Monster Bluefin Tuna

Now this is very interesting-years ago the Algarve had the very best Tuna fishing in the world. This fizzled out in the 1960s and after that we just had the odd fish reported each year. A few years ago we started to see a few Tuna jumping each year when out fishing but sightings have dramatically increased this past two years and we have reports of a good many fish being accidentally  hooked when Marlin fishing and chunking, fish estimated up to 900lbs.

This dramatic increase is the result of new  lower Tuna fishing quoters which allow the fish to breed in the Mediterranean  sea.and that illegal netting all along the Libya coast has stoped after the fall of Gaddafi ,Interesting to look at the data supplied be our only Tuna netting station near Tavira . They report taking Tuna  to over 1,000lbs.They catch all year but with a dramatic increase in June and July when the Tuna pass on there way out from the Mediterranean going North and again there have been a massive increase in Tuna sightings from the Algarve and all the way North to the West coast of Ireland and up the Irish sea ( one big fish taken of Anglesey by Shark boat) My mate has been swimming with these big Tuna ( they keep them alive in a big net  near Tavira and feed them on Mackerel until they get a call from Japan when they kill one and fly it to Japan ) Interesting data from the Tavira Tuna trap revels massive increases in catches from 2010 and the fish are getting bigger some over 2.7 meters this last year June and July being the best time July by far.

Mainly in June and July. Our record is 1,050lbs. All fish accidentally caught must be released in the water.

Monster Blue Marlin

Can come mid-July, but normally August till the end of October. Most are over 500lbs. Our Algarve record is 1,200lbs

Big White Marlin

Same time as the Blues. My friends have had as many as 17 in a day. Can weigh over 100lbs. We have some of the best White Marlin fishing in the world. My mate had 50 hits one day landing 17. Estimated 250 hits in one fantastic week a few years ago.

Mahi Mahi

I have had 19 of these in a day fishing light tackle (barbel rod and baitrunner) fishing in the chum stream when shark fishing. We sometimes catch bigger fish when fishing for White Marlin, and Sharks.

Swordfish

We have giant Swordfish in the deep water of Portimão. This is pioneer fishing, but my friends have had a few at night.

Bottom Fish

We have very nice mixed bottom fishing. The most interesting would be Red Snappers which we catch jigging or on live bait. The best we have had is 40lbs

Snappers

We have a few varieties  but mainly Red Snapper and Golden Snappers.

We can catch these in many ways but the best ways are:

     A ) Drifting over reefs and jigging, we can fish for Sharks at same time.

     B) Anchor up over big rocks and on reefs and fish live Mackerel near the bottom

     C) Fish on the bottom with fresh Mackerel strips but expect to be bitten off a few times by Conger

Have a look at this Corvina  fishing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb4KXSiTAeA

A serious hunt for big Congers could work. We sure have lots of small Congers They are even in the marinas and in caves under the cliffs.

Corvinas in estuaries and close to shore –they are predators going to over 100lbs best place is the river Tajo opposite Lisbon goggle it. Try pesca corvina Tajo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQYAJFLW4eE

Some very nice Sea Bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reqjgUDInkI

Giant Mako Sharks

I have a photo of one over 1,000lbs which is as big as they get! Last year’s best was 450lbs, but i had nine in one day which i claim as the best ever catch from mainland Europe. With a film to prove it.

Great White Shark

Yes the big one!!! .We do not know just how many of these visitors we get  but I personally know of three. One picture was taken by my mate martin of a monster on the fish dock in Portimão then not to far away another  monster was taken in a net from near Armação de Pêra two years ago and only last year my Marlin fishing mates clearly saw a Great White circle the boat six times having a very good look at them !!!

Mako Shark

We catch these most years-have a look at www.algarvebiggamefishing.com for a film where we had 9 yes 9 on one trip. I am claiming this as a European record unless you know different .

I have exchanged ideas about these fish with experts from the states who regularly catch big Makos  + 1,000lbs and we do get big ones here .Best I have seen evidence for was 1,200lbs taken in a net .The experts from the states believe that out from my home port of Portimão we have a perfect place where big Makos could visit that’s the drop off into the deep water of the Portimão canyon and here we have the Makos  favourite food Swordfish and Bluefin Tuna in season.

