Myself and Scott have been on another Light Game jolly of late, this time to Madeira.
I'll admit that I do not have the first clue how to write up a blog based on my adventure there. Much of the time I found the fishing hard going due to huge swells on the North coast met with stiff winds, the sea in the south coast was also quite cloudy at times and not the best conditions for lure fishing.
Of course we still caught plenty of fish albeit many of them too small to fight much.
With the help of Angelo Abreu; Madeira's first Rock-fisherman, we did get into a few better fish later in the week.
Here are some of the fish we caught;
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| Ornate Wrasse on an AquaWave Ami |
Ornate Wrasse are actually referred to as "poo" on the Island, there are so many of them and they ruin your soft lures and steal your baits. I admit to getting very fed up with catching them despite being so pretty.
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| Canary Damsel Fish |
Another fish very prominent on the Madeira coast is the Canary Damsel, these actually fetch a premium price in restaurants, though all ours went back alive.
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| Puffer fish |
The puffers are absolutely brutal on your lures and will readily take chunks out of everything tried. I gave up using vinyls for this reason. One lure that does stand up is the Aquawave Ami and they will handle several fish before being halved.
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| Madeira Rockfish |
The Madeira Rockfish is also very common but I don't mind catching many of these because they are both poisonous and good looking.
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| Atlantic Lizard fish |
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| Bastard Grunt |
Yes you heard that right; this fish is called a Bastard Grunt. Scott caught much better ones than I and I found them quite infuriating. They are bastards and the do grunt at you when caught!
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| An Atlantic Lizard for myself. |
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| Black Tailed Comber |
These combers are called Garouper in Portuguese and are indeed a pretty fish. They can grow much larger and are apparently very good to eat.
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| Derbio or Palometa |
The Derbio was definitely a specie I wanted to catch, they are really a summer species but I managed to get a small one anyhow, they fight like mad too!
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| Another "Poo", this time on Gulp Angleworm. |
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| Scott with a Madeira Rockfish. |
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| A little Wrasse |
The Wrasse above is not 100% identified yet, at first Scott suspected it to be a Grey Wrasse but now we think it may be an Emerald or Atlantic Wrasse. I caught it in Canical.
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| Scott with a lovely Emerald Wrasse. |
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| Scott with a Pandora. |
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| Diamond Lizard fish. |
This Lizardfish snaffled my Hart RSF Mebaru Blade after it was hit by a nice Triggerfish no less than four times! Definitely a consolation prize, I have wanted a Trigger for ages.
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| White Trevally |
After taking tips from Angelo on a night out, I caught theis White Trevally on a 7g Reins Palpuntin jig.
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| Pargo |
Scott was first into a "Pargo" but I followed suit with a slightly larger one.
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| My Pargo |
The Pargo in English is actually a Pink Dentex or Lumphead Seabream. it has unbelievably strong jaws and a serious set of teeth, they fight well to boot!
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| PB Striped Bream |
I was so chuffed with my Striped bream, I actually caught it within a minute or two of being on the mark. I went for only a few casts before meeting Scott in Ponta Da Sol. It is a PB for me and fought very well.
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| Angelo Abreau and his skilfully caught Pandora |
I so enjoyed meeting Angelo and his wife, this was definitely a highlight for me. Angelo Caught this Pandora working one of his self designed and homemade jigs worked across the sea bed. Angelo gave us one of his jigs each and also showed me other lures he had made on a homemade lathe nonetheless! I have to say the skill and workmanship in Anglos lures really tell that he loves what he does. A truly humble and skilled angler and a pleasure to call friend.
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| Lesser Weever |
I guess no trip would be complete for me without a Lesser Weever! Much darker than I am used to here in Wales because of the Black volcanic sand of the Island, but a Weever nonetheless! I swear if they are there, I will find them or they me!!
If you would like a more detailed look at out trip, check out Scotts series of reports on www.something-fishy-going-on.blogspot.co.uk
Tight lines <><
