GREAT JANUARY BITE 22nd & 23rd

Morris Jones, Bill Gouldin, John Hantak, Chris Boeker and Brad Miller

Friday 22nd welcomed back to Guatemala Brad Miller bringing in first timers to Guate, Bill Gouldin, Morris Jones, John Hantak and for his first ever billfishing experience Chris Boeker. Two days of fishing and 3 nights at the Sailfish Oasis were on the cards and the trip got off to a great start when during 'briefing' we released 4 sails in 20 mins. From there on in we had a great morning bite which included a couple of triple headers and doubles before things slowed down to a steady bite late in the morning. A great day out and an incredible introduction to billfishing for Chris and Guatemala for the rest of the crew, by the days end we had raised 53 sailfish had 47 bites and released 36 and a couple of nice mahi-mahi including this one for John Hantak.....

Saturday 23rd and we had a slow start to the day, it took most of the morning to get on to an area that was worth working. After fresh mahi burgers the fishing got better for us and a steady afternoon bite had guys release 18 from 26 bites and another good sized mahi-mahi. 54 releases in 2 days of fishing, looking forward to seeing you guys back here to try to better it!!

The fishing has remained good with an average of 15 releases a day up till yesterday the 25th. We are back out again tomorrow and counting down to the start of the biggest tournament of the year, 2010's NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT which gets underway this Friday 29th.

We still have some availability in March, April and through into May there are some weekend dates to choose from. The season is shaping up to be a good one so get in touch with us to secure your booking.......

Fishing January 12th-18th

Just about the perfect end to Tim's first day out, he was attached to this nice blue putting on a great series of jumps and pulling hard...

Wives and girlfriends take note!! Tim Hood's wife Christine knows how to lay on the perfect surprise birthday present, she woke him on Friday morning, early, to tell him his buddies were waiting at the door to take him to Guatemala for a 3 day fishing adventure onboard ALLURE staying at the Sailfish Oasis. She organized and paid for the whole trip as a 40th birthday present for Tim who was joined by good friends Doug Shotweld, John Speights, James Barborak and Mark Ruggles. What a gift!!
First day out with the crew we went wide looking as the bite from the previous day had disappeared, a good sized mahi-mahi and only a single sail to show till around 1pm, then we got into some good action releasing 6 from 10 bites in the last 2 hours of the day to end with 7 from 11, as we trolled in up to the edge just before pulling lines in we had a nice blue pushing alot of water on a lure in the stinger position, a great bite ended in a solid hook-up to this big fish....

Tim was locked into this very tough fish for about an hour when bad luck struck and the line broke.....the fish won this time. Still it put on a great display for us and fought hard.
Day 2 proved to be pretty good and steady with 13 releases from 17 bites and the last day out ended with some great activity, a couple of singles, a triple from a quad and a double before pulling lines in with 11 from 14 bites.

Jan 15th and 16th had Tim Goudeau joined by his son Steve and friends Mike Gilbert, Howard Kemp and Jimmy Tindal. This was the guys first trip to Guatemala and their first time billfishing. They are spoiled for life now and any other bill fishing trip won't be the same unless it is back here again..... first day out ended with 10 releases from 15 bites the second turned on even more with 3 double headers adding to the 14 releases from 18 bites. Steve Goudeau also got himself this reasonable mahi...


JAN 12th & 13th HANGING ON IN GUATEMALA...

Chief Tauzin, Jim Braniff, Johnny Braniff, Tommy Fatjo and Philip Evans holding on...

Jan 12-13th the Braniff group joined us for a couple of days aboard ALLURE. The severe cold front that swept through the States hit us in the form of a very stiff ENE'er and 6-8ft very step short period waves making life tough for all on board, excluding Alex the mate/chef who can flip burgers without touching the spatula or the pan in these conditions and loves being turned in a beam sea while cooking......The rest if us had a bit of tough time in these unusual for Guatemala seas. First day out proved tough going, not with just the conditions though slow fishing as well. We worked hard to get 3 from 5 bites on the baits. The next day out we went further to the east into rougher seas though we did find a reasonable bite out there, the guys fished well and even got into bait and switching their own fish while hanging on. Good stuff guys, and great fishing with 17 from 25 bites including a quad released in the afternoon.

Also out was ADIOS with the Ed Stein group for 4 days, unlucky with the weather though what can you do except try. Any try they did with several sails released and to top things off a nice strip marlin of around 150lbs for Ed being the last fish of the trip. Congratulations Ed on a beauty stripy.

