Guatemala 25-Dec, 2008 Fishing Report

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The sailfish fishing here in Guatemala changes after the second week of December. Good numbers have been reported as 20 sails in the spread per boat to 50 bites in the last couple days, fishing an average of 5 or 6 boats per day.

I went out aboard the LA PENULTIMA as the captain, we run more of 25 miles without finding clear or blue water, finally we find the blue water in the 30 miles to 170 degrees from the Puerto Quetzal about 9:00 am. We fish for about 30 minutes and have a 125 lbs marlin bite in the flat line butt the mate sancocho with the medium size ballyhoo, after that we pass more than 1 hr without a bite.

10:30 am we raised 6 sails in the spread and hook 4 in the same time, we release the 4 sailsfish – a good start…

…last night I got a report that the CAÑASO had over 35 sails within the spread only 4 teaser in the water because they have Tony Luduvico taking pictures and video.

The DROP IT release 35 sails yesterday from more of 55 bites, another 2 boats caught 25 sails. >>> Filed by Sancocho (La Penultima)

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

Catch Report 4/Guatemala - December 2008

We just returned from Casa Vieja a couple of days ago. We are looking for a new billfish destination to take our clients after Golfito Sailfish Rancho closed. Capt. Jake Jordan had been after us for years to check out this lodge. Glad we did --it was everything he said it was. Super lodging and the best boats and crews i have fished with. We fished for four days and the fishing over all was slow by Guatemala standards. We ended up with 18 releases in four days. I will take it!

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

Catch Report 3/Guatemala - December 2008

The fishing has really picked up in the second half of December with some great days on the water with marlin, sailfish and plenty of mahi mahi's and the odd yellowfin tuna for the table.

On the 18th we welcomed back on ALLURE the Fred Herring group from Houston, Texas. Fred Snr and Jnr were here with great memories of last years December trip and wondering if it could be matched. They obviously have some great mojo about them because the fishing went off, again! This time they brought with them Fred Jnr's partner Mel and friends John and Nancy Keely also out of Houston for their first trip to Guatemala. Things got off to a slowish start on their first day out though picked up after Fred hooked and landed the first sail of the trip, next up was John Keely and what an introduction to billfishing for him as the next fish in the spread was a blue marlin pushing the 200lb mark. He did an excellent job on the rod and we got the release after a short tough fight on the 50lb stand-up gear. The fishing got hot in the middle of the day with doubles, triples and a quad adding to the total of 27 sailfish releases from 38 bites and a couple of mahi mahi to 20lbs. Great job crew!!
Their last day out on the 19th was more of a challenge with a cold front moving in and making conditions a bit sloppy out there. Still they hung in with a couple of triples keeping everyone on their toes with 24 releases from 35 bites and two big mahi mahi for fresh sashimi at the end of the day. The group are finishing their trip to Guatemala in Antigua for a couple of nights enjoying the sights with a couple of organized tours around this beautiul little city. We had a good time fishing with you guys and gals and we look forward to seeing you all back next year.

Dec 15th-16th had Mike Shores with Toby Solis and Gene Roberts on ALLURE for two days of fishing. Toby and Gene were both billfish virgins and they were blown away by the quality of the fishing with 28 sails in the spread and 17 releases from 25 bites. They also got 3 nice big mahi mahi to 32lbs. The next day they figured they'd caught enough sails and wanted tuna and a marlin......we left the sailfish bite looking for spinner dolphin and the yellowfin tunas. We found two big groups of spinners though the tuna weren't on the bite unfortunately. At the end of the day lots of bait including big blue runners and bonitos were busting around a log, we live baited a couple of bonito tunas and got Toby on to a nice blue marlin pushing the 250lb mark. The fish put on a great display and he got the release on the 50lb tackle. A great way to end the trip! We also caught 4 out of 8 sailfish and another 3 mahi's for the day. We hope to see Mike and the crew back down here for April.

Posted by Capt. KIWI of the ALLURE

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

Catch Report 2/Guatemala - December 2008

05-09 Dec - The Mitchell group of 12 anglers descended on Casa Vieja for their annual trip. Boats fishing their mini-tournament were the "Release" with Capt. Nico, "Spindrift" with Capt. Nicho and "Cañaso" with Capt. Chico. First day, they had 22 fish released, the next day they saw one or two in the spread, but wouldn't eat. The third day was cut short by bad weather only releasing 5 fish. Not rain, just wind. I believe we caught 35 fish in three days - not our best trip, but the Lodge made up for it!

07-11 Dec - Craig Zoufaly and his two brothers fished the "Twenty" with Capt. Jason. First day out, it was a bit rough, heavy swells and winds from the SSW making the day uncomfortable. Fished three days caught 28 fish. Loved the Lodge and Antonio.

10-15 Dec - Dr. Shuler and his brothers fished "Finest Kind" with Capt. Erik and "Rum Line" with Capt. Chris. First day caught 37 fish, days 2 and 3 - caught 7 fish including two blue marlin around 200-250lbs. Lost a larger one est at 400+. Final day they decided to fly fish as the storm had moved on and the water flattened - caught 3 more on fly. 45 sails and 2 blues. They loved the Lodge and would return. They had high praise for the captains and mates. (Posted by Al Schaefer of the “Legend” Dec/2008)

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

Catch Report/Guatemala - December 2008

My buddy Jeff just got back from a 4 day sailfishing trip in Guatemala. He said the fishing was sick. Here are a few pics they got that he said I could share with you guys. I am still salavating after looking at them for the 5th time.

My favorite one is when they had a 350 lb black marlin on and they were backing the boat on him because he got tail wrapped, look at all the water in the boat and the mate with the bucket. If that doesn't get your juices flowing, I don't know what will. (Posted by Onemoredrift on Noreast.com, Dec. 12, 2008).

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

Fish Report to December 20th

The fishing has really picked up in the second half of December with some great days on the water with marlin, sailfish and plenty of mahi mahi's and the odd yellowfin tuna for the table.

On the 18th we welcomed back on ALLURE the Fred Herring group from Houston, Texas. Fred Snr and Jnr were here with great memories of last years December trip and wondering if it could be matched. They obviously have some great mojo about them because the fishing went off, again! This time they brought with them Fred Jnr's partner Mel and friends John and Nancy Keely also out of Houston for their first trip to Guatemala. Things got off to a slowish start on their first day out though picked up after Fred hooked and landed the first sail of the trip. Next up was John Keely, and what an introduction to billfishing for him as the next fish in the spread was a blue marlin pushing the 200lb mark on the short left teaser. He did an excellent job on the rod and we got the release after a short tough fight on the 50lb stand-up gear. The fishing got hot in the middle of the day with doubles, triples and a quad adding to the total of 27 sailfish releases from 38 bites and a couple of mahi mahi to 20lbs. Great job crew!!
Their last day out on the 19th was more of a challenge with a cold front moving in and making conditions a bit sloppy out there. Still they hung in with a couple of triples keeping everyone on their toes with 24 releases from 35 bites and two big mahi mahi for fresh sashimi at the end of the day. The group are finishing their trip to Guatemala in Antigua for a couple of nights enjoying the sights with a couple of organized tours around this beautiul little town. We had a good time fishing with you guys and gals and we look forward to seeing you all back next year.

