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A Madeiran Break - 09/06/17

We had always planned a weeks holiday together which would be a "Sandy" holiday, not a pure fishing one.



We travelled up to London a day early to catch an opera singer at the Royal Albert Hall before jetting off to Medeira staying at the Regency Club Hotel which had an 'L' shaped quay at the rear



I smuggled a travel rod in the cases and on the second day, when we had returned from a long walk around the island, I was allowed a couple of hours fishing.  I opted for the sheltered area of the quay where I could see mullet, parrotfish, damsel fish; in fact quite and array of species, but the lifeguard wouldn't let me fish where people were swimming which left a small area adjacent to some rocks facing the ocean and the waves which wasn't ideal.  I managed several Ornate (or Turkish) Wrasse, a Blue Finned Damsel Fish and a Sharp Nosed Puffer Fish.







I have really taken to Puffer Fish, they have a real attitude and are quirky blowing themselves up with water to look big. When I am too old to fish, I think I may keep some in an aquarium as they are just great.







 The next day we went on a tour around the island on a jeep and arrived back at about 4pm so had another hour or so to fish before going out for dinner. This time there were less swimmers so fished the end away from the rocks where the bottom was flatter. I managed the same species plus 5 Scorpion Fish and a Blacktail Comber.









These were taken mostly on squid, but I threw a few pieces of bread on the surface and watched them drift out to sea before they were taken aggressively. I rigged up a bubble float and was rewarded with a pompano.  







I found these fish difficult to catch as the bread broke up so easily, so switched to a prawn and saw some larger fish moving under the surface and caught a Gray Triggerfish, a species I had never caught before just as I was about to pack up.







Mt final session was the same time on the next evening. Having worked out a technique for the Triggerfish I rapidly took 3 in quick succession and missed a couple more before I ran out to prawns. I switched to squid, but as the light changed, as did the tide, the activity dropped of and I caught only one more.



After that we went to Porto Santo for a couple of days before returning home. I didn't catch any big fish but the regular readers wil know by now that I enjoy catching fish of any size, enjoying seeing different species and working out how to catch them. This was a great bonus for a more conventional family holiday with a happy wife who sunbathed and swam during my short fishing sojourns.