The fishing has been good and still is out there right now. In the coming week everyone here is getting ready for the main event, 3 rounds of heavyweight fishing with 11 teams shooting it out in the NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT. It is going to be huge so keep a lookout for the results of this IGFA Rolex WS Qualifying Event being held here 29th-31st of January.....

27th Dec through 5th Jan '10

First up Happy New Year, 2010 got off to a good start here at the Sailfish Oasis with local Antigua blues maestro's Tom and Willie coming down to the coast with the full entourage to see the New Year in. A great evening was had by all with the Lodge filled to capacity enjoying good food, good company and of course great music.
Before this we hosted Brett Johnson's big group who came down for his bachelor weekend, or, "BJ's Despedida de Soltero" fiesta. Another great time here at the Lodge and good fishing all round.
Here is the breakdown.....

Jan 4th-5th. Regular to Guatemala Rob Derrick was joined by first timers, his son Robby, brother in-law (out-law) Louis Courtin and his son Caleb along with friend Ron Gagnon. The weather had cut up a little with a ENE'er blowing through to make it a little tough in the morning session's though generally flatten out in the afternoon. Steady action both days saw them release 21 sailfish and boat a nice sized mahi-mahi, caught by Caleb and enjoyed by all. The guys finished of their trip in Antigua staying at the Casa Santa Domingo and promised to be back soon.....looking forward to it!

Ron, Rob, Louis, Robby and Caleb.

Dec 31st-Jan 3rd we were joined by the Dishman group of 11 over the New Year, first day out on the 31st we had a super sized group of 8 anglers on board, the fishing was great out there, we released 20 from 29 bites before heading back to the dock early in preparation for the big night. Adios also fished today releasing 12 sails. After a huge night we left the dock after 10am the next morning and encountered sailfish who seemed to be hung-over as well, just 4 from 6 bites from a short day relaxing day. Feeling better on the 2nd we had good steady action through the day releasing 21 sailfish from 25 bites before pulling lines early to run to Monterrico and pull up in front of 'Johnny's Place' where the crew jumped over-board, swum to the beach to enjoy cocktails and the later on the sunset before being met by our driver and heading back to Sailfish Oasis. Our last day out Hill Dishman joined us solo to have a crack at some sails on the fly. Another late start today saying farewell to the rest of the group we left the dock at 10am...Once out there alot of fish were difficult to tease in all the way with several fish coming in most of the way before peeling off and never seeing them again, or refusing the fly once teased in. Still, Hill made the moat of few opportunities releasing 3 from 4 on the fly and 1 on the conventional tackle.

Hill and Donelle Dishman.

30th Dec. Chief Tauzin introduced his girlfriend Amber Crockett to Guatemala, staying in Antigua and then heading to the coast for a day of fishing with us on ALLURE and later spending New Year eve with us at Sailfish Oasis. A great introduction to this fishery for Amber with good action right through the day, we raised 40 sails and released 23 from 35 bites.

Chief and Amber...

Dec 27th-29th BJ's DESPEDIDA DE SOLTERO, group of 14 hit the Sailfish Oasis for 3 days of fishing and a bit of sightseeing in Antigua. Fishing aboard ALLURE and ADIOS we also chartered Capt Eddie aboard CIRCLE HOOK for a couple of days while some of the group opted to head toward the sights of Antigua on day 2 and enjoy a wonderful lunch at the spectacular Casa Santa Domingo. The rest of the guys enjoyed great fishing with over 60 sails being released over the 3 days and several slammer mahi-mahi boated and enjoyed as dinner at the Sailfish Oasis and hot lunches aboard the boats. A great time was had by all and congratulations to Brett Johnson who is making it formal tomorrow the 9th, good luck and best wishes to you both!!

Craig Johnson showing how it's done with a nice mahi.

The fishing is still good out there so look out for more reports next week. We still have openings on ADIOS and a few on ALLURE so get in touch with us to secure bill-fishing at its finest......

Guatemala Dec 11th-16th '09

Jean Mark "Giallo" as the sun sets on a great day off-shore fishing aboard "ADIOS"

December 16th and we had the UN aboard ADIOS with Jean Mark "Giallo" representing Europe/Guatemala, Javier Burga from Peru and Craig Jull from New Zealand joining us on an off-shore excursion in the hunt for yellow-fin tunas. Things looked promising from the get go when we found a small group of white belly dolphin working bait. Tunas were busting on the bait though not the size we were hoping and we caught a 25lb tuna and about a 30lb mahi-mahi off them. From there we covered area and near the end of the day had good action raising 11 sailfish, releasing 6 from 7 bites, we also missed a stripped marlin, raised a good sized blue that didn't bite and caught 6 yellow-fin tunas off a small group of spinner dolphin. A great day on the water on the go fast ADIOS, a 38' Jupiter with triple 250HP 4 stroke Yamaha's. The perfect boat to get out to the deep water fast and enjoy more fishing time in the day.

