2005 Season

Adrian Graham who fought a potential world record for 6 hours on August 26th has written an account of his experience. Click here to read it.

End of Season Report

2005 was an unusual season for the crew of Xacara. Normally we fish as much as possible from early July to late September but this year we spent one third of our charter season with a BBC film crew on board and not a rod or reel in sight. Although it was interesting to do something different for a change, as soon as we realised that there were blue marlin waiting to be caught, we couldn't wait to get the rods out. Only a week into the BBC charter, on July 6th, they put out a spinning rod hoping to catch something small for dinner - and a blue marlin appeared in a great hurry, snatched the lure and broke the line, leaving everyone on board rather stunned! In the middle of the month we had a pre-booked 3 day fishing charter which resulted in the released of a 400 lb blue marlin. Not long after that Brasilia and Double Header started fishing privately and every time they went out they came back with a blue marlin flag flying.
We started our charter season at the beginning of August. There were plenty of blue marlin there, but the hook up rate was very low for the first 2 weeks. Almost every day we were getting a couple of strikes but they were not hooking up successfully. What made it even more frustrating was the size of the blue marlin. The crew saw so many huge fish, genuine grander size, in August that we got very excited about potential world records and put the gaffs on the boat!
From the middle of August until the end of the season in early October, more strikes converted into successful hook ups, the release rate increased dramatically and by the end of the month we had released 8 blues for 23 strikes. 7 for 13 came in the last 2 weeks, with an average estimated size of 786 lbs! Yes, we released a lot of very big fish. Only one was under 500 lbs and there were 2 granders.
In September things just got better. During the 26 days we fished between 1st September and our last charter day on 4th October, we released 37 blues for 49 strikes, with an average size of over 500 lbs. No granders, the biggest was 800 lbs and 14 were 400 lbs or less.
White marlin were few and far between this year. We saw quite a few in July and early August but only 6 in September. In total we released 10 for 30 strikes. Stats
July:
3 days fished, 1 for 1, 400 lbs
August:
28 days fished, 7 for 23, average size 786 lbs
September:
21 days fished, 30 for 42, average size 532 lbs
October:
4 days fished, 7 for 7, average size 504 lbs.
Total:
56 days, 45 for 73, average size 528 lbs.

October 4th
The last day of charter for this year. Unfortunately it was a nothing sort of day. It was quite windy so they could not get out to Condor Bank. They fished the north coast of the island but did not have even one bite. A disappointing way to end after such a great season but we have a lot of very good memories to keep us going through the winter!

October 3rd
We sadly said goodbye to Kees and welcomed new clients Dave and John. The blues were still there on Condor but not quite as numerous as yesterday. They had 2 strikes, one of which was possibly a white marlin, the other was a blue marlin which hooked up well. It was the first strike of the day and Dave was sitting in the chair getting used to it all when the blue marlin struck the lure of the rod he was holding! It was estimated to be about 600 lbs and was released successfully. Mario was secretly pleased that his hands did not have to wire 6 marlin today, they are rather tender after all the action of the last week or so!

Kees fights a marlin

One of Kees's 9 blue marlin

Kees fights another marlin

Another one of Kees's marlin

A celebratory beer!

Seven flags: 6 blue marlin and 1 white marlin

October 2nd
Another amazing day. Today Kees released 6 blue marlin and 1 white marlin. The smallest blue was 350 lbs and the largest was 650 lbs, the rest were 400, 450, 475 and 600 lbs. They had the first strike less than 5 minutes after arriving on Condor Bank and the third strike could hardly wait for the lures to be put back in the water after releasing the second fish: it grabbed a lure as it hit the water. The wind dropped overnight so it was a perfect day!

October 1st
After so many days with such excellent fishing and good weather conditions, today was a very disappointing day. It was windy, so it was rather rough out on Condor Bank, and they had only one strike which did not hook up successfully. Tomorrow is forecast to be windy, but we hope the marlin are hungry.

Photos of Kees

Mario with one of Kees's smaller marlin

Kees in the chair

Taking a break!

Kees with three release flags

Photos of Richard, Jamie and Zac

One of their smaller blues

Zak, Jamie and Richard

Zac in the chair assisted by Richard

WOW!

