A life experience

One of the main advantages of being on a boat several hours with people out at sea, is the oportunity we have to meet them, learn more about them and exchange the most incrible experiences, adding to this a mutual passion: fishing. A great trip that proves this is one of the first weeks of May. Joining us was 84 year old, Mr Hideo Fugitani, a Japanese passionate about fishing. Even though he mostly uses a whell chair, his energy was such no one could imagine. During the trip he shared with us that being a war veteran, in which he was a pilot and havng survived the war, gives him a reason to be full of life and happy. In a 4 hour trip he managed to catch 2 massive tunas on his own. Wieghing at 90kg and 100kg. His wife Mrs Sumie Fugitani, was a pretty proud lady.

May 2011

The month of May arrived and with it fishing gaining pace, giving clients fishing experiences they won´t forget. After the month of April, the Our Mary crew had their hopes up and expectations for May couldn't be higher. In the first week, Mr. Jeffrey Rouleou, went out on Our Mary having the chance to catch a Big Eye Tuna weighing about 120 Lbs.

Three hundred...

The 25th April, Liberty day, was a great day for us Portuguese celebrating 34 years of change into the democratic regime, but even better for angler Barry Johnson. This because just off Ponta da Cruz, a strike of a 330 lbs Tuna, made his day. This is one of the biggest Tuna caught in the last years, in Madeira Waters proving that it´s a hotspot for big game fishing worldwide.
The day before was a practice run for this happening, a tuna on the 20lbs line, ending up to release itself. In the week before the 1st White Marlin was spotted.

March Kick off!

After a beginning of the year dedicated to the maintenance of OUR MARY and in which the weather conditioned the possibility of trips, the official kick off for MBGF was this March. Tuna arrived in Madeira waters, smaller sized than the fish caught of the same species as from the month April. On the 26th March, the Our Mary crew headed out for another fishing trip. After an hour of trawling, the first strike came with a 7kg tuna on a 20 lbs line. Seconds after, two rods sounded the “alarm”, with lines reeling off the reels, an exciting time where anglers managed to bring in another two tunas. Anglers were excited no matter the language, just to prove that take a look at their smiles, Russian Father and Son and a true Englishman. Just off the Funchal Bay, the morning was a good example of what fishing tuna is like.

Wahoo have arrive!

Summer has oficially come to an end and the first cloudy days come along, but that´s still no reason for fishing not to be as exciting as always. The Wahoo were the species we had not seen in our waters yet, but that changed on the 22nd October. The first oficial wahoo was caught by angler Kay Olsen, weighing at an estimated 60lbs. Another angler that caught Wahoo was angler Marku Kappanen on the 27th October, his proud catch weighed 70lbs!

August, summer at its best!

Beginning August, temperatures reach peaks and so the enthusiasm for fishing! Angler Nick Taylor may definatley say so. He who on the 2nd August had the chance to catch a 850 lbs Blue marlin, the biggest Blue Marlin so far. A moment of excellence in big game fishing, giving angler Nick a great fight, literally flying, not swimming to get loose from the lure. The picture below ilustrates the moment that many anglers dream to experience.

Up and rising!

The momentum was rising and lures in water almost were synonymous of Blue Marlin... on the 31st July and after a few hours of enjoying the trip, angler James Cutlan hit jackpot. Just off Ribeira Brava, he had a strike of a 600lbs Blue Marlin. The beauty made him sweat during 40 min, jumping high out of water making this trip and exciting one. One may say James earned the right to the proud frase "I caught a Blue Marlin!"

Blue Marlin Mania!

The end of July brang with it a rush of Blue's that made July the best month so far in the 2010 season. On the 24th July, angler Gary Manning was in for a surpise. Just 2 miles off the Lido area, more precisely Ponta da Cruz, he had a strike of a 500lbs Blue Marlin. Giving him a fight, a moment that his daughter and wife accompanied with alot of excitement.

100 metre teaser!

The next day with a promising sunrise, just 5 min out of the break water we had the first strike of the day. As touching the leader and after a 40 min fight, angler Steve Jones saw his Blue Marlin lost. An excellent example of one the plus points of big game fishing in Madeira: depth close to shore.