December 13th-15th. Welcome back to Guatemala Carl Lehner, this time joined by his lovely wife Sandra for 3 days of fly-fishing aboard ALLURE. The fishing was kind of slow, especially for December which has been traditionally one of the better months of the year. Carl continued on his good form from his last trips down though, missing very few fish on the fly, day one we raised 12 sails got 5 of them to tease in and bite the fly and Carl released 4. With 2 of these fish being on the + side of a 100lb's it was a good start to the trip.

Carl Lehner with the smaller of the 2 big girls for the day.
On the 14th we returned to the same area about 35NM off-shore though it was tough today, we raised 6 sails and teasing them in was hard work, we did manage to get 2 bites and released 1 on the fly. Hard work for the whole fleet today with beautiful water though not much going on anywhere.
15th we ran to the middle of the pocket and covered as much area as we could. It paid off and in the latter part of the day we raised a couple of doubles, some red hot fish that you love to see while on the fly and Carl had another great day with the averages going 2 from 3 out of the 7 sails raised. Sandra got into the action today releasing her first sailfish on the fly as well. Kind of slow, though still better than most destinations in the world with 25 sails raised and 7 released from 10 bites. Carl and Sandra had a great stay here in Guatemala, enjoying the first class facilities and a wonderful last night at Antigua's El Convento and we hope to see them back in the near future. Thanks for the e-mail Carl:

Dear Chris and Liz
Sandra and I had a great time. The new Lodge was great, it was a delightful, private, quiet tropical retreat. The food was wonderful, probably the best I've ever had one of these trips. The fishing was a bit slow but Chris managed to find the fish nonetheless, and I believe we were the top boat at least two out of the three days we fished. Chris has a great crew, they do all the real work. All I had to do was throw out the flies and then hang on for the ride. BTW Sailfish are wonderful, they are the only fish I know it will throw a fly and then go back and take it again while you reel it in.
Thanks again for a great trip,
best regards,
Carl and Sandra

December 11th and 12th welcomed back regular Chief Tauzin with guests Andre Fuetch and for his second visit to Guatemala Josh Fink. Our first day with them could only be described as a day of two halves, before lunch we raised 8 sails and released 0 from 6 bites. You'd hope that things could only get better, and after a great fresh mahi mahi burger for lunch, things did with the guys releasing 6 from 7 bites in the afternoon session to save the day. Nice comeback!!
On the 12th we went out wide and after a slow morning came across one of the biggest groups of spinner dolphin that I have seen out here, there were spinners from horizon to horizon and we soon came to an area where the group tightened and the birds working. From there on in was pretty much non-stop yellow-fin tuna action and with 14 tunas aboard we decided enough, rigging the last 2 as live-baits we tried for a marlin for sometime as to the west of us on another group of spinners Capt "Haole" Chris Sheeder witnessed a blue marlin tossing around a small yellow-fin before engulfing it. No luck for us though and we went back to trying to catch out first sail for the day. We ended up raising 6 sails, releasing 1 from 5 bites and plenty of fresh sashimi aboard.

Andre Fuetch and Josh Fink.

The last day out there on ADIOS was promising with plenty of life seen at the end of the day, most boats headed where we were on Thursday and encountered marlin and had better action on the sails as well. Things are on the turn here and we are looking forward to fishing straight after Christmas and through into the New Year. Happy Holidays to everyone, and get in touch with us if you have any queries at all.
Kiwi

Fishing Report Dec 4th-7th

Flat seas and great fishing has been the theme here in Guatemala the past few days, both Adios and Allure were out there. On Allure we hosted Dave Valtierra's fishing show 'Inshore Fishing with Super Dave', who broke away from the inshore fishing to experience some great offshore action for 3 days.

