Fish Report January 27th

MARLIN START BITING!!


Rick Leeth, Mike Bromles, Benjamin and Ricardo Soler with two blue marlin flags flying.

It was predicted that the marlin would start biting with the amount raised in the past few weeks and it seems they have started. On our last day out we released 2 blues on ALLURE with another 3 blues released amongst the fleet. Ronnie Hamlin on FINEST KIND got a black early in the day and missed the slam with a blue at the end of the day 'chewing' through the leader on the 30lb gear. Yesterday we had the day in though the marlin bite continued with visiting private boat 'Mojo' releasing 2 out of 4 bites all around a log loaded with bait. There were a few more flags flying on the dock as well.
Here is how our week was on ALLURE with the Rick Leeth group joining together from Florida, Louisiana and Seattle consisting of Rick Leeth, Mike Bromles and father and son Ricardo and Benjamin Soler.
On the 23rd it was a matter of looking for the fish as the bite inshore had died off, we trolled the deep water to the east and offshore for a slowish start to the day, we did raise a marlin that hit our short teaser and dissapeared just as quickly and released one sail and boated a 20lb mahi before lunch. In the afternoon we got into some nice looking water and into the sailfish as well, with the last 2 hours of the day being steady action and producing 12 bites, at the end of the day we had released 10 from 15 bites.
The following day we saw more fish though we had a tough time hooking them! We rasied 26 sails today, got 21 of them to bite and released 9 of those, not the best averages though that's the way it is sometimes. There were plenty of big mahi-mahi around today and we boated 4 nice ones up to 30lb.
On the group's last day out the wind picked up from the north east making conditions a little sloppy. We ran to the bottom eastern corner of the pocket and within seconds of putting the baits out a mahi-mahi ate the right long, we missed it and immediatley had a big fish bite the left long, Mike Bromles came tight and he was into a nice 220lb blue marlin that went ballistic on the first run tearing up the ocean down sea. Mike did a helluva job on the 30lb outfit and in testing conditions we released the fish after a hard 25min fight. What a way to start the day!! Hearing of some more marlin action in the area from a few other boats we concentrated our efforts here despite the majority of the fleet being in a pretty good sailfish bite 12NM off-shore of us. It paid off later in the morning with another blue all over the short teaser that switched to the pitched mackeral perfectly and birthday boy Benjamin Soler was into a solid 250lb blue!! Later in the day we eventually got into the sailfish bite and had steady action in the afternoon releasing 11 sails from 18 bites and 5 big mahi-mahi adding to the 2 blue marlin. What a great way to finish off a great trip here in Guatemala! The guy's are already planning their trip back here next year and we are looking forward to it.
The boats that were into the sailfish bite early offshore of us had a great day with up to 33 releases, though the boats that put the effort in on the inside eastern corner of the pocket were rewarded with marlin. Great fishing all round!
This week we have the infamous "NO SANCOCHO SAILFISH SHOOTOUT" coming to town, there are a record 12 teams in the event this year so be sure to check out the reports next week.

GREAT FISHING CONTINUES THROUGH JAN 19TH

January continues to be a great month here in Guatemala with boats releasing 15-35 sails a day fairly consistently from the last report through to the 19th. There have been marlin and plenty of big mahi-mahi in the mix too making for action filled days here off the Guatemalan coast.

On ALLURE we had a couple of days in before getting back out into the action on January the 16th with Stallion Oilfield Services client Greg Mitschke along with SOFS COO Hill Dishman and from Sales Chief Tauzin. With reports of 2 bodies of fish offshore, one at just 12NM and the other at 30NM we opted to head straight out to around 25NM before putting them out. It turned out to be the right decision as the bite through out the day out-wide was very steady, the fish were biting a little funky though we released 3 out of a possible 4 triple headers to add to the 25 releases from 46 bites. Just after midday we had a very aggressive 200lb+ blue marlin all over the short teaser which resulted in a great bite on the pitched mackeral and Greg Mitschke got the release on this tough fish strapped into the 50lb stand-up gear. It was Greg's first day off-shore billfishing and what an introduction, landing a couple of big mahi's a bunch of sailfish and the blue marlin!


The following day the group headed out on the 31ft Jupiter with Capt Hill Dishman at the helm, a bit of a stiff ENE wind made conditions a little sloppy and he opted on staying in close for the first half of the day getting 9 releases before 1030. Conditions let up as the day got on so it was decided to push off-shore with the fleet. Another great day on the water returning at the end of the day with better averages and 16 releases from 21 bites as well as a couple more big mahi-mahi. Greg had the pitch-baiting techniques down by the end of his trip here which is what Guatemala is all about, getting enough shots at fish to be able to learn a bunch in a short time!

Greg Mitschke with a BIG sailfish aboard the Jupiter.

