By Karl Anderson
This article first appeared in Marlin Magazine.
Situated off the west African coast, the Canary Islands are a chain of seven islands with Lanzarote and Fuerteventura the eastern most, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and La Gomera in the center with La Palma and Hierro the western most islands. These islands have long been tied to world shipping. most famously by Christopher Columbus, after loading supplies and water the fabled explorer used La Gomera for his jumping off point on his first and subsequent voyages of discovery to the New World. The Canaries have been Spanish influenced and remain a territory of Spain to this day.
The islands are some 800 nautical miles north of Cape Verde and 250 nautical miles south of Madeira, certainly in the migratory path for not only numbers of big Blue and White Marlin but a spring migration of Giant Bluefin Tuna that has become a very prolific recreational fishery for the islands, especially at La Gomera. Like all island chains, each island has its own feel and specialty. For the Canaries, the crown jewel for sportfishing is La Gomera.
The quaint and historic little town of San Sebastian de La Gomera is set along the sea with houses and small commercial buildings rising up into the mountainside bowl surrounding her. San Sebastian has a typical town square around which are many cafe’s with excellent food and little shops with practically everything you might or might not need. The church were Columbus prayed prior to his voyages is still there and it is rumored that the well providing the water for the voyages is there and locals claim that America was consecrated with this La Gomera water.
This spring we shipped the 63’ Merritt “Saranita” to Gran Canary and made the transit to La Gomera in mid April and set up camp to try out some of the giant bluefin fishing they have in March and April before heading north to Madeira for the summer. We enlisted old friend Capt. Bark Garnsey and his mate of several years Jeff Thomas to come along for another shot at the eastern Atlantic for a couple months as we had been talking about for several years. We had shipped the Brier Patch and their Chunda to the eastern Atlantic to fish Madeira in 2006 and had a great season. With things potentially looking good for the summer of 2016, we went to work to get a boat there.
We had our shots at the giant bluefin fishery of La Gomera and enjoyed the time there immensely. We fished 130’s and fun fished ourselves a couple days before owners Charles & Leslie Duncan would arrive to try their hand at heavy tackle fishing. The Duncan’s are very accomplished fly and light tackle anglers so fishing the chair was a neat experience. After Charles first tuna, the weather changed, fished moved off and transitioned into blue marlin fishing but it was early for that so we fished for two days with no bites in cool water, bummed they missed heart of the excellent tuna bite earlier in the month and were pushed off by cool wind and water for the start of the blue marlin season.
Marina de La Gomera features nice floating docks as well as a fuel dock, but there is little space for visiting boats as many Europeans use the Canaries and their winter and summer playground keeping the marina full. Anything larger than 65 feet is a stretch and relegated to laying side too in one of two spaces as the regular slips are for boats up to 45 feet. On a southerly wind there is bait surge but when the winter fronts come from the north and the summer trades blow the marina is well protected.
Leaving the marina, the run to the fishing grounds is very short with outriggers frequently laid out upon clearing the harbor and a far run of 10 miles is long way. Like most volcanic islands, the drop off is very near the island at times within a quarter mile and it is a good roll off that makes for a great edge to fish.
The edge wraps around the island on both the southeast and southwest corners so depending on the wind direction, there is a good deal of ground to cover without getting into the rougher water of the Wind Acceleration Zones. In these zones, the wind hits the island and wraps around it accelerating as it does due to the height of the mountains and the size off the islands. Fishing this past April saw acres of suspended bait from the edge into ninety feet. Birds patrolled the grounds and porpoise balled the bait frequently offering an amazing sealife scene often exploding open with whales and tuna.
With the prevalent trade winds of summer coming from the northeast, creating the Wind Acceleration Zones on either side that can get incredibly nasty. The good news is, the best fishing is on the southern end of the island in the lee of the wind, making for mostly calm fishing and close to the marina. Fishing in the shadow of the islands mountains and valleys is a picturesque backdrop for this great fishing often with the big volcanic peak Teide on Tenerife in sight off in the distance to the east.The bait fish such as trumpeteiro, boarfish and mackerel that attract the gamefish gets stacked up on the south end in summer making a fertile feeding ground for visiting pelagics.
Captain Jason Pipe is an Englishman that runs charters from his 37’ Bertram, “Team Bocinegro” out of the marina. He specializes in heavy tackle fishing for the Giant Bluefin in March, April and early May then transitions into the summer blue marlin season mid-May through September and into October. Fully equipped with the best electronics and tackle, Jason has fished many seasons in Gomera and as he puts it, “I’ve fished all the other islands in the eastern Atlantic, I choose to fish out of Gomera”.
The many reasons why he likes it here are obvious, the island is beautiful and clean, the local people are friendly, there are nice places to stay, guests can access good food at many restaurants and it is very close to some incredible fishing action, no canyon runs here. He averages a fish or better per day in the giant bluefin season and has similar and better results during the marlin season, the difference compared to other blue marlin grounds in the western Atlantic being the marlin of La Gomera average 350 to 800 pounds with many fish larger still and the occasional fish near or over the 1000 pound mark each season.
Like most big blue marlin fishing, lures are the optimum method in summer with some boats bait and switch fishing. Due to the possibility of catching that fish of a lifetime, 130 and 80 pound tackle are used by most boats on a daily basis to catch the fish reasonably with less chance of stressing the fish. Jason will use a mackerel bait when switching on lighter tackle if his clients have the skills and are inclined to do so. An enthusiastic skipper with keen eyes, a cerebral approach to everything he does and a top-notch crew with good tackle keeps Jason and his Team Bocinegro very busy throughout the seasons.
The Giant Bluefin season is an interesting fishery. These are not mediums, they are true giants migrating north towards the Mediterranean or perhaps Scotland, Norway or even Canada for their summer feeding grounds ritual. The large schools of mackerel and smaller baitfish attract the giants and create opportunities for sport fisherman to present baits to the fish. We would mark great shoals of bait and also giant tuna regularly, moving from school to school for hookups.
Getting there is a bit of a mission, but with daily flights from Madrid, London and several mainland Europe airports, to the two airports on Tenerife, one in the north and the other on the south end of the island, there are plenty of flights. Once on Tenerife, there are two ferry services the Fred Olsen high speed and Armas ferry that transit the channel in a 45 to 60 minute ride to La Gomera, dropping you at the commercial dock which is next to the marina.
There are several hotels or Jason offers the rental of an apartment with his charters should you like to be more of a local and hang right in the center of town. The Hotel Parador is set on the cliff overlooking the harbor which is quite nice and only a five minute cab ride up the mountain, but if you need something a bit more upscale, the Hotel Jardin Cecina is a luxury resort with large swimming pool surrounded by expansive decks overlooking the ocean, golf course and large rooms. Tecina is a thirty minute cab ride through the scenic mountains to the marina, or if the weather is good, you can arrange with Jason to be picked up by the boat each morning at the wharf below the resort which is a five minute cab ride.
La Gomera is sleepy little place with big blue marlin, white marlin, yellowfin tuna, big eye tuna and bluefin tuna in her midst. She offers a lovely place to hang out with a great climate and the fishing is remarkably close in virtually calm water. La Gomera has allot to offer if you like to catch big fish in a really nice place.
Capt. Karl Anderson 