First up on the 7th we fished with part of a group traveling Central America who stopped in Guatemala for a few days, Scott Emery, Dallas Davidson, Nick Wright and Chris King joined us for one day of fishing. Chris King organizes the big money tournaments Sailfish Cup and World Championship out of the Miami Beach and the Key West every year. It was a late start for the group who flew in late the night before, we left the dock at 0900 and after running 24NM to the SE put lines in at 1000. It wasn't long before the action started with the fish mostly coming up in multiples, only 4 singles out of the 17 releases from 21 bites, the rest in doubles, a triple and a quad. We also boated 3 nice mahi-mahi before pulling lines in early a little after 2pm and heading back to the dock. A great day out for the guys and congratulations to Nick who not only caught his first ever sailfish, though 2nd through 5th as well....

Dec 4th-6th we had a group of 9 staying down at the Sailfish Oasis enjoying the great setting and food along with awesome fishing. Both boats were out, on Adios owner Craig Johnson was joined by friends Don Milner, Steve Goodchild and Chris Collins, on Allure, as previously mentioned we fished with Dave Valtierra and his camera crew and co host Leroy Gonzales and Tony De Hoyos III along with Allure co-owner Hill Dishman.
First day out Adios ran out wide finding green water before heading back in and to the east, they eventually found a great bite about 33NM from the marina and had steady action for the rest of the day releasing 18 from 22 bites from the 26 raises and a nice 30lb mahi. On Allure we found a few fish to the east though 14NM out and although hearing the better action out wide elected to stay with the pick that we were on and it paid off, a few misses has to be expected with the sharp learning curve though the crew got some great footage, both above and below the water with 11 releases from 21 bites and a nice mahi.

With all the great conventional action from the previous day we changed to the fly and returned to the same area, after a quick briefing on how it is done on the fly we raised a red hot double, Dave hooked the first and mate Alex the second, both on the fly.....a great start! From there on in the fish were a little finiky and we tried on the fly though pitched baits back to the ones that wouldn't tease. Still a great day with 24 raised and 4 from 7 on the fly and 7 from 10 on the baits. There were a lot of fish around today on the surface tailing in pairs and groups though very hard to get them into the spread. Adios made the most of the ones that came in releasing 8 from 15 bites.
Things slowed some the last day, a small front pushed through making a chop on the water and the boats spread out looking as the fish seemed to have gone down. Adios went west and off-shore and ended with 4 from 5 bites, on Allure we stuck with the fly and east, though heading off-shore more than the previous days, it was a slow start for us though the afternoon picked up, we raised 12 sails, though getting them to tease and bite the fly was hard work, we did release 1 from 3 on the fly and 3 from 4 on the bait as we pitched back again to the lazy ones. A great trip was had by all and the camera crew were excited by all the footage accumulated over the 3 days, all commented on the outstanding facilities and food at Sailfish Oasis and we are all looking forward to the up-coming season. The fishing picked up again on Monday as previously mentioned and is good out there right now.
We still have openings so get in touch for the trip of a lifetime on either of our boats and a great stay at Sailfish Oasis....

Nov 18th-27th

BIG Rod Cohen with his first sail on the fly.

The fishing here has been red hot this past week. On Thursday Chris Bean and friend Rod Cohen of Texas came down for Thanksgiving dinner and a day of fishing on Friday 27th. We had a great day out and by 11.00am we had released 16 sailfish from 24 bites. With 16 under the belt the guys were keen to mix it up and try the fly, things slowed down somewhat though they both managed to release their first bills on the fly from several cover-ups and double hook-ups on the long wand. We raised 42 sails for the day.

This past week boats were releasing up to 50 sails and there were a few blue marlin around as well. Guatemala fishing as we love it!!

We fished Jim Turner and friend Juan from Argentina prior to the Presidential Challenge the week previous and the fishing was tough at best, lots of green water and few fish, first day out on the 18th we raised 8 sails though most were tough to tease in to the fly, we did manage to get Juan his first sail on the fly though, getting 1 from 2 bites. The next day was even slower raising just 3 sails and releasing 1 from 2 bites again, Juan boated a nice sized dorado also. This was the day prior to the Presidential Challenge and things were looking tough, though things can change here in a day like that, and the Presidential turned on. We were unable to fish the tournament this year though here is the report of another successful tourny here in Guatemala, the fish seem to turn on as soon as Joan Vernon comes to town......

THE PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE OF GUATEMALA
PRESENTED BY
INGUAT



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Team Casa Vieja Tops Event; A-Fin-Ity Holds on to win Costa Del Mar Grand Champion Team With Angler Davis Clapp Winning the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler Honors.


The final leg of the 2009 Presidential Challenge Conservation Series officially wrapped up in Guatemala Nov. 19-22, 2009; the last tournament of the season proved to be one of the most exciting in PCCA history.

