A Christmas wish...

Lucky Number 13...

Friday and the number 13 have always been one of the biggest fear of Supersticious people. That wasn´t the case of the anglers onbourd Our Mary, they simply beleived in a good day out fishing! Yup 13 Wahoos in two days! On Friday anglers David wright, Ian Wright and Dermot Tenanty caught a total 7 Wahoo. Just to jinx bad luck on Saturday 7 th November another couple caught half a dozen Wahoo. The photos below show this very exciting weekend.

Angler's Strength put to the test...

Our fishing trips in October were filled up by anglers wanting to make the most of the time they had to go out fishing. Barracuda and wahoo made the trawling part of the trip alot of fun. If you are one of those that think that bottom fishing is boring, with nothing happening, the sting ray Mr Gittins caught during a trip onbourd OUR MARY would surely change your opinion. Just off Cabo Girão, angler Gary Gittins caught a 150 lbs sting ray, that faught till the last second and made him walk around every inch of the boat in order to finally catch the amazing sting ray. The pictures below show what fighting a 70 kilo fish while trying to keep your balnce looks like.

Summer Highlights Pictures...

After one of the most amazing fishing seasons where excitement gained a new meaning, we decided to put up another bash of summer fishing pictures with some more of the anglers that had excellent fishing experiences. Below you can see a relaxing moment that Captain Jose was able to enjoy up on the tower looking out for the next big fish. In the meanwhile, the wahoo are insisting on biting those lures and the numbers have been great in the last two weeks. One of our next reports will ilustrate this...

 

Bottom Fishing Headstart...

Mid September brang along the chance for us to go bottom fishing, along with the Wahoo strudding their stuff. With Anglers wanting to try a bit of both types of fishing... Big Game and Bottom fishing, we decided to make their wish our comand. During a few days we devided full day trips into two periods. In the first part of the day, we went trawling out of the Funchal Bay for the 30lbs wahoo, giving anglers a chance to try our heavy tackle out. Where the Afternoon was dedicated to some Bottom fishing for more traditional fishing lovers, where Stingrays like the one below made their day. Never the less a fishing day at its best.

 

 

 

September the rush continues...

After an exciting end to the month of August, September arrived with great expectation in the air... not only for the waho, that start to apear in this time of the year but also for the exciting chance of more huge tunas, and Blue marlin still teasing those lures. the whole 'Big Game Troupe' was in our waters. All the way from the UK, Marine Jonathan James came out to try his luck at this sport. Having the boat for himself and his wife, the afternoon was pointing out to be a great one... beautiful sunshine, excellent sea conditions and even dolphins charming their way out of the bay. The fun started when a strike put Jonathan in the fighting chair. After a while, he landed a beautiful 100kg Tuna. If this wasn't enough a second strike made Jonathan sweat till the last second... where he caught another 115 kg tuna. The photos below show his face of pride. No better trophy than that.

August, tight lines and new discoveries...

August kicked off right on the first day of the month, with a excellent fishing day alied by a great story. Mr António Fernandes a gemtleman that left madeira 35 years ago, never having come back to his homeland since, done so last August. Looking for a great fishing trip during his holidays, he chartered OUR Mary for a try at the famous Blue marlin he so much heard of. Along with him came close relatives and his son. The atmosphere was of great fun and so was the hope for a great blue Marlin. After a few hours, it was on Mr Niklas Fernandes' rod, that a 800 lbs Blue marlin took the bite. The 18 year old from Denmark, proved that youth and strength is just as important as experience and skill, in fishing, taking an hour and a half to land the fish.

A New Discovery

After this summer we can surely say that big game fishing is not your ordinary day out at sea. We can state without a doubt that the OUR MARY crew has seen and done everything you can expect from the big game, during this fishing season of 2009! If you're still not convinced, the exciting discovery made by the crew, just might make your mind up! Whilst another day out, we had a strike on a 30 lbs rod, Captain José thought it was another spearfish out of the many we have caught this season. When bringing the fish abourd, the billfish specimen seemed diferent to a regular spearfish, odd at its form and colour, the crew decided to photograph it for later consultation with Funchal Marine Biology Centre. A few days later we received information that the fish caught was indeed very unique. The billfish called 'Hatchet marlin' or 'Axe Marlin', was first spotted in the waters of Venezuela and Cuba, but due to the absence of conclusive evidence no further studies were done and therefore no final decision on its status and classification has been made. A beautiful example of the extraordinary fish swimming in Madeira waters.

Tuna Rush

Well it seems that after a poor Tuna catch earlier this year, these fish decided to inrich our list of catches, with their size and quality. It was on the last weekend of August that we were surprised by a total of 6 strikes of Tuna. In the morning trip a russian gentleman out on a private charter, managed to get 3 strikes ending up to loose all. In the afternoon,our already habitué Mr Bryan McGill came out for the 3rd time this year (we´re very grateful for the preference and pleased we have managed to deliver excellent fishing experiences)! Proving that practice makes perfect...getting 3 strikes aswell, he managed to land 2 beautifully sized big eyed tunas, 100kg and 120 kg to be exact. Round 4 is now booked for Christmas week, lets see what type of fish Santa will give him for christmas.

