"When I saw this place in 1996," says Capt. Peter Bristow, "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! As far as I could see, 200-pound bigeye tuna were busting, along with giant bluefin crashing mackerel. My first day on the ocean we caught an 800-pounder 20 minutes out of the harbor. I made immediate plans to relocate to Madeira!" Like the Azores, this mid-Atlantic island near Portugal can be a good bet for big fish. Although Capt. Peter B. Wright has caught heaps of black marlin granders over decades of fishing and skippering around much of the world, his only blue grander came from Madeira. Besides that, Wright says, "It's perhaps the nicest island you could ever live on and still have a great time even if the fishing sucked while you were there!" Madeira's also considered a very safe destination, Bristow points out. Capt. Roddy Hays is also a fan: "Calm water, the chance at really big blues, a clean marina, good accommodations, English spoken widely, no inoculations needed ... what more could an angler ask for?" And Stewart Campbell, who has fished the world over for billfish, cites the best big-marlin fishing he ever experienced at Madeira in 1995-96. "We weighed in two over 1,000 pounds and released five [more about that size]," he says.
The Odds: Capt. Dickie Howell figures he puts in 40 to 50 days for each Madeira grander hooked. Hays' estimate is slightly higher. Howell also notes that the big gals, which made Madeira a hot commodity with the grander-hopeful crowd, seem to have been generally absent during the past six years. Bristow says 1998 was the first of six years of La Niña-driven cold water. However, that cycle seems to be changing. In 2002, Bristow's fish ran 700-plus. "I released two definitely well over a grand," he adds. After returning to Madeira from Ascension Island in the spring of 2003, Capt. Trevor Cockle reported releasing an estimated 950 and hearing of a grander taken. Bristow and Wright agree that the presence (or absence) of bait is the most important factor. And Bristow says, "There's been more bait here this year than in the last six put together."
Size and Species: All blues, of course. Even if the number of granders is down from that of the early '90s, Madeira still boasts big fish. Howell and Hays suggest an average size of 650 pounds, though Bristow's recent experience puts that a bit larger. "Even when it's slow off Madeira, the fish are still big," he says.
Release: That seems to depend on who's offering the estimate, but probably approaches 90 to 95 percent now, with a release mindset on the upswing among Madeirans.
Distance to Fish: Less than a mile from port to grander country — lines can be in just 15 minutes from the marina.
Length of Prime Season (for granders): Four months: late May through September. Odds of lucking into a four-figure fish in October through midspring are slim.
Conditions: Seas rarely get big and often stay calm; Bristow says even when it's windy, skippers can usually fish the lee of the island's 6,000-foot elevation since that's where the fish are — held there (as off Kona) where warm-water eddies form.
Charter Availability/Quality: Shop around: Of seven or eight operations currently based in Madeira, no more than a few are likely to be well-equipped to handle your grander.
Charter Cost (in U.S. dollars): $500 to $1,000 per day.
Accommodations: Lots of choices, both in number and in quality. Plenty of five-stars but even modest (and modestly priced) accommodations offer pretty high standards, with rooms from $50 to $80 easy to come by.
Other Fishing Opportunities: Some white marlin should be around, plus occasional spearfish, but blues remain the big draw. Occasionally bluefin tuna show up to generate interest in a hurry. Bigeye (big bigeye — up to 300-plus pounds) prowl in the summer, and, says Hays, there's the potential for good swordfish action in May and June. Wright says he also enjoyed jigging squid for calamari and bait at night — just look for the bright lights of the squid-boat fleet. Spearfish may be common (Bristow's even had double-headers), and 30- to 60-pound wahoo can be plentiful from September through December and great fun on 20-pound spinning tackle.
Cost to Get Here (from New York): Figure in the vicinity of $1,000.
General Information: www.madeira-web.com; www.madeira-island.com.