September 30th
3 for 5. First day of charter for a new client Kees Kik from the Netherlands . Yesterday I met him at the airport at mid-day with the news that our boat had already released 4 blue marlin that day. He was almost overcome with excitement and the thought of what may happen for him next day. Today, within 5 minutes of putting the lures in the water they had a bite. Apparently he was speechless, pointing at the fish and mumbling incoherent sounds. Didn't ruin his angling skills though. Both this blue marlin and the second he released a little later were estimated at 300 lbs but were extremely active and led Mario, our mate for the rest of the season, a merry dance around the cockpit. This afternoon Kees reeled in a big 800 lb marlin. So the big girls are still here, but a bit shyer than the smaller males.

September 29th
6 for 9!!! Yes, today the boys on Xacara released 6 blue marlin from 9 strikes. The sizes were estimated at 300 lbs, 350 lbs, 450 lbs, 500 lbs, 500 lbs, and 750 lbs. It was a wonderful day. Perfect conditions with calm seas, warm, sunny and just a hint of a breeze. It was Richard, Jamie and Zac's last charter day and they made the most of it. In the evening we had a barbecue on the dock with our clients and the crews of Double Header and Brasilia . Louis and Frank of Brasilia have finished their fishing season and go home tomorrow, as does our Mate Jeff, so it was a farewell for them as well as a celebration of the excellent fishing we have had for the last 2 months.

September 28th
By mid-day the boys were already 2 for 3. A double header came up again, both fish much the same size, about 550 lbs, one pulled the hooks and the other one stayed on and got "caught". A little later a third marlin came up on its own and ate the lure, resulting in another successful release, about 650 lbs. This afternoon they had another double header, both fish about 300 lbs, one was released and the other got away. 3 for 5!

September 27th
The wind died down a lot over night and we started the day by trolling slowly along the south coast of the island with light tackle and caught a good size jack and a dorado for dinner. Then out to the banks where the sea was still a bit lumpy and uncomfortable but that didn't worry the marlin. We had a double header about mid-day, one of which pulled off and Zac reeled in the other to claim his first blue marlin, estimated at 400 lbs. Later in the day we got another hook up, 700 lbs, which Jamie caught. Good going boys, it's good to be back in the Azores , isn't it?

September 26th
The first day of charter for more old friends Richard Jones and Jamie Addicoat. This time they have brought a new friend Zacary Davey. But the weather was not kind to them. It was too windy to go out to the banks so they fished in the lee of the island but came in early when the wind kicked up even more!

September 25th
No clients today so Ian and the crew went out in search of white marlin for the Snowbee Marlin Challenge. Snowbee , UK , have provided us with a fine set of rods, reels and flies in order to challenge for the woman's white marlin world record. Unfortunately, we have not seen many white marlin this year, and today was more of the same - not a white marlin anywhere!

September 24th
The last day of charter for our Norwegian clients and Arne was the lucky person to get a second blue marlin, estimated about 550 lbs.

September 23rd
A relatively slow day for Xacara, today. We went 1 for 1 with a blue marlin of 400 lbs. Brasilia had a much better day, getting 2 blues from 5 strikes. Both blues were about 700 lbs.

September 22nd
The first day of charter for the Norwegian group was rewarded with 3 strikes. The first one was a double header of blues, one of which pulled the hooks and the other was released, 600 lbs. Not much later the third blue marlin struck and hooked up successfully. This was a little bigger at 650 lbs and was also released in good condition.
Meanwhile, Brasilia also had a double header and they got both of the blues, estimated at 300 lbs each. Later they had 2 more strikes but both pulled the hooks.
Double Header was also out for half the day. They released one blue of 700 lbs and raised another that didn't bite.

Arne Haagenrud fights a 600 lb blue marlin

September 21st
We did not fish on Wednesday. We sadly said goodbye to our new Danish friends Thomas, Tom, Martin and Dan and met our new Norwegian clients Arne, Christian and Espen.
Brasilia was out fishing though and came back with 3 flags flying. They had 12 strikes in total and released 3 blues of 400, 700 and 800 lbs!

September 20th
For the first time in many days Xacara returned to the marina without a flag! But that does not mean they saw no action. Dan hooked up the biggest blue marlin that any of the group had seen. Ian and Jeff reckon is was much not short of 1000 lbs. But, unfortunately for Dan the hooks were not secure and it pulled off after a few minutes. Brasilia released a blue estimated at 700 lbs.

