Madeira -Offshore/Reef Fishing

Apologies if this is in the incorrect section -mods feel free to move.

I'm going to madeira this xmas on my honeymoon this christmas (happy days) and I definitely want to go out on a boat fishing during the trip.

I know madeira is a big game hub, but id rather not spend the one day I have "off" steaming around in the hope of a bite from a marlin/tuna.you could drop hundreds of euro and finish with boating nothing.

What id like to know is can one go boat fishing like we do here -I.e. drifting over reefs/ wrecks, jigging lures etc. That would appeal to me far more than trolling a lure all the live long day and getting nothing.


If anyone has tips for shore fishing in madeira also it would be great- tackle/ lures/ baits etc.

Cheers all

Not sure about the boat fishing but I'd imagine the shore fishing is similar to the Canary islands.
Size 8-10 hooks fished 3-4 metres below a small pike float using pieces of fresh shrimp or small crabs from the rock pools works well in the Canaries. An array of small to medium reef fish and the odd Moray should be on offer.
Ya can try fishing a small fish (hooked through one nostril and out the other) as a live bait if you want to try for a Barracuda; wire traces are a must for the Barras and Morays.

Best of luck and congrats.

As far as I know the waters around Madiera are extremely deep , no wreck or reef fishing available but the big game fishing is fantastic with lots if species like wahoo , king mackeral and tuna and its one of the best Marlin hotspots in the world .

I am pretty sure that this is the wrong time of year for Marlin or Tuna is Madeira. You might get a wahoo. Being honest with you I doubt that boat fishing there will be any good at this time of the year. The charters are very expensive. The water around the island is very deep and so I do not know if you could do either jigging or bottom fishing. The charters are set up for trolling.

Enjoy your honeymoon

Might be worth a read in here http://www.madeira-marlin.com/fishing-in-madeira.html

Might be worth a read in here http://www.madeira-marlin.com/fishing-in-madeira.html

cancel weddin

That crowd do reef/bottom fishing for jacks, snapper etc!

Happy days!!

Hi all, I have a half day's reef/bottom fishing for snapper, jacks, triggerfish etc booked for Sunday.
Will report back on how I get on . . .

Look forward to pics of big fish

Will be a day later as my flight out of cork was cancelled last night . . . . Sickened

Charter cancelled due to mech problem with the boat . . . Sickened

Hope the rest of the honeymoon going well.

Being honest with you I think that you would have been wasting your time and money going out at this time of year.

I did these trips quite a few times and mostly it was a waste of time. I was in Gran Canaria 2 years ago and knew from the start that I was a holiday maker. We could have had good fishing but the skipper and his mate were late starting. To make matters worse I had 3 good fish heading for finishing time and they decided to go home.....I was not a fisherman but a victim

I have had similar experiences in 3 other countries.

By the way it is the same here. I fished out of a port in N Wexford where the boat went a little way offshore. All we could possibly catch there was dogfish. I argued in vain with the skipper to move to the banks a few miles offshore. I also had a similar experience in Wicklow. As someone who has fished both of these areas in my own boat I knew what I was talking about. Both of these areas can be productive and if we were brought out to where there was a chance of good fish I would have been happy. I am not sure why skippers behave like this....maybe to save diesel.

Like any other business if you make an effort to produce the good your clients will return.

Now I put the work in to make sure that I get value for money.

Enjoy your hols