2003 Season

END OF SEASON REPORT
The end of another season has come; it seems just a few days ago that we were welcoming our first guests aboard on July 12th.
Here are some statistics:
Over the last 10 weeks, Xácara fished a total of 51 days.
We had 17 separate charters, 39 charter guests, 7 nationalities (Dutch, USA, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, British and Mexican).
5 charters were specifically for salt water fly fishing.
The average length of a charter was 3 days.
The weather was good on the whole and we cancelled only 2 and half days in 10 weeks because it was too windy to fish.
In total they raised 20 blue marlin, and released 9 of them. The average weight (estimated) of the fish released was 614 lbs.
The biggest was possibly a grander (over 1000 lbs) but seeing it was not killed and weighed we are calling it 900 lbs.
The smallest was caught on fly and estimated at 375 lbs.
There was only one other less than 500 lbs and 6 were all between 500 and 750 lbs.
The white marlin were not as numerous this year as they were last year but there were still many days when we raised 10 or more per day.
We enjoyed the fly fishing specialists, even though their “catch” statistics are a lot lower than the anglers who choose to fish the bait and switch method. The crew enjoyed the challenge just as much as the anglers - and shared their frustration!
In the early weeks the best fishing was on Princess Alice bank, 45 miles from the island, but as the season progressed the fish moved closer to the island and in the last weeks we were catching fish almost on our doorstep.
We are already taking bookings for 2004.
Now that I have the time I will be working on the website, specifically on creating a Photo Album page with pictures that were taken during the year and Ian has created a short Mpeg video which I will include on the website.
Meanwhile Ian is already working on all the video footage that Ingrid took during the summer. He will edit it into a documentary which will be available for purchase before Christmas.

SEPTEMBER 18TH – Last charter of 2003
Rudy came all the way from Mexico to fish the Azores. He has been fishing for billfish for over 30 years but had not fished in the Atlantic Ocean before. As a result the Atlantic Blue Marlin and white marlin were missing from his cv. We hoped he would be able to add them to his tally during his 4 day charter. During the three day gap between Len's fabulous day and Rudy's first day the weather changed. When I met him at the airport the wind was starting to pick up and it was raining.
Next day, day one of Rudy's charter, it was even worse and we were forced to cancel! It rained and rained, blew even harder and we had some lightening and thunder as well. Rudy, born and raised in the Mexican desert had never seen so much rain before! Fortunately, the wind dropped by the next morning and they went in search of the marlin. They had many bites from whites and Rudy released 2 within the next few hours.
Day 3 they headed out to Condor bank in search of the blues. Again they raised quite a few whites, but there was no sign of any blues. Day 4 they headed further south but didn't find any blues or whites! So we sadly said good bye Rudy, still lacking that elusive Atlantic Blue Marlin.

