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I am now in the Canary Islands, an archapelago off the west coast of Africa, in the Atlantic Ocean---far, far away from the pirates in the Indian Ocean.
The canaries, owned by Spain, are a popular european vacation spot.
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The island I'm on is quaint and beautiful, a volcanic island with rocky hills & a steep dropoff along the ocean front. This is what it must have been like
living & fishing in Kona, Hawaii 35 years ago. The fishing grounds are close to shore, with blue marlin occasionally being caught inside of a mile
from the island!! A crowded day on the fishing grounds might be 12 boats---a far cry from fishing on the east coast of the U.S. or even Central America.
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I am running a 1977 Bertram 31. The season started in May business asusual, with fewer marlin being caught but the fish were on the larger side of average...
most over 500 lbs. We did not get out in May. We were busy prepping the boat for the season. On our first day fishing in June we pulled hook on a small blue,
caught a 165 lbs bigeye tuna and finished the day pulling hook on a 700 lbs blue...good action despite losing our two billfish for the day!
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The water cooled off & the bait disappeared in June. I fished about 12 more days in June on various boats...raising a few blues but connecting on none.
July has brought warmer water, beautiful skies, and more bait. We caught a 300 lbs blue marlin last week, 1 out of 1 bites for the day and raised more that week.
Yesterday, we were finding alot more bait, the warmest water (up to 77 degrees), propoises, more life, etc... Although the marlin alluded us, we found tunas busting on top!
We got two bites, 1 came tight & we decked a 92 lbs bigeye tuna, a nice finish to a beautiful day.
[IMG][/IMG] Another boat got one that went 104 kg. Word of a tuna spreads fast and soon the locals were lined up on the dock to get fresh bigeye for dinner.
The season has gotten off to a slow start but things are definitely picking up. I´m looking forward to the rest of the season. The marlin fishing here can be spectacular.
The fish here are consistenly bigger. The blue marlin typically fall between 350 & 600 lbs, with few fish caught below 300 lbs! Any day you get to catch a blue marlin
is exciting, but to average fish over 300 lbs is outstanding!!! The tunas here, mostly bigeyes, are small when they are under 125 lbs. They typically run 150-300 lbs,
with world record size fish cuaght every year. You just need to be rigged for it to count! Last season, a world record amberjack was caught here as well.
Over 150 lbs if I remember right.
Fishing 4 more days this week. Will try to get more pictures & get out another report soon.
tight lines,
Jeff Kirby
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