Martin and Thomas proudly display their release flags

Tom in the fighting chair

September 19th
At the moment mid-afternoon seems to be the time that the marlin most active. Today Tom, who missed out catching the 800 lber yesterday, fought a 650 lber for half an hour before it pulled the hooks, and then succcessfully released a 550 lb blue marlin. Third time lucky!

September 18th
We had no clients today, which means it should have been a day off, but the fishing has been so good that the crew of Xacara chose to go fishing just for fun. They spent the morning doing some routine maintenance jobs on the boat and headed out to Condor Bank in the early afternoon. Brasilia was already out there. With no other anglers on board, Ingrid had first chance in the chair and she got the opportunity to fight a blue marlin at last. She successfully released a 550 lber. Good one, Ingrid! Brasilia released one of about 900 lbs.

Ingrid battles against a 550 lb blue marlin

September 17th
In Ian's words "The fishing is awesome!" Today two boats went out to Condor Bank. Xacara went 2 for 3 and Brasilia went 1 for 5! In the morning our client, Thomas, successfully released a 650 lb blue marlin. There was a lot of activity from birds and fish and Ian just knew there were a lot of marlin down there somewhere. Brasilia released a blue of 600 lbs and another hooked up but got away. It went quiet for a few hours in the middle of the day then all started up again in the afternoon. Tom hooked up a big blue, 800 lbs, which jumped and jumped and then threw the hooks in spectacular fashion. Soon afterwards Martin, the biggest guy on the boat, released one of the smallest blues ever seen here - about 175 lbs! Meanwhile, Brasilia had 3 blues all come up and attack the lures at the same time - but lost all of them!

September 16th
We did not have a charter today so "Xacara" stayed in the marina and the crew had a day off, but I have an update on " Brasilia ". Yesterday they released 2 blue marlin, both about 700 lbs and today they released one of about 800 lbs!

September 15th
The flurry of activity late yesterday afternoon turned out to be a white marlin, not a blue as I thought, which had a go at the lures but did not hook up. Anther white came up at the same time and did a bit of window-shopping but didn't strike.
Today Ian reports that they released a white marlin in the morning and a blue marlin in the afternoon. The blue was smallish, about 300 lbs and had a tag in it. They removed the old tag and inserted a new one before releasing the marlin. As they were working with the first blue a large 800 lber came cruising past! With no lures in the water all they could do was watch it go by. After releasing the small blue they examined the tag to discover that the little blue was one that they had tagged on 5th September, angler Phil Thomas! In all the years and all the places Ian and Jeff have fished this is the first marlin they have ever caught that was tagged - and it was caught twice on the same bank within 10 days.

September 14th
Calmer weather at last so Xacara and Brasilia headed out to Condor Bank. When still close to the island we hooked up a blue marlin in open water. It was small, about 300 lbs, but gave a good fight and was released successfully. In the middle of the afternoon Ian called to say they had just released a 700 lber and Brasilia had also released one of much the same size. While speaking to me another blue came into the lures and attacked the long left!

September 13th
Still too windy to go out to the banks so we fished off the North coast of the island. We got 2 bites from white marlin which did not hook up, but nothing else to report unfortunately

September 10th, 11th and 12th
No fishing possible as Hurricanes Maria and Nate passed to the North West of the islands, resulting in conditions too rough and windy for fishing.

September 9th
We had a one day charter with 4 crew from a 52m luxury yacht which is spending a few days in port while making the crossing from the Mediterranean to New York . Unfortunately, the weather deteriorated during the day and it got extremely rough out on the banks. They had bites from 2 white marlin but had to head into calmer waters in the lee of the island and had no more luck for the rest of the day.

September 8th
The news from Ian in the middle of the afternoon is that Mick hooked up and successfully released a 550 lb blue marlin.

September 7th

A great day for Toni and Mick who are back again for 2 days. Toni released a 350 lb blue marlin quite early in the day. It was quite a fight because the fish went down instead of staying on the surface. However, she did a great job, even though she had an injured arm, and got the fish to the boat in just over half an hour. Mick's turn came about an hour later. He released a blue marlin much the same size, but this one was more co-operative and stayed on the surface. Just over an hour later Louis on Brasalia also released a blue marlin of about 400 lbs.