SEPTEMBER 11th - WHAT A DAY!
Len and Chris joined us today for a one day charter. This was a combined milestone anniversary and birthday present to themselves. (I didn't ask which milestones they were celebrating!)
Well, it was quite a celebration! Len released 2 of the biggest blue marlin we have seen all season, and Chris released a white marlin. Both Len and Chris are keen but inexperienced anglers. During there week's holiday on Faial they decided to try as many tourism activities as possible, such as whale and dolphin watching, hikes in the mountains, trips to neighbouring islands, and sport fishing. Chris admitted to me that the biggest fish they have ever caught is a trout and they would have been delighted with a baracuda or dorado.
So, with a one day charter ahead, the captain (Ian, of course), has to make the decsion of where to go. Partly, this is dictated by weather conditions. The day started out fine and calm but the forecast was for strengthening winds later on, so Ian decided to keep close to the island where we have had a good deal of success recently. What a good decision that turned out to be!
During the first few hours they raised a few white marlin that did not bite. Len, keen as mustard, stood at his post beside the rods, in the sun, hour after hour, getting sunburnt. Eventually, Zak went down to prepare lunch and Chris and Len followed him. With Ian alone outside at the controls, the bite happened! "Blue marlin, blue marlin", he yelled to those below as the fish came into the lure pattern and started whacking the lures. Zak, in the bowels of the boat, thought it was "just" another white, rushed up and proceded to pull in the heavy lines. "No, no - BLUE marlin" Ian yelled again. But the blue had already attacked one of the lures on 80 lb line. Len grabbed the rod and got into the chair as the marlin took more line. A dramatic fight ensued - for an hour and a half. The fish leapt out of the water a couple of times so all on board could get a good look at it. It was a really big fish. Ian and Zak debated the size and thought it was a grander ( minimum 1000 lbs). They decided to gaff it and bring it in for weighing. The first time Len got it to the side of the boat it was far too green to gaff so Zak released the leader. The fish took off like a bullet and poor Len had to do the hard work all over again! (He didn't complain!) Eventually, they got a subdued and manageable fish to the boat. Zak and Ian discussed it and decided the fish was not a world record, called it 900 lbs just for the record, although it it was probably much more than that, and let it go.
Not much more than an hour later they hooked up another blue marlin. Len again took the rod, and tired as he was, fought the beast into submission. This fish was not quite as big as the first one, estimated at 700 lbs, but still a fish to be extremely proud of and most big game anglers have not even seen in many years of trying for the "big one".
Chris asked Ian if it was possible to get one a little bit smaller so she could also have a go. "Sure", says Ian, "I'll put in a request!" Well, no prizes for guessing, within 5 minutes they hit a school of white marlin and one hooked up! This was Chris's fish and she fought it stand-up on light line to complete a successful release.
We were as delighted as they were to add such a highlight to their "milestone" holiday. It was just great to have such enthusiastic anglers on board Xacara.

SEPTEMBER 9th
Today John finished a 3 day charter on Xacara. In total during the 3 days they raised 3 blue marlin and approximately 20 whites. John is an avid fly fisherman and wanted to fish IGFA rules. We have no problem with that but wish to point out that, had he been fishing bait and switch or trolling artificial lures the statistics would have looked a lot better! As it is, John hooked up 3 of the whites and successfully released one of them. He got a shot at 2 of the blues but they did not hook up. It was a very interesting 3 days.
Most of the action occurred on the first day with 2 blue marlin and about 15 whites attacking the lures. The first blue was just over 300 lbs. It was teased up to within a few feet of the transom and sat there for some time but did not show any interest in the fly! Later in the day a much bigger blue marlin came into the spread, far too big for fly. The whites were active all day and John got one of them but the others prooved elusive.
Day 2 produced a lot of activity from whites later in the day but they were not hungry and proved difficult to tease.
Day 3 they tried a different area seeing the whites had not been aggressive the day before. They ran all the way to Princess Alice Bank and raised a blue of about 400 lbs very early. It teased in close to the transom but refused to take the fly! What a disappointment. There was no other activity so the last day proved to be rather disappointing but a 3 day charter that raised 3 blues and over 20 whites cannot be considered a disappointment!

Richard with a Blue marlin on fly rod.

SEPTEMBER 7TH
Toni and Mick's holiday was a great success. During the week they spent on Faial, they went scuba diving, whale watching and big game fishing. By their accounts they enjoyed both the diving and whale watching, but the fishing was just spectacular. In 2 days they raised about 15 white marlin and one blue marlin. The action began about 20 minutes after Xacara left the marina. For the past few days there have been marlin close to the island so instead of taking the long run out to the banks Ian stayed close to the coast. Within 5 minutes of puting the first lure in the water, they had a bite from a white marlin. Unfortunately, it did not hook up and not much more happened until the end of the day. Suddenly there was a surge of activity as a school of white marlin attacked the lures. One after another the clips on the out-riggers popped and at last Mick got the chance to fight a white marlin - and claimed his first "catch".
The second day was even more productive. Again they had strikes from whites both early and late in the day and a large blue marlin (700 lbs perhaps?) also came into the spread. Unfortunately the blue did not stike but quite a few of the whites did and by the end of the day Toni claimed two white marlin and Mick claimed his second white in two days.
It was such a pleasure to meet these two enthusiastic anglers and we hope to see more of them in the future.

