Fish Report to 20th Feb

A big body of cooler green water moved into Guatemala and it has been hard work though through it all there has still been some reasonable fishing with plenty of marlin in the mix. Mahi's have been thick and the sails have been finiky though they are still around and as this is written the warmer blue water is moving in and things look as though are on the change.


John Buckley with his first billfish.

On the 14th and 15th we had Dr Rihl Buckley and his son John along with friends and another father and son team Ken and Andrew Ruddy all from Houston Texas. There was a pretty good marlin bite the day before to the east so we concentrated our efforts there. It was hard work with the best water being a clean green and under 81'. Plenty of big mahi-mahi kept the action going through the day with 11 being landed to over 30lb's. We also raised 4 sails getting 3 to bite and releasing 2. One blue charged the short teaser though faded before the bait could be pitched and came back on the rigger bait pushing water though didn't eat. A few blues were caught today and plenty were seen.

Andrew Ruddy and Dr Rihi Buckley with a couple of nice bull mahi's.

The following day proved better for the guys fishing on the 31' Jupiter, they released a nice blue of around 300lb's, 2 sailfish and a couple of mahi's to boot.

15th and 16th we welcomed back on ALLURE Jon Theaukauf, he has been fishing with us here for the past 5 years in Guatemala and this time with friends from Switzerland Christian Machalf and sons Dominic and Yanic. Jon was on form hooking all the fish for his friends and even hooking a triple and passing the rods on which was pretty work. We ended day one with 14 sails raised and releasing 8 from 9 bites, the last fish of the day breaking the line. Plenty of mahi's today as well with 10 to around the 27lb mark. Nice work by Dominic and and Yanic who are 12 and 9 respectively and fished extremely well. 12NM to the east of us today there was reasonable marlin bite going on with Bill O'Keefe and grandsons Matthew and Jay on Fishy Business releasing a small stripey and a nice 350lb black marlin though missed out on the slam by a sail. Unlucky though congrats in a helluva day.
The next day started off with a blue marlin hot on the short teaser that we got to bite though unfortunately missed. We had an early day back at the dock though Jon kept up good form on the sails going 3 from 3 bites and plenty of big mahi's.

17th and 18th, all the way from Utah we welcomed back Andy and Mitch Johnson, Dean and Mary Hope Mortenson and Chris. A long run off-shore looking for good water paid off as it was tough fishing for the majority of the fleet. We got everyone into some fish with 5 from 7 bites on the sails and 4 big mahi-mahi. The next day a long way to the west things were slow, though some whale watching with 4 humpbacks broke up the day. Fishing wise we did OK with mahi's to 25lb's and 2 from 4 bites on the sailfish. Hard work though we had a great time with this very enthusiastic group. Looking forward to seeing you guys back!

20th and 21st Craig and Kathy Johnson were joined by Mike and Julie O'Brien. With the best water being just off-shore, about a 4 mile wide stretch of blue water just a fewmiles off the beach we worked it hard for a couple of bites. The next day on the 31'Jupiter we went off-shore getting into Mikes first sailfish and nice 30lb+ mahi-mahi.
Mike and Alex with Mikes first sailfish...
As mentioned, things are on the up out there with still plenty of marlin bites and the sailfish are moving back in with the warmer, bluer water. More reports next week.....