September 6th
Beautiful weather but no anglers today so Ian and Ingrid spent the day working on the video

September 5th
We did not fish on September 3rd and 4th. Phil Thomas flew all the way here from the UK for 3 days, intending to spend 2 of them fishing. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and it was too windy to fish on Saturday and Sunday. Finally on Monday 5th the wind died down and Phil got in just one day of fishing. He was rewarded by hooking up his first blue marlin which he got to the boat and released. Happiness all round!

No fishing news so here are some pictures of the 900 lb blue marlin released by Britta Nanz on August 28th

September 3rd
The weather was just the same as yesterday so Ian cancelled the charter for today.

September 2nd
We had a one day charter with father and son Erling and Anders from Denmark . After weeks of calm, hot and sunny weather, today it began to change. The day started wet and miserable, but the fish don't mind a bit of rain. Ian headed to the Sao Mateus bank south of Pico but as the wind picked up during the day he worked his way back to the south coast of Faial . There was little bird action, not much bait and definitely no marlin. Not a good day.

September 1st
Mick released a 300 lb blue marlin today.

August 31st
A new charter started today, Mick and Toni who fished with us one before a couple of years ago. They had two blue marlin strikes today, one small and the second medium sized, but no decent hook up. The medium sized marlin, about 500 lbs, took some line but soon got rid of the hook.

August 30th
Today Jason released a white marlin. He would loved to have caught it on fly but it did not cooperate. It came up and struck one of the long lures, too far from the boat to offer it the fly. Later a blue marlin of about 750 lbs came up to the teasers, it was really keen on eating the plastic but would not switch to the bait, so no hook up.

August 29th
No blue marlin for us today. 2 white marlin came up to take a look at the teasers but were too lazy to strike. " Brasilia " had the same experience with a blue marlin. Rather disappointing after all the action in the last weeks!

Some images from the last week. Many of these are quite large files and may take a few seconds to open
Images from August 27th
Robert's 850

Robert's 850

Robert's 850

Helmut's 650

Helmut's 650

Images of Adrian battling the first grander that got away

The grander tries to pull Adrian out of the boat!

Line disappearing fast

Rod bender!

The remnants of the dacron

Images from August 24th
Adrian 's 600 lb blue marlin

Adrian and Jim with blue marlin flags

August 28th
Capt Ian called to give an interim report again today. Early in the afternoon Britta released a 900 lb blue marlin. Now it is Jason's turn so he will take the next marlin that comes up. The others have all fished with lures (Britta's marlin was caught on a Hays Cleopatra, yesterday's fish were on a small Williamson) but Jason likes to fish bait and switch for a big blue and fly for a small blue or white so you may find a few agonizing reports about the ones that got away!
There was no further action yesterday.

August 27th
Interim report:
The first day of charter for our long time friends Helmut and Britta Nanz, Jason Goldberg and Robert McClure and with 3 hours of this charter day still to run I received the following information from Ian:
Helmut has released a blue marlin estimated at 650 lbs - the fight took 45 minutes. Robert has released a blue marlin estimated at 850 lbs. This time the fight took only 10 minutes before Jeff got the leader. The fish was still very green and went ballistic but Jeff hung on till it calmed down enough to remove the hooks. He now has one arm 3 ft 6 inches long and the other arm is a tad over 4 ft long!