SEPTEMBER 5TH
Today we sadly said goodbye again to Richard and Simon. For the last 2 days of their charter the weather was kind so they headed for Princess Alice Bank. Again they raised many white marlin, Richard "caught" one on fly and Simon "caught" 3 using the bait and switch technique. They also raised one blue marlin, in the 700 lb range, which inspected all the lures but would not take the bait. What a pity, it would have made the perfect ending to a great charter.
It has been such a pleasure having them bakc again for the second time in one season and the Xacara team are just delighted that they have had such great success here. Well, done guys!

SEPTEMBER 2nd - BLUE MARLIN ON FLY
Yesterday was an incredible day aboard Xacara. Brothers Richard and Simon, who fished with us a few weeks ago, have returned for a few more days. They had such a great time in July, they couldn't wait until next year. This time they brought their fly fishing gear with them.
On Monday, in somewhat breezy conditions, they got the chance to present the fly only once. The white marlin almost exploded onto it and with a bang the line was broken - all over in a split second!
But yesterday was a very different story. They went out to Princess Alice Bank and raised a lot of white marlin. Richard hooked up two but broke both of them off, Simon successfully hooked up and released one. At times, when fighting one fish, there were as many as 6 whites hanging around right behind the transom. But the biggest excitement came right at the end of the day. Ian and Zak saw a movement in the water behind one of the teasers, but did not see the fish. Zak teased it closer and Richard presented his fly - perfectly. The fish took the fly as if it had not eaten for a week, it was well hooked. Then they saw it and Ian called "Blue marlin!" Zak rolled his eyes, said something unprintable and ambled into the saloon to make a cup of tea, Ian burst out laughing. Both expected the fight to be over within seconds, but, 2 hours 15 minutes later they could finally call it a caught fish. In all that time Richard played that blue marlin like a maestro. At least 3 or 4 times they got it right alongside the boat just to see it take off and the fight start all over again. The leader got wrapped around it's body and Zak just could not reach it but, had they wanted to, they could have gaffed it at least three times when they had it alongside but seeing he could not claim a world record Richard did not want to kill the fish. In the end, during one of the many attempts to grab the leader so that they could remove the hook, the rod broke!
At the start of the charter Ian asked Richard and Simon if they wanted to fish according to IGFA regulations and they said they said No, they were just here for fun! Well, this blue marlin was estimated at 375 lbs, a potential world record, but the engines were not in neutral when Richard presented the fly so the fish could never be claimed as a world record. We hear so many "ifs", "buts" and "if onlys" and that is what makes world records so rare and so difficult to come by. Richard and Simon will be back here next year - fishing according to IGFA rules!
What a pity Ingrid is not here for the photographs! We have some video footage and if I get some stills from that, we'll share them with you.

AUGUST 31st - More whites
Andy and his 13 year old son, Alex, finished their charter today. Day one was a non-starter with fresh Northerly winds kicking up an uncomfortable chop on top of the swell. For the past week or so all the action has been off the North coast of Faial but that was far too rough to fish so we stayed in port. Days 2 and 3 made up for the disappointment of losing a day's fishing. The wind dropped, the sea flattened, and the white marlin were still off the North coast. Andy is a keen fly angler and hoped to get a white marlin on his fly rod but the first fish was to be for young Alex. 7 or 8 fish came into the teaser pattern and Alex practiced teasing them up to the transom and dropping the bait in front of them. Right at the end of the day, his father hooked one and passed him the rod so he would have the opportunity to fight the fish, but Captain Ian says Alex cannot claim the "catch"! The third day was even better, delightful weather conditions and even more whites - 13 were teased up. By now Alex had plenty of experience and got one all on his own. Well done, Alex!
Soon after this, a huge blue marlin swam into the lure pattern. They teased it up and it tried it's hardest to eat the teaser but when the teaser was replaced with a bait it took it in its mouth, thought about it briefly, and dropped it. What a pity because it certainly was a mighty marlin!

