

And this continued in subsequent seasons. World and European records for Blue Marlin, Bluefin Tuna and Six Gill Shark were established. Two of the skippers – Don Merton and Ted Legg – went head to head, in friendly rivalry, one day releasing SEVEN Blue Marlin each.

There were also reports of HUGE Blue Marlin being hooked – not just ‘regular granders’. Enormous fish, fish that no one presumably for fear of ridicule would venture an estimate to as to their weight. They’d describe battles lasting up to 9 hours. These were with experienced heavy tackle anglers in the chair and mates used to leadering giant Black Marlin on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

I’ve spoken to one of our members, who skippered a boat out there, at length on this subject. When quizzed he could graphically describe four really big fish in the five seasons he’d fished Faial. But how big were they? He’d readily describe their sheer presence in the water, their bulk – liken to being ‘round like Bluefin’, their total control, the way they jumped, the way they swum. But the one thing he would not do was to speculate just how large they were. Were these the fabled 'Double Granders' - 2000lb plus fish?

So having whetted your appetite I have to explain that the numbers of Blue Marlin have declined since the mid-nineties and the runs of big Tuna are now much less predictable. Don’t get me wrong they still turn up and every year they encounter some big 8/900lb Marlin, but the sheer numbers are no longer there. So there’s an element of a lottery now. Perhaps the Gulf Stream has subtly changed its course? The fish may still be there but not feeding on the banks accessible to the normal day charters. No one knows. But next season they could, just could be back in force.

What this appears to have been replaced by though is a consistent summer run of White Marlin with, on good days, up to 20 or even more strikes. They are excellent sport on either light tackle, fishing Bait ‘n’ Switch, or even heavy fly fishing tackle.

Also there are big Bluefish there. In fact, in 1999, I landed one on 6lb test that would have probably exceeded the existing World Record. If only we’d had access to sensitive enough scales that evening to weigh it accurately. It was over, or at least equal to the record that evening but in the morning, after having dehydrated overnight, it was some 5 ounces shy.

Unlike places like Madeira and several of the Canarian Islands there are several different bank complexes you can fish for Marlin – the famous Condor Bank, the Azores Bank and the Princess Alice Shoal, although that is 46 miles offshore. There’re also many more offshore – the islands sit on the volcanically active Mid Atlantic Ridge - but these are outside the range of the day charter boats. And fish also show up off Riberino, on the islands north coast.

Last year though - 2005 - they appeared to have an excellent season for Blue Marlin and the News reports on this web site are well worth reading.

There may well be charter operations on certain of the other islands – there used to be one on Sao Miguel - but the only recent experience our members have is of Xacara. Xacara, a 36’ Hatteras, run by Ian Carter operates out of Horta, on the island of Faial. Click on the hyperlink to link to Ian’s web site. There are several other boats that operate out of the harbour in Faial, but the only other of which I have a web site link is Double Header. It is a 43' Daytona hulled Rybovytch crewed by local Azoreans.

Hope that's of some help.
Dave