Just a two-hour flight from Lisbon, the island of Madeira is an easy-to-reach destination but, due to its location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, it gives us the feeling of a trip to a remote place, with the civilisation and comforts of a European location… without forgetting that it is one of the best destinations for big game near our Mediterranean.
Wild nature alternating with floral glimpses cared for down to the smallest details, modernity interrupted by influences from tropical countries overseas... walking through the alleys of the center or one of the many fishing villages, or driving around the steep hairpin bends that characterize the interior of the island, transmits contrasting states of mind, giving us the sensation of being in a civilized and European place, and a moment later in a Caribbean context.
Even at sea the perception is not so different: leaving the Funchal marina and leaving behind its panorama of a perfectly European city, after travelling just a couple of miles you find yourself in front of a wild and imposing coast, on depths that in an instant sink to almost 1000 meters, and the ocean waves that make us immediately understand that the game is tough there.
It is no coincidence that the waters around the island are in full migration route of most of the large pelagic fish , during the entire time span from spring to autumn... a period in which the climate is also ideal. Not that it is cold in winter, given that Madeira enjoys a mild climate all year round, with summers that are never muggy and winters that are very short and still warm if compared to ours, with temperatures never below 10°.
There are many fishing opportunities, from rock fishing, to coastal trolling, from underwater fishing, to spinning… but the most practiced, and the one that attracts the majority of fishermen looking for excitement, is without a doubt the big game . It is not easy to see a fishing boat in the port that is not also equipped with divergents and a fighting chair, both for private boats and for boats intended for fishing trips of the many charters present.
When the going gets tough
130lb rods and reels, chains on fighting chairs, lines to secure double rods like those used for mooring, shock leaders of over 500lbs… it may seem excessive, until the first strike! You only need to find yourself with an 800lb marlin on the rod that decides to sink to the bottom, unwinding 600m of dacron without any problems despite the clutch closed at 40lbs, to understand that perhaps such heavy equipment is not so bad after all. But in reality there is no need to bother the marlin to realize this, because even tuna are no different…
To reach the best fishing spots, it is not necessary to travel long distances, in fact usually the rods will be stretched out as soon as you leave the port, to head west "off" a very suggestive rocky ridge. All the fishing action will take place right there, with edges furrowing the various bathymetrics, from 100 up to over 1000 meters ... and this is why it can seem monotonous or you can have the perception of always fishing in the same spot, going back and forth in a fairly small patch of sea. In reality, since it is the best hot spot, the most sensible choice is to insist in the area, which is then the methodology used by almost all local captains.
It should also be considered that the winds coming from the north almost always make the other side of the island impassable, while the one exposed to the south is sheltered by the very high peaks, and for this reason makes fishing trips possible even on the windiest days.
Small spot, but many species
Despite the “restricted” spot, there are many species to catch. First of all, the big billfish reign supreme: the blue marlin are really big, with specimens weighing 8/900 lb the order of the day, but their smaller cousins keep them company, and it is not uncommon in the summer to find a white marlin or an oceanic spearfish (imperial garfish) on your rod. Furthermore, the presence of tuna is felt all year round: in the winter, the big blue fins , that is, the red tuna over 200 kg reign undisturbed, while in the summer season it is the turn of the big big eye tuna and the yellow fin tuna , the latter being rarer. From July to October, the wahoo arrive to brighten up the days of trolling… and in this case too, the spot attracts the big ones, a statement that is also true for the dorado . Occasionally you can encounter large schools of skipjack tuna , but they only represent a fallback or a small diversion during fishing trips aimed at large pelagic predators, as probably are almost all the other species I have mentioned, because... let's face it... those who choose to come fishing here do so mainly to look for two species: blue marlin and big eye tuna!
Blue marlin. The emblem of the big game, the dream of every fisherman who since he was a child identified with the old fisherman of the famous story by Emingway , engaged in an exhausting fight with this legendary creature. And in fact it is not difficult for me to believe that with the "equipment" of the time, fighting a marlin could truly represent a heroic feat, since even today it is very demanding to get the better of a big, despite the very heavy equipment, captains who command the boat from the fly in order to facilitate the fight and mates on board to provide help.
Blue marlin in Madeira are caught by deep sea trolling , usually with lures , that is, with a setup that only includes fake baits, without the aid of natural bait, while pitch bait is very rarely used. The most used spread is with five fishing rods : the longest central one on the shot gun at about 70 m, the two long external ones on the divergents at about 40 m, and two other short ones on the divergents at about 15/20 m. Any teasers are cast with the aid of small electric reels a little closer to the two short rods. The baits used are large kona , rigged with a single hook and shock leader of at least 500 lb. At the moment of the strike, all the other rods are recovered very quickly by each member of the crew, while the person who will have to fight the fish sits on the chair. Once the rod is secured, the recovery begins, facilitated in the initial phase by the boat in reverse to gain line. The fight depends a lot on the “character” of the fish, in the sense that it will be the one to command and decide whether to indulge in jumps and acrobatics on the surface, or head towards the bottom in an impossible-to-stop descent.
Big eye tuna. Equally fun and challenging, with an average size of about 100 kg, and some big ones even over 150 kg... these tuna are caught in high seas , and the start is second to that of the marlin! The setup is almost the same as that used for the marlin, with the addition of another short central rod about 30 m in the wake foam , and the baits are changed, preferring smaller kona jets compared to those used for the marlin, also in this case rigged with a single hook and shock leader of at least 200 lb. Big eye tuna have the prerogative of being particularly active during the evening hours, when it is also possible to encounter numerous feeding frenzies of these fish mixed with dolphins, while during the day the catches are rarer. Also in this case the fight depends a lot on the energy of the fish, and could end in 20 minutes, or an hour or more.
Before going out fishing
Considering that in Madeira the sunlight completely disappears at about 9:30 pm, we usually start our trips calmly around 12:00, to fish first for marlin and then for tuna in the last hours. But before going out fishing, it might be worth having fun with a few casts from the boat stopped at the dock: a not too thin line will be enough (personally I tried with a 0.50) and a hook that is also large (mine was a size 8) baited with a breadcrumb to catch some beautiful white bream or mullet, which here in Italy we wouldn't even be able to get to bite with a 0.10 and a size 18 hook.
