I remember my first flight to the Azores back in 2014 and I could hardly wait to see this place so far out in the ocean. As the plane approached the green islands Faial and Pico, the volcano Pico was clearly visible, giving the place a wild touch, like a place from another time.
Never heard of the Azores?
The Azores comprise 9 volcanic Islands right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, over 1,300 km from the Portuguese coast. The location of these islands allows for a huge variety of marine life, which makes the Azores a great destination for anglers, divers and outdoorsy people, while still being relatively untouched by tourism.
So far away from land the islands are characterized by a rough, untamed beauty: steep lava rocks and the wild Atlantic Ocean bashing against the coast. While the vegetation is very rich in variety from bleak landscape to lush meadows and hydrangeas, which line the few narrow streets. All this nature is just interrupted by a few small villages. These islands have fascinated me for years, which is why until now I have visited 4 of the 9 islands, including a 3 month internship on the island Santa Maria where I worked with local marine biologists.
Let's go fishing!
Sure, on of the main reasons for me to go to the Azores was the fishing opportunities, that these islands offer...
Shore Fishing
I've always been a huge fan of DIY and low-budget fishing experiments with a rather adventurous character. Each fish caught by yourself without expensive fishing charters and guides will always remain a special memory. If you share my opinion, I have some good news: Since the rocky shore sometimes drops off drastically, the adventurous ones find amazing spots for spinning from the rocks or wave breakers, with deep water right under your rod tip.
Equipped with spinning gear you can go after Yellowmouth Barracudas, Bluefish, Amberjacks, Leerfish and many more species, directly from the rocks.
Especially bluefish grow massive around the Azores. If you look at IGFA’s list of records you will see that many huge bluefish there were caught here.
If you’re more into the chilled type of fishing, bottom fishing can bring interesting catches from Sargo and other Sea Bream, to weird things like Octopuses, Moray Eels etc.
Harbours and sandy bottoms around the Azores are roamed by gigantic stingrays, which can grow to world record sizes of over 200 kg (The current world record for the common stingray was also set in the harbour of Faial Island). My brother, his friend and me even went after these garagedoor-sized flying carpets in an insane attempt, using heavy 80 lbs Stand-up tackle, with 160 lbs Line and 60+lbs drag settings… And I can tell you these things give a good pull. If you hook one dencent sized ray on regular tackle, you got yourself into a heavy fight…but even on heavy Big Game gear the fight can take hours!
Offshore fishing & Big Game
The Azores are well known for classic big game fishing for Blue Marlin & Tuna. I’m not so much into big game fishing myself. My techniques of choice are light tackle fishing, such as jigging, popping and spinning, which I focused on most of the time. I went out with my own gear with local guys most of the time. And I managed to catch a wide range of fish, from Amber- and Almaco Jacks, to Groupers, Yellowmouth Barracudas, Bluefish, Rockfish, Scorpion Fish and many more. Especially jigging and fishing with inchiku jigs and livebait was an effective technique.
In 2015 I went fishing for a few days with Brasilia Fishing Charters and one day we just had to give it a try for Marlin, as well. According to Captain Luis Sougne the average Blue Marlin around the Azores weights about 500 lbs and it is always possible to hook a fish in excess of 1000 lbs, as several granders over the last decades show. To handle fish this size, the boats are mostly equipped with 130 lbs gear, with additional lighter tackle. During our trip, I had rigged up my jigging setup with a small sailfish lure in the shotgun position in the hope for some Wahoo or White Marlin, when suddenly a Blue Marlin went for my lure. Luckily, he missed it and got hooked on of the larger marlin lures running nearby. It would have been an interesting fight on jigging tackle, but it being my first Blue Marlin I was kinda glad, I could use the power of a 130 lb setup (despite being way overkill for this fish). After a rather short fight, I landed my first blue marlin of 350 lb. So for Azorean standarts, a rather small fish. But it was my first marlin so far and I am still amazed by the beauty and elegance of these majestic fish. Sadly, the amount of Billfish landed around the Azores has somewhat declined in recent years. At least, that is what I heard the last time I was there in 2018.
Tackle & Tips
For Shore Spinning and lighter all-around bottom fishing you only need to pack a long spinning rod (+- 100g CW). I personally really like shore jigging rods for fishing from the rocks, and shore for all kinds of lures, but this is a personal choice. 30lb braid and 30-40lb nylon or fluorocarbon leaders are sufficient for general shore spinning/jigging applications and I also used the same tackle for Inchiku fishing from the boat. Lurewise, long jerkbaits (e.g. Savagegear Jerk Minnow 210mm*), poppers (e.g. Halco Roosta 135*), some shore jigs (e.g. Hart M Broken*, Hart Delta Force*) and a couple of Seatrout spoons are all it takes for a successful spinning session. Softbaits did sometimes produce good results, but the abundant Triggerfish destroy them a lot, so I would rather stick to hard lures or at least not use expensive soft lures.
Sometimes spinning can be a bit difficult around the Azores. In these cases it can be very effective to rig up dead or lifebait on a float on a simple hook. Use a thin wire (Such as single wire), as Bluefish will cut through any leader in no time, but also tend to be leader shy. When the schools are near shore, Atlantic Chub Mackerels can be caught with small sabiki rigs. They make excellent live or dead baits for all kinds of species.