White Marlin Strike

After a few days out and expectation rising, the 15th July brang yet a great moment of the Summer. Angler David Watson had a strike on his rod, this time a 60lbs White Marlin, another one of the species of Big Game Fishing in Madeira. 10 minutes later after the excitement another strike made the captain's heart beat faster, a blue marlin taking 230 metres of line, ended up getting loose from the lure.

Loyalty Award

Summer starts and with it come the visitors that year in and year out come and spend holidays in Madeira. A walk through the streets of Funchal, a coffee at the golden gate, a beer at the marina bars met by friends that have been made through the years, rituals that between many others make the stay in Madeira so unique. One example of this is angler and friend Phil Hawker that has returned to Madeira every year and and in some cases twice in the same year. Out on the 7th July on OUR MARY, he had the chance to have a strike of a 224lbs Tuna, having a great fun fight, his face expresses his satisfaction while Captain and Crewman struggle to pull abourd the perfect example of Tuna caught in Madeira Waters.

It's HER world too...

The beginning of June seemed to sweeten our taste buds to the catch of Blue Marlin, a beautiful spring day made the setting for another fishing trip out in the calm blue waters of Madeira. Sometimes men just assume that Big Game Fishing is just and only a gentleman's sport. Mrs Fiona Folley came and prove just the contrary, it's a Lady's cup of tea aswell. On the 2nd June, Our Mary had another Blue Marlin Strike, after a exciting fight Mrs Fiona landed a 650 lbs Blue Marlin! A huge Congratulations is in order as not many ladies take up the challenge of a fight with the blue marlin. The photo below shows here satisfaction and for a peak at the action please take a look at the video.

http://www.marlinworld.tv/page3/page3.html

On a Roll...

After those exciting few days, we headed out again for out another fishing trip! hopes up for angler Canice Mahallaghan for his first time out on OUR MARY. after a few hours out, the 'alarm' went off with the reak unwinding. he had a strike of a 900 lbs Blue Marlin, this huge fish gave him an excellent fight! we may say he was pretty much proud of his acheivement as the picture below shows and you may check out the video on the link below aswell:

http://www.marlinworld.tv/page3/page3.html

Day 2 Tuna!

The Next day, Angler Bryan McGill, went out for yet another private charter. Still excited from the day before he had another strike but this time a TUNA! the 220 lbs fish gave him a huge load of Fun! It was just to good to be true yet another trip and another strike, mainting his 100% target!

Spring weather and the 1st Blue Marlin!

During the month of May we had a few trips where the blue marlin were teasing our lures and where we´d spot the Blue Marlin while we were pleasured by the warm sun rays and calm sea conditions. Each day we had the feeling "any moment now..." and it did! After a few trips with hopes up and no strike, Angler Bryan Mcgill an oficial habitué on OUR MARY ( his fourth round of trips) managed to catch the 1st Blue Marlin for Our Mary on the 29th May 2010. The estimated 550 lbs Blue Marlin gave him a good fight but his experience and love for fishing helped in realling that fish in. To see how much fun this was please visit the link below where you may see the video captured abourd OUR MARY in colaboration with Marlin World and Strike Button Productions:

http://www.marlinworld.tv/page3/page3.html

May 2010

Another Gentleman who really had a great day was MR Matthias Heim, who went out on OUR MARY and came back with a huge amout of pride in his Arms! On the 7th may he caught a 160lbs Tuna, on that same day the first Blue Marlin was caught in Madeira, an excellent start to the Big Game season.

March and April 2010

March and April were calm months, as fishing was concerned due to strong winds and adverse sea conditions. Never the less in the few trips we made, one of the fisherman Mr Julien Gelade managed to catch a beautiful Tuna, weighing 80 kg. His proud face says everything, an exciting trip in which the tune gave him an excellent fight!

BLUE MARLIN REGISTRATION – MADEIRA 2009

Every Year Eduardo Teixeira the Madeira Representative of the Big Game Clube de Portugal , in cooperation and with data gently ceded by professional and private boat captains. makes a précis of the track of Blue Marlin in Madeira and this was the estimated result for 2009:

Raised Fish 649

Lost fish 285

Pulled hook Caught 266

Released Caught and Boated 12

· At least 649 (six hundred and forty nine ) blue marlin visited Madeira Island waters in 2009

· At least 11 (eleven) were over 1.000 lbs – GRANDERS

· Probably more than 40% were over 600lbs

The number of boated fish includes 3(three) on the 4th July 2009, date of the BLUE MARLIN WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT

A New year with challenges!