Dec 15th-16th had Mike Shores with Toby Solis and Gene Roberts on ALLURE for two days of fishing. Toby and Gene were both billfish virgins and they were blown away by the quality of the fishing with 28 sails in the spread and 17 releases from 25 bites. They also got 3 nice big mahi mahi to 32lbs. The next day they figured they'd caught enough sails and wanted to try for tunas and a marlin......so we left the sailfish bite looking for spinner dolphin and the yellowfin tunas. We found two big groups of spinners through the day though the tuna weren't on the bite unfortunately. At the end of the day we found lots of bait including big blue runners and bonitos busting around a log so we tried live baiting a couple of bonito tunas on the birds working the area and got Toby on to a nice blue marlin pushing the 250lb mark. The fish put on a great display and he got the release on the 50lb stand-up tackle. A great way to end the trip! We also caught 4 out of 8 sailfish and another 3 mahi's for the day. We hope to see Mike and the crew back down here for April.

Dec 12-13th Chief Tauzin brought down clients Whitt Broussard and Joe Pappenfort for a couple of days aboard ALLURE. The fishing previous to this trip had been good though a cold front that pushed in a 20knt ENE wind changed things and the fish were not biting all that good. We did get 6 sail releases from 8 bites and caught a bunch of good sized dodado/mahi-mahi to keep the action going. All in all they guys had a blast down here and Chief is due to come back down in January with Whitt also planning a return trip early in the next year.

Dec 8th-11th. The Mike Marshall organized group consisting of himself and 3 generations of the Bockmon family with Alan and his sons Greg, Steve and Jeff and Jeff's son 13 year Ryan. The group split between the two boats ALLURE and super panga QUE VELA with Capt Tom Boice for the 4 fishing days. They came down to Guatemala with 3 coolers planning to take home as much mahi-mahi and tuna fillets that they could and they weren't let down. The mahi's were biting good with well over 20 doarado landed, all in the 15 to 25lb+ weight range. We also got into some small yellowfin tuna and of course the billfishing was good especially the last two days. Alot of goals were achieved on this trip with everyone of the group catching their first sailfish with Greg Bockmon getting a horse of a 150lb sail on the first day out with Tom on QUE VELA. They all caught multiple sails on the baits and keen fly-fisherman Alan really only wanted one on the flyrod, on his last day on ALLURE we got him a beauty that tested his indurance though after a hard 20min workout he landed the big fish. On the previous day Alan also landed a 20lb mahi-mahi on the fly while fishing with Tom on QUE VELA. Young Ryan as well as releasing the first sail of the trip after just 10mins of fishing on ALLURE, achieved his goal in landing a 20lb rooster fish while fishing inshore on QUE VELA. Mike Marshall's goal was to beat his previous biggest fish, a 320lb yellowfin tuna, on day 3 while fishing aboard ALLURE he got his wish with a solid 350lb blue marlin. It was a spectacular bite on the pitched mackeral off the short right teaser that left everyone on board open mouthed in awe of the speed and power of the fat blue. Mike did well with the Black Magic stand-up gear and we got the fish boat-side after a hard 45min fight. We raised 3 blues in the 4 days getting the one release from 2 bites with the other spitting the hook as it came jumping toward the boat. QUE VELA also raised 2 blues though did not get the bite out of either of the fish. Congratulations all round, it was a fantastic trip for the group from California with lots of billfish action and 3 coolers full of fresh iced down fish to take home!

Previous to this ALLURE owners Craig Johnson and Hill Dishman showed their skill going 11 from 12 bites while here on a short trip. Also the Jupiter took out a local group for a half day of fishing and released an est 250lb blue, a couple of sails and landed 4 dorado.....not bad for a half day with the boat being back at the dock for 12.30!! The Jupiter and ALLURE have availability through January and into April and May. Contact Rods and Reels for more info on how to charter either of these proven fish catching boats.

Guatemala Fishing Report dec 15

The 2008 – 2009 season is moving into full swing now and you can expect the action to be hot through next June. The weather is beautiful right now with very comfortable and dry conditions, which will remain through most of April.

We welcomed the Randy Peifer Group along with sons Will and Jason for their first visit to Pacific Fins. Fishing aboard “Fishy Business”, with Capt. Tito, the first day they raised 22 sails and released 15. They also added 3 large dorados. Day two they raised 7 sails, released 4 and added a nice 200lb blue marlin. Some beautiful yellowfin tuna in the 40 to 50 pound range are also being caught and of course these usually end up on the dinner table that same night!

Larry Ekey returned for his second visit and brought friends Tim Bennett, Rick Rennell and Brock Walls. The first day they fished on “Hooked Up” and released 6 sails. The second day they switched to our new 50ft Topaz “Captain Hook” and released 6 more sails and fought a blue thought to be around 500lbs but lost it near the boat.

Yesterday, aboard the Captain Hook, the Lee Orgeron group saw excellent sailfish action. The group raised 16 sails, had 13 bites and managed to release 9.

The marlin bite continues to be strong and there a lot of blues in the 200 to 600 pound range being caught every day right now. December is usually one of our better months for marlin and this year that is no exception. (Filed by Pacific Fins, Guatemala)

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

November 2008, Preisdential Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE OF GUATEMALA
PRESENTED BY INGUAT

THREE IS A CHARM FOR A-FIN-ITY

DECISIVE SWEEPS FINAL TWO ’08 PCCA EVENTS

WHERE: Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
WHEN: November 21-22-23, 2008
TEAMS: 10 teams/30 anglers
CATCH: 210 sailfish/1 black marlin/1 blue marlin

