The bluefin tuna have arrived in the north of Mallorca and are a pleasure for anglers – if the weather is fine. There, too, several fishing days have been blown away by the wind. In the quieter breaks in between, fish are almost guaranteed, as skipper Vince Riera from Alcudia tells us. A group of four from Sweden was initially forced to go ashore for three days. On Monday (20.5), according to the wind forecast, a window opened from 6.00 in the morning until 13.00 at noon, which the “Swedish Guys” and Vince used: 4 men, four tunas, all about 80-90 kg, was the count at the end of the day.

On Tuesday, Peter Hollmann and his friend Markus fished. Both caught their first Bluefin in Stand Up. For Peter, who needed 30 minutes for the 90 kg fish, this makes me especially happy. He took part in my tuna seminar last summer in Croatia and had lost a tuna unhappily. Here the successful photo of his first fish:

On Wednesday Rene Kempf raised the bar on the MAD MAX. He caught 4 Tuna in Stand Up, also all around 80-90 kg. One fish was already tagged and was released by Vince with a new one! The tag number was sent to NOAA and now everyone is curious where the tuna came from.  The photo of Rene in the Drill of the Evening Sunset is also great:

The big tunas have already arrived in the meantime. A professional fisherman, who fished with rod and reel next to Peter’s boat on Thursday, had conquered a 200 kg tuna and needed Rene’s help to land the big fish.

On Friday Rene caught a 90 kg Bluefin in stand up. On Saturday Johannes and Norbert from Austria fished on the MAD MAX – and shortened the time waiting for the Bluefin (again one in the weight class of 80-90 kg) with a little bottom fishing. The catch then brought enough fish for a nice barbecue evening: Red spotted bream (Spanish: Besugo) with about 1 kg, John Dory (Pez de San Pedro), Zebra bream (Sargo imperial) and scorpion fish.

Due to the strong wind, fishing for bluefins is not possible for the next few days.

On Sunday (26.05.) and Monday the Purse Seiner were active again between Formentera and the Spanish coast on the hunt for the bluefins. I counted on Monday on VesselFinder more than 30 trawlers. So, their quota should be full soon.

The big question now is: When and where do the tunas spawn? The water temperature of 19⁰ C is still much too cold. The Bluefins need at least 22⁰ C, 24⁰ C would be ideal. But there is still time until the traditional spawning time, the full moon in June. It will be on the 17th this year.

And her’s the video of Rene’s catch: