JANUARY 7th through 23rd

Fishing has continued to be all in all very good here off the Pacific coast of Guatemala, we've had our slow days though that has lead to the fleet looking and ultimately finding new bodies of fish moving in. Things slowed down a little in the middle of the month though a run out to the west where some better water moved in uncovered large areas of birds, signaling sailfish balling up very small baits/minnows. Plenty of sailfish though very tough to get them to break off what they were feeding on and when they did, you had to have a bait back quickly and have a good touch at the 'drop back' to get a good hook-up. The fish turned on as the bait dried up though and the last week produced an excellent bite.....
Jan 7th-8th we fished from Houston, Texas, Mace Meeks along with his son 13 yr old Mason Meeks, his friend 12 yr old Michael Case and 3 generations of the Strake family, George Snr, George Jnr and George III. Our first morning out was a little 'sporty' with 4-5ft seas after a cold front blew through the Gulf, it didn't affect the fishing though. First fish of the day was an aggressive blue marlin of about 180-190lbs for Mace Meeks, a red hot teaser fish that crushed the pitch bait and proved tough especially in the conditions. Soon after releasing that fish we had another red-hot blue marlin on the other bridge teaser, we pitched the mackerel on the 50lb rod though pulled it in and pitched the ballyhoo on the 30lb after getting a good look at the fish. In the 120-130lb class it was great sport for George III on the 30lb tackle. 2 blue marlin releases before we'd even seen a sailfish....

Mace's blue of about 180lb.
We did get into some sailfish action as the day wore on though releasing 8 from 10 bites. The boys, Mason and Michael got into the action releasing sailfish and boating some big mahi-mahi.

Mace Meeks, George Strake, Mason and Michael.
Near the end of the day we live-baited small 'bullet' bonitos around a log getting into some XOS mahi's to near 40lbs, we also raised another big blue marlin that we didn't get a bite out of.

Father and son "Trey" and "G" Strake.
George Snr got into the action as well with both sailfish and big mahi mahi, a great first day on the water with 2 blues, 8 sailfish and 15 big mahi's!
8th proved better weather wise though a slower start to the day, we did find the same log we finished on the day before and spent the morning catching more big mahis to 35lb for the guys to take back to Houston. We did release one sail from 4 billfish bites before pulling lines in and heading back to the dock early.
Jan 14th-16th we welcomed for the first time to Guatemala the Musselman group of brother and sister John and Marian Mussleman, Scott King, Grady Moran and George Harvick II. First day proved a little slow till we found some activity out wide and got into some good fishing in the afternoon, they all could not put a foot wrong when we got into them as well releasing 7 sailfish from 7 bites and 2 from 3 mahis, big they were as well in the 30lb class.

Grady with a big bull.
15th we tried in the middle of the pocket, nice water though little activity. A few birds here and there and a couple of mahi's though not much else going on. We pushed out further and finally got into some sailfish, though all in all it was one of those days in Guatemala that happen occasionally, 2 from 3 bites.
16th we went looking out to the west and found reasonable water, as the day wore on we got into the sails balling up baits, we saw a bunch of fish today on the surface, cutting bait and tailing, below the picking shearwater birds you could spot sailfish balling up tiny baits. Great to see after yesterday all the life, it was hard to get the fish to come into the spread though we had good anglers on board and they made the most of their opportunities releasing 11 from 12 bites and boating a few good sized mahi's.