Fish Report to Feb 8th

During the 'No Sancocho' no marlin were released though several were raised during the tournament none did bite. This changed the day after with marlin releases in amongst a very good sailfish bite in a nice blue band of water from just 5NM to 15NM off the beach.
On ALLURE we started back out on the water on Feb 3rd with the Jim Williams organized group consisting of Jim himself, and Don Smith from Wisconsin along with their good friend Ron Hauck from NJ. We were on the long wand for the next 3 days which is always an adrenaline blast teasing in fish to the back of the boat to cast the fly and watch the action just feet from the transom. Jim and crew are Guatemalan regulars and this was their 3rd year with us here on ALLURE.
On day one we got into a good bite just 10NM off the breakwall and raised 31 fish into the spread, of the 31 raised 14 did bite the fly though some of the bites were not very aggressive, still it was a great way to start the trip with 6 releases. The following day it took a little while to get onto the fish though the ones we did see were excellent for the fly, we raised 14 had 7 bites and returned with excellent averages and 5 releases.
On our last day out a stiff NE'ster kicked in and made conditions tough on the fly, we looked off-shore without much luck before heading into a bite we found to the west of the fleet just 11NM from the Marina Pez Vela. In this area we raised 30 sailfish though teasing them in was difficult, and getting them to bite was tough as well. We did get 5 releases for the day from 15 bites. A great time was had as it always is with these guys. The boats out there fishing baits over these past few days did well with averages of 25 and up to 30 a piece. Sometimes that can be the difference though just seeing the bite on the fly makes up for that!!


7th and 8th we were back on the baits with now a real regular down here in Guatemala Chief Tauzin back down after the competing in the 'No Sancocho' and Whitt Broussard who also can't get enough of what we have on offer here with his second trip to Guatemala this season.
The previous 4 days had blown quite hard from the NNE and stirred things up with the cooler water being lifted to the surface as the winds never let up. On our first day out the winds had died down though there had been big changes in the water quality and temperature. The best water on offer was just 6-10NM off the beach so we worked it hard all day and ended with 7 raises, 5 bites and 4 releases. It was tough going for the whole fleet with much of the same and the boats that did venture out experiencing cooler, greener water.
On the 8th we invited Cam Sigler Jnr aboard for the day and ran far to the west looking for better water and ended up 50NM from home, the move was worth it though with the first hook-up of the day being a feisty blue marlin of about 120lbs. The fish was hot and all over the flat line teaser, Chief pitched the ballyhoo on the 30lb gear and got a tremendous going away bite. He's learnt alot here in the last few trips to Guatemala and it showed as he controlled the spool well and the bite resulted in a solid hook-up. The fish was a tough one and it took some time to get the release as the last series of jumps got him tail wrapped. We got him boatside quick enough to revive him though and he swam away strong which was a relief to see.



Chief and Mate Alex reviving the small blue before release.
The rest of the day saw great action with mostly multiples coming into the spread, we raised 12 sails and released 7 from 10 bites before changing to the fly for the last hour of the day. Cammy Sigler gave Chief some quick instructions and a practice cast couldn't even be attempted before we had a double of sails on the teasers. Chief's first cast of a fly rod ended up with a great hook set and release, thanks for the expert help Cam!. We raised another 3 sails and got 2 more bites, pulling the hooks one one while attempting the double on the fly.

The one man show.....Chief Tuazin with a nice sail on the fly.

NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT 31st Jan-1st Feb

January 31st-February 1st Casa Vieja hosted what is fast becoming Guatemala's premier tournament, the 'NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT', organized by Tournament Director Hill Dishman and Craig Johnson. This year we had a record 11 teams in the event and there was some big money on the line as the Calcutta pot reached $21,300 after bidding on the opening night. Daily money pots totalled $17,600 including $3000 for top daily team, $1400 to second placed team and other pots like the 'whale pot' $400 to the first team to spot a whale (won at 0715 on the first day). Biggest dorado, the consolation pot which went to the winner of the bottom placed 5 teams on the last day and various other payouts. The best rule of the tournament is $20 paid for every sancocho (bites missed) by anglers which is then donated to a local school here in Puerto San Jose. Despite this being the 'No Sancocho' there were in fact 262 'Sancochos' resulting in $5240 raised for this great cause. That's 262 misses from the 434 sailfish released on baits/conventional tackle and 34 on the fly in the 3 day tournament.
With the breakdown being 10pts for every sail released on bait, 25pts on fly (optional at midday on day 2) 50pts for a marlin on 50lb, 75pts for marlin on 20lb and 100pts for a marlin on fly it can really throw the tournament wide open to the teams sober enough to actually fish well.
To the fishing, and overall it was good with bodies of fish scattered from far and wide to right in close 6-9NM off the beach as well. The fleet was spread out and on day one Team Four Fat Boys were hot with Lance Stanfill, Mike Fox, Cliff Price and John Gallio fishing aboard Fishy Business doing little wrong taking out the daily with 21 releases. 3 teams tied for 2nd, Circle Hookers, Reel Nasty and Team Penguino all with 16 releases.

