SPRING BREAK, MARCH '09

Pat and Dan with Clay and Julio

March 16th-17th Dan Wheat took along son Pat and his friend Clay Raven, both 17yr old seniors to start off their last High School Spring Break with 2 days of fishing on ALLURE here in Guatemala. They timed their trip well with great weather, blue water and plenty of billfish action keeping adrenaline levels high for the majority. Neither of the boys had caught billfish before though at the end of day one they were angling like pros with 15 sailfish releases from 25 bites and a nice 30lb mahi mahi.

Dan got in on the action as well and was a true natural at pitching baits to the fish off the teasers and came tight on them all. Things slowed a little for us on day 2, we found the fish further up the ledge and had good action in the morning though it slowed down in the afternoon, still a good day missing few fish with 9 releases from 11 bites and another nice mahi in the 25lb range. The highlight of the trip came in the last 10 minutes when we raised a nice blue on the short teaser, an aggressive bite on the pitched mackeral saw Pat Wheat hooked to a solid 320lb+ blue marlin.


The fish went ballistic and put on a spectacular show before going deep, great work on the rod by Pat had the fish up in 20 mins and released. Great job and congratualtions on first sails and marlin to Pat and Clay. Dan's only regret with the trip was that he booked only 2 days instead of 3......

JOHNSON GROUP SPRING BREAK '09

L-R Kathy Johnson, Denver Harrison, Bailey Crenshaw, Mimi Edge, Lauren Marple, Hastings Cockard (with marlin flag) Heather, Hayley, Madeleine and Audrey Johnson.

17th-19th. El Jefe, Craig Johnson flew into Guatemala with wife Kathy and daughters Heather, Hayley, Audrey and Madeleine. Heather invited a few of her college friends to spend their Spring Break in Guatemala for 3 days of off-shore fishing and every night beer drinking down at the Sailfish Lodge and Casa Vieja. Apart from the partying the group had a great time here catching plenty of....

Mahi mahi

Sailfish.

And the perfect sized blue marlin for Hastings.

Though, it was kinda hard to concentrate on the fishing.........
I think everyone here on the dock hopes they choose Guatemala for Spring Break 2010!

19th March, Hill Dishman and Terrell Meaux came in a day before their group arrived and took the 31' Jupiter down to the west to check out the fishing, they did well with 7 from 9 releases on the sails and beauty 350lb blue marlin on the 30lb tackle for Hill, at over 10 to 1 on the line class that's a helluva a catch.
The next day John Codrington, Todd Mucha and Jim Nance came into town and joined Hill and Terrell aboard ALLURE for the day, we raised 18 sails, got 15 to bite and released 10. On the 21st the group was complete with Mike and Steve Sledge, Tim Witt and Keith Tennison joining the crew. The group were in Guate to celebrate John's last weekend before getting married with a few days of fishing. The group split between ALLURE and Jupiter and on Saturday 21st we went 14 from 19 bites, great numbers from the guys, we also had a blue marlin up that didn't bite, on the Jupiter they did get a blue marlin bite though missed it. On the last day out Sledge was true to his word and didn't miss a fish all day adding to the good numbers 9 from 11 bites. The Jupiter was hot with a 3rd blue marlin bite in as many days though unfortunatley it didn't stick, they also got into the sails with 7 from 12 and several mahi mahi in the mix over the 3 days of fishing.

Steve, Todd, John, Hill, Terrell, Mike and Jim.
The guys finished off their trip going to Antigua for their last night here in Guatemala and dinner at Nokiate followed by a big night out at the legendary Cafe No Se, trying out the assortments of tequilas and mezcals......ouch.

The fishing has been steady with plenty of marlin in the mix and things are looking good for the coming week. There is still availability in April and May and we'd love to get out there, contact Rods and Reels for a customized package, great specials to be had May through November.

Fish Report to March 15th

Matthew Jeter and his first billfish.

5th-6th March had Chief Tuazin back in the Guatemala this time with Matthew Jeter both from Houston. After a 12NM run we put out the spread and inside 15min we had a small blue marlin hot on the small Pakula flat line teaser. Acting on instinct Chief pitched the ballyhoo bait back, he was politely told to remove it as it was a marlin, not a sail, while the mackerel on the 50lb gear was pitched. All a little late though the marlin crushed the ballyhoo with a great bite and all was good as we watched him come tight, it was the perfect size for the 30lb gear at around 150lb’s. We lost use of an engine while on the fish so it took a little longer to get the release though Chief did well on the rod and had the fish boatside after around 35mins. After that it was back to the marina where the guys transferred to the Jupiter for the rest of the day. They raised 3 sails in the afternoon and caught a mahi. The next day on the Jupiter raised 7, and released 3 from 5 bites and boated a couple of mahi mahi.. Mike Jeeter had a great first time down here in Guatemala plans to get back here soon.

D. Scott Wise and son Harry from New York on an early Spring Break hooked up with Steve ‘Doc’ Sanford from Vermont and Townsend Hilliard from Houston for 3 days of fishing on ALLURE from the 9th through 11th for their first trip to Guatemala. For the first day we looked for blue water and found it about 30NM to the west and gave the guys a great introduction to Guatemala raising 11 sails in the first hour and half of fishing! We ended the day with 25 sailfish in the spread and 13 releases from 23 bites.

Harry Wise fighting one of his many saifish...


.....and the results.