"The continuation of a 5 star fishing season", thats what we may call the last two weeks of July. Seeing the first Dourado arrive, it was the Blue Marlin that made sure they gave the 'OUR MARY' crew something to talk about for a few days. An example of this was the unexpected death of a Blue Marlin, while fighting the fish. Angler Ken Arnott realed the 850 lbs marlin in, but at the time of releasing the fish, the crew noticed too much bleeding (provoced by the agitation of the fish and the hook then having passed through the gills). Being this a one ocasion hapenning, it was of mutual agreement to bring in the fish to be donated to a charity institution. Never the less an amazing fish, a fantastic fishing day.

A few more blues made the days of other anglers, including angler Bryan McGill, who in two trips in one month striked two blue marlin. 100 % on target we may say.

 

Double hook-up, double the fun...

This summer has definately proved to be an amazing fishing season, but what happened abourd Our Mary in the first week of July just sealed the deal. Not one but two blue marlin took the bite at the same time, a DOUBLE HOOK-UP, that gave anglers Russell Simpson and Russell Beckwith, (curious situation, as they had the same first name) a fishing experience of a lifetime. After 2 hours and 45 minutes of fighting the fish, they tagged and released two amazingly sized Blue marlin, the first of 850 lbs and the second, a grander, weighing over an estimated 1000 lbs. Once again Captain José showed his skill at what he loves doing most... fishng... the pictures below are of the responsability of another angler Phil Hawker on board that day, who took the oportunity to register the unforgettable moment.

 

June 2009

The month of June saw the arrival of the Blue Marlin, the reason many anglers come over and over again to Madeira. The first two weeks were a bit quiet as fish is concerned. It was into the second half of June that the big fish started to apear. In 9 days Our Mary had 6 Blue Marlin, all over the 550 lbs mark. Two bigger blue marlin, over 700lbs were the highlights of that week. At the end of the month with typical summer weather and very good sea conditions, another Blue marlin took the bite, weighing just over 600lbs. Here are just a few photos of two of the blue marlin and the proud Hungarian Angler, just proves that its just about less talking and more fishing...

 

OUR MARY, the surprise of the Competition

On the 13th and 14th June 2009, took place in Calheta the 2nd edition of the Dr António Ribeiro Blue Marlin Fishing Cup, an initiative of the Big Game Club Portugal. With another 16 boats, OUR MARY participated wth the Madeira Big Game Fishing crew and angler Mr Barry Johnson.

After a quiet first day where Our Mary had no fish, it was the second day that saw the great excitement of the competition. Being this an All release tournament, we managed to tag and release not only one but two great blue marlin, weighing at an estimated 350lbs and 850 lbs. Having done this Our mary fell into the second slot just after Omega who managed a fish on the first day and another on the 2nd. None the less an impressive and exciting day of fishing, with a big comemoration at the end from our behalf.

Just below some pictures ilustrate the happening on the weekend. Exciting videos of the fight with the fish will shortly be on our gallery.

 

Blue Marlin Registration-Madeira 2008

In Cooperation with the professional and private boat Captains of Madeira, tha Big Game club Portugal, were able to roughly register the number of blue marlin that passed through Madeira Island waters in the last year.

Lost Fish/ Pulled Hook: 246

Caught and Released: 175

Caught and Boated: 9

At least 430 ( four hundred thirty) blue marlin visited Madeira Island waters in 2008. At least 12 were over 1.000lbs- Granders.

More than 50% were over 500 lbs. Very few were less than 400 lbs. The number of boated fish includes 2 (two) on the 4th July 2008.

November/ December/ January 2009

Wahoo season kicked off this year with some very nice specimens being brought on board Our Mary. As we expected this is proving to be a far better year than 2007. The average fish weighed in at 60lbs. Below you can find some images of our lady anglers proving that this is not just a mans sport.

August/September/October 2008

The Blue Marlin season proved to be a good one, having continued till the month of September, with the odd Blue marlin in October. October sees the arrival of the Wahoo and we are expecting good numbers.

May/June/July 2008

Madeira Island has once again proved to be one of the best Marlin fishing spots around, claiming the third position in this years 4th of July Marlin World Cup.

The crew on board Our Mary has seen some good action this season with many a blue Marlin being tagged and released. With the average fish weighing around the 750 pound mark, many anglers had their dream fish caught with the biggest Blue Marlin going to angler Barry Johnson at 950 pounds.

 

 

Among the Blue Marlins were some pretty big Dorados as can be seen in the pictures below.

 

Anglers Steve Baldwin and Phil Hawkins managed to capture this video whilst hooked up on a nice bull Dorado.

The marlin season continues to produce some fine specimens and we are still on the lookout for this years first Grander aboard Our Mary.

March/April 2008

With a nice new look it was back to serious fishing with the start of the Big Game Fishing season. March and April signals the start of tuna fishing. With a good start to the season we managed to land some nice tuna fish. Some weighing in at 190 lbs and 130lb.