Hill Dishman presents a target at the end of the day.

On day 2 the fleet was spread between where Four Fat Boys had there luck inshore and 27NM to the east which proved the better bite. The deciding factor today was mixing it up on the fly for the extra points which is what Team Decisive cosisting of Steve Cothron, Scott Lund and Harvey Steinhagen III did most effectively with 16 releases on the bait and 5 on fly. This gave them 285 pts and the overall lead with 375 pts, closely followed by Reel Nasty's Brad Kline, Jamie Dishman, Chris Bean and Mark Feritta fishing aboard Intensity with 20 releases and 360pts overall. Four Fat Boys on Fishy Business had 14 releases for the day giving them 3rd spot overall with 350pts and Hill Dishmans Circle Hookers team of Brad Cargieser, Houston Jouhnson and Drew Donaldson were still in the hunt on Allure with 18 releases for the day and 4th spot overall with 340pts. 2nd day money was split between Reel Nasty and Yo No Cuido aboard Finest Kind with 20 releases a piece.

Team Tenacious keep their eyes peeled for the next billfish to come into the spread...and another sancocho?

Day 3 and Team Decisive really had it to themselves, with the fishing spotty to hard for most of the fleet Decisive was by far the hot boat with 375pts closely followed by Club No Minors Todd Johnson, Fred Herring, Brad Miller and Scott McShane on board Release who ended the day with 325pts. They were in the running for the consolation pot being near the bottom of the leader board to storm into second overall with the calcutta and second day money from their 9 releases on the fly (from 10 bites!!!) and 10 on the bait. As was mentioned Team Decisive had the hot hand with 25 releases on the bait and 5 on fly to take it with 750pts overall and taking home over $22,000 in winnings from the calcutta and dailies. Reel Nasty finished in 3rd and Circle Hookers followed with 4th spot.
The big emphasis in this tournament is to have a great time, enjoy good company and great fishing. This was definitely the case with probably too good a time adding to the ever growing total of sancochos, the school thanks you guys for that extra shot of tequila, one more rum and one more backlash........
There is big interest in next years tournament and with more teams involved the prize money is going to get bigger. The facilities at Casa Vieja are second to none here in Guatemala, all the boats are first class and the billfishing is the best in the world. If anyone has interest in getting a team together for next years event please contact us here at Rods and Reels Sportfishing and we'll organize the rest.

No Sancocho Winners, Team Decisive, L-R Scott Lund, Harvey Steinhagen, Cpt Brad Phillips and Steve Cothron

Fishing Report Guatemala

First Week Back!

First I want to say it's good to be back on the water. This has been myfirst 7 days of fishing since moving over to Casa Vieja Lodge. Boy was I outof shape not having fished in 6 months.Jim Turner owner of Casa Vieja broke me in on the first day running the"Finest Kind" a 40 Whiticar. Kind of a thrill growing up just a ways downthe road from Whiticars Boat Works. Also knowing Jack Whiticar the King ofStuart, and his lovely wife Alice who many of you know as the Lady who ranthe Stuart Sailfish Tournament.Back to day one we were fly fishing and I had my problems finding neutral acouple of times. But we did good for all my nervousness raising 26 getting 8bites and releasing 4. You know how it is first day new boat and fishing thenew boss - tough day.16-18 Jan: we had a group of Jake Jordans' friends from No. C. The first andlast day I had 4 ladys all single, we had a great time raising 62 andreleasing 36. The middle day we had a husband and wife team we saw 28 thatday caught 2 out of 3 on fly and 10 for 15 on the one bait we had out.My last 3 days the 24-26th. Bill Fintel brought down 3 of his friends thatare professional bird watchers, they saw all kinds of birds and told me whatkind they were I might add I didn't know much about birds. We also had somegreat fishing raising 50 Sails 2 Blacks and 1 Blue. We released 30 sails 2blacks but missed the slam when the Blue bit thru the leader, the first dayand never had a shot at the blue the last day although there were about 6blues caught that day. I did wind up with a stiff neck as when they yelled Ihad to look in all directions as well as up...Capt. Ron HamlinCasa Vieja LodgePto. San Jose, Guatemala.