After an exceptional kickoff party sponsored by La Reunion and INGUAT, the country's national tourism agency, the Presidential Challenge of Guatemala Presented by INGUAT kicked off to typically warm and seasonal Guatemalan conditions. The fleet spread out in search of productive fishing grounds well beyond VHF radio range, so it wasn't until the boats returned to the dock were the Day One results determined. The tournament staff was pleasantly surprised with the results, which included 44 sailfish and two blue marlin.

Team Decisive took off at 8:52 a.m. when Craig Johnson released a sailfish aboard Capt. Brad Phillips' Decisive; a short while later, Dell Dembosky pulled a blue marlin out of the hat and the team never looked back. Team captain Mike Viveiros is fresh off a second place finish in the IGFA Offshore Championship representing the 2008 PCCA of Guatemala.

Team Ol Salt, fishing on the Finest Kind with Capt. Ron Hamlin, added a blue marlin for angler Sammy Castellano to the team score to put them into second. The Casa Vieja team had a steady day, releasing 10 sails to move them into third place.

Day Two of the Presidential Challenge of Guatemala Presented by INGUAT began at 8:30am. It was another day of radio silence as the fleet returned to the area where the fish were yesterday, some 50 miles offshore.

By the end of the day, Team Decisive had maintained the lead by adding 14 more sailfish to their score. Davis Clapp and Team A-Fin-Ity made their move also accumulating 14 releases but it was not enough to get them into the top three. Jim Turner led his Casa Vieja team fishing aboard the Rum Line up into second place by releasing a nice blue marlin. Ol Salt kept in the top three with anglers adding four sails to their total.

Jim Turner's blue marlin put him at the top of the angler leader board on time over Dell Dembosky. Dell's teammate, Craig Johnson, held a firm grip on third place angler.
But the final day of the PCCA Guatemala always has surprises-no doubt it will be a challenging day for all anglers, especially with the appearance of marlin in the area.

The PCCA Guatemala is famous for exciting finishes. This year was no exception. The bite started off early and teams called in several doubles and triples. At 1:30 p.m, Team Casa Vieja pulled ahead of Decisive for the lead. When the dust settled and scorecards collected, Team Casa Vieja had pulled off the victory. Ol Salt, fishing on Finest Kind, had a great day and held on to third place in the Costa Del Mar Team Division.

The winner of the Baptist Health International Angler Division was Jim Turner, fishing for Team Casa Vieja. His blue marlin on Day One put him on his way to the win. In a hard-fought battle, Dell Dembosky finished in second place fishing for Team Decisive. The Third Place angler position went down to the wire. In the end, Dell's teammate Craig Johnson slid into the third place angler slot.

For the third year in a row Team A-Fin-Ity won the coveted COSTA DEL MAR GRAND CHAMPION TEAM by the narrowest of margins over Team USA, as only one fish separated these two very competitive teams. Ol Salt fished all of the PCCA events to take third place overall. Again, it was a narrow one fish victory over team Decisive/OBX.

The EAGLE CLAW GRAND CHAMPION ANGLER for 2009 is Davis Clapp. Mike Viveiros was the second place champion, while Dan Pimental squeeked into third place with a scant 50 point victory over Mike Topp.

On behalf of the staff from all four PCCA 2009 events the tournament organizers would like to thank everyone for their support this year. The PCCA series events have raised thousands of dollars for conservation through angler and sponsor participation, even in a difficult economy. The Billfish Foundation is forging ahead in their efforts to unify billfish management in Central America-the tournament strongly urges all participants to become members and support these conservation measures around the world. On behalf of the PCCA Guatemala participants, the series will donate $5,000 to support TBF's vital conservation measures in Guatemala and throughout Central America.

A big congratulations to team Rum Line on a helluva comeback in this year's Presidential.

NOVEMBER 13th-15th '09

NEW 38ft JUPITER 'ADIOS' IN GUATEMALA.

The new season has started here in Guatemala and late October and the first 10 days of November proved to be pretty hot with some great fishing had by the few boats that were out. Most days resulted in 20+ sailfish releases, and the odd day boats released up to 40. We worked hard and now have both boats ALLURE and ADIOS ready for the up-coming season. Both boats are in great shape and the new 38ft Jupiter, ADIOS has proved itself to be a fish raising machine in its first days on the water.