The Presidential Challenge of Guatemala Presented by INGUAT historically provides red hot action which produces a close finish. This year we were not to be denied a final day of nail biting lead changes. Daniel Espinosa fishing aboard the Super Fly got the tournament started by releasing a sailfish at 8:44am on Day One. Unbeknownst to our anglers, an 5.9 earthquake hit off the coast of Guatemala which sent the billfish out of the area and made fishing very slow. Team A-Fin-Ity with anglers Davis Clapp, Henry Riggs-Miller and Gerber Chavez got off to a good start on the first day releasing a black marlin and some sails to top the daily leader board. A-Fin-Ity and Capt. Juanga Lopez earned top boat honors for the day.
Anglers arrived at Marina Pez Vela on the second day ready to get out to the fishing grounds and find the large schools of sails that make Guatemala famous. Team Decisive and anglers Bill Easum, Jimmy Taylor and Mike Vivieros made their move up the ladder by releasing thirteen sails by the 3pm lines out call. Capt. Brad Philipps led his team to the top spot for the day and claimed the tournament lead. Boats traveled far to find the fish and the long trip paid off for the Casa Vieja team fishing with Capt. Chris Sheeder on the Buddy Boy. Anglers Jim Turner, Roy Cronicher and Mike Wnek found the fish and started their upward climb. The IWFA team, Gwen Hahn, Diane Locke and Martha McNab made a move led by Diane’s blue marlin release.
At stake in the PCCA Guatemala was the prize for the Bertram/Evermarine Grand Champion Team and the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler Awards. Going into this event A-Fin-Ity had a sizeable lead due to an incredible catch in the Caribbean Cup tournament in Venezuela. Team Decisive was coming off a win in the PCCA –El Salvador and the luck was carrying over to Guatemala. On the final day of fishing, Decisive, was red hot. They added 2100 points to their total which gave them the win making them back to back PCCA champions. Decisive angler Bill Easum won the top angler honors with his 1300 points. Casa Vieja made it back to Marina Pez Vela just under the wire for scores to count. Their long run paid off and they claimed second place. Jim Turner accumulated 1200 points and took third place behind Henry Riggs- Miller from A-Fin-Ity on time. Not to be denied a top three team finish, A-Fin-Ity scored enough points to give them third place.
When the scored were tallied and recorded, scorekeeper Joan Vernon had to call in chief judge, Bill Boyce, to verifiy the results. Only one sailfish made the difference for the 2008 Grand Champion Team. After careful review, it was official – A-Fin-Ity won the Bertram/Evermarine Grand Champion Team award for the third consecutive year with a record 15,300 points. Decisive gave them a good run and was awarded second place with 15,200 points! The Costa Rica team, Maverick Sport Fishing with anglers Larry Drivon, Bim Lebo and Daniel Espinosa slid into the third place Grand Champion slot.
Anglers fish all year for points toward the Eagle Claw Grand Champion Angler honors. This year Henry Riggs-Miller won this prestigious award by accumulating 5300 points fishing in all four PCCA events. Jimmy Taylor also fished all of the PCCA tournaments and claimed second place angler with 3900 points. Right behind him as his teammate, Mike Vivieros, who fished three PCCA tournaments for a total score of 3750 points.
It was an exciting conclusion to an action packed Presidential Challenge Season. We conquered foreign governments, illnesses, earthquakes and weather but the Series Teams stuck it out to make this a successful year. The four tournaments raised $50,000 for various conservation projects. We thank our sponsors, anglers and observers for their loyal support of our Presidential Challenge Conservation Series events.

FINAL RESULTS
210 Sailfish / 1 Blue Marlin/1 Black Marlin
ALL ON CIRCLE HOOKS!
CONTENDER BOATS TEAM DIVISION
Trophies Sponsored by Marina Pez Vela, Quepos, Costa Rica
1ST PLACE TEAM: DECISIVE 3400 PTS – IGFA Offshore World Championship Invitation
2ND PLACE TEAM: CASA VIEJA 3100 PTS
3RD PLACE TEAM: A-FIN-ITY 2600 PTS
BAPTIST HEALTH INTERNATIONAL ANGLER DIVISION
1ST PLACE ANGLER: BILL EASUM 1300 PTS World Billfish Series Championship Invitation
2ND PLACE ANGLER: HENRY RIGGS MILLER 1200 PTS
3RD PLACE ANGLER: JIM TURNER 1200 PTS
KING SAILFISH MOUNTS BOAT DIVISION
TOP BOAT: DECISIVE 3400 PTS
2ND BOAT: BUDDY BOY 3100 PTS
3RD BOAT: A-FIN-ITY A-FIN-ITY 2600 PTS
BERTRAM EVERMARINE GRAND CHAMPION TEAM
1ST PLACE: A-FIN-ITY 15,300 POINTS
2ND PLACE: DECISIVE 15,200 POINTS
3RD PLACE: MAVERICK 6450 POINTS
EAGLE CLAW GRAND CHAMPION ANGLER
1ST PLACE: HENRY RIGGS-MILLER 5300 POINTS
2ND PLACE: JIMMY TAYLOR 3900 POINTS
3RD PLACE: MIKE VIVIEROS 3750 POINTS

THE 2009 PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE CONSERVATION SERIES KICKS OFF
MARCH 20-21-22, 2009
IN CARRILLO, COSTA RICA

Guatemala Fishing Report NOV 20

Nov. 20, 2008 - The season is just getting started but so far we have had some great action. On November 11, we hosted a film crew from The Presnell Sporting Collection. They came down to film a new promotional DVD. Fishing aboard the Hooked Up with Captain Haron Valdez, the group was treated to some great Guatemalan action. On the first day they raised 14 sails and had 11 bites and caught 8. They also caught a nice dorado and a yellow fin tuna, both of which ended up on the dinner table that night back at the Resort.

Capt. Ron Hamlin of Pacific Fins/Guatemala

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

Guatemala Fishing Report NOV 20

Nov-5,6 & 8 (Casa Vieja Lodge) - The Casa Vieja Fleet started off the new season fishing the Club Náutico International Light Tackle Tournament.

Captain Chris Sheeder aboard the "Buddy Boy" Finished the tournament in second place releasing 31 sails in the three day tournament and a blue marlin, not a bad finish taking into consideration that Chris went looking for the mother load the first day and did not release a fish on day one. Congrats to Chris and the crew for a job well done!

Captain Chico Alvarenga aboard the "Canaso" Had a very nice showing during the tournament releasing 27 sails and a blue marlin of about 300# on 20#, The Canaso and crew finished the tournament in third place, and was in the bite all three days.

Captain Nico Melendrez aboard the "Release" also had a very good tournament and was the boat that found the bite that was fished during the tournament. Nico and his crew finished in a not so distant fourth place releasing 27 sails, Lady Luck w

as not to be seen on day three of the tournament aboard the "Release" but the opportunity in bites was ever present for the anglers.

Aboard the "Finest Kind" we released 14 sails and a blue marlin during the three day tournament and finished in a very distant 10th place. I think something along the lines of being a hero or zero sums it up best, but we will be looking to redeem ourselves during the upcoming Presidential Challenge of Central America tournament taking place Nov 19-21.