After the christmas holidays, we the MBGF team had our well deserved vacation as form the 15th January until the 15th February 2010. The company closed down during this period, as its the calmest time of the year for fishing in Madeira and the winter weather limits our trips due to sea conditions, wind, rain etc. We took time out of these days to dedicate ourselves to the maintenance of OUR MARY. On the 16th February we were ready and open for yet another amazing fishing season, if God permits. We have decided to present to you the team that has made and will continue to try and make the fishing experience you come looking for just that extra special, each one in their department!

Crewman- João Pão (on the left), Verónica de Sousa (kiosk manager), Captain José Serrão, also known as" LUTY" (on the right)

Kiosk assistant- Sandra António(on the left), Lurdes Ferreira- General manager and Roberto dos Santos -Online Reservations/ Reports (on the right)

Natural disaster strikes Madeira...

On the 20th February the unthinkable happened in Madeira... the continuosly intense rain that during days affected Madeira caused damage that nobody could imagine. streams ended up overflowing, dranage block in the roads added to create flouds and atuhentic raging waters that pushed downhill any obstacle found in its way. houses floud and collapsed, families lost loved ones and the overall damage and destruction in Funchal were just too much too take in... we show you a glince at the beautiful anfitheatre of funchal as we know it turned into a horrific scene... consequences of the tradegy meant the closedown of the Marina for more than 2 weeks. Funchal slowly got into its routine but the memory of that sad day still remains...

A recovery to beauty once again!

The day after the disaster, cleaning works started by removing the rubble in the centre city, the pumping of water out of the flooded areas and reconstruction of the affected areas of the city centre started... the future was a bit uncertain, the question if madeira would take long to recover was made, but the will and hope of the people of Madeira was stronger and a joint effort mixed with love and pride in the island, made the hard work feel less tiring. A few weeks after the big anual event of the flower festival came (one of the most important tursit atractions of Madeira) which was the answer to that question, a even more beautiful flower event and parade in the bay of Funchal was shown, this year with a special emotion in the air, with a message of hope! see for yourself!

Fishing Season kick-off!

after setbacks the tme for the interesting part came... FISHING! the tunas were making the way in our waters and making anglers there day!

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.

February/March/April 2007   Late February, early March and April saw some good Tuna fishing. Big Eye Tuna were the fish of the month with anglers landing some good fish. The average weight weighed in at about 90lb. A good sign for the upcoming season.
December 2006 / January 2007 The Skipjack Tuna turned up in very good numbers. With weights of approx.10 to 12lbs, they are great sport on light tackle. They really kept us busy. The first big eye tuna are already appearing amongst the Skippies, so everything looks promising for a good tuna season over the next couple of months.
October / November 2006 The Wahoo season this year was a bit disappointing. There were fewer fish here  and they didn't seem to be here for as long as they were in previous years. But still, the ones we caught were good size fish.Eventually we turned our attention towards the bottom fishing.We caught rays up to over 200lbs and also a variety of different species, especially some very nice Amberjacks.
August / September 2006 Firstly, I want to thank friends and clients for all their support. Ron's death was a terrible shock and I needed some time to cope with this, but I decided to continue running the company. We now have a local Captain, José, running the boat and crewman, José, works the cockpit as he did with Ron. I also want to take this opportunity to say thanks to the anglers who gave me so much support in this difficult time. As to the fishing the season. The marlin fishing this year was very, very good. June, July and early August were the best times with the most marlin raised. Compared with other years, the fish were here in big numbers but slightly smaller sizes. At the end of August we started to turn our attention towards the wahoo fishing, as in previous years. This year the wahoo arrived a bit later, but we caught some very good fish.

July 2006

It is with much regret that I have to announce that Capt. Ron Cowling sadly
passed away in July. He will be sorely missed by myself, the Funchal fishing
community and his many clients.
Ron very quickly established himself on the island as a well respected skipper,
using his vast knowledge to enable many anglers to catch the fish of their
lifetime. As well as the fishing in Madeira, he loved the climate, the people
and the way of life. His wish to do what he loved best until his last day, was
fulfilled. Fishing was his life!