 

Towards the end of March beginning of April the Tuna fish seemed to have decreased in numbers with the the number of fish caught dropping slightly.

End of April saw the return of Yellow fin tuna and the fishing has started to pick up. Some fine examples were hooked up. Expectations are high for the Tuna Fishing in May as bait fish numbers are on the increase. There has been some sightings of the first Marlin fish arriving at Madeira. We are looking forward to a good Marlin season this year.

 

February 2008

During the month of February we decided to give Our Mary a new make over with a fresh coat of paint and new interior improvements. Below are some of the photos of the work that was done.

 

November/December/January 2007/2008

November saw the testing of new light tackle. Butterfly jigging or vertical jigging as known by some has gained a large popularity among fisherman around the world and Madeira offers good conditions for those wishing to explore this method of fishing. Jud recently returned on a visit to Madeira and with Simon and joined Our Mary for the testing of the new equipment.

During the first day of fishing we were quick to hook up some nice red snappers. These fish are commonly found in our waters and we had manged to pull up some fine specimens on the Jig.

 

On the second day we made a trip to the Desertas Island which is well known for producing some very large groupers and amber jacks. No time was wasted as the jigs were back on the water. As usual the red snappers were first too be caught. Half way into the trip Desertas surprised us a very large grouper which Simon had the pleasure of bringing up.

 

On the third day we decided to apply the new tackle to bottom fishing. The new rods provide a excellent feel to when the fish is feeding on the bait. Within 30 minutes we had a nice red snapper on board, though the fish we were searching for was still to come. Madeira is also known for its very large sting rays that frequent our coast line. The first to be brought up was by Jud. A good sized sting ray. Throughout the day we managed to land various species of rays. The last fish went to Simon which proved to be a very hard fight as expected with this type of fishing.

In total we found that the new equipment provides anglers who enjoy the light tackle with loads of sport and fun.

 

August/September/October 2007

With the Marlin season in full swing “Our Mary” managed to land some nice Blue Marlin. Angler Gunnar Erikson managed to capture a large Blue marlin weighing in at 850lbs. Below is a video of the fishing experience.

 

During the month of September we continued to fish the Blue Marlin with some yellow fin tuna also being caught. Anglers Jim Boyd, Mark Gillespie, Stevie Boyd and William Abraham enjoyed a good days fishing and caught these tuna fish below.

 

Late September early October saw the start to Wahoo season. Some fish were being caught but in smaller numbers than we were expecting so we turned our attention to bottom fishing.

Huge sting rays provided our anglers with lots of sport, with the average fighting time being that of an hour and the average weight being 250 pounds.

This month also saw large numbers of Amberjacks being caught, most weighing in at 50 pounds. Snappers, Barracudas and groupers were also abundant.

The expected Tuna fishing was fairly slow , big fish, but not many of them, still Wahoo around and good size fish. This continoued into November but then the rains came and coloured up the inshore waters and the catches of  Wahoo dropped dramatically.
Towards the end of November the fishing slowed up and by the beginning of December we turned our attention to the big Rays. We have long known that there are very, very big Rays here - Stingrays, Butterfly rays, Eagel rays and probably others.
At first we started fishing with 50 stand up. No chance, we lost most of the fish. We then changed to 80 stand up. The equipment was okay, no problem but the anglers back and leg muscles would not put up with the strain. Once again, after loosing a lot of big fish, we changed to the 130 bent butts. With the angler in a fighting chair we could then put maximum pressure on these big fish.
Although many of the big fish are around 100 lbs to 150 lbs, many are much bigger. Our two best fish to date on 130 at the boat made around 300 lbs and one huge fish  was probably around 400 lbs. Over the next couple of months we will try different marks and different tactics for these obviously very big fish.

Jud Hamblin from the Shimano Service centre at Felindre in South Wales on a short visit to fish in Madeira and to test out the Shimano Beast Master Up tide rod ( 96610 ) hooked up on a Stingray of around 120 lbs.The fish took more than 1 1/2 hours to bring to the boat. I was told by Jud that all the beast master rods were very strong and seeing is Be-leaving. How on earth this rod could put up with this sort of pressure I have no idea. It should have exploded in the first half hour. We have now had several fish on this rod and it will certainly put up with any fish in the UK.

 Jud hooked up on a nice fish in 200 feet of water

more than 1 hour later the
 smile  is gone and the arms
 are aching and still 150 feet to go

the end result  after more
 than 1 1/2 hours a nice Stingray
 of about 120 lbs on a 10 ounce uptider

Jud in action again with the
Shimano Dynamic Response,
just look at that rod !

The reward for a hard fight in the chair

Ian Inglis after catching  a
 800 lbs Blue Marlin

Steve Turner in the hot seat after 1 hour still has nearly 300 metres of line out.

Steve with his well deserved 93 kg Tuna,boated after a 1hour 45 minute fight and weight on certified scales.
( a bit different to cod fishing in the Bristol channel )