Nov 9-10 we have Carl, Adam, and Fisher Van Rooy along with family friend Jason Robertson aboard the "Finest Kind" Four year old Fisher R

eleased his 2nd sailfish in two cosecutive years and got to watch his 'Uncle' Jason release about a 225# blue marlin ON 20#. The group also caught 9 yellowfin tunas up to 30 lbs. And if I am not mistaken, even Carl was in on the yellowfin action. Congratulations to Fisher Van Rooy from all of your friends at the Casa Vieja Lodge on your sailfish Releases'.

Nov 13-15 finds Austin Hepburn, Scott Schoettley, Julie Cowhey, Carrie Hulburd and Leslie Jenkins from the good state of Mississippi, aboard the "Canaso" with captain Chico. The group Raised 50 sailfish had 38 bites and released 29 sails, and two blue Marlins between 225#s and 275#s. The group also brought home dinner for the lodge catching 8 Dorodos between 25-30lbs, and 7 football size yellowfins.

Nov 14-15 finds the Foster group aboard the "Release" with captain Nico. The group raised 23 sails had 22 bites and released 16 sails during there two day trip and also caught 6 yellowfin tunas and 4 dorodos all in the 30 lb range.

Nov 15-16 finds Phil and Chip Lloyd, from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Aboard the "Buddy Boy" with Captain Chris. The pair raised 17 sails had 17 bites and released 9 sails in there two day trip.

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

Guatemala Fishing Report NOV 5

Fishing Report – Guatemala

Nov 5 - The season is getting off to a great start. In the past week, most boats have been raising between 12 and 21 sailfish, with one boat releasing 61 sails in 2 days. Most boats are also catching 10 to 15 dorado and 8 to 10 yellowfin tuna. The tuna have been nice sized with the average being 30 to 50 pounds. Perfect for Sushi! No real marlin action to speak of yet, but we normally do have great marlin action between now and the end of December.

The weather and fishing is great this time of year, and we still have some openings in the next couple of months, so come on down and join in on the action.

Capt. Ron Hamlin of Pacific Fins/Guatemala

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

Fish Report to November 19th

The 2008-2009 season is in full swing here in Guatemala and from here on in we will have regular up-dates about what has been happening on and off-shore starting with fishing today Nov 19th:

The 31ft go fast Jupiter went out this morning for a half day charter with local coffee dealer Jaun Duran taking out his boss Marco Sharf from Austria. A great 4 hours fishing it was too with 8 sailfish raised in the spread, 6 bites, 4 releases and a big 40lb dorado topping the morning off.

The 31ft Jupiter is a great option for single anglers and small groups, being able to get to the action fast it has a great crew and top-notch gear as Grant Estman from South Africa found out. In Guatemala for the successful Club Nautico International Fishing Tournament Grant decided to stay on for the week following before heading off to fish another tournament in Mexico. He fished with us Nov 12th and 13th, the first day the fish were out at about 37NM though it was worth the run with 8 sailfish releases from 12 bites, 5 yellowfin tuna, a couple of big dorado and a 300lb blue marlin that unfortunately spat the hook on the 3rd jump. Day two and the sailfish action picked up with 12 releases from 18 bites and today a 500lb blue that was all over the short teaser though snubbed the pitched mackeral. Still an awesome sight and great fishing Grant!!

Nov 7th through 9th ALLURE hosted party group Rick Val from Chicago, Geoffrey Hopkins and Corey Survant from Corpus Christi and Brad Knape and Jay Survant from Houston. Down here to celebrate Corey last days on earth............as a single man, the guys had 3 days of great fishing. The first day saw them return to the dock with rums in hand and tales of 12 releases from 21 bites. They wanted dorado the next day so we got them on to 4 big mahi's and 8 out of 14 sailfish. A late start on the last day still saw good action with 4 releases from 8 bites and 5 big dorado with the fresh fillets packed on ice in a cooler bag to be brought home. Great fishing and great times had in Guatemala, we're looking forward to seeing you guys back down here in the New Year, that's if Corey is allowed........only joking buddy, congratulations and thanks for the photos Jay!

The Jay Survant group from L-R Geoffrey Hopkins, Corey and Jay Survant, Rick Val and Brad Knape with one of the first releases of the day.

All the way from Holland for a fishing and sightseeing adventure for two weeks in total and 5 days of fishing Rods and Reels hosted Arjian Leget and Michiel den Hollander. The guys had a great trip with a few days in Antigua, also Lake Atitlan where they experienced the culinary delights of Chalet Meyers amongst incredible scenery and finished off their trip with a few days in the Mayan ruins of Tikal. Fishing with Tom Boyce aboard 'Que Vela'! they got into it all with sailfish, dorado, plenty of yellowfin tuna and adreneline levels went through the roof when a est 400lb+ blue marlin ripped through the spread and up on the short teaser though the big fish would not switch to the pitched bait. They had such a good time that they are already planning a return trip with a bigger group.

October 25th-26th and the Joe Cerrone group from Miami came down for their first trip to Guatemala. The fishing was good with sailfish and plenty of big dorado to 30lbs ensuring the guys had a good work out and plenty of fresh fillets for lunch and dinner. There was enough action for them to call in quits early on the second day and head up to Antigua for their last night at the beautiful Hotel Panza Verde.

In the local scene we have the 12th annual Presidential Challenge coming up this weekend and things start to get busy from here on in. We still have a few openings through the season though so beat the financial bullshit blues with an action packed Guatemalan fishing adventure aboard ALLURE, we'll make it your best trip yet! See you down here, contact info@rodsandreelssportfishing.com for a customized fishing package.

Sept 18th, 2008

Sept 18, 2008
Don’t come to Guatemala unless you want to catch LOTS of fish. The fish here seem to always be biting – 12 months a year! Just last week I was reminded of this when I took the Rods & Reels team out for a short cruise and BAM, suddenly it was Mahi-Madness. The volcanoes of Guatemala had not yet faded into the distance before our reels started screaming over the clear blue Pacific.

The mahi-mahi/dorado fishing has been really great lately. The Jupiter has been out for a couple of half day charters and caught up to 22 in the 10lb-25lb range, and been back at the dock for midday. Some great current lines holding big and small logs just off-shore from the recent rains have held the bait and doardos in tight areas, making them easily found. Now we are looking forward to October and November for the Blue Marlin and Sailfish action to heat up, and of course in December we usually see our highest numbers of Sailfish

The Jupiter is available for half and full day charters and can make the runs off-shore for tunas and billfish as well. We are getting ready to pull ALLURE for yearly maintenance and will be ready for fishing once again in mid-October.