Nine mako sharks in one Tightlines trip - a European record?

https://youtu.be/GTZ3R0DSGSg

900lb mako caught in Portugal:

http://mundodapesca.pt/capturado-tubarao-com-391kg/

Hammerhead Sharks

Yes these as well not to many but very big we have seen a good number well out to sea when fishing for Marlin - big fish 12ft long.

Blue Sharks

They come here to breed in March/ April. Some big fish we had 11 one day + one Mako best two fish that day estimated at 200lbs .I have one report of a fish of 450lbs reported. Most are under 100lbs ,some days we can be pestered with hoards of small sharks making it impossible to run a bait out. We normally drift for them and jig for snappers at the same time but there are other ways. I like to anchor on a reef and bottom fish but at the same time I run a shark bait out on light tackle, that’s a Pike rod and baitrunner reel this can be great fun had 9 small sharks this way one day. That is 30lbs Sharks on a Pike rod great fun!!

NOTE-Monster Sharks follow the Bluefin Tuna into the Med and presumably they will follow them out and along the coast to where we see lots of big Tuna. That’s big Great White, Mako and monster Blue Sharks.

ALGARVE SHARK FISHING FOR TOURISTS

Now I will be upsetting a good number of charter skippers and people who run those companies but you need to be aware of what I have seen over the years so you can avoid the cowboys and most are. Over these past 27 years I have fished on many different charter boats a few are reasonable but to be frank most are rubbish. Its best to describe what happens on every charter trip I have been on then compare with what I recommend it should be like.

1. Question the skipper as to the price? It will go like this it’s €50 each.

2. Then ask how many people? It could be up to 20!!! That’s €1,000.

The correct answer would be something like its 500€ for up to 6 anglers.

3. Next, ask how long is the trip? 95% will say six hours as they try to get a second trip in.

The answer should go like this: It’s eight hours, weather permitting. We have many times had a fantastic last hours fishing, it can take time for the chum to work.

4. Look at the gear on the boat .You can often see rods with missing eyes and eyes held on with tape, then dirty reels only ½ full. Especially look at the hooks, most still use J hooks. Then a real no no for me look at the rubbing leader most fish IGFA rules that’s the main line just doubled over. Seen lots of big fish lost that way.

Nice clean well maintained gear-no need for monster 120lbs rods and 120 reels unless you are only interested in a fish of a lifetime. Basic 50lbs gear is ample. Circle hooks only, in 10 years we have only deep hooked one fish all the others were nicely hooked in the corner of there mouths. I like to use a  minimum 250lbs mono rubbing leader.

5. Will the boat go out on time? Not often. Many times I have had to wait for one or two late stragglers.

Your 6 or 8 hr trip should start from when you actually leave port.

6. How far will we go out? Most go only 3 or 4 miles – that saves fuel and time coming back for there next trip.

We go out where the fishing is best mainly 8 miles but can go out 25 miles for all night trip – we had 19 sharks one night that way.

7. Watch what normally happens when they start to rig your bait. They normally put squid on the hook - its easy to keep and cheep but above all it catches small Sharks which is what they are after. They do not wish the bother of handling big Sharks.

Best bait by far is fresh Mackerel – catch it on the way out but have some extras fresh from the supermarket as a back up. I like live Mackerel as well as flappers.

8. They just run the baits out any old way.

No much more to it than that, the farthest bait from the boat needs to be set the deepest say up to 60ft coming to say 20ft closest to boat. Some skippers try to do this but do not use leads on the rigs to keep the bait down. Then when you have a fast drift all the baits come up near the surface fishing at the same depth.

9. Now a real big gripe: The chum. What most do is smash up the feed after they have run out all the rigs, it looks great for one hour then its all gone, then they mix up one more bucket and that’s it.

No its all wrong and the most important thing to catch. I prepare the chum days in advance and freeze it in 20L drums to my own secret recipe. It costs me but sure works. Next you put the drum into the water before you stop and run a sent trail and as its still frozen it will last you all day with a nice consistent trail.

