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.

FISHING through MAY 16th, '09

Between May 2nd till now the fishing has been up and down with the sails biting one day and tough to find the next. There has been a huge body of school sized mahi's move in though and with them blue marlin hot on their tails. We have seen some incredible sights with hundreds of small mahi's fleeing feeding blues, the surface alive with jumping mahi-mahi. As a result there have been plenty of blue marlin seen in the spread out there though some finiky fish with all the bait around. If it was fillet's you were after it was like a supermarket out there and boats could load up with mahi-mahi without scatching the surface of what was available...



Jack Pitt was aboard with friends Dale and Christine Love for 2 days of fishing on the weekend May 15th and 16th. Plenty of blue water out there though a little slow, before lunch we raised just 2 sails that weren't interested in the baits. After lunch out on the edge we found some bait and an area that looked promising. Soon after we had a double up in the spread, a sailfish on the short teaser and a fiesty blue on the flat line teaser, keeping him off the Hot Breakfast teaser was tough and he switched to the pitched mackeral in no time. Meanwhile on the right short we got a bite out of the sail as well though missed him, Dale Love was on the rod with the blue and after a tough fight got the release on the 50lb stand-up gear. Congratulations Dale on his first ever billfish, a blue marlin of around 250lbs!! In the same area Christine and Jack released their first sailfish later in the afternoon. Congratulations to them both.
The next day Christine spent in Antigua while Jack and Dale were aboard the 31ft Jupiter for the day. It was tough for everyone out there....we raised a sailfish and had a mahi bite though caught neither despite covering a large area. It doesn't happen often, though sometimes it can happen.....The dreaded skunking. Still a great first time had in Guatemala by this group and we are looking forward to their return.



May 10th-11th. Father and son group Hill and Brett Dishman, Chris and Alan King, Clay and Claibourne Morris all joined us for a couple of days aboard ALLURE. For the 2 days of fishing we were the only boat in the fleet out there which can make things tough finding the fish. On the 10th we got into them fairly early and everyone got into the action with some great fishing as well with 7 releases from 9 bites on the sails, we also boated a dozen mahi mahi to about 15lbs and as we were clearing lines at the end of the day a blue marlin in the 200-250lb class came in and ate a couple of baits, unfortunately we missed him both times.
Going back to the same area on the 11th and fishing it hard we came up empty though shortly after lunch about 9NM to the east in the deep water we found some life with free-jumpers and bait marked on the sounder. Soon after we were into them and in the late afternoon released another 7 sailfish from 11 bites, again the last fish of the day was a blue marlin that Brett had solidly hooked up to. Some bad luck saw the line break as we were chasing him down..... Add 7 mahi's to the mix and it was an action filled day with the high energy crew having a great time, back on land as well.....


L-R Alan King, Brett Dishman, Chris King, Hill Dishman, Claiborne and Clay Morris at the end of the day.

May 8th and 9th, The first father and son team of the week, Jamie and Jim Dishman along with good friends Clint and Sam Droody were back in Guatemala. First time for the sons though Jamie is an old hand and it was great to see Clint back in Guate. First day out we were west of all the schooly mahi's trying to find the sails, a bit slow though with 3 releases from 5 bites and 3 mahi-mahi to around 15lbs. The next day out to the east we were in amongst the school sized dorado, for a few parts of the day we were in them thick catching them on the light tackle with top waters, alot of fun and good sport. No marlin in the spread though we raised 5 sails and caught 3 out of 4 bites. On the dorado we boated 47 up to 20lb size, the guys going home with a soft cooler bag full of fillets on ice. Nice going, nothing better than fresh mahi!


Jim and Jamie Dishman, Clint and Sam Droody with a small Pacific sail.

May 3rd and 4th John and Joanne Kolius were down for 2 days of fishing and 4 nights on the coast after winning the highest bid in the Houston Big Game Club fund raising auction. The trip was donated by ALLURE owners Craig Johnson and Hill Dishman for one day aboard ALLURE and all accomodations with the 2nd day of fishing donated by JW 'Bones' on MOJO. Inside the first hour fishing aboard ALLURE we had 2 blues up in the spread, the first a big fish that came up on the flat, and moved through the spread though did not eat the pitched mackeral. The second bit though pulled the hook shortly after showing her size. For the rest of the day we released 2 sails from 5 bites. The next day on MOJO their luck changed with John hooking a nice blue in the 300lb class on the pitched mackeral bait while Joanne did the rod work and scored her first blue marlin release, congratulations Joanne!! They raised another blue that did not bite and released one sail for the rest of the day. On ALLURE we raised 2 blues that didn't bite, released one sail and had some incredible mahi action with around 58 mahi's to 30lbs. There were hundreds of dorados under a floating piece of flexi drainage pipe out there and several times today the surface was alive with hundreds of them greyhounding away from feeding marlin.