Dates are filling up fast so it’s best you ’hook up’ your reservations NOW for the up-coming season. The thrill of hooking Pacific Sailfish, Blue Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Mahi-Mahi awaits. Contact us now for information on full, inclusive, customized packages or daily charters.

Fish Report to 08-08-08

It's the slow time of year for us here in Guatemala and you'd really have to question why with generally great settled weather on the coast and good fishing to boot. When you are the only boat out there it can take a little time to get on to the fish though overall the fishing has been steady:

27th-28th July was our first day out in a while and it did take us a while to get into some action with ALLURE owners Hill Dishman and Craig Johnson on board with friend Richard Bowman for 2 days of fishing. A couple of runs further to the west got us into some sail action with 7 sails raised for the day and 3 releases from 5 bites along with a 15lb dorado. The following day was more of the same weather wise, beautiful flat seas and blue skies though an improvement in the fishing now knowing the west was more productive. We had steady action through the day raising 16 sailfish and getting 7 releases from 13 bites,a yellow-fin tuna, 2 big 30lb+ bull mahi-mahi and a blue marlin at the end of the day for Craig Johnson capped off a great day on the water.



30th-31st July. Local Antiguan Jeremy Scott took his Grandfather Dan Scott and Aunty Risa from Wyoming for a couple of days off-shore fishing on ALLURE along with local friends from Cafe No Se Mike Tallon and Thor....Again the weather was perfect and the first fish for the day was a est 300lb blue marlin hot on the bridge teaser, an aggresive bite on the pitched mackeral resulted in a solid hook-up for birthday girl Risa. This was one of the tougher 300lb blues I've seen here, with the drag pushed up to 'sunset' after 15mins the line was pinging off the reel. They breed them tough in Wyoming though and Risa did a superb job releasing the blue in just under an hour on the stand-up gear.

The rest of the day saw steady sailfish action with 16 sails in the spread releasing 10 from 12 bites with another smaller blue under 200lb up at the end of the day. The following day saw a change in the weather with an ENE wind making conditions a little sloppy and overcast. The sailfish action was great though with 11 releases from 17 bites.

Jeremy with his Grandfather Dan Scott and a double of sailfish prior to release on their last day out.

The days following this produced steady blue marlin action for the boats out there with boats on the 4th raising up to 3 blues a piece, with the marlin bite going on Rob and Bess Wilson along with son Joe decided to try their luck on the 7th and 8th of August. On the first morning a small blue of around 140lb crashed the Ilander/ballyhoo combo though didn't stick and didn't come back. The rest of the day was fairly slow, pulling marlin plugs we raised 9 sails and got baits back to a few of them releasing 3. The next day we concentrated our efforts on the corner out to the west releasing 3 sails from 3 bites and getting an aggresive 200lb blue up at the end of the day. We got the bite on the pitched mackeral though a bit of bad luck saw it come un-stuck after the first jump, a dissapointing way to finish though we look forward to seeing the Wilsons back in the near future......

Another big Guatemalan sailfish about to be released

Not many boats have been out since the 8th though the blue water has pushed in to just 6NM off the beach and the Jupiter has been making the most of the great mahi-mahi fishing with all the logs and current lines just off-shore. Ron Parker and family had a great time on the 31' Jupiter catching 12 big dorado and a couple of sailfish in just a half day on the color change. The Jupiter and ALLURE are both available at great summer-time rates for either inshore or offshore excursions. The fishing is great as always in Guatemala and has to be experienced to be believed. Contact Rods and Reels Sportfishing to secure a trip.

Fish Report to May 31st

30th-31st May saw the return of John Gallio and Lance Stanfill this time with Mike Fox and Cliff Price all from Texas. It was our first day out for a few days and the blue water had pushed in to just a couple of miles off the beach so we started at 5NM out where a few yellowfin tunas were busting. We put out the baits and had a nice small yellowfin of just under 30lbs almost immediately, after gaffing the fish we noticed a fresh graze right down the side of the fish from a marlin bill. The next yellowfin caught was rigged up as a livey on the short and a skipping bonito rigged for the long rigger, we tried for over an hour in the area to get that marlin up without luck. It took until after midday to get onto the sailfish though we found a small area which produced 7 releases from 11 bites and a small dorado in the afternoon. Good averages from the guys seeing it had been 6 months since they were last here and it was Cliff's first time at this style of fishing. The next day we just about tagged them 'Team No Sancocho', and for one small mistake near the end of the day they would have earned the title going 11 releases from 12 bites from the 19 sailfish raised for the day. Great fishing and nice job Cliff for not missing a fish all day and catching a nice 35lb dorado on top of that........

25th May ALLURE hosted the Edgar Castillo group consisting of Nick Vidal, Christian, Rolie Snr and Rolie Jnr. We found some fish on the west side of the pocket and had good steady action in the morning with things slowing down in the afternoon, still it was a great day on the water getting 21 sailfish into the spread and 10 releases from 17 bites. With the sailfish bite slowing down in the afternoon we covered some area looking for a blue marlin and had a small one of about 140-150lbs up near the end of the day.

Mate Julio with Christain, Edgar Castillo, Nick Vidal, Rolie and Rolie Jnr with one for the sails for the day.

The fishing has continued to be good with plenty of tunas and big dorado in the mix, there has been good sailfish action and we have also had a steady blue marlin bite which we are expecting to continue through the summer months. ALLURE will be back in action early July fishing the moon with Rob and Bess Wilson and we have a couple of tentative bookings late July and into August. If last August is anything to go by we will be looking forward to some great blue marlin action. We will be open for business right through the summer (excluding this month, June) and have some great deals available so enquire now for prices. We want to make the most of this summer as we can and will do our best to put you onto some of the best billfishing in the world.............See you down here!

Fish Report 12th-18th May

Fishing up till now had been very slow, though it had been mentioned that things can change overnight, they did, and luckily for us we started fishing the very next day with Greg Miner and Josh Thomas from New Orleans on the 12th. The highlight of the day was Josh hooking up to a nice black marlin that came up on the flat-line teaser and engulfed the pitched mackeral bait with an incredible bite. The fish stayed down and dirty and Josh did a great job with the Black Magic gimbal and harness stand-up gear we use on-board getting the fish to come up and releasing it after a hard 25min fight.


Josh Thomas' black, pushing 350lbs.
We finished the day with the black marlin, 3 releases from 9 bites on the sailfish, and this nice dorado of around 30lbs+ for Josh Thomas as well

The following day Josh Cummings, also from New Orleans joined us while Greg went on Circle Hook for the day. The water quality had improved alot and with it the bite got better, steady action through the day saw us release 10 from 14 sails on bait and one on the fly. A late in the day double on the fly and bait saw Josh Thomas' goal of catching a sail on the fly achieved. We also caught 16 dorado to 25lbs and released a nice blue marlin for Josh Cummings that was pushing the 300lb mark on 30lb tackle that put on a spectacular series of greyhounding jumps:


Great fishing guys and congratulations on first marlin for both Josh's!!

