Cabo Frio, Brazil has recently received a great deal of attention for having huge Atlantic blue marlin and seas almost as large. Unfortunately there has been no infrastructure for a charter fishery there due to the small number of boats in the area and the fact that they are all privately owned and not routinely available for charter. After being invited for the international tournament there last year Captain Joe Franck and his wife Greet decided they would like to initiate a charter business centered in Cabo Frio. They arranged to lease a boat and put together the infrastructure themselves well enough to launch their inaugural season late last November. Living in the Azores and already having a Portugese business made it somewhat easier for them but it was still a Herculean feat!

Ian McTurk and I decided to be among their first season customers. It made it easy since we had been friends with Joe and Greet for some time. We flew into Rio de Janeiro and were picked up by a local cab driver prearranged by Greet. Jil drove us the one and one-half hours over to Cabo Frio. We were staying at a somewhat spartan but adequate hotel on the beach and quickly stowed our things and took a nap after the long flight. At 6 p.m. we got a call from Greet and she took us over to the yacht club where Joe had just arrived after the day's charter. They had seen four blue marlin but had lost both fish that attacked the lures.

The next morning Greet picked us up at 6 a.m. and took us to the boat. We fished a 45-foot Mares named "Sunset." Powered by twin 550 hp diesel engines. She was comfortable enough and handled the rough seas we encountered there very well. Joe had upgraded the chair and made some other modifications to the boat but she was still a work in progress. Our mates were two Brazilians Compas and Nildou and they were very talented, attentive, and hard-working. Neither spoke much English but we were able to communicate fairly well by combining my Spanish, Ian's French, and the little Portugese we had picked up in Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde, and Principe/Sao Tome. We headed due south and ran for three hours at 21 knotts before reaching the location on the ledge that had interested Joe. He had caught a number of fish there and had seen 2 blues there just the day before. It was warm but overcast and raining lightly most of the day. They almost never have rain there this time of the year but it rained on and off most of the time we were in Cabo Frio. The many cactuses on the hillsides bespoke the fact that rain usually is rather sparse there. After just 30 minutes I was hooked up to my first blue, a 450 pounder that we tagged and released after about 15 minutes. She was short and fat and a strong fighter, features shared by all of the blue marlin we encountered in Cabo Frio during our stay. Later in the day Ian and I each caught a nice sized Dorado in the 25 to 30 pound range. We stopped fishing about 4 p.m. since it was a three hour run home.
 

45' Mares "Sunset"	Mates Nildou and Compas	Captain Joe Franck
Ian on a fish	Dorado by the boat	Small male Dorado

The next morning was overcast but at least it was not raining. The sun broke through periodically though throughout the day. We again ran nearly three hours before putting in our lines. Fortyfive minutes later Ian had a strike from a fish about 350 pounds but he dropped the lure before Ian had time to fully set up in the chair. An hour later I caught another 35 pound Dorado Then early in the afternoon Ian caught an 80-pound Atlantic sailfish. Later that afternoon I caught two more Dorado, a 30-pound female and a 40-pound bull. Captain Joe had seen a large blue marlin tailing down sea but the estimated 600-pounder never made even a pass at our lures.

Day three was a sunny warm day with no rain and little wind. We went further to the east to start fishing and then trolled southward down the ledge. We got our first strike just 25 minutes after the first lure hit the water. She ate the purple and black Pacific Trolling Gear ProSoft lure that was on the left rigger. This was a strong 850-pound female that gave me quite a fight for 45 minutes before we released her. The fight was mostly from a dead boat as we lost the port engine fairly early while backing down. Twenty minutes later I was hooked up to a 650-pounder that had eaten one of Brooks Morris' new green and black doorknobs. We had a premature release after a 30-minute battle when she pulled the hook just as the mate grabbed the leader. Then as I attempted to recover by opening a cold cerveja a 500-pound female inhaled our right flat bait (a Joe Yee smokin' Joe) and I was hooked up for the third time. She was another short fat tough fighting female that took 45 minutes to subdue. I was ready to relax as we released her as all three fish were taken in essence from a dead boat. We had not had time to fix the port engine between bites. We took time to accomplish that now. After we got the engine working naturally there was no more action. Oh well at least I finally got to enjoy my beer.
 

Cabo Frio Yacht Club	Terry on a fish	500 pound blue at the boat
Ian fighting a sailfish	Ian's Sailfish	Cabo Frio Beach

The next morning it was overcast and drizzling again. We ran a bit further to the east in light of our success the previous day. We saw nothing until about 12:30 p.m. when a nice fish estimated at 450 pounds ate the right flat and she was released after a short 4 minute fight. Then at 4:00 the purple and black Joe Yee 505 on the left flat disappeared into the mouth of a 600-pound female. With both engines working we were able to dispatch her after a 15 minute tussle.

Day five was sunny and hot again. We started further to the east. Ian got a strike just after the lines were place but she dropped the bait before he could get into the chair.The remainder of the day was dead quiet. There were three other boats fishing that day and they had gone one for seven, zero for two, and one for two on blue marlin. They were all fishing further south from us where we had caught our fish the first day.
 
 

Joe at work	Joe's marlin lures	850 pound blue at the boat
Terry putting on some heat	650 pound female	Cabo Frio

The next morning we went 50 miles to the east. It was once again sunny and hot with almost no wind. The water was the flattest we had seen since our arrival. Cabo Frio is actually known for its windy and rough conditions. A 350-pound blue knocked down all four lures just after we arrived but didn't catch steel. Another larger blue then grabbed the right long bait but pulled the hook just as I got into the chair. This was a nice fish which Joe estimated at 750 pounds. Just 5 minutes later there wa sa 500-pounder that came up on the left long rigger bait and followed it for some time. We couldn't tease it into eating and failed when we attempted to force feed her. Then she dropped out of sight. We had no more action the rest of the day but Captain Franck saw a free jumper and a surface feeder that afternoon. Both fish were estimated at 500 to 600 pounds. None of the other four boats fishing even saw a fish except Andesea whose owner boated a 693-pounder. He owns a sugar cane plantation and used the meat to feed his workers.

Our last day of fishing was intermittently overcast but warm. We ran more to the south and started fishing after completing the three-hour run to the edge. We had a quiet day and saw no marlin and caught only a few medium sized Dorado despite staying quite late and even fishing on the way back in shallower water. Joe had found even large fish inside the ledge in this area on occasion. We had no such luck this day however. Finally we gave up and ran back to the yacht club.
 
 

Iponema Beach in Rio	Copa Cabana Beach in Rio

Our first trip to Cabo Frio was very enjoyable and quite successful. The hotel was adequate, the food was very good most of the time, the weather was acceptable, and the fishing was good and at times great. In seven fishing days we had seen thirteen blue marlin, hooked nine, and caught six. And the vast majority of the fish were large females between 500 and 850 pounds. That is very good fishing for any location in the world. I believe Joe and Greet are really onto something. I know Ian and I will be back!
 
 

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