10. At the end of the trip they wind in to find ½ of the baits are gone!!!!

Wind in after every slight indication of a bite or at least every few hrs. How do I know this works? I had clients out years ago fishing on a boat with a good reputation and we blanked five days on the run. My mate was out on two of those days fishing close by and had 11 sharks fishing the way I describe. So if you are reading this Martin many thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Martin was a VERY senior UK police officer with his own boat going out from Lagos and a perfectionist and a very good angler now living in Ireland. I still keep track on what the charter boats are catching and from what I can gather we catch 400% more and please do not ask what I put in my chum.

www.algarvebiggamefishing.com

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf7v0DbrZKY

ALGARVE SHARK FISHING

The above report which I put together a few years ago is still valid but based on my observations over this past few years we are making some nice changes to the way we take clients Shark fishing.

1)     Over the last few years we have seen a big increase in sightings of giant Bluefin Tuna, indeed my friends have actually hooked three at the same time. So from 1st July until the end of the season in November we are going to run out two 130lb big game outfits with 300lbs fluorocarbon leaders and circle hooks baited with live Mackerel. I started this last week no Tuna but lots of Blue Sharks without a problem and for sure it will take Mahi Mahi when they come as well.

2)     Although we have landed three Blue Sharks around 200lbs most of our sharks are around 50 lbs. These are good fun on 30lb class outfits but even more fun on a Pike rod and bait runner reel. So we now run one light outfit out close to the boat in the chum trail. This can be very effective and we have taken as many as 11 Sharks in a day this way.

3)     The wind normally gets up around 3pm and the fishing gets uncomfortable after that so we like to head back to port around 2pm. So to give you a good length of fishing time we like to leave around 7.30am could be 7am if you are up for that.

4)     We now include lunch with drinks as well as your fishing license in with our charter price so no hidden extras.

5)     Now hear we are very different to all the tourist charter boats we encourage you to have some fun catching other fish whilst waiting for a Shark run. This  is normally jigging targeting Red Snappers which can go to near 40lbs but most are under 10lbs you will catch other fish as well this way. We even hooked a monster Bluefin Tuna last year doing this. In the chum trail we often get other fish attracted mainly BIG Garfish some over 5lbs Mackerel even small Tuna and my favourite  Mahi  Mahi I had 19 one day on a barbell rod. Again unlike most charter boats you may keep what fish you catch. Obviously the Sharks are catch and release.

OUR ALGARVE BOAT FISHING OPTIONS

White Marlin

1)     Fishing with very experienced Marlin expert from Australia aboard his own boat going out from Olhao. Here there is deep water only a 20-minute run out so you get the max time fishing. Three to the boat price €650 for the day including lunch and drinks.

2)     On the same boat from Olhao shared charter Saturday and Sunday only €300

3)     Fishing with me out from Portimao €1,000 for up to 6 anglers.

4)     If you book all night trip targeting Swordfish 25 miles out then on the way back we can have a steady chug back using White Marlin and Blue Marlin lures.

Bluefin Tuna only 1st July to October

1)     Trolling out from Olhao €650 max 3 on boat

2)     Trolling out from Portimao €750 max 6 on boat

3)     Chunking out from Portimao €600 max 6 on boat you can jig and bottom fish at same time and we would expect to catch Sharks as well.

Swordfish - October is best as it can be calm at night.

This is pioneer fishing which a few friends have been doing for a few years and keeping it secret. We go out around 5pm and fish all night in the deep water 20 miles out from Portimao. We target Swordfish but there are some very big sharks out there, mainly Blues but also Hammerhead and Mako. My mate hooked a Mako one night which jumped over his boat!! We fish till around 7 or 8 am then have a nice slow run back to port and can run big lures for Tuna, Blue Marlin or if you like small lures for White Marlin, small Tuna and Mahi Mahi.

Shark fishing - this is our bread and butter fishing at which I believe we are the best on the Algarve.

€500 for up to 4 fishing €50 each after that with max 6 fishing

Bottom fishing

Mario, my skipper, is in my opinion simply the very best at this as can be seen as he is booked solid every weekend with locals fishing with him.

We can catch over 200 different species

Price is €450 for 6 anglers €550 for 8 anglers you keep the fish.