14th May, Mickey Hines, Ricky Hammonds, Johnny Lopez and Bill Bowman from Louisiana and Elden Sorsby from Houston joined us for a day. The sailfish bite intensified although it took till after midday for us to get on to them. With just one release by midday we ended with 16 releases from 22 bites and a 25lb bull dorado. Nice job Johnny Lopez who is recovering from chemo on getting in on the mix and releasing a single and one out of a triple. On the 31ft Jupiter, Craig Johnson, Nicky Bailes and Scott McShane went out looking for grouper and snapper though the fish were there thay weren't biting. The guys ended the afternoon trolling and caught 10 dorado and a couple of sailfish
15th May and Scott McShane, Nicky Bailes and Craig Johnson joined us at the expense of Bill, Johnny and Elden who visited Antigua for the day. The sailfish bite was looking steady till a call from Ronnie Hamlin on the Capt Hook had us running to a school of spinner dolphin he had found 15NM away. 14 nice yellow-fin tuna to 40lbs was the result......thanks Ronnie. Throw in 8 from 16 sailfish bites and another awesome day on the water!

May 16th-18th. Hill, Drake and Jamie Dishman along with Drew Donalson and Clint Droody were on ALLURE for the next 3 days. The dorado were thick out there and at times tough to get away from. The sailfish bite started well though died in the afternoon with just a couple raised in the last 3 hours of the day. Still, the dorado kept the action up with 17 dorado to 50lbs and 12 sailfish from 21 bites.

Drake Dishman with a nice sailfish.

Clint Droody with one of the many big dorado caught on this trip.
The following day we only fished till just after midday, releasing 5 from 6 sails and 19 dorado to 35lb's. On our last day out we had a small blue marlin up on the bridge teaser almost immediately after putting them out, the fish did not switch to the pitched mackeral. The rest of the day was fairly slow for us with just 2 sailfish releases from 4 bites, though plenty of great light tackle action with 23 dorado to 30lbs.
More reports in a couple of weeks.......


Thanks for the marlin photo's, Josh Thomas.

Fish Report May 2nd & 3rd

Brett Johnson and Chief Tauzin were back in town this time with Josh Fink and Shanon Richard, all from Houston TX. On May 2nd there was a big body of green water that had pushed in, the best water we could find was a clean green and we had slow fishing as a result. We covered some area looking for the bite though all we caught was a 15lb dorado and we raised a sail on the bridge teaser that didn't stick around long enough to pitch a bait to. Some of the other boats inside of us worked an area very hard and released up to 4 sails a piece. Slow fishing all round.
On the 3rd we worked the inside area with no luck and decided to push out wide, the blue water was getting pushed in by a strong current from the south east and we covered alot of area hoping to find a bite. We saw more than half a dozen jumpers though nothing came up in the spread.

Chief Tauzin with a small yellowfin tuna
Late in the afternoon we found a small school of spinner dolphin that was loaded with yellowfin tunas, we spent a little more than an hour fishing the tunas and ended up with 15 yellowfin in the 20-30lb range with several pulling the hooks near the boat. We left them and got into some sails inside the eastern corner of the pocket at 37NM out. In the last 40 minutes of the day we had some good billfish action raising 8 sails, getting 7 bites and releasing 4.

Chief, Josh and Brett with plenty of sashimi and tuna steaks.....
Since the 3rd we have not been out, though catching up with boat and tackle maintenance. The reports were that the blue water had pushed in and the few boats that were fishing were getting up to 25+ bites a day for the days immediately after the 3rd, things have slowed down again with more green water pushing in though this can change overnight.
We are out again on the 11th and fish 8 days straight so expect more reports in the coming weeks. Allure will not be fishing the month of June though we will be back in business for July through the summer months and are excited about the prospects with more marlin and tunas showing up, along with sailfish and dorados.

When targeted you can catch some nice rooster fish here in the summer months as well, Allure mate Julio and angler Marcel van Leeuwen with a nice rooster in the 50lb+ range

Great Fishing through April 28th

April 26th and 28th. The Steve Schmidt group fishing out of Pacific Fins had a great time down here in Guatemala, they booked all the Pacific Fins fleet and ALLURE for 2 fishing days. We had the pleasure of fishing Steve and his friends for both days, fishing was great on Saturday 26th, we released 15 sailfish from 25 bites and a nice blue pushing 400lbs on the 50lb stand-up tackle. On the 28th fishing slowed and we worked the west side of the pocket hard looking for another blue. The guys fished well going 6 from 8 bites on the sails and we had a blue up at the end of the day that did not tease in.

April 24th, 25th. For his second trip down to Guatemala this year Dan White introduced this amazing fishery to Lonnie Lee and Robert LeBlanc. His talking up of the fishing we have here didn't put the 'kiss of death' on the bite either. The guys had a great day raising 41 sails, getting 34 bites and releasing 25, we took an hour out of the day live-baiting bonitos around a school of fish that was working bait and had a marlin come in on the short livey that didn't eat. At the end of the day we raised another small blue marlin on the bridge teaser that didn't switch to the pitched mackeral, frustrating!! Robert also caught a tagged sailfish, only the second that I have seen here in over 5 years . We cut off the tag and have returned it to the Billfish Foundation, it'll be interesting to find out the results....
(CLICK ON THE IMAGES FOR A BLOWN UP VIEW OF SHOTS)

Chris and ALLURE mate Julio with one of the first days fish.
April 20th-22nd, Allure hosted father and son team Forrest and Chris Bayer from San Jose, California for their first fishing trip to Guatemala. The pair normally fish Cabo San Lucas and were blown away by the quality of fishing they had here. On their first day the fishing was still a way out at 37NM though worth the run, the guys released 29 sailfish from 45 bites. The next day we opted to fish at the bottom of the pocket here in the deep water just 9NM off the beach as the blue water had pushed in and we hoped to get Chris his first blue marlin. The move paid off with Chris releasing a solid 400lb blue along with 14 sails and boating a 25lb dorado.

Chris Bayers first blue marlin prior to release.
The last day was a half day as the pair wanted to see the sights of Antigua Guatemala, so it was back to the bottom of the pocket where we got the bite out of a 200lb blue that unfortunately spat the hook and released 5 sailfish. Chris was into the swing of things by the second day and had the technique of bait n switch with the circle hooks we use here down to a tee missing just a couple of fish, nice job on 49 billfish releases for the trip!!