AUGUST 28th - Happy Swedes
Charlie and Kalle from Upsalla, Sweden, had a brief 2 day charter. On both days there was lots of action from white marlin. These two gentlemen won a prize in salmon trolling competition and this was their prize. They did not take long to adapt to the completely different fishing method. On the first day Kalle released his first white marlin and on the second day Charlie bagged one and Kalle got his second. They were great fun on board and enjoyed themselves immensely.
But, sadly, we had to say goodbye to Ingrid today. She is returning to Copenhagen to study engineering and we wish her the best of luck. Perhaps we'll see her back here next year.

AUGUST 26th - Out of luck
For 4 days we have had 4 Dutch men chartering with us. We raised lots of whites on all except one day. Approximately 15 were teased up close enough to switch baits but unfortunately they did not have any success in getting the hook-up. On the final day Zak, the mate, hooked one successfully but it swam across the line which then broke! Oh dear, oh dear, no one said catching fish was easy, but we don't expect it to be quite so frustrating!

AUGUST 22ND - Blue and white
4 Danes, Tine, Thomas, Allan and Jonne, have just completed a successful 5 day charter. On the first day they had some action from white marlin but no release. However, Thomas told us that taste was enough to keep him awake most of the night in anticipation of what might happen the next day. Well, it did happen for him. He released a 500 lb blue marlin! Day 3 was Tine's lucky day. They had a quite a few bites from white marlin, including multiple hook-ups, but Tine was the only one that got her marlin to the boat. Day 4 more of the same: lots of whites around, a few potential bites and one successful release for Jonne. Day 5 the weather changed, it was too windy to go out to the banks so they fished in the lee of the island. This turned out to be the best day of all with a lot of activity from white marlin and 3 successful releases, 1 for Thomas and 2 for Allan. We were sorry to see them leave but hope to see them again next year.

AUGUST 17th - White marlin
Yesterday was the last day of charter for Harry and Peter. After that great start, releasing a 750 lb blue on their first day, the weather turned windy for a couple of days. They fished close to the island but it was unproductive. Fortunately the weather improved and they were able to get out to the banks again but no blue marlin were seen until yesterday, when they closed on one feeding on the surface. They dragged the teasers past it but it showed no interest. However, that does not mean that nothing happened. The white marlin have showed up at last. Peter and Harry were keen to catch a white on fly. On Wednesday they raised 6; 5 were teased in close enough to cast flies. One of them hooked up and took a lot of line but, unfortunately for Harry, it managed to jump off the hook. Thursday, they raised only one white, and on Friday they again had a busy time but no luck with the fish again getting away. By this time they had decided to change tactics and practice a bit of "alternative" fishing! Instead of flies, they placed live baits on their fly rods! At last on Saturday, they were successful and Peter hooked up on a white marlin. This time it stayed on the hook to became a release statistic.

August 9th - Another day, another blue
Peter and Harry of the SCBI (Sportfishing Club of the British Isles) started an 8 day charter today. Conditions were perfect so Ian headed again for Princess Alice bank. They tell me the sea was flat and calm as olive oil, the sun was hot, the lunch was tasty - and the fishing was pretty good too: blue marlin, two bites, one got away, the other was successfully hooked and subsequently released. Great stuff, guys. The one that got away was estimated about 550/600 lbs, and the "catch" was estimated at 750 lbs. Harry and Peter also fished with Ian in Ghana a couple of years ago where Harry caught a blue marlin, estimated at 550 lbs, and he is delighted to have added an even bigger one to his personal tally. The weather forecast for the next few days is not good, let's hope the weather are wrong!