You can visit www.rodsandreelssportfishing.com<http://www.rodsandreelssportfishing.com/> to learn more about fishing inGuatemala or to make a reservation.

Fish Report January 27th

MARLIN START BITING!!


Rick Leeth, Mike Bromles, Benjamin and Ricardo Soler with two blue marlin flags flying.

It was predicted that the marlin would start biting with the amount raised in the past few weeks and it seems they have started. On our last day out we released 2 blues on ALLURE with another 3 blues released amongst the fleet. Ronnie Hamlin on FINEST KIND got a black early in the day and missed the slam with a blue at the end of the day 'chewing' through the leader on the 30lb gear. Yesterday we had the day in though the marlin bite continued with visiting private boat 'Mojo' releasing 2 out of 4 bites all around a log loaded with bait. There were a few more flags flying on the dock as well.
Here is how our week was on ALLURE with the Rick Leeth group joining together from Florida, Louisiana and Seattle consisting of Rick Leeth, Mike Bromles and father and son Ricardo and Benjamin Soler.
On the 23rd it was a matter of looking for the fish as the bite inshore had died off, we trolled the deep water to the east and offshore for a slowish start to the day, we did raise a marlin that hit our short teaser and dissapeared just as quickly and released one sail and boated a 20lb mahi before lunch. In the afternoon we got into some nice looking water and into the sailfish as well, with the last 2 hours of the day being steady action and producing 12 bites, at the end of the day we had released 10 from 15 bites.
The following day we saw more fish though we had a tough time hooking them! We rasied 26 sails today, got 21 of them to bite and released 9 of those, not the best averages though that's the way it is sometimes. There were plenty of big mahi-mahi around today and we boated 4 nice ones up to 30lb.
On the group's last day out the wind picked up from the north east making conditions a little sloppy. We ran to the bottom eastern corner of the pocket and within seconds of putting the baits out a mahi-mahi ate the right long, we missed it and immediatley had a big fish bite the left long, Mike Bromles came tight and he was into a nice 220lb blue marlin that went ballistic on the first run tearing up the ocean down sea. Mike did a helluva job on the 30lb outfit and in testing conditions we released the fish after a hard 25min fight. What a way to start the day!! Hearing of some more marlin action in the area from a few other boats we concentrated our efforts here despite the majority of the fleet being in a pretty good sailfish bite 12NM off-shore of us. It paid off later in the morning with another blue all over the short teaser that switched to the pitched mackeral perfectly and birthday boy Benjamin Soler was into a solid 250lb blue!! Later in the day we eventually got into the sailfish bite and had steady action in the afternoon releasing 11 sails from 18 bites and 5 big mahi-mahi adding to the 2 blue marlin. What a great way to finish off a great trip here in Guatemala! The guy's are already planning their trip back here next year and we are looking forward to it.
The boats that were into the sailfish bite early offshore of us had a great day with up to 33 releases, though the boats that put the effort in on the inside eastern corner of the pocket were rewarded with marlin. Great fishing all round!
This week we have the infamous "NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT" coming to town, there are a record 12 teams in the event this year so be sure to check out the reports next week.

GREAT FISHING CONTINUES THROUGH JAN 19TH

January continues to be a great month here in Guatemala with boats releasing 15-35 sails a day fairly consistently from the last report through to the 19th. There have been marlin and plenty of big mahi-mahi in the mix too making for action filled days here off the Guatemalan coast.