The best times for fishing were always right before nightfall until deep into the night. Even though it seems hard to believe, Bluefish and other predators will find your lures-even in the dark! So don’t just limit your fishing time to daytime. This also has the advantage that you can explore the islands during the day and still have some fun time fishing afterwards.
For bottom fishing you may bring a second rod, if you have the space, but it doesn't need to be fancy. For Sargo and other Seabream it also doesn't need to be heavy tackle either. However, if you plan to use some larger baits, better step up the game and use 30lb class tackle, 40lb+ line and 60lb+ leader. This gives you at least some chance against medium sized rays and helps a lot if a Moray Eels or Octopussed grab your bait and need to be pulled out of their rocky home. Also the rocks take their toll on the line through abrasion. If you seriously consider to target Stingrays, better be prepared with 80-130lb class stand up tackle (What's used for goliath grouper whould be ideal) and remember to hit the gym a few times before.
Generally for bottom fishing Some simple leads, and some hooks size 1-4 (Seabream) and 3/0-5/0 single or circle hook (Moray/Bluefish/smaller Rays), Tuna/Halibut circles with 200+lbs leader (large Stingrays), some thin wire and floats are enough to catch some fish. Don't forget to bring some glow sticks if you want to try with a float at night. Bait wise, Tuna fillets, little mackerels, or sardines and squid are very affordable and work for all kinds of bottom fish.
Jigging for Amberjack, Grouper etc requires Jigging gear about PE6 cobined with 60-80lb line & leader. You never know what you'll hook and I've seen the occasional big boy Amberjack or Grouper during my dives. I used Expert Graphite Alexander PE3-5* and Jig Pro II PE 4-8* with my self-tuned Fin Nor Lethal* reel and Accurate Boss 600XN* with 65lb line and 60-80lb fluorocarbon leader, which never let me down on the Azores so far. Lure wise, Long Jigs, such as Duel Tamentai* and Hart Long Blade* between 150 and 300g worked well for me. To target Guelly Jack, Barracuda, Bluefish, Rockfish etc lighter jigging gear (E.G. PE3 with 30-40lb leader) can be used and also slow jigging and fishing with soft lures and inchiku jigs works well for these species.
If you run out of tackle, the Azores usually have pretty well-equipped tackle shops, where you can also replace lost or damaged gear.
*unpaid referral
What else is there to do? - 5 ideas
If you need to give your arms some rest from fighting all these fish, or if you plan to bring someone who is less crazy about fishing, there is no need to worry. The Azores offer plenty of opportunities to fill your holidays with amazing activities. Besides classic activities, such as chilling by the beach, or a dinner at a local restaurant (highly recommended!), there is a lot you can do to. I present some activities, that I have tried myself during my times on the Azores.
1. Diving with Sharks and Mobula rays
If you enjoy watching marine life underwater, the Azores offer unique opportunities for divers. As one of very few places, the Azores are frequented by Mobula Rays (which are basically smaller Manta Rays) in large numbers. Especially places like Princess Alice Bank near Faial and Baixa do Ambròsia near Santa Maria are considered aggregation sites (which is something very rare worldwide) and offer the chance to encounter these elusive Rays almosts with certainty and sometimes even in large numbers.
As I have worked with the project Manta Catalog Azores on Santa Maria myself, I spent quite some time with these mystical creatures and it’s definitely an adventure to see them in real life in their natural environment.
If you are keen on underwater photography you can even support the project by taking pictures of the characteristical ventral pattern of the Rays, which helps the marine scientists to identify the animals in the least invasive way in an attempt to understand their migration patterns for future projects to safe these endangered animals
Besides Mobula and Manta rays (Yes, you can even see both!) the waters around the Azores are also inhabited by various Shark species, such as Blue Sharks and Mako Sharks. Some companies also offer Shark dives, where you can see these animals in their natural environment (without a cage!)
However, the diving spots for Mobula Rays and Sharks are far out in the ocean and can become pretty rough, so make sure you feel comfortable with this before booking one of these dives.
2. Whale and dolphin watching
Why not enjoy some time on the water without a rod in your hand ? Whale and Dolphin watching are offered all around the Azores, as the Azores are home to 24 different cetacean species. Which is also why the Azores are considered one of the best spots for Whale and Dolphin watching around the world.
3. Hiking on a volcano
If you find yourself on the Island Pico or the neighbouring island Faial, you may also consider a hike on the volcano Ponta do Pico. You can hike all the way up to the 2351m top of the volcano (which is also the highest mountain of Portugal). Remember to bring some good hiking shoes!
4. Rent a scooter and cruise around the island
A cheap and fun way to make the most of the fantastic scenery is to rent a scooter and discover the islands while cruising around. As many roads on the Azores are very steep and narrow, a scooter allows you to drive around effortlessly, without the hustle of finding a suitable parking spot. I’ve been driving around Faial and Santa Maria by scooter and would do it again every time. You can find some weird places. Like who’d have known the little island Santa Maria has a red dessert in the middle?
5. Explore a cave
Due to the volcanic origin of the islands, the Azores have many caves. For some, such as Gruta das Torres on Pico Island, you can book guided tours.
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