On the 2nd we had from Guatemala City Luis Snr, Luis Jnr, Ana Maria and Nicky for one day. With the interest being mainly in taking home food we went looking for mahi-mahi. The first fish in the spread was a blue marlin of around 350lbs, a nice one that came under the rigger bait, switched to the other side and finally refused the pitched maceral bait. Frustrating! For the rest of the day the crew wore themsleves out boating 32 mahi mahi and they were back at the dock by 3PM with a large bag of fillets to take home.

Over this period there were alot of marlin seen and caught by the fleet, they are still out there even though the last few days were on the slow side. Weather is no problem with the majority of the days being clear with the chance of rain early and late. Typically here in Guatemala we have a season called the Canicula in July through August and September of very settled weather and a great opportunity to try for blue marlin, sailfish, at very competitive prices, the waters a alive with mahi-mahi and the tunas are out wide as well, good fishing all round!!! We are out again next week so more reports to follow. Contact Rods and Reels for any info required.

Fishing, April 15th-18th

El Jefe Craig Johnson flew in on the 15th and met us in the afternoon for a late departure on ALLURE with Richard Bowman. With the fishing out on the edge we didn't get lines in till after 4PM though made the most of the last 2 hours of the day releasing 4 out of 7 sailfish and boating a nice mahi-mahi. We tried some night time trolling for swordies with no luck though it was good to get the lines in on the change of light 40NM out. Dissapointingly the morning bite was slow with just a handful of releases, though we found some fish further up the edge at around 1100 and released 15 sails in the last 2 hours of fishing before heading back to the dock. Craig was on great form missing just one fish all day helping the great numbers of 21 sails released from 27 bites and a definite hot-spot to return to the following day.
Hill Dishman joined Craig the next day for another great day on the water. There were sails cutting the surface and feeding on bait everywhere, with all the bait around it actually made things a little tougher getting the fish to bite agressively though we still did well releasing 17 from 32 bites.
17th-18th Shawn Steffen, Mike Linden, Dave Ramage, Sam Linden, Greg Heller and Brad Sears joined us on ALLURE and the Jupiter for a couple of days of fishing. Things changed out there today with the fish pushing off-shore with the current and going off the bite. We made the most of what was on offer working away from the fleet to the east and releasing 9 from 12 bites. The Jupiter had a good day as well going 3 from 6 bites.



With the current pushing off and the bite slowing we headed east on the 18th looking for a new bite. Today was tough for us on ALLURE releasing 3 from 5 bites and boating a couple of nice mahi's. Hill Dishman on the Jupiter fishing with Mike and Sam Linden were the top boat of the fleet today finding some fish on the side of the pocket and making the most of their day releasing 11 from 15 bites, great day!!
More reports in the next few days with all the weekends in May booked we are hoping to get into some good fishing. The rainy season typically produces good marlin fishing, sailfish are here year round and the yellow fin tuna and mahi-mahi bite normally picks up as well. If you have nay questions get in touch with us, we have some great special rates and the rainy season here in Guatemala is not bad with most days clear. If you have any goals, marlin on the fly or light tackle??? We'll do our best to get you on 'em!!!


Thanks for the great shots Dan Wheat, taken aboard ALLURE.

Fish Report through April 9th '09

The bite mid March through early April has been great here in Guatemala with the boats fishing baits late in the month and the first few days of April having big days releasing up to 50+ sails in a day and averaging around 30. The boats fishing the fly were having some good days too though the fish were very tough to tease all the way to the back of the boat, with the amount of bait out there the fish were just not as aggressive as you’d like to see them when casting the fly. Still, it has been good fishing all ‘round since the last report and this looks likely to continue through the rest of April.

Mike and Mona, Melba and Ronnie.
On ALLURE from April 7th-9th we had a great time fishing with Mike and Mona Blake from New Orleans and Melba and Ronnie Murphy from Houston, the bite was steady and the drinks were cold equaling 3 great days on the water with plenty of laughs. The 7th was our first day out for a couple of days and it took a little while to get a feel of what was going on out there. Meaning……: we had a slow morning. By 2 PM we had 5 sailfish releases on the board from 7 bites, then, getting into the bite where the majority of the fleet was we started getting into them releasing 13 sails in the last hour and a half of fishing time making up the days total of 18 from 25 bites. Mona and Melba caught 4 double headers in the last hour of fishing today really getting into it with plenty of enthusiasm. The next day blew stiff from the ENE making conditions a little tough for all on board, though we still got into double figures releasing 10 from 19 bites on the sails, Mike boated a nice 35lb yellowfin tuna and Ronnie got into the action boating a nice mahi from the same group of spinner dolphin that we got the tuna off.