On ALLURE we had a couple of days in before getting back out into the action on January the 16th with Stallion Oilfield Services client Greg Mitschke along with SOFS COO Hill Dishman and from Sales Chief Tauzin. With reports of 2 bodies of fish offshore, one at just 12NM and the other at 30NM we opted to head straight out to around 25NM before putting them out. It turned out to be the right decision as the bite through out the day out-wide was very steady, the fish were biting a little funky though we released 3 out of a possible 4 triple headers to add to the 25 releases from 46 bites. Just after midday we had a very aggressive 200lb+ blue marlin all over the short teaser which resulted in a great bite on the pitched mackeral and Greg Mitschke got the release on this tough fish strapped into the 50lb stand-up gear. It was Greg's first day off-shore billfishing and what an introduction, landing a couple of big mahi's a bunch of sailfish and the blue marlin!


The following day the group headed out on the 31ft Jupiter with Capt Hill Dishman at the helm, a bit of a stiff ENE wind made conditions a little sloppy and he opted on staying in close for the first half of the day getting 9 releases before 1030. Conditions let up as the day got on so it was decided to push off-shore with the fleet. Another great day on the water returning at the end of the day with better averages and 16 releases from 21 bites as well as a couple more big mahi-mahi. Greg had the pitch-baiting techniques down by the end of his trip here which is what Guatemala is all about, getting enough shots at fish to be able to learn a bunch in a short time!

Greg Mitschke with a BIG sailfish aboard the Jupiter.

The 18th we had the Bowman family aboard ALLURE with Bill and Brenda Bowman fishing with brother Richard. Staying in Antigua the previous night we had a late start leaving the dock at around 1000, with the blue water pushing right in we put them out early hoping for a marlin in the deep water along the western edge of the pocket. It was slow going though and it wasn't till we got out near the fleet about 22NM off the breakwall that we started getting into the action. Releasing our first sail just before midday it was a very steady afternoon bite getting 19 releases from 27 bites and one big bull mahi-mahi. Great fishing by the trio esp Brenda who really handed it to them!
We were back out the following day on the 19th for a full day on the water, the bite really slowed down so we trolled down to the west looking for the main body of fish, it turned up empty though and we headed back to where the fleet was 'picking' at them. We ended with 9 releases from 17 bites and a big marlin on the short bridge teaser that had the adrenaline levels pumped, though the big fish refused the pitched mackeral bait. It seemed to be happening a bit over the last couple of days with plenty of marlin raised amongst the fleet on the teasers though few fish switching to the bait, or fading back before a bait could even be pitched! Still there are definitely a few around and we are waiting for them to turn on. The water is beautiful blue and there is a bunch of bait out there so we are expecting the fishing to remain good. More reports next week.....

ALLURE in the action on typical Guatemalan seas.....flat calm. Thanks for the shot Chris Starrs

INCREDIBLE FISHING TO 10TH JAN

We just finished an incredible week of fishing here in Guatemala with anglers on ALLURE releasing 198 billfish in the past 6 days, taking the total for 2009 to 250 releases in the first 10 days of the year!
All the boats out there got into the bite with the guys on fly releasing up to 29 in a single day early on in the bite before the fish started to get finiky on the teasers later on in the week.
It all started on Monday 5th with Team Wyoming coming into town consisting of Thomas Stephenson, John Kennedy and Dan Scott along with his grandson Jeremy Scott. These guys are marlin fisherman from way back with Tom, John and Dan competing in the past 16 Bisbee Black and Blue Tournaments. Things are a little different when it comes to sailfishing however, especially the way we fish here with teasers, pitch baits and trolled baits all rigged with circle hooks. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but these guys picked up the technique of 'dropping back' in no time. Hooking all their own fish they returned some great numbers with 30 releases from 48 bites the first day out and a couple of nice dorado. Knowing where the bite was the following day we were straight into it and the guys did a great job with doubles, triples, quads and general mayhem adding to the 51 sailfish releases from 74 bites. On the 7th they had a lay day staying in Antigua for the day checking out the sites and resting up. They were back on the 8th for their last day aboard ALLURE and back into the bite, we started off a little rusty as things learnt in the first couple of days seemed to be forgotten though the averages swung around later in the day with 41 releases from 67 bites. What a great 3 days of fishing with 122 releases!! Nice going Team Wyoming, the crew on ALLURE had a blast fishing with you guys and we hope to see you again soon.