We started the season on ALLURE with Chief Tauzin hosting Brent Kirkham, Cory Parrot and Alan Adami, ALLURE co-owner Hill Dishman was also aboard for the first trip since the recent maintenance. News off the dock following Thursdays fishing was not that great after the hot start to the month, green water and slow fishing were what most boats experienced. With that news on the mind we went out wide to the west around 40NM and found beautiful blue water off the edge. Despite being in the best water the action was a little disappointing with 2 releases from 6 bites of the 8 fish we raised. Meanwhile a couple of the other boats had stopped in about 20NM from the marina in green water and had a reasonable day with around 10 releases per boat. With that in mind the next day we stopped in short the following day with Chief and the crew, Hill Dishman was on board ADIOS with Julio Morales and guest angler Clay. Despite the water quality being poor, at best a cleanish green, the fish were there in numbers, with several groups of fish seen tailing on the surface around trash and logs from the recent rains that were holding bait. Steady action through the day saw both boats doing well with the crew on ALLURE releasing 12 out of 21 bites and the crew on ADIOS having the better hook-up ratio with 15 from 21 bites. Both boats raised 26 sails and caught several mahi-mahi to 25lbs.

A nice sized mahi takes to the air.
Sunday the 15th we were back out on ADIOS in the same area and the day started with a quad of sails in the spread and a triple hook-up from 3 bites, a bit slower today overall though still good action with 16 sailfish raised, 12 bites and 8 releases. Some of the boats fishing further out experienced some great yellow-fin tuna action and all boats caught a few mahi-mahi.

Looking at the charts the blue water is pushing in from both sides and it looks like the fishing will get better as the green water gets squeezed out. It is also a great time of year to try for tunas and with the ADIOS now taking charters there isn't a better boat to target these fish. ALLURE is in great shape, running and fishing better than ever. We can offer the complete package, contact us now.


Alan Adami, Chief Tauzin, Hill Dishman, Brent Kirkham and Cory Parrot

August-Sept '09

ALLURE in all her glory.

IT's maintenance time of year and we have ALLURE pulled up and on the hard here at Marina Pez Vela in Guatemala. The next few weeks we have a busy schedule ahead of us making sure she is in absolute top shape and ready for the new '09-'10 season soon to get underway. As well as maintenance on ALLURE we are also giving SAILFISH OASIS LODGE a good going over including a lick of paint, brand new mini-split AC's in every room and up-grades in the kitchen and dining areas. Both Lodge and ALLURE will be in top shape and ready to give first class service to both regular and new clients here to Guatemala. Only the best gauranteed!!!
As well as this we are looking forward to the arrival of the new 38' Jupiter 'ADIOS' to the fleet. She is due in Guatemala around the 17th-18th of September and old ALLURE mate and experienced skipper Julio Morales will take the helm. ADIOS will be without doubt the fastest sportfishing boat in the Guatemalan fleet, boasting triple 250HP 4 strike Yamahas she is silent and swift!! A great platform to fish out of and rigged for billfishing she will also be available and rigged for off-shore tuna charters as well as in-shore marine tours.


Guatemala's newest charter boat ADIOS.

We are looking forward to the start of the season here and are expecting the fishing to be at its usual high standards that only Guatemala can deliver. Booking enquiries are starting to pick so don't hesitate to contact us to secure your trip.....


Sometimes a week can take a long time in Guatemala......

August 8th through 10th we welcomed back Hill Dishman this time with friends Dan Wheat and father and son team Drew and Heath Donaldson. Just a couple of weeks before the fishing had been outstanding and everything looked good now too. The blue water was still in close and plenty of doardo signified bait in the area though it turned out to be tough going for the sails, they just didn't seem to be on the bite. WE saw free-jumping sails, a big blue marlin crashing small dorados on the surface in an area that held as many mahi's as I have seen since being here, it was incredible. In the same area we saw a huge fin-back whale, the ocean was alive with life. With all the dorado out there we did end up with plenty of fillets for the guys to take back home though as hard as we tried we never saw a marlin in the spread and ended the trip raising 15 sails, getting 12 bites and releasing 5. Still a good trip despite the sails not being very aggressive.
Straight after this we welcomed back Theresa La Fuze to Guatemala for the first time in a couple of years, this time with son William for 2 days of fishing on the 11th and 12th. It was more of the same, a little tough though we still got into some fish with 5 sailfish releases and plenty of dorado fillets to take back to the US. On the second morning out we raised a nice blue that left a hole behind the lure we were pulling in the 'stinger' position, though she didn't eat despite our best efforts.....A great trip and we hope to see them back this coming season.


