Another Two Blue Day in Madeira

There wasn't a single fish seen yesterday for the entire fleet, so our expectations for today weren't exactly through the roof. We headed out of the harbor around 10:30 this morning with the Chunda right behind us. We tacked straight off shore while they took a more westerly direction. Within 5 minutes of leaving the marina the Chunda was in hard reverse. They ended up releasing a 400 pound blue right next to us. We stayed in the area for a bit with no luck so we wandered our way up to the west end. On our first pass up the ledge a fish piles on the Marlin Magic Large Tube I had just put out. She takes out maybe 20 yards of line, windshield wipering her way out of the pattern. Everyone on the boat is cringing their teeth hoping we can stay connected but unfortunately she was able to get herself free.

Frustrated but happy to see a fish, we continued up the ledge. We starting marking big piles of mackerel all up and down the ledge but mostly in tight around 80 fathoms. As we waded through the schools of mackerel, another fish popped up on the large Polu Kai Instigator on the short rigger. She tried to eat the lure for what seemed minutes but she just couldn't get herself over the top to eat it. We all watched anxiously as she made attempt after attempt to eat the lure. She wanted this lure so bad you could almost feel her frustration. Somehow she managed to pull the lure out of the rigger and hook herself.

She never really went anywhere and did a few small jumps. Jonboy and our angler did a great job getting right on top of the fish in under 5 minutes. She tried to go down but we had already applied 55 pounds of drag and forced her to come back to the surface. Jonboy got right on her as she came up and got me the leader. She came up going away but with the extra pressure she came to the surface on the port side and did a few small jumps off the corner and up the side. Jonboy stayed right with her as she lunged up the side till she switched back. I held on and was able to get her to come up the starboard side without much trouble. She thrashed at the side for a bit but Jess got the snooter on her nose and settled her down. We got some pictures and released the healthy 650 pound blue. That was the third fish in a row including the 820 that we've caught on "little stubby" a beat to hell large Polu Kai Instigator.

We put the spread back out and continued to troll the ledge with a couple of other boats. A few other fish were seen feeding on the surface and tailing down sea. It wasn't till later that we got our third bite of the day. A dorsal popped up behind the Marlin Magic Large Tube for the second time today. She made one good pass on it and hooked herself on the first try. She stayed close to the boat and jumped only a few times. She was of the smaller variety but still put up a good fight. Our angler pumped her to the surface and I was able to subdue her quickly on the side. We released her and celebrated another two marlin day in Madeira. We can only hope the fish stick around for tomorrow.