TEAM WYOMING, L-R, DAN SCOTT, JEREMY SCOTT, (Mate JULIO), TOM STEPHENSON, JOHN KENNEDY, Capt KIWI and Mate ALEX.

HBO's TEAM 'BIG LOVE' COMES TO GUATEMALA
On the 7th we hosted the team from HBO's hit show 'BIG LOVE' on ALLURE consisting of the shows writers Mark Olsen and Will Sheffer with the production team of Peter Friedlander, Bernie Caulfeild and David Knoller. The crew were in Guatemala celebrating the completion of filming the 3rd season of HBO's biggest show on TV. In the country for a week they finished up their trip with a day of offshore fishing with us aboard ALLURE. Because of the busy schedule and staying in Antigua we left the dock a little later than normal at 9AM though it wasn't long before we were into the fish. They all got into multiple sailfish releases and were amazed at the non-stop action here.

Equipo 'Amor Grande'From L-R: David, Peter, Bernie, Mark and Will with ALLURE mates and a big Guatemalan sailfish before release.

Before lunch and getting into the thick of the bite while making the turn on a hooked sailfish we got the bite out of a 200lb black marlin on the rigger bait on the 30lb tackle. A sailfish, marlin double!! Mark Olsen was hooked up to the sailfish and Peter Friedlander was into the black, we released the sailfish and then concentrated on the black marlin which put up a great series of jumps and fought hard on the light tackle. Peter did an excellent job on the rod, as these fish can be tough customers when they go down, and got the release in about 20 mins. Congratulations on a great fish Peter!

Mate Julio gets ready to take a wrap on Peter Friedlanders est 200lb black marlin.

We left the sailfish bite early in the afternoon a ran to the drop off at the bottom of the pocket and along the western edge looking for a blue marlin to complete the slam, unfortunately without any luck. Worth a try though and we ended the day with 21 sailfish releases and a black marlin. Nice going 'EQUIPO AMOR GRANDE'! We hope to see you all back here in Guatemala soon.

Jan 9th and 10th we hosted Jamie Dishman and Steve Fischer from Houston for the last couple of days of the week. The fishing started off hot in the morning as the ENE wind kicked up and stayed on till midday when things got a bit slower. This was Steve's introduction to off-shore fishing and I think he is now spoilt for life with some amazing action witnessed. You can learn alot in a short time when the bites are coming thick and fast and Steve picked up the technique of how to use circle hooks quickly. Jamie is a Guatemalan veteran and the guys retruned the great numbers of 48 releases from 70 bites on their first day out!

A typically big sail takes to the air. Thanks for the shot Steve!

On their last day out we changed to the fly and had a hard time teasing the fish to the back of the boat as the bite slowed and moved offshore and to the west. Still we raised 29 sails into the spread and one marlin which we pitched the mackeral to and unfortunately missed. Of the 29 sails we raised for the day 11 did bite the fly and we released 6 of those.

Steve Fischer with another big Guatemalan sailfish




On the way home we encountered this small whale shark as well as seeing a couple of whales breaching. The amount of life out there this past week has been amazing, we also witnessed an est 500lb marlin chasing down a big 30lb bull mah-mahi to exhaustion before engulfing it....what a sight!
We have some openings in February, a couple of days in March and through into April. To come and get into the action get in touch with the team at Rods and Reels Sportfishing Adventures for a personalised package.

