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......