top of page
johannesmueller-li

Madeira - Master Thesis with benefits

Updated: Nov 2, 2021

It was rather random, that I got the chance to do my Master's thesis on Madeira. Maybe otherwise I would have missed out on this beautiful island, whose name originates from the times of sailors, conquerers and pirates.


The beach of Jardim do mar, also known to surfers

Where's Madeira?


The Island is located roughly 700km off the coast of Marocco in the Antlantic Ocean. Somewhat north of the Canary Islands.


It was already night at the end of October when I arrived on Madeira. My supervisor, that I was about to work with on my masters thesis for the next couple of months, picked me up from the airport. During the trip from the airport to my room I was already impressed by the steep cliffs. Some houses would literally have a 200m cliff right at their porch. Wild.


Time to go fishing


I couldn't resist for long before I had to head out with my fishing rod. Luckily, my house was just 100m from the sea. In the beginning I didn't really catch much and I got my first fish at night, when I tried with a float and some Mackerel strips. It ended up being quite an adventure, handling one decent sized Bluefish at night, alone, on the slippery wavebreakers. But I managed to get this nice fish of about 85cm.



My first bluefish on Madeira

Generally, on Madeira I was limited to shore fishing most of the time. But the efforts made to catch decent fish from shore always make them count a lot more, especially since I had some friends over for a few fishing trips.You can find good spots for spinning, with species such as Bluefish, Amberjack, Pargo and apparently (well, according to some locals) in summer even Mahi Mahi from shore!




Fishing is more fun with some buddies !


Softbaits also work for Bluefish!

For me it was mostly Bluefish with many over 90cm. I experimented with different lures, from jerkbaits, to soft lures and could catch fish with all of them. To rig up softbait, I developed my own rigging style, which worked well.


The biggest Bluefish on Madeira liked my Halco Roosta* Popper

My favourite "home" fishing spot at nightfall

Bluefish grow to good sizes on Madeira!

Porto Moniz at Madeira's wild North coast


Caught this nice Pargo on a Softbait


This beautiful small grouper had a taste for my pink softbait


Bottom fishing also worked well and I caught Bluefish, Pargo, some Ray species and a few Grey Smooth hound.



Thought is was a big Blue, but then turned out to be this Smooth Hound

During my stay on the island, I also met a few people, among them also Captn Diogo who worked for a local big game operation. We went fishing for a St. Nikolaus day trip for jigging on December 6th. I was positively surprised by the mild weather, that the Madeira had. While at home in cold Germany we'd have snow by this time, I was out there fishing in the sun with not much more than a shirt.


On the Azores where I had stayed the three months before I went to Madeira, people had told me about the big Amberjack and Pargo, which are regularly caught around Madeira. I had already talked to some people and got wild stories about these massive Amberjack.



A sunny December day out at sea

Small jigs worked well for these Pargos

Also this Amberjack subspecies liked my jigs

Well, we tried, but didn't encounter mega-sized Amberjacks. I could get some nice Pargo and a few small, but beautiful Jacks.


Apart from shore fishing and jigging, Madeira also offers opportunities to do big game fishing for Marlin, Tuna and Wahoo, which I sadly didn't have the time to do.



Tackle & Tips


The tackle I used on Madeira was more or less the same as on the Azores. For all around shore spinning and bottom fishing from shore you can get along with a long spinning rod (+- 100g CW), which you can use for both. I fished an old 2.70m D.A.M.* travel rod with 80g casting weight and a Major Craft Solpara* 3.05m shore jigging rod with 80g casting weight, 30lbs line and 30-40lbs leader. I mostly fished with different jerkbaits, poppers and softbaits between 100 and 150mm. If you consider fishing with softbaits, best use some wire assists for the abundant bluefish.


Best times for fishing were the just times just before and after dark, but I sometimes caught fish until deep in the night. I fished from October to May, but summer months are supposed to be better.


For Jigging I used a PE3-5 Expert Graphite Alexander* rod and a Fin Nor Lethal 60* reel and a Expert Graphite Jig Pro II PE 4-8* with an Accurate Boss 600XN*. I fished 65lbs braid and 60-80lbs fluorocarbon leader.


*Unpaid referral

What else is there to do? 5-ideas


1. Hike at 25 Fontes waterfalls


Walk around mysterious forests and see some pretty waterfalls at 25 fontes. The route to the waterfalls starts in the mountainous inland of Madeira. The hike takes about half a day.



Hiking around small paths through magical forests


Some of the 25 waterfalls

2. Gamble and party at Casino da Madeira in Funchal

The casino in Funchal is not only a casino, but also a club with different dancefloors.


3. Port Wine tasting

Try some of Madeira's special wines. Wine tastings are offered in various bars and restaurants.


4. Beach Day

Madeira is pretty rocky for most part, but there are sandy beaches in Calheta and even some surfing is possible in places like Jardim do mar


5. Botanical Garden

Straw through botanical gardens and learn something about Madeira's famous flora (16% of Madeira's plants are endemic!)


Beautiful tropical flowers at the botanical garden in Funchal

38 views0 comments

Comentarios


bottom of page