Here today gone tomorrow seems to be the theme for most of the season so far and it was today, we trolled back to where we’d had the best action the day before to find the best bite was 15NM back to the east. 7 releases today from 15 bites. With marlin on the mind we concentrated our efforts on the last day on the western edge and bottom of the pocket, it was kind of tough for the whole fleet today with little action though we did get into a couple of nice mahi mahi and released 3 from 5 bites on the sails. The guys finished off their trip in style staying at the El Convento in Antigua for the last two nights and enjoyed a full day visiting the Azotea Coffee Farm and a walking tour of the town.

From Alabama we had Dr’s Lee Franklin, Tom Canthon and Chris Duggar along with Hospital Boss Don Henderson from the 13th through 15th of March. Lee and Tom are Guatemalan veterans though it was Don and Chris’ first offshore experience here. Also our first time east in sometime today and we got called into some action off-shore of where we started late in the morning to find a reasonable sailfish bite. 15 raised and 8 releases from 11 bites had the guys back in the swing of things. With the satellite report showing a nice temperature break way out the west we decided to go that way for day 2. The reports from most of the fleet indicated a slow bite so we trolled our way down the west along the edge. Early in the day a small marlin in the 150lb range came into the spread, it refused the pitched mackerel though dropped back and ate the trolled ballyhoo, we came tight on the fish though unfortunately pulled the hook. Around lunch time further down the edge we raised a nice blue in the 300-350lb range on the short teaser. The fish stayed in the spread for sometime and we got a couple of nice bites on the mackerel though missed it…….ouch. In extra time at the end of the day the 3rd blue marlin for the day was red hot on the same teaser, a great bite resulted in a solid hook-up and Don Henderson’s first blue marlin of around 220lb’s put on a great show before getting the release and heading home.

Don's marlin....

We also released 4 sails from the 5 sails that did bite for the day. The guys started their last day out with 9 mahi’s to about 12lb’s ensuring fresh mahi sandwiches for lunch and sashimi at the end of the day. To the east a bite was found and we ran into it later in the day, plenty of free jumpers indicated a lot of fish in the area though it was tough getting them into the spread, a triple from a quad was the highlight of the 7 releases from 10 bite for the day. Great fishing Dr’s!! See you back here next year…….

Settled weather, blue water, it's all looking good out there. The marlin bite traditionally gets better from late March on and we have some openings so get in touch to get into it. The bite is picking up, today we went 15 from 25 and there were several blues seen......

Fish Report to March 1st '09

As mentioned in the last report things were on the change with blue water moving in from the west, though still a little cooler and off-color out wide. Because of this we ran out to the west most days looking for an incoming bite. This week we started with Edward Barnhill and his good friend Paul Proffitt on the Feb 24th to Feb 26th and after a long run to the west we found some good water, still a little slow with 3 releases from 5 bites and 4 mahi's. The boats fishing out front today had a pretty good marlin bite with 5 raised amongst 4 boats and a couple caught. Still with what we saw to the west we persisted and went back though a little more in-shore. First fish in the spread today was blue of around 200-250lb's, we got the bite on the mackeral though the fish got bill wrapped and pulled off on the first jump.....that hurt. For the rest of the day we raised 8 sails had 7 bites and released 4. Out front here the marlin bite continued with 3 being released, 2 to the Circle Hook and Capt Eddie, nice going as he got the 2 yesterday as well!! He was in the zone for sure, congrats to Eddie and his anglers.
Still things were looking better and better to the west so we stayed out that way and on our last day with Edward and Paul things turned on a little more. In beautifull blue 84'+ water we raised 17 sails today getting 8 from 14 bites. There were some finiky fish out there though most of the boats raised a fair amount of fish and things were looking better every day with lots of bait at around 50ft-75ft on the sounder and a few jumpers around.

Feb 27th to March 1st, owner Hill Dishman hosted good friends Robert Blevins, Bill Fisher and Haig Wright from Alabama.

L-R, Haig Wright, Hill Dishman, Robert Blevins and Bill Fisher, these guys know how to party AND fish and had a blast for the 3 days aboard ALLURE.
Back 30NM to the west we had a slow start to the day with our first fish being released at 1130 with a double of sails, the next fish in the spread was an est 120+lb blue that went from teaser to teaser though refused the pitched mackeral. For the day we released 7 from 11 bites on the sails and had another blue in the 250lb-300lb class bite the trolled rigger bait though unfortunatley pulled off after showing it's size with a greyhounding jump. Add 4 nice sized mahi's to the days total and a great day!
The next day we left the fleet and went solo 40NM down to the west though not more than 20NM off the beach. We had steady action all day covering a large area as we trolled back to the east. 30 sailfish raised today, 26 bites and great averages with 19 releases.
Our last day out with the Alabama boys and after trolling the deep water in the pocket looking for a marlin we headed back to where some sails were being seen just 20NM from the Marina to where the fleet was fishing, we got into them a little late though still had a great day with 17 raised 14 bites and 10 releases.

The good life....Robert, Hill and Haig enjoying Cuba Libres on the way home.

By all accounts it looks as though March could turn on big time as the weather settles and the blue water pushes back in. We are booked fairly solid fishing most days this month though there are a few openings in April and into May, both great months and traditionally more marlin are seen as well. Get in touch with us here at Rods and Reels Sportfishing for more info on personalised packages...

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