Marian, Grady, John, George and Scott with the last sail of the trip. They all had a great time here in Guatemala, enjoyed great fishing aboard ALLURE and were well taken care of at SAILFISH OASIS. They topped off the trip with a night at the wonderful Casa Santa Domingo in Antigua and we hope to see them back soon here in Guatemala.
Jan 17th-18th we welcomed back Bill Gouldin, this time with good friends and Guatemalan first timers Paul Engles, brothers Alan and Dale Campbell and Paul Reelmon. A little bit of a late start so they fished a little closer in where we finished the day before. A great start to the trip with 10 sails from 15 bites, also 2 blue marlin raised one of about 300lb they got a bite out of, though the fish got bill-wrapped, the other didn't bite, 6 small mahi's added to the days haul for lunch and dinner. The next day we pushed out a little wider and back into the fish balling baits, it was great action right through the day with 42 sailfish in the spread, 35 bites though some finiky fish saw the averages slip a little with 18 releases. 82 yr old Paul Engles has fished from the Virgin Islands to Panama to Hawaii and beyond and he said without a doubt it was the best fishing he had ever experienced! That says it all...
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565964517311745042" />
Paul Reelmon, Paul Engles, Alan and Dale Campbell with Bill Gouldin and ALLURE mates.
We had a few days in here and the fishing stayed pretty good and got better with boats releasing up to 50 sails before the arrival of our next group....
Jan 21st-23rd we welcomed back friends with a couple of Guatemalan first timers, the old school of Brad Klein, Chris Bean, Mark Fertitta, Cheif Tauzin, John Lindley, Todd Mucha and ALLURE co-owner Hill Dishman were joined by Casey McDermand and Robin ....... for their first billfish experience in Guate. The group fished aboard Adios, Allure and Circle Hook in teams of 3 rotating boats everyday. The day before had seen some pretty incredible action so our first day out started with great expectations. It wasn't as hot n heavy as the previous day though we all experienced great fishing with 40+ bites per boat. Circle Hook took the day out with some great action releasing 32 from 47 bites. From here on in the bite dropped off a little though all the boats had great fishing with 144 sailfish released by the 3 boats over 3 days of fishing .

L-R. Mark Fertitta, Brad Klein, Hill Dishman, Todd Mucha, Robin ......,Casey Mc Dermand, John Lindley, Chief Tauzin and Chris Bean toast to an awesome trip.
Incredible numbers with a fair amount of "sancochos" thrown in!! There were plenty of big dorado in the mix as well and the group enjoyed cocktails, great food and great times at Sailfish Oasis.
ALL GOOD IN GUATEMALA!!!
See you down here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM GUATEMALA........

Donelle and Hill Dishman with Alicia and Capt Kevin Deerman watch the sun go down on another great day in Guatemala......
Everyone who came down had a great Holiday season here in Guatemala with good fishing, food and festivities all around. We hosted a HUGE New Year party at the SAILFISH OASIS which featured world famous (in Antigua) blues band the Blue Dawgs who kept things going by playing right through to the wee hours of the 1st day of 2011. Everyone had a great time. On ALLURE we fished every day from the 27th through to the 3rd, we started with the Relyea group from Houston, Texas:
Dec 27th & 28th Tim Relyea brought down daughters and keen fishermen all 'round Brooke and Morgan. A small cold front had passed through making conditions a little sloppy and the water temperature had also stayed low as from the last time we had fished before Christmas. We started to the east though with SST's a chilly (for Guatemala) 80.6' it was a little tough, Team Relyea made the most of their opportunities though, of the 4 sailfish raised they released 3 from 3 bites and caught several good mahi mahi. At the end of the day Tim did a great job on the 50lb stand-up gear releasing an aggressive blue marlin in the 300lb class that put up a great fight and went ballistic on the surface several times showing why these fish are considered the ultimate in sportfishing.

Brooke Relyea with one of many good sized mahi's for the trip

Morgan with her first Guatemalan sailfish.

