The villa that we were staying at - Casa Ignacio, Rua Escola Nova, Sesmarias, Albufeira, Algarve - had plenty to entertain the family while I was out so I didn't feel too guilty leaving my wife, daughter and the rest of the family by the poolside. The villa is a nice, large one, spacious enough to hold eight to twelve people, and equipped with a pool, barbecue and all that you need to have a comfortable and relaxing time. Its owners - David and Linda McIlhaga - live next door and are really obliging people. They had gone to the trouble of putting us in a little welcome pack and went out of their way to help us if there was anything that we needed. All in all, I felt, there was no reason why I shouldn't take off for a few hours fishing. So I did!
The boat that I went on - the Jose Batista - was arranged by Wish & Fish and was palatial by comparison to some of the English charter boats that I have been on. The standard of cleanliness alone would put many English boats to shame. My wife, for example, has been disgusted by the condition of some of the 'facilities' on English boats but she would have found nothing to complain about on this vessel! The cost of the three hour trip was forty euros, which included 5 euros for a day licence. (For this you MUST take your passport.)
Daily Tours whipped us down to the marina and we were soon off, passport tucked into pocket just in case any maritime police were around. (When you book the trip, you have to show your passport to the company operator. You won't be able to fish if you don't.)
Both skipper Saul and crew Joao gave us a warm welcome, advice and a safety briefing and then we were off, travelling for only thirty minutes before we were over the reefs that we were going to fish. I had brought along some squid for bait but the skipper's advice was to stick to the prawns that they had brought along. He was quite right too, with plenty of bites resulting in hooked fish or hooks stripped bare within a couple of minutes.
The prawns that they sell in the Algarve are not like those we get over here. They are huge, more like king prawns or even langoustines, which are really a type of small lobster, than anything else! They are cut into firm cylinders of flesh and mounted onto hooks very similar to Kamasan B900C crab hooks, probably about size 2's I should think. These are then mounted on a paternoster rig where the traces, which are about a foot long, are secured to the main line by making a large knot at the end of the trace, passing through two way beads that are sliding on the main line and then attaching the hook. Meanwhile, on the main line, the beads are secured between two stop knots. It sounds odd but these tackles never tangled whereas the running leger that I put down tangled repeatedly. I swapped over very soon after starting fishing.
Both skipper Saul and crew Joao gave us a warm welcome, advice and a safety briefing and then we were off, travelling for only thirty minutes before we were over the reefs that we were going to fish. I had brought along some squid for bait but the skipper's advice was to stick to the prawns that they had brought along. He was quite right too, with plenty of bites resulting in hooked fish or hooks stripped bare within a couple of minutes.
The prawns that they sell in the Algarve are not like those we get over here. They are huge, more like king prawns or even langoustines, which are really a type of small lobster, than anything else! They are cut into firm cylinders of flesh and mounted onto hooks very similar to Kamasan B900C crab hooks, probably about size 2's I should think. These are then mounted on a paternoster rig where the traces, which are about a foot long, are secured to the main line by making a large knot at the end of the trace, passing through two way beads that are sliding on the main line and then attaching the hook. Meanwhile, on the main line, the beads are secured between two stop knots. It sounds odd but these tackles never tangled whereas the running leger that I put down tangled repeatedly. I swapped over very soon after starting fishing.
The scenery is spectacular while we were fascinated by some of the wildlife that we saw, like the swallowtail butterfly, supposedly Britain's largest butterfly but can you remember the last time you saw one?