The next day the weather settled making perfect conditions for the last day out. Mona and Melba moved up another gear today releasing all 17 sails from 26 bites while Mike and Ronnie yelled instructions from various (seated) positions while supping freshly blended lime margaritas. Another flurry in the afternoon helped the girls release a total of 8 double headers of the 9 we had in 3 days of fishing with Mona’s personal total hitting 23, and 18 to Melba…..nice going girls!!

Melba and Mona with one of the 8 double headers....

Hill Dishman fished the 31’ Jupiter for two days, 7th and 8th releasing 17 sails the first day out and 11 on the 8th, he also raised another blue marlin making it the 4th blue marlin in as many days fishing on Jupiter, the fish teased in close to the boat though didn’t switch to the pitched mackerel.

April 3rd and 4th Steve Goodchild introduced Guatemala’s fishery to Tim Leonard, Greg Lusk, Gerald Lusk, Tom Harfield and Robert Dame, all from Houston. Steve has fished down here several times now and hoped he hadn’t talked it up too much with the guys expecting more than could be delivered……No worries though, on their first day out they fished with Capt Tyson aboard Strike Zone and had a good introduction releasing 6 sails from 8 bites. Aboard ALLURE the next day we went solo out to the west, the moved seemed to pay off as we got into steady action including a quadruple hook up, 3 sailfish and a nice 45lb mahi mahi. We released the sails and then concentrated on getting ‘lunch’ boated.

Gerald Lusk and lunch..
We ended the day with 16 releases from 32 bites. 10-15NM to the east of us the fleet saw some good action also with the boats releasing up to 30 sails, we got into where they were at the end of the day though the bite seemed to have slowed down, the move not paying off for us.

MARCH 29th-APRIL 3rd ON THE FLY

Eric Wright and a big fly caught sail.
Cor blimey…..All the way from London, England, Eric Wright and Steve Massenhove joined us on ALLURE for 6 days of fly fishing. The guys were experienced freshwater fly fishermen though absolute first timers at billfishing, they came out specifically to learn what it took to catch big blue-water fish on the fly. The crew aboard ALLURE had been looking forward to this trip for a while as we hadn’t done many fly charters this year and there is nothing like the thrill and team work involved in getting the bite out of well teased billfish on the fly. Also with a 6 day charter we knew the chances of getting into some good fishing for the guys were better. Cammy Sigler sorted Eric out with a Cam Sigler 14wt fly rod coupled with a Tibor Pacific reel before the trip while Steve used our top quality gear on board, a Cam Sigler 14wt rod coupled with a Billy Pate Bluefin reel. After a briefing on the morning of day one we got off to a flyer with first Eric, then soon after Steve releasing their first sailfish on the fly from their first bites, a perfect start! The day slowed down from there on in with the fish raised very lethargic till later in the afternoon when they turned on again. We ended up with 13 sails raised into the spread, 5 of those biting the fly and releasing 3. Day two we ran further off-shore where the Sheeder brothers had found some good action the previous day to the west, we had steady action all day raising 20 sails, and Eric and Steve continued on their good form, doing everything right and releasing 5 sails from 8 bites. There were some big fish tough fish in the mix today including these two fatties pictured.