Tim with Morgan and Brooke on the way in after releasing 300lb blue marlin.
A little slower today the 28th, we fished the bottom of the pocket where a few marlin were seen in better conditions, we worked hard and both Morgan and Brooke fished well releasing a sailfish each and boating several good mahi mahi. A great trip thoroughly enjoyed by the Relyea's who are looking forward to being back next year...
Dec 29th we ventured to the west with a local charter, the Castanada family joining us for the day aboard ALLURE. With blue and warmer water found to the west, it also showed an improvement in the fishing. The Castanada's fished well releasing 7 sails from 9 bites, 3 big 30lb+ mahi's from the 6 boated and a big blue marlin in the 400lb+ class raised the pulse levels for all on board. The big fish came up on the flat line teaser, we got a good bite on the mackerel pitch bait though unfortunately failed to come tight.....
Dec 30th Chief Tauzin and Amber Crockett flew down from Houston, Texas for a couple days of fishing and to enjoy the New Year festivities at the SAILFISH OASIS. We started back to the west with little success though we did find a good log which gave up 4 big 30lb+ mahi mahi from the 7 boated. We scouted a little too far to the west in the morning encountering green water, though after a move a little off-shore and to the east, we finally got into some blue water and billfish action releasing our first sailfish of the day at 1245. From there on in we had great action raising 14 sails, Chief and Amber fished well releasing 8 from 12 bites and this tough 250lb blue marlin all in the last 2 1/2 hours of the day....
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558709979941661234" />
Hill and Donelle Dishman joined Chief and Amber today the last day of 2010 aboard ALLURE. Again, it was a little slow in the morning though we found the fish about 9NM east of the previous day and had some great action in the afternoon once again. 25 sailfish raised today with 14 releases from 22 bites, the majority of the sails being in the 100lb class. A great way to send off 2010 with ALLURE co-owner Hill Dishman releasing the last billfish of the year....

Hill, Donelle, Amber and Chief pose with the last fish of 2010.
Jan 1st-3rd....What does a sportfishing captain do when he has time off?....He goes fishing.....Capt Kevin Deerman and wife Alicia joined Hill and Donelle for the first 3 days of 2011. It was a late start after the big party for the New Year, everyone was more than a little foggy though they did get on the water about mid-morning. The sailfish seemed a little hung-over as well with the bite slowing down from the previous days, still plenty of big mahi's around to keep the action steady and 4 sails from 8 bites in the short day.
Jan 2nd we started the day with a nice blue marlin in the 400lb range crashing the left bridge teaser, the fish teased in though did not bite the pitched mackerel well, it switched to the right teaser and then peeled off, a smaller blue marlin in the 200lb range came in and acted all finiky under the mackerel before committing to the bite, the circle hook did not find the corner of the jaw unfortunately this time. From here on in Kevin and Hill did not miss a fish going 5 for 5 on the sailfish and at the end of the day Hill had his first shot at a blue marlin for 2011, a great bite on the pitched mackerel ended with the first blue for ALLURE for the year, a feisty fish of around 200+lb's...

On the 3rd a small cold front pushed through making for a slight chop and the water quality had changed drastically over-night as well. The water was patchy at best with clean green to poor, dirty green in some areas. We started the day well though, a nice 400lb blue marlin came up on the left bridge teaser, the mackerel bait was pitched and after teasing the fish in we got a good bite. After coming tight the fish went for it tearing up the ocean with a series of incredible greyhounding jumps. Alicia was strapped into the 50lb stand-up gear and did a great job on this big fish....

The fish really did put on a show and Alicia showed some great skills releasing the big fish after a tough scrap. The rest of the day proved a little slow, though a move to the west found better water quality, catching several big mahis...

Alicia with one of the bigger mahi's
And we did get into some sailfish action with 7 bites although a little bit bad luck on the hook-up ratio had us scratching our heads until it was discovered someone had brought banana bread aboard...... All in all good fishing despite the tougher conditions with the patchy water out there. Things look to be coming together again out there right now with some better water coming in from the west and we are expecting the fishing to pick-up.
There are still a few openings on the ALLURE calendar although we are getting a few more inquiries coming through now that the Holiday season is over, secure a trip now to experience the finest bill-fishing in the world before it is too late. Remember the fishing is great here year round with the marlin bite normally heating up from April through October. We're looking forward to a great year here in Guatemala 2011 and hope you can join us to experience it!!
P.S....click on photos to see full shots.