The Azores island of Faial is located in the west of the archipelago and is considered one of the best fishing areas for large blue marlin in the Atlantic Ocean. A number of world records have been set off the port city of Horta, which is also a popular sailing location. Among these records is a blue marlin weighing 1,189 lb, caught with 80-pound tackle by Jacky Debrel while aboard the XACARA. Jeannine François caught a 974 lb world record bluefin tuna these, also using 80-pound tackle. In addition, Leo Closterman set a number of world records using the thinnest of lines, including a 573 lb blue marlin on line with a load capacity of 4 lb. The boats destination are the Azores or Condor Bank at a distance of just over 20 nautical miles, which can be reached in about an hour and 15 minutes, depending on the weather and sea conditions (see chart above). In calm seas, boats will head out to Princess Alice Bank, some 42 nautical miles away. Fishing takes place in the north of the island if the winds are too strong. Four lures are generally used while fishing for blue marlin. The less than excessive trolling bait usually has a dark skirt for better contrast and is trolled via the outriggers, two of which are situated relatively close to the boat. The captain now steers the boat across and along a bank, paying particular attention to little rips, seagull behavior and the depth sounder. A red dot on the monitor indicates that the marlin have rounded up a group of forage fish. A strike is imminent if this dot tends to wander upwards. A 1,000 lb grander marlin is always a possibility. The average weight of a blue marlin is a respectable 500 lb, and good fishing is once again possible after a roughly ten-year lull since 2006. Complex, recurring climate phenomena, which set limits for blue marlin and their hunting excursions in the North Atlantic, are the cause of this up and down trend. These phenomena are also responsible for the fact that in 1996, a decade of the world’s best fishing for blue marlin off the Azores and Madeira went to an end. The change was heralded during the winter. Millions of small dead trumpet fish had washed up on the island, or were discovered floated on the water’s surface, dead. The food chain fell apart so badly that hundreds of chicks starved on the Basha bird cliffs by Horta during the summer because the parent birds were no longer able to provide them with food. In addition to this, the once strong upwelling currents (rips) at Princess Alice Bank (40 nautical miles away) had receded, leaving green water lying there “dead”. Based on this, is believed today that the Azores Current, an extension of the Gulf Stream, had shifted somewhat. This is also suggests that similar phenomena had occurred off Madeira. Even sailfish and marlin had disappeared off Dakar/Senegal in 1997. But this cycle ended several years ago: The Azores Current is once again supplying warm water to the area, causing the stocks of important food fish such as sardines or the in Checharos locally named Big Eye Scads to literally explode in number. In 2005, the blue marlin from Faial returned again. During the course of 56 excursions, the XACARA had caught 45 marlin – the statistics continually improved in the years following that time. During the summer of 2012, the BRASILIA, XACARA, NOLA and HABITAT had caught 254 blue marlin, all of which were released. The BOCA RATON under skipper Zax Conde is another recommended boat. The best time to go marlin fishing is from July to late September/early October, with August as the top month. A good and trusted contact is the experienced skipper Les Gallagher, who also made a name for himself as an illustrator of fish images. In 2012, he made the BRASILIA the most successful boat, catching 91 blue marlin on 66 fishing days. That is an average of 1.38 marlin caught per day. This result was topped only during the record year 1996, with an average of 1.58 marlin per day. Interestingly, the estimated weights of the marlin did not differ much during these two years. These amounted to 452 lb in 1996 and 464 lb in 2012. Contact: Les Gallagher Phone: +351 966 783 101 E-Mail: les (ad) sapo.pt les (ad) fishpics.info www.fishpics.info