Fishing Report – Guatemala (Jan/2009)

Marlin fishing remained strong throughout December and the waters are filled with sailfish and dorado.

Capt. Mike Genoun and his wife Leah visited Guatemala for their first time. Mike is founder and editor of Florida Sportfishing magazine. Fishing aboard Hooked Up, with Capt. Nestor, they started fast with a 350lb blue marlin and 17 sailfish on their first day out! Their second day continued hot with more sailfish and they added 15 dorado between 20 and 35 lbs. Their final day they raised 2 more blues, Mike hooked one and released a nice 250 lb marlin and added more sails and dorado.

Bill O`Keefe and family arrived on December 26th to fish aboard his boat Fishy Business, with Capt. Tito, and in 3 days raised over 100 sails, releasing 60. They also raised several blue marlin and caught boat loads of dorado.

The bite continued to be good as the New Year rolled in. Captain Haron Valdez aboard the Captain Hook, raised 25 sails in the first three days of the year and went 1 for 3 on blue marlin. The group also caught quite a few yellow fin tuna and dorado, making for some great meals!

The fishing in Guatemala is truly second to none. Since the early 90’s our Captains have averaged 15 to 20 sailfish bites per day. This is about 3 times the averages seen Costa Rica for comparison. Every now and then we have a day that is just hard to believe and yesterday was a prime example, with several boats raising over 80 sails and catching over 50. This is the kind of action that makes Guatemala legendary for billfishing.

And if the fishing action is not enough to keep you entertained, how about some whale watching! Just offshore we have been watching numerous humpback and grey whales passing through on their way north. We have spotted several recent births and our clients have been photographing and filming the whales. We are looking forward to some great footage and will be placing photos and video on the website soon.

We are in the prime of our season right now and the weather and fishing action should be outstanding for the next few months period.

Posted By Pacific Fins, Guatemala Jan/2009

You can visit www.rodsandreelssportfishing.com to learn more about fishing in Guatemala or to make a reservation.

Fishing Report – Guatemala (Jan/2009)

Marlin fishing remained strong throughout December and the waters are filled with sailfish and dorado.

Capt. Mike Genoun and his wife Leah visited Guatemala for their first time. Mike is founder and editor of Florida Sportfishing magazine. Fishing aboard Hooked Up, with Capt. Nestor, they started fast with a 350lb blue marlin and 17 sailfish on their first day out! Their second day continued hot with more sailfish and they added 15 dorado between 20 and 35 lbs. Their final day they raised 2 more blues, Mike hooked one and released a nice 250 lb marlin and added more sails and dorado.

Bill O`Keefe and family arrived on December 26th to fish aboard his boat Fishy Business, with Capt. Tito, and in 3 days raised over 100 sails, releasing 60. They also raised several blue marlin and caught boat loads of dorado.

The bite continued to be good as the New Year rolled in. Captain Haron Valdez aboard the Captain Hook, raised 25 sails in the first three days of the year and went 1 for 3 on blue marlin. The group also caught quite a few yellow fin tuna and dorado, making for some great meals!

The fishing in Guatemala is truly second to none. Since the early 90’s our Captains have averaged 15 to 20 sailfish bites per day. This is about 3 times the averages seen Costa Rica for comparison. Every now and then we have a day that is just hard to believe and yesterday was a prime example, with several boats raising over 80 sails and catching over 50. This is the kind of action that makes Guatemala legendary for billfishing.

And if the fishing action is not enough to keep you entertained, how about some whale watching! Just offshore we have been watching numerous humpback and grey whales passing through on their way north. We have spotted several recent births and our clients have been photographing and filming the whales. We are looking forward to some great footage and will be placing photos and video on the website soon.

We are in the prime of our season right now and the weather and fishing action should be outstanding for the next few months, so call us today at 888-700-3467 to book your fishing adventure.

Posted By Kiwi to Pacific Fins, Guatemala Jan/2009

You can visit www.rodsandreelssportfishing.com to learn more about fishing in Guatemala or to make a reservation.