August 8th - The Agony and the Ecstasy!
Carl, Erkki and Oscar, came all the way from Finland to fish with us for just 3 days, so you can imagine how disappoionted we all were when their first day of charter turned out to be windy, rainy and thoroughly miserable. Ian gave them the option to cancel or to go out and have a look to see if they could find a protected area that was fishable. They chose to take a chance, after all there is no possibility what so ever of catching a marlin in the marina. But, luck was not on their side, and Xacara returned to the marina soon after mid-day.
The next day, Wednesday, was much better. Although not really calm, after the disappointment of the day before, Ian decided to go to Princess Alice bank seeing that is where he caught the marlin last week. This time it did not produce even the sighting of a marlin, blue or white. When almost half way home, they struck a submerged object and the boat came to a shuddering halt! Zak did the exploratory dive and found a huge black rope, heavily encrusted with barnacles, wrapped around the propeller. They got it off but there was obviously serious damage to the prop and/or shaft so they limped home at 8 knots - and put out the lines, of course. They got a bite from a white marlin but it did not stick. It was dark by the time they got back to the marina.
Further examination first thing on Thursday morning proved the prop to be undamaged but the shaft was badly bent. This being a small island, and not quite up to the standards of a highly industrialised city, we could not get the boat out of the water until 2.00 pm! An hour later the boat was back in the water with a spare shaft, as good as new. What a pity we could not have got that done early in the morning. However, the Finnish trio did not lose their day's charter as we were able to put them onto another boat that was available.
Today, Friday, Mike Cocuzza from the USA was booked for one single day. He would have loved to fish more days but he booked late and today was the only one we had to offer him. I am always very worried with one-day charters. All anglers have high hopes and great expectations, but marlin are so elusive today that it was highly unlikely that he would he get one in such a short charter. However, after 2 very disappointing and frustrating days this week, Lady Luck smiled on us today and Mike released a 450 lb blue marlin late in the afternoon. He was ecstatic - and so were we all! The marlin was short and fat and gave a hard fight. Zak got the leader once but the fish was not yet ready to surrender and took flight again. The second time Zak got the leader he got the marlin to the side of the boat but it was still strong enough to vent it's anger on Ian as he held the bill while Zak removed the hooks. I think Ian's arms have grown a few inches longer.

August 3rd - more Blues
Danish brothers Verner and Preben fished with us for 3 days - and went home with a total tally of 2 blue marlin released from 3 bites, 1 white marlin released from 2 bites, plus another 2 blues and third white in among the lures which did not bite. This is how it happened:
After a 3 day break for our crew (greatly appreciated!) the brothers were due to start their charter on Thursday morning, but due to problems with the flight from Copenhagen they were delayed by one day and only arrived after midday on Thursday. With the day shortened by quite a few hours, Ian decided not to waste more time with the longer run out to the banks. They fished off the North coast of the island but with no result.
The weather report was for extremely good, calm conditions for the next couple of days so Ian made the decision to fish Princess Alice bank and stay there overnight to maximise fishing time. On Friday morning they ran to the Azores bank then trolled all the way to Princess Alice. There was not much activity apart from lots of dolphins. They arrived at Alice at 14.00 and raised the first blue at 15.30. The bait and switch method worked a treat. The marlin gave a terrific aerial display and almost jumped into the cockpit. Estimated at 550 lbs and released in good condition.
Trolling again, they hooked a white on 20 lb spinning gear, which proved to be the hardest "catch" Ian and Zak have encountered with a white marlin. It took over an hour and a half to get it to the boat. It kept going down, deeper and deeper, because it had got a body wrap with the leader behind the pectoral fin. But that didn't seem to hamper it much, and when released it was still extremely lively.
Then they raised a blue which did not bite, and half an hour later another blue came into the spread, the switch was succesful and it was hooked. Another acrobatic fish, this was harder fight than the first blue of the day, but was released happy and healthy, and estimated at 750 lbs. For the purists, the hooks were removed from both blues.
After that they anchored for the night and the guys fished with spinning rods. They caught barracudas, were frustrated by the jacks, and saw a huge manta ray. It was a calm, warm night and everyone had a good night's sleep.
On Saturday they began fishing at 7.30. Soon after 8.00 they raised a blue, estimated at 400 lbs, which ate the bait twice, the second time it hooked and yet again the fish took off into the air - and this time it was successful (for the fish, not the angler!), the hook came unstuck and the fish got away. Later a white marlin was teased up, knocked the bait around but no strike. Another blue took a circuit through the teasers but disappeared.
Summary: Strikes from 3 blues, released 2 (550 and 750 lbs), pulled the hooks on 1, and raised 2 more that did not bite. 2 whites, one released (20 lb spinning gear) and the other dropped the bait. Lots of dolphins for entertainment, beautiful night out at sea, some exciting spinning when on anchor, first time bait and switch anglers who did a great job, Ingrid got some great video shots including the bite. And 2 very happy anglers.
Photos to follow in a day or two.
Meanwhile, seeing I had the night off, I went to the neighbouring island, Pico, with some friends, to watch The Animals live in concert. Yes, the group who had many hits such as "The House of the Rising Sun" and "We got to get of this place" in the '60's. The line-up has changed a bit and now consists of 2 of the oringinal members, plus one of the The Kinks and one of Creedance Clearwater Revival. It was just fantastic - every bit as good as catching a marlin!