April 16th-19th. Another father and son team, this time from the East Coast and Guatemalan regulars Bob and John Merrick joined us for some very consistent fishing. It was great to fish with them again since the last time during a Father and Son Tournament a few years back. These guys are great fisherman and even though we had some testing weather conditions in the first couple of mornings they had good averages throughout releasing 76 sails. On the second morning in rough seas we got close to a 250lb blue that ate Bobs ballyhoo on the rigger, though on the resulting blistering run down sea 'chewed' through the 100lb leader that we use for sailfish on the rigger baits.....unlucky Bob.

April 13th-15th. A very 'un-seasonal for April' cold front blew through and as a result shortened the trip for the Dishman, Derrick, Roberts, Lane group. 11 sails released in the short time we did fish as the group decided to try their hand at the abundant dove hunting instead........

April 12th, the Lonsdale group started their 3 day trip with us and had a great morning missing just a few fish and being 5 from 8 inside the first 35 mins of fishing. The bite slowed down to being steady through the rest of the day with the guys releasing 16 sailfish from 30 bites.

The blue marlin bite here is starting to get very consistent and we are expecting it to continue with some multiple shot days in the mix. The sailfish bite has been very steady and May should be a great month. We have some openings in May and are taking bookings for July right through the year to capatalize on the summer blue marlin bite and of course sailfish, dorado and tunas. This is an incredible year round fishery that peaks for marlin in these summer months. We have some summer specials so enquire now at Rods and Reels Sportfishing for all the info.

Fish report, 9th April......

Allure mate, Julio, gets a wrap on a fiesty blue of around 150lbs caught on 20lb test....

April 7th-9th. Bill Nelson and Richard Weaver were back this year from Houston Tx to pick up from where they left off last year. They didn't miss a beat either, hooking all their own fish they caught 26 sailfish and a nice 30lb dorado for the trip. We strayed from a pretty good sailfish bite on the second day looking for blue marlin and went 1 from 3 over the last 2 days of fishing on blues as well as adding a few sails to the total. A bit of bad luck saw a 500lb blue breaking off and a 300lb fish pulling the hook, though on the plus side Richard caught a nice 275lb blue, his first ever. Congratulations!

April 3rd-4th. Martin Harrison and Bill Black returned with memories of an outstanding trip from last year. The fishing this year was unfortunately slow for them....still we had 14 sailfish bites and missed a blue of around 400lbs that mouthed the mackeral bait though didn't eat, too much bait in the area saw an un-aggressive bite.

March 31st-April 2nd, Bess Wilson with her Guatemalan sail:

New comers to Guatemala Rob and Bess Wilson from Houston came specifically to catch a blue marlin. We left the sailfish bite on their second day in search of one and Rob was rewarded with a blue of around 200lb's, we also raised a big blue that got hold of the teaser and would not switch to the pitched mackeral. Throw in 8 caught saifish from 14 bites and 3 dorado in their quest for marlin in 2 and half days of fishing and it was a great trip with Robert re-booking in July for the summer-time blue marlin bite......

Robs Marlin boatside....

March 30th. Andrew and Sophie Paterson with their young children Will and Jacko from Australia had a memorable day of fishing in the waters off Guatemala. Here for business they took a day out with Guatemalans Miguel and Maria Gonzalez and had a blast releasing 13 sailfish from 25 bites, pulling in lines at 2.30pm for an early return to the dock. "You don't see too many days like that in Aussie mate!!".....nice going and we hope to see them back on Allure in the near future.

March 26th-28th had Dave Gerdel, Roger Sperry, Max Weisglass and Steve Duke return to Guatemala from Florida for their best trip yet catching 58 sailfish, 6 yellow-fin tuna and 2 nice dorado in the 40lb class. The big dissapointment was Dave missing out on his blue marlin that pulled the hook just a couple of feet from the wind-on-leader touching the rod tip and mate Julio's gloved hand. Hard to take after a solid 25 minute work-out for Dave but that's fishing.....

Fishing has been generally good with the marlin showing up as they typically do in better numbers this time of year. We have opening's in May on Allure with the boat being down for the month of June. We will be back and ready for fishing in early July looking forward to what has been outstanding marlin fishing and (as usual) good sailfishing in the past. Throw in doarado and tunas and Guatemala is the premier sport-fishing location for a quick, thrilling summer-time getaway. We already have bookings for July and August and hope to make the most of these excellent blue marlin fishing months with more trips. This isn't just for conventional fishing, we are set up for the fly as well and if your goal is to get a blue on fly we'll go all out to achieve it! Don't hesitate to get in touch with the team at Rods and Reels to book the fishing experience of a life time....

FISH-REPORT MARCH 7th-20th

March 17th-20th we fished from South Carolina and Key West Boats;L-R, Fred Holseburg, Jimmy Houser,Hutch Holseburg, Roberto Garcia, Rick Driver and Scott Morehouse with Roberto's son Andre Garcia absent in this photo, though along for 3 days of fishing. On our first day out we stayed in-shore and to the west of the fleet getting into some nice water and steady action till the afternoon when things slowed down some. The guys have been down to Guatemala for 6 years now so were into it and went 9 from 15 bites, raising another 5 that teased though wouldn't switch to the bait. We also got a couple of nice 30+lb dorado.
With the bite dying out to the west we went staight out in search of spinner dolphin and yellow-fin tuna. As luck would have it we found a fair sized school just 25NM off-shore and got into some great tuna fishing for the first hour and half of the day getting 11 from 13 bites on the tunas, and a nice 28lb dorado off the spinners. Good fun and great sushimi!! On the sails the action was a little slow for us though they caught most of what we saw getting 5 from 8 bites.
Today the guys were very keen on getting into some rooster fish action so we loaded up with live-baits first thing in the morning before running just a few miles off-shore and fishing the bottom of the pocket while waiting for a better tide for the roosters. Just a couple of miles before the deep water we had a rigger bait knocked down and a nice 200+lb blue marlin for Scott Morehouse, the fish put on some great boat-side jumps and runs for the video.

Nice job Scott on his first blue marlin. The rest of the day we searched for roosters without much luck so headed off-shore in the afternoon coming accross a log holding triple tails and dorado. We dusted off the boat spear-gun, fins and mask and Scott did some spear-fishing while we live-baited around the log. He did well getting 7 nice tripletails and a shot at a dorado that peirced, though didn't hold. We went back into the beach late in the afternoon and had a rooster bite on a live-bait that unfortunately broke off....
Last day out it was back looking for sails, the bite was 34NM off-shore and a little slow, though the guys fished very well getting 7 from 9 bites and a beauty of a 50lb+ dorado for Rick Driver. We pulled lines early to try the beach again for roosters with little luck. Still a good trip with plenty of different species on the board....unfortunately minus the elusive rooster fish. We had a good time fishing with the South Carolina boys and promise a rooster fish next time round...........