Capt Ian's report on fighting and losing the potential world record:
"We hooked up at 14.45. It was very lazy bite and I had to slow the boat right down to get the fish to take the lure. The fish didn't seem to realise it was hooked, kept looking at the other lures and we wondered if it was going to end up with more than one hook in it's mouth. Adrian reeled it in really close, then it obviously noticed the metal in its mouth and took off. It never went very far and stayed fairly close to the boat most of the time. Jeff got the leader for the first time after 4.5 hours. We got the double line to the rod tip several times. She didn't fight hard so didn't exhaust herself and seemed as intent on playing Adrian as Adrian was on playing her. Adrian wound the preset up to 60 lbs and Jeff got the leader for the second time after 6 hours but there was no chance to move this fish. By this stage Adrian was exhausted and could not fight the fish anymore so had to admit that it was not going to be his day to claim a world record. Ingrid got into the chair just for the experience of fighting a monster, but she needed one hand on the back of the reel and one hand to hang onto the back of the chair so not much was gained. Then Jeff jumped into the chair. He got the swivel to the rod tip pretty quick but found it not so easy to wire the monster while sitting in the chair! There were lots of fingers and hands hanging onto all sorts of bits and pieces to bust the fish off, but eventually the line broke and she swam away to fight another day. Adrian was happy with "technical catch" of a grander, especially after losing one earlier in the week, but was disappointed that he could not make the world record. We figure the fish was much better than 1200 lbs, but who knows how much better. The 80 lb record lives another day!" Talking to Adrian this morning, feeling like he had been steam-rollered by a Sumo wrestler, he could not believe what a good charter this has been. During his 6 day charter he hooked up 5 blue marlin; 2 were monsters and could have been world records, 2 others that got away were good size fish at 700 and 800 lbs, and he released one of 600 lbs, his brother released a smaller one of 300 lbs and there was the odd white marlin in there too!

August 26th
"Xacara" did not get back to the marina until after midnight . They started fighting a huge blue marlin about 3.00 in the afternoon (I have not got all the details yet) and they fought it for over 6 hours. Jeff got the leader twice but it was still too fresh and strong, in fact it was even stronger the second time! They reckon it was a potential world record and had the gaffs out. After over 6 hours, the angler, Adrian, could not fight anymore. Ingrid had a go, Jeff had a go, but eventually and they broke it off and let it go. By this time the fight had taken them way West of the island and it took them a long time to get back to the marina. An exhausting experience! I will try to get more details and post them later.

August 25th
Adrian fought a good size blue marlin, about 700 lbs, for a good while today, but again it got away. Apart from that our day was quiet, but Louis on Brasilia had a very exciting time fighting another blue monster, the biggest he has seen so far this year. The fish was having none of it and eventually the fight came to an end when the line broke. Barba Negra was out for the first time in a couple of years. They were the lucky boat today and released a 400 lb blue marlin.

August 24th
Two blue marlin were released today! In the morning Adrian hooked up a small blue marlin, 300 lbs, and got it to the boat in about 15 minutes. A couple of hours later, his brother Jim hooked a bigger marlin, about 600 lbs. This was a far more demanding fight and it took Jim an hour to reel it in. "Brasilia" was also out today and hooked up a very big blue marlin, which took off over the horizon and spooled the angler.
It is interesting that the marlin "caught" today were the smallest we have seen so far this season. I wonder if this means that, from now on, we will see larger numbers of smaller marlin. Up till yesterday the average size of the marlin seen was over 700 lbs. Another interesting point: I can't remember when we last released 2 blues in one day! Could this be another indication that marlin fishing is getting better and better in the Azores ?

August 23rd
2 days off - what a luxury for the crew - so no fishing reports to add today. Here are a couple more photos of the grander released last week.

August21st
Today was exciting, interesting, frustrating, but ended sadly. Early in the day Jim released a white marlin, but the main action happened early in the afternoon. Ian saw a big blue marlin come into the pattern; it took the lure, hooked up solidly, and began to jump. Ian and Jeff looked at each other and said "This might be the one!" Adrian fought valiantly as it took off over the horizon, giving it line when necessary and winding it back when he could. All went well for a while then the fish started to pinwheel and Jeff suspected it was in difficulties. Soon after it started to go down like a lead weight. Adrian tried his best to get it up, pushed the drag all the way to sunset, he was down to the dacron - and then the dacron broke! Adrian was exhausted after the hour and half long battle. Obviously the fish was hooked in such a way that it could not survive, and we are all sad that such a magnificent beast died. It had taken the same "Lunger" lure that the grander took last week, on 80 lbs. Ian and Jeff have not put a weight to it seeing they did not get a good enough look, but it was another BIG one.

August 20th
Early in the day they hooked up a big blue, possibly 800 lbs, which jumped like crazy and eventually jumped off. After that it was very quiet for a while until they found some whites later in the day. Like yesterday, the whites took great interest in the lures but none of them hooked up.

August 19th
First charter day for brothers Adrian and Jim, and great anticipation after yesterday's big blue. Ian took "Xacara" out to the same area and there was a lot of bird and bait action, but not a blue marlin in site. They got a few bites from white marlin but nothing exciting!