We ran back out to the same area for day 3 though it seemed even more difficult for those of us on the fly today, the sails were very tough to tease in. The guys on baits were doing well though most of the fish we saw would peel off half way in or come up and whack the teaser once and disappear. Near the end of the day we had only 1 release so we tried to the west trolling down the edge, with just 20 mins left in the day before having to run in we raised a hot fish for Eric and got a great bite out of it, after getting the fish boatside and removing the fly the teasers were out again, soon after another hot fish came into the spread and this time Steve laid out a good cast, got the bite and struck well for a good hook-set. We released his fish and in extra time had a double of hot fish in the spread, Eric cast and set perfectly against the bite, fish on, meanwhile mate Julio was keeping the second fish hot on the teaser with the boat out of gear while Steve cast the second fly for an instantaneous aggressive bite. With both fish running in different directions it took a while though we ended the day with a double release on the fly. 19 raises 8 bites and 5 releases with 4 of those coming in the last 20 mins of the day.
Day 4 in the hope of finding some good aggressive fish on the teasers we went further to the west, we started the day breaking out the 12 wt fly rod and catching 6 mahi mahi off some flotsam, good fun and good eating. When we got into the sails later in the morning the fish we saw did tease in a little better though the bites were not great and hard to convert into solid hook-ups. 21 sails raised today 11 bites and 4 releases as well as another double for the guys who were becoming more familiar, aware and better as the trip went on. With just a couple of days left we kept up the talk of a couple of goals set at the start of the trip, 10 releases in a day and a blue marlin on the fly. The previous day the guys on baits had an excellent day with some big numbers further to east off the edge, we worked this area hard trying for 10 releases, we raised 31 had 11 bites and the guys did everything right releasing 7. Unfortunately we jumped off one of a double and had some bad luck on another. Either way, a great day on the fly. On our last day out Eric started the day perfectly, with a release from our first bite, we raised another 2 fish missing one on the bite. Later in the morning the fish we had been waiting for came up on our long flat teaser, the blue marlin teased in aggressively and in no time mate Julio had the teased the fish in, the boat was knocked out of gear and Steve cast the fly. The fish turned and came up for a perfect bite from left to right, Steve struck against the bite and it was on. After the initial fireworks and the 20lb tippet still holding together we knew we were in for a chance, Steve had learnt enough and when the fish peeled off deep into the spectra backing the drag was backed off. When things settled down he put the heat on palming the reel and with short pumps unsettling the fish. Still this was one tough customer, we pulled different angles on the fish and it came up 8 times during the fight, 6 of these times jumping and head shaking, amazingly the hooks held and the tippet remained intact, every time we got near the fish on the surface it just pulled away diving deep and into the backing again. With the fish hooked at about 1110 and Steve hitting different stages of exhaustion during the heat of the day he held tough and pumped the fish up for the last time at around 1450 to get it boatside. 3 ½ hours on the end of the rod with a big tough fish is something else and Steve was elated when he finally beat the blue of a good 250++lbs. From a novice to achieving one of (if not the) the pinnacles in blue water flyfishing it was a great way to finish the trip. Eric’s only regret was that he didn’t book 10 days instead of the 6……With 25 sails released from 45 bites on the fly, 1 blue marlin and a few mahi mahi it was a helluva introduction to blue water flyfishing, great job to the guys and we hope to see them back next year.

Eric and Steve with blue marlin release flag on the fly.

27th-28th March Hal Boggs organized a 2 day trip for Glen Mericle and Joe Barnwell, in 2 days of fishing we released 14 sailfish from 24 bites. By the end of the trip they were hooking their own fish and this helped contribute to a few doubles and a triple hook up at the end of the second day. Nice job and a good introduction to pitch baiting to billfish!

23rd-25th March, first day out Heather Rose, and father and daughter team Bill and Rachel Long joined us on ALLURE, it was a bit testing today with another stiff ENE wind making conditions a little tough on everyone in the morning, the girls fished well with 8 from 14 bites and 3 mahi’s. The big disappointment was early in the day with a sailfish hot on the short teaser and another sail coming up on the rigger bait then seeing a nice sized blue marlin crash the flat teaser, with all hands on deck trying to bait sailfish the marlin got a hold of the teaser and disappeared before we could get to the teaser rod…..On day 2 Nate McAllistar and Ashley Erekson joined us, they did everything right releasing 12 sails from 15 bites, we also missed a blue of about 250lbs and landed a nice mahi. On the groups last day out we live baited for a few hours trying for a blue, while pulling a live bonito around a school of spinner dolphin the spinners suddenly panicked and speed off in the opposite direction to where they were coming from. We soon saw why when a group of about 8 false killer whales chased the back corner trying to split the group. We looked on though flipper got away…….this time, still, it was sight to see! We got back to trolling later in the day and released 7 sails from 10 bites, and ironically soon after quitting the live baiting raised a blue on the Joe Yee Super Plunger and got the bite on the pitched mackerel though our bad blue marlin luck continued for this group with the hook pulling……

As April moves on the blue marlin bite should get better and the sails as always consitently biting well. If anyone wants to target blue marlin on conventoinal light or heavy tackle we have all the gear on board. The rainy season starts late May and can mean some off-shore squalls though nothing too bad with most of the rain falling in the late afternoon and evening. Get in touch for further info with Rods and Reels.

SPRING BREAK, MARCH '09

Pat and Dan with Clay and Julio

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

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


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

JOHNSON GROUP SPRING BREAK '09

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

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

Mahi mahi

Sailfish.

And the perfect sized blue marlin for Hastings.

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

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

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

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

Fish Report to March 15th

Matthew Jeter and his first billfish.

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

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

Harry Wise fighting one of his many saifish...


.....and the results.

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

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

Don's marlin....

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

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