William La Fuze and his first Pacific sailfish.

Get your face in the picture and contact us now for the trip of a lifetime!

THROUGH 25th JULY ''09

JASON MARTIN WITH FIRST BILLFISH, MINUTES INTO HIS TRIP...

July 23rd ALLURE co-owner Hill Dishman arrived on the midday flight from Houston with Guatemalan regular Chief Tauzin and first time customer Jason Martin. Straight from the airport on to the boat and we left the dock around 1pmish for a couple of hours fishing, trying to get a feel for what was going on out there for the next couple of days . At around 6NM of the breakwall we came across the color change to deep blue water and lots of debris on the current line. A couple of nice mahi's were first on the menu before trolling outside the current line and there she came, Jason Martin's first billfish after soaking the baits for mere minutes. We worked the area before being 'allured' to deeper water at the bottom of the pocket and to the west with blue marlin in mind. Working further off-shore to around 12NM proved a little slow with just mahi bites. Trolling back into the 6-7NM range we had another 3 bites at the end of the day to finish 3 from 4 on the sails and an idea of where to concentrate efforts for the coming days.

July 24th-25th Capt Hill Dishman took the helm and Chief and Jason were joined for the next couple of days by more Guatemalan regulars Todd Mucha aka Billy Backlash and John Codrington. Not many details though Capt Hill put the boys on to 'em at the 6NM-8NM mark off the breakwall, I called them before midday and they were already into double figures released and had raised a bunch more. When all was said and done they raised 33, had 24 bites and released 16 sails as well as boating a dozen or more mahi's, missing a good sized wahoo and also raising a small blue on the bridge teaser that didn't stick around in time for a bait to be pitched. Outstanding fishing!! Looks like Billy Backlash didn't live up to his name so that may have to be dropped. Nice going all round.
The 25th was more of the same with Capt Hill back on the ball, a little less raised though the boys were on their game and the averages were as good as it gets with, from the 20 sails raised, 17 bites and 14 releases.....30 releases in 2 days, congrats all round...
It was more of the same for the other boats out there with great numbers being posted by each of the few boats out, though I beleive Hill took top honours both days...

The fishing has been steady when there have been boats out to get into them these last couple of weeks, it's a slow time of year, though not for fishing, just for clientele which is unfortunate as the weather has been (and normally is) great this past July and now into August. Last Weds 29th, Thurs 30th Haole had the Intensity out for a 2 day charter and found them the second day raising 35, and releasing 18 from 24 bites.


Guatemala is not just famous for its incredible billfishing, but also a great summer getaway/adventure holiday destination. We recently had the Koper family all the way from Holland for a short action packed tour of Guatemala organized by Rods and Reels Sportfishing Adventures. Michael and Lucy were joined by sons Jeremy and Tim for a trip which included........


LEARNING TO SURF ON FUN WAVES IN THE PACIFIC for a couple of days....


CLIMBING VOLCAN PACAYA at dusk to enhance the incredible lava flows with Volcans Agua, Fuego and Acatenago as a backdrop. What a veiw, what an experience....HOT!!


CATCHING BIG PACIFIC SAILFISH, Jeremy Koper with a nice Guatemalan sail, July 17th and 18th we had a couple of short days out, leaving late and returning early. They released 7 sails from 13 bites, raised a blue marlin that went from teaser to teaser though didn't eat the pitched mackeral bait and caught countless mahi mahi all within a few miles off the beach. Plenty for fresh fish dinners and lunches.....


TIKAL, a couple of days exploring the Mayan ruins of Tikal in the jungles of north Guatemala....


LAKE ATITLAN, Jeremy, Tim, Michael and Lucy resting on the steps of the church in San Antonio overlooking the beautful Lake Atitlan.....

A FEW DAYS STAYING IN SAN MARCOS including a full day tour of the lake visiting the villages of Santa Catalina, San Antonio, San Lucas and Santiago de Atitlan, kayaking and swimming....

They finished up their trip spending a few leisurely days wandering around the unique city of Antigua. Including spending time at the wonderful Museum of Cafe Azotea and enjoying the highly recommended Elizabeth Bell walking tour of Antigua amongst other things.

What a trip!! As mentioned Guatemala is famous for it's amazing billfishing though it has alot more than just great fishing to offer to the adventure minded tourist. If anyone is interested contact Rods and Reels Sportfishing Adventures for more info on fully customized tours.