The wide angle lens makes it look short, but compare the width of the fish to the width of the men

Lunger lure with Hays Hooks that hooked the grander

The group - Putte Bergkvist, Kim Lindstrom and Mike Carlsson

August 18th
A MONSTER - TAMED, BUT NOT TERMINATED
Would you believe it! We keep hearing about "lucky fisherman" and laugh, and think it doesn't really happen. But it does, and we have living proof, right here, right now. Last year Putte and Mikael won a fishing competition in Sweden and their prize was a big game fishing charter on Xacara. A friend, Kim, joined them. Yesterday they saw 3 big blue marlin and released one white marlin during a day of frenetic activity. Today was even better. Mikael and Putte each released a white marlin, and Kim fought and, after 50 minutes, released a monster blue marlin. Ian and Jeff both reckon it was well over 1000 lbs but it was not world record size so anglers and crew decided not to kill it, but tagged and released it in good condition. Good on you guys, all of you, angler and crew, for a great job, well done! Pictures to follow. But give a thought to all those anglers that have done their time, paid for so many charter days, and never hooked up, or even seen, a monster marlin.

Ingrid displays her white marlin flag

Putte and white marlin

Putte and white marlin

The Yeti's new hair style - either he has lost the plot or it's a hint that he needs a haircut!

August 17th
3 blue marlin were seen today. 2 of them came up as a double header and struck at the lures repeatedly but neither of them hooked up. They were both large fish, one estimated at 900 lbs and the other at 700. Later in the day a third blue marlin took a look at the lures but did not strike. This one was a bit smaller, possibly 600 lbs. As usual there was a lot of action from white marlin and one was released.

August 16th
A day with so much action from white marlin that the anglers and crew all lost count of the number of strikes. But all this action resulted in only 2 releases. The happiest person on board was probably Ingrid because Kong and DJ very kindly let her take the rod when one of the whites struck, and stuck. In 3 years working aboard sport fishing boats this was the first marlin she had ever released. Good one, guys!

August 15th
Both Kong and Derek released white marlin today, one each. It was a great day out on the water, perfect weather, lots of whites around the boat and one might even have been a blue. Brazilia was also out today, the also released 2 whites and had a blue marlin taking a look at the lures but it did not strike. Double Header went out for a few hours late in the day and had 15 bites from white marlin but not one of them hooked up properly!
Sunday night was the end of our annual festival week, Semana do Mar. There was an excellent fireworks display and Ingrid took some great photos.

August 14th
Our new clients Mikael (Kong) and Derek joined us today. "Double Header" and "Brazilia" were also out and like us saw lots of whites, but did not catch any. There are also some blues around. One came into our lure pattern, about 500 lbs, but did not strike. Paulo Gaspar, who is attempting to get the world record for catching a blue marlin with a spear gun, found one and got close to it in the water but did not shoot it because it was too small for the record. And lastly one of the whale watching boats called in a sighting of a large blue marlin to Ian. 4 blue marlin in 2 days after a whole week not seeing any at all, that must be a good omen.

August 13th
Stuart's last day and it was no more successful than the last few, just more whites playing around and not biting. "Brazilia" was also out today and Louis reported that he had a blue marlin at the teaser for a good few minutes. It tried to bit the teaser seven times but would not take the bait. He estimated it to be between 500 and 600 lbs.

August 12th
The whites were out again, tail walking, snapping at the teaser, but ignoring the bait!

August 11th
Nothing much to report. More white marlin, some biting, some just taking a look at the lures, but none were caught. So here are a couple of pictures of Astrid instead.

August 10th
Ingrid's sister, Astrid, is on holiday here at the moment and has been going out on Xacara for the last few days. Today Stuart very kindly allowed her to take the rod when a white marlin struck. She reeled it in and could proudly claim her first marlin "catch". We celebrated in the usual way by throwing her into the marina when the boat arrived back at the dock!

August 9th
Out on the Azores Bank, again lots of whites around, mostly tail walking and not interested in bait or lures! A couple of them had a nibble and Stuart got one to take the bait and reeled it in successfully this time - no more "technical hitches".

August 8th
Too windy, no fishing today!

August 7th
Rather windy today so they trolled off the North side of the island. They raised a few blues, hooked two of them and, according to Stuart, he really should have caught one of them but he had a "slight technical hitch!"