July 28th - IT'S A BLUE!
What a day! Today, on the last day of their charter, Richard released a blue marlin estimated at 550 lbs using the bait and switch technique.
Nothing of interest happened yesterday, apart from the fact that the weather was perfect and the water temperature continues to rise, so this morning Capt Ian decided to head out to Princess Alice bank, 45 miles South West of Faial, seeing the weather forecast was again for good calm conditions. All the action was left until almost the last minute. Just before they pulled the lines in to head for home, Zak spotted something approaching the long left. Ian watched it closely while Ingrid and the other anglers cleared the other lines and Zak prepared a small bait for a white marlin, then Ian yelled "It's a blue!" and Zak went into overdrive to get a large bait hooked up.
They teased it closer to the boat, Richard was ready with the baited hook, placed it perfectly, and the marlin was hooked. It took off in a wild series of leaps and tail walks, taking lots of line (80 lb). Richard fought it for 25 minutes before Zak could grab the leader, subdue it and remove the hooks. Result: one released healthy blue marlin and one very happy angler. Beers all round and then the long haul back home.

Richard, Simon, Tim and Anthony with flag denoting a released blue marlin

THE STORY SO FAR, July 12th -25th
My apologies to all my faithful readers for not updating the News page sooner. To tell the honest truth there has not been much to report, but this is the story so far.
In the first week of July, before we started our charter season, the crews of the whale watch boats reported seeing quite a few white marlin and we felt sure the seson would start out well. However, the second week in July brought abnormal, and adverse, weather conditions. The island was surrounded by a blanket of fog, no planes could land, no whale watchers could go whale watching. This is completely unknown in the summer! Air and water temperatures dropped and when the fog lifted the white marlin had become scarce. While Britain and most of Europe sweltered in a heat wave, we seemed to be stuck in eternal spring.
Our first charter was with a family from Sweden. They chartered just one day and there was a small nibble at one of the lures, but that was all.
Our second charter, with Bas and Annet, was cancelled because Bas hurt his back and had to have an operation on 16th July. We hope he recovers well and is soon back to full strength for his charter in Australia later this year.
Charles and Ness were with us for 3 days. By this time the weather conditions were beginning to improve and we had high hopes that the marlin would return as the sea temperature began to rise. Although we had a great time with them, and had a tiny nibble on their last day, we were very disappointed that they went home empty-handed. We hope for better luck next year.
Next up were father and son, Giert and Torben, from Denmark. (Ingrid was delighted to have the opportunity to chat in her own language for a change!) They also fished 3 days and raised one white marlin and had a bite from another. At last things were looking better, and they too have promised to come back next year.
With us the moment we have a rowdy bunch of English fly fishermen, Richard, Simon, Anthony and Tim. A laugh minute, wonderful characters, and they think Ingrid is a great second mate! On their second day of charter they had 5 or 6 strikes from white marlin. One hooked up, took a load of line, the angler (who shall remain nameless) went into action - and knocked the reel into free spool by mistake! Oh dear. He is not the first, and most certainly won't be the last, to be affected by the excitement of the moment! He was terribly disappointed but we have great hopes now that the whites are back in our waters and, who knows, perhaps he'll get another chance today.