Rick Driver with his big dorado/ mahi mahi
14th-17th Todd and Steph Muca, John and Tracey Cod, Mike and Leanne Sledge joined Hill and Donelle Dishman for 3 days of Guatemala fishing and sight-seeing. The girls stayed in Antigua the first day shopping and sight-seeing in the pre-Easter bustle of Antigua while the guys honed their skills on the water. As always, the first day is all learning so a few sailfish losses is expected, though losing a rod overboard attached to a sailfish isn't.......enough said.......19 raised, 15 bites and 6 released (unattached).
15th. We had the whole group onboard for the second day, looking for better action a little further off-shore. The morning started fairly slow with just 4 releases until just before 1.00PM when we found some fish up the western side of the pocket. Between 1.00 and 3.00PM we had good steady action including 4 doubles in the 14 releases for the two hours of fishing. The guys new to it picked it up very well, missing just a few fish today with 18 from 26 bites from the 35 raises and a nice dorado of around 25lb's.
16th. Today there were a few fuzzy heads on board due to a stiff HD Rum Punch Special from the previous night, and it took the blame as the percentages slipped away from them a little. The day started and finished in a flurry with a triple to start and several doubles at the end to help to the total. Though without the girls onboard and the fuzzy heads there were a few misses and we slipped below the 50% ratio, it was still a great day to finish the trip with 43 sails raised, 36 bites and 17 releases and a couple of nice dorado.
Previous to this we had the Johnson/Long group of David (Mr Johnson), Craig, Clayton, Brett and Daniel Johnson with Earle (Mr Long), Forrest and Bennett Long mixing it up and fishing both the 31ft Jupiter and Allure. Day one on Allure we went 17 from 28 bites while the Jupiter got on to a late afternoon bite getting 20 from 29 bites and missing a blue of around 200lbs. Day 2 the bite moved to the west a little and further off-shore, we had steady action all through the day, though it took the Long brothers a little time getting used to the circle hooks we use here and the importance of a smooth, drag free drop back and NOT setting the hook. Plenty of practice helps it all come together in the end though and we had plenty of practice today going 12 from 31 bites from the 36 sailfish raised, on the Jupiter the crew fishing with Capt Marvin went 10 from 18 bites. A small front moved through on our last day out with the group and we went east today, making for an uncomfortable ride out it paid off as the bite to the west died. The weather laid down to nice conditions by midday and a call from Cpt Haole on Finest Kind 10NM to the east of use got us into the fish. Today it all came together for the crew on Allure getting 14 from 22 bites and 2 very nice 30lb dorado. the Long brothers fished well and Mr Johnson Snr and Mr Long Snr showed the boys how it's done going 100% for the day. The Jupiter had about the same action getting 12 releases from 20 bites to finish with good averages every day out. A great 3 days of fishing for the group and plenty learnt on how to use circle hooks effectively.

Exceptional fishing through March 2nd

Since the last fish report (14th Feb) through to the 25th the bait stuck around. We pretty much fished it from the west all the way accross the bottom of the pocket and inshore to the east, it was moving a couple of miles to the east every day and the current picked up 25th and with it the bait moved out. It was an incredible bite, and wherever the shearwaters were picking and diving there would be wads of bait and sails cutting though feeding and balling the bait up. The mornings were a bit slow though late afternoon with the breeze chopping up the water the fish turned on and bit very aggressively. On the 23rd there was an exceptional late afternoon bite which we were a few miles off-shore of and missed out on, though the 31ft Jupiter released 22 sails in the last 2 hours of the day including a quad and three triples. We were releasing 20 to 30+ sails daily and getting into some nice dorado as well for the whole time we fished that body of fish and bait.
On the 27th we fished all the way from Old Blighty (England) Tim and Catherine Peat from Hampshire and Ted and Muffy Maltby from Bath. The couples are very keen flyfisher's having travelled some of the worlds hot-spots for salmon, bonefish, permit etc. They had been skunked on a previous attempt at billfish on the fly in another sailfish 'hotspot' so decided on Guatemala to fulfill their goal. On the first day out the fish were out wide to the west at 40NM, we had heard reports of lazy fish that were hard to tease so we trolled to the east where we found a good bite with every other fish seeming to tease well. The group fished well and if it wasn't for 3 popped tippets while going for doubles the ratio would have been alot better. Still it was a good introduction with 36 sails being raised and releasing 6 from 12 bites all on the fly.

Tim Peat with one of the first days fly caught sailfish.
On the second day out, the 28th, we had a cold front push through with a stiff east nor easter blowing up to 20+knts and 4-6 ft seas. We ran up the beach to the east and then straight out where we could troll in relative comfort down-sea. It was the right move and we had good steady action all day with the afternoon really heating up and the fish biting the fly very aggressively. In the morning it was a little tough in the conditions and Muffy spent just under an hour on a big stubborn sail with-out giving up before getting the release. Good work Muffy...It was a great day with 44 sails raised, 19 bites and 10 releases. They all fished well and a double late in the day really had the adrenaline levels up with Teds fish going beserk jumping accross Tims, quick thinking saw the lines uncrossed and the release of both.

On the groups last day out we started where we had finished the day before to find colder, green water. After spending most of the morning searching we ended with the fleet 40NM out again and into some very funky fish that would tease most of the way in before fading, or all the way in only to eye-ball the fly. It was frustrating stuff raising 36 sails of which only 7 bit the fly and a bit of bad luck saw us releasing just 2 of those. The highlight of the day was Muffy Maltby getting on to a horse of a sail, a nice one of around 120+lbs, excellent work. We had alot of fun fishing with Peat/Maltby group and hope to see them back here in the not-too-distant future....

Muffy Maltby with her big fly caught fish.

On the 1st March we saw the return of Guatemala regulars John Theuerkauf and Zac Brice, this time bringing along billfish newcomer Steve Glanell. We ran to where we had seen alot of fish the previous day, and now fishing the baits had high expectations. The fish however did a disappearing act on us and on top of that I couldn't seem to run over the ones that were left. We didn't see alot so it was tough to shake the rust off seeing it had been a year since the guys had baited billfish. Still we raised 16 getting 4 from 10 bites and a nice dorado. The next day we were on to them and had good action right through the day at around 25NM off the breakwall. It took till the afternoon for the averages to start swinging around, though by the days end they were all back into it and fishing well releasing 16 from 33 bites and getting 47 fish into the spread. We're looking forward to seeing you guys back down here next year......