August 6th
Stuart, our new client and close friend, arrived on the mid-day flight and less than an hour later he was aboard Xacara and heading out to sea. They stayed close to the island in the same area where they found all the whites yesterday but didn't see any today. "Double Header" was working the same area and had 2 bites from whites. The angler got one of almost to the transom before it pulled the hooks.

August 5th
Today Ian decided to try fishing the north of the island instead of out on the banks. They saw a lot of action and had 11 bites. 10 of these were definitely whites, the last one might have been a blue but they did not get a good enough look at it to be certain. From all these bites only one stuck on the hooks and Alex released his second white marlin.

August 4th
The blues are here, and biting, but not sticking. Today they hooked another good size fish, 700 to 800 lbs, but again it got off the hooks after a fight of about half an hour. Alex, the angler, caught and released a white marlin later.
Felipe on "Jonas" took a party of 4 anglers our for a half day fishing. They had 5 bites from white marlin and released 4 of them. Pretty good fishing in just 4 hours!

August 3rd
Today we had one on for almost half an hour before it threw the hooks. Trying to estimate the size Jeff said "After the monster yesterday, everything looks small!" However, they reckon it was between 500 and 600 lbs. Later in the day they got a second bite but never got a look at the fish before it got off.

August 2nd
We are fishing again! The BBC charter has come to an end and Ian and Ingrid were relieved to be able to replace all the cameras and diving gear with fishing tackle. Mate Jeff Thomas arrived on Friday and together they spent the weekend going through rigs and lures.
Our Russian clients Alex, Irina and Sergei started their charter on Monday 1st but unfortunately they did not see any marlin even though there was a lot of bird action and good bait out on the banks.
Today was a different story. In total they raised 3 blue marlin and 3 white marlin. There were strikes from 2 of the blues and 2 of the whites but none of them stuck. One of the blues was huge. It came into the spread and sat behind the teaser right on the surface for quite a while before attacking a lure. Both and Ian and Jeff agreed that it was a BIG mother, probably well over a 1000 lbs. But it was the same old story we have heard so many times before - it got away!
Meanwhile Felipe had a fishing charter on "Jonas" and this evening he told us that he had bites from 7 whites and they all got away. How frustrating is that!

July 20th
We have a 3 day fishing charter in the middle of the BBC's filming charter, so, yesterday, for the first time this season, Xacara went to sea fully equipped with fishing tackle instead of cameras, lights, and diving gear. Father and son, Henrik and Richard De Laval, did not have any luck yesterday but today was much more successful. As Captain Ian worked a bait ball a blue marlin came up and showed some interest in the lures. It followed behind for some time, making several lunges at the lure without getting hooked but eventually it stuck fast. 12 year old Richard De Laval had his first taste of fighting a marlin. He did a really good job too. They all got a good look at the marlin before it was released and estimated it to be about 400 lbs. Congratulations, Richard.

July 11th
The BBC cameramen are satisfied that they have got some good footage in their first week of filming. Meanwhile "Double Header" went out looking for marlin over the weekend. Saturday was not a successful day but Sunday was. They released a beauty which they estimated at about 750 lbs. That means that in 3 days of fishing they have released 2 good size blue marlin. Well, done Jorge, Sandro and Mario!

July 3rd 2005 - The Blues are Here
The BBC film crew started their charter on Friday July 1st and it seems really strange to see "Xácara" full of cameras, lighting equipment and diving gear instead of fishing rods, reels, lures and all the usual bits and pieces required for a fishing charter.
Today, Ian called me early to say they had seen 2 white marlin on the surface and an hour later he called to say they had just broken off a blue marlin even though they were not trying to catch it. They had a small rod with light line out, hoping to catch something for dinner as they searched for something suitable to film. A decent sized blue marlin, 500 to 600 lbs, came up alongside the boat, lunged at the small lure and disappeared into the distance, stripping all the line off the reel!
"Double Header" was out fishing for the first time today with new owner Jorge Medeiros, Capt Sandro and Mate Mario. Mario, who has many years of marlin fishing experience, was in charge of initiating them into the joys of marlin fishing and it was a baptism of fire - they caught a 650 lb blue marlin within a couple of hours of putting the lures into the water for the very first time!
I think we can safely say the blue marlin have arrived!