ALLURE will be fishing through Thursday August 13th though will be available for charter till the end of the month before being pulled for yearly maintenance. There are some great deals to be had right now and now is as good a time as any, it's all looking good.

More reports next week....

Fish Report through June 8th, '09

George Haddock's first blue marlin of around 300lb's.

June 26th-28th and Pacific Fins hosted a father and son group from North Carolina consisting of 8 dads and 12 boys who had just graduated from high school. An end of an era, and what a way to celebrate it than a billfishing trip to Guatemala and 3 days of friendly 'competitive' fishing. With 5 boats going out with the group it meant that at least we could get a bit of coverage and find a reasonable bite amongst the boats. On ALLURE day one we hosted father and son John and Darren Ash along with Ladd Hamrick and Matt Houchins. We fished a little away from the fleet today getting some bites inshore and to the west of the other guys and sticking to it, 16 sails raised today and 14 good bites, we had some problems getting the hooks to stick though and released 5 out of the 14 bites and boated 20 mahi mahi to 15lbs. Good light tackle fun. The other boats fishing together were on to a bit better action though a fairly similar number of bites accross the fleet with a Perla Del Mar getting the best ratio and bites releasing 16 from 18 bites, congratulations on a great day!
Day 2 Matt Houchins stuck with us and was joined by George Haddock and father and son team Jack and Jim Carrol. The blue water had moved a good 10NM to the west and it took a little time ot find it though we were the first in it and had a sail bite soon after. Working the area hard produced steady action through the day with 6 sails released from 9 bites and 14 mahi mahi. Perla Del Mar again headed out the day with 7 releases.
Day 3 Matt Houchins and George Haddock stuck with the team on ALLURE and were joined by friends Michael Watterson and Andrew Leggett. The blue water had moved today 12NM further to the west and we were 41NM from the marina when the water was good enough to put the teasers in the water. Close to the edge we headed offshore working 500 through to 1200ft of water trolling to the west, we released a sail soon after lines in and the second fish of the day was the one we were lookng for, a nice fat blue in the 300lb class came up hot on the Joe Yee Super Plunger and switched to the pitched mackeral perfectly. Solidly hooked the blue jumped more than any seen this year and didn't stop, pulling hard as well. George Haddock did a great job on the 50lb stand-up gear though and got the release after a hard workout. The guys ended up top of the comp with 3 sails released today, 1 blue and 10 mahi mahi. Good fishing all round for the group with over 60 sails released and 2 blue marlin along with plenty of mahi's.



May 4th-6th Brad Sears hosted customers Jeromiah Jones, Miller Vaughan, Sean Harigan and Craig Wieland for 3 days of offshore fishing aboard ALLURE. Finding the blue water just 10NM offshore we put them out at the bottom of the 'pocket' and trolled east along the eatern edge working the edge hard trying to find bait and bills. After lunch we'd raised 2 sails that would not switch to the baits and things were looking grim. With just and hour and half left we found some sailfish up the edge and had good action raising 9 sails and releasing 4 from 6 bites to save the day including this double:

L-R Craig Wieland, Jeromiah Jones, Brad Sears, Sean Harigan and Miller Vughan.
Small mahi's were everywhere and we boated 14 today.
A late start on the 5th and we concentrated our efforts at the bottom of the pocket and up the west side hoping for a marlin, again, plenty of small mahi's around and a fairly steady bite through the day with 5 from 7 bites though no marlin seen.
June 6th the blue water was pushing in closer everyday and with it the bite seemed to get better, we only fished a half day today with the guys opting to see Antigua in the afternoon. We had a good morning working the bottom of the pocket 10NM out releasing 6 sails from 8 bites and boating 5 mahis' to boot. A great trip with good fishing and excellent weather with the only issue being a bit of wind on the last morning. We hope to see more of this crew down here next season!

June 8th we hosted Jean Louis Trombetta from Antigua and Bob Stevenson of 'El Pescador' Fishing Lodge fame in Belize. The guys are planning flats fishing expeditions out of the Rio Dulce, Guatemala for bonefish, permitt and tarpon aboard a mothership fishing the untouched keys toward Honduras and plan to offer the incredible billfishing we have here on the Pacific side to clients as well. We left the dock at 1000 and returned at 1400 fishing the deep water out front and to the west, the water colour was good and in this short time of fishing we raised 3 sails on the teasers getting 2 bites and Bob released his Pacific sailfish on the fly.



We can offer some very good summer specials and the fishing here is Guatemala is great year round so make the most of the deals and check it out. Contact us here at Rods and Reels for more info.