The 18th we had the Bowman family aboard ALLURE with Bill and Brenda Bowman fishing with brother Richard. Staying in Antigua the previous night we had a late start leaving the dock at around 1000, with the blue water pushing right in we put them out early hoping for a marlin in the deep water along the western edge of the pocket. It was slow going though and it wasn't till we got out near the fleet about 22NM off the breakwall that we started getting into the action. Releasing our first sail just before midday it was a very steady afternoon bite getting 19 releases from 27 bites and one big bull mahi-mahi. Great fishing by the trio esp Brenda who really handed it to them!
We were back out the following day on the 19th for a full day on the water, the bite really slowed down so we trolled down to the west looking for the main body of fish, it turned up empty though and we headed back to where the fleet was 'picking' at them. We ended with 9 releases from 17 bites and a big marlin on the short bridge teaser that had the adrenaline levels pumped, though the big fish refused the pitched mackeral bait. It seemed to be happening a bit over the last couple of days with plenty of marlin raised amongst the fleet on the teasers though few fish switching to the bait, or fading back before a bait could even be pitched! Still there are definitely a few around and we are waiting for them to turn on. The water is beautiful blue and there is a bunch of bait out there so we are expecting the fishing to remain good. More reports next week.....

ALLURE in the action on typical Guatemalan seas.....flat calm. Thanks for the shot Chris Starrs

INCREDIBLE FISHING TO 10TH JAN

We just finished an incredible week of fishing here in Guatemala with anglers on ALLURE releasing 198 billfish in the past 6 days, taking the total for 2009 to 250 releases in the first 10 days of the year!
All the boats out there got into the bite with the guys on fly releasing up to 29 in a single day early on in the bite before the fish started to get finiky on the teasers later on in the week.
It all started on Monday 5th with Team Wyoming coming into town consisting of Thomas Stephenson, John Kennedy and Dan Scott along with his grandson Jeremy Scott. These guys are marlin fisherman from way back with Tom, John and Dan competing in the past 16 Bisbee Black and Blue Tournaments. Things are a little different when it comes to sailfishing however, especially the way we fish here with teasers, pitch baits and trolled baits all rigged with circle hooks. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but these guys picked up the technique of 'dropping back' in no time. Hooking all their own fish they returned some great numbers with 30 releases from 48 bites the first day out and a couple of nice dorado. Knowing where the bite was the following day we were straight into it and the guys did a great job with doubles, triples, quads and general mayhem adding to the 51 sailfish releases from 74 bites. On the 7th they had a lay day staying in Antigua for the day checking out the sites and resting up. They were back on the 8th for their last day aboard ALLURE and back into the bite, we started off a little rusty as things learnt in the first couple of days seemed to be forgotten though the averages swung around later in the day with 41 releases from 67 bites. What a great 3 days of fishing with 122 releases!! Nice going Team Wyoming, the crew on ALLURE had a blast fishing with you guys and we hope to see you again soon.

TEAM WYOMING, L-R, DAN SCOTT, JEREMY SCOTT, (Mate JULIO), TOM STEPHENSON, JOHN KENNEDY, Capt KIWI and Mate ALEX.

HBO's TEAM 'BIG LOVE' COMES TO GUATEMALA
On the 7th we hosted the team from HBO's hit show 'BIG LOVE' on ALLURE consisting of the shows writers Mark Olsen and Will Sheffer with the production team of Peter Friedlander, Bernie Caulfeild and David Knoller. The crew were in Guatemala celebrating the completion of filming the 3rd season of HBO's biggest show on TV. In the country for a week they finished up their trip with a day of offshore fishing with us aboard ALLURE. Because of the busy schedule and staying in Antigua we left the dock a little later than normal at 9AM though it wasn't long before we were into the fish. They all got into multiple sailfish releases and were amazed at the non-stop action here.

Equipo 'Amor Grande'From L-R: David, Peter, Bernie, Mark and Will with ALLURE mates and a big Guatemalan sailfish before release.

Before lunch and getting into the thick of the bite while making the turn on a hooked sailfish we got the bite out of a 200lb black marlin on the rigger bait on the 30lb tackle. A sailfish, marlin double!! Mark Olsen was hooked up to the sailfish and Peter Friedlander was into the black, we released the sailfish and then concentrated on the black marlin which put up a great series of jumps and fought hard on the light tackle. Peter did an excellent job on the rod, as these fish can be tough customers when they go down, and got the release in about 20 mins. Congratulations on a great fish Peter!

Mate Julio gets ready to take a wrap on Peter Friedlanders est 200lb black marlin.

We left the sailfish bite early in the afternoon a ran to the drop off at the bottom of the pocket and along the western edge looking for a blue marlin to complete the slam, unfortunately without any luck. Worth a try though and we ended the day with 21 sailfish releases and a black marlin. Nice going 'EQUIPO AMOR GRANDE'! We hope to see you all back here in Guatemala soon.

Jan 9th and 10th we hosted Jamie Dishman and Steve Fischer from Houston for the last couple of days of the week. The fishing started off hot in the morning as the ENE wind kicked up and stayed on till midday when things got a bit slower. This was Steve's introduction to off-shore fishing and I think he is now spoilt for life with some amazing action witnessed. You can learn alot in a short time when the bites are coming thick and fast and Steve picked up the technique of how to use circle hooks quickly. Jamie is a Guatemalan veteran and the guys retruned the great numbers of 48 releases from 70 bites on their first day out!

A typically big sail takes to the air. Thanks for the shot Steve!

On their last day out we changed to the fly and had a hard time teasing the fish to the back of the boat as the bite slowed and moved offshore and to the west. Still we raised 29 sails into the spread and one marlin which we pitched the mackeral to and unfortunately missed. Of the 29 sails we raised for the day 11 did bite the fly and we released 6 of those.

Steve Fischer with another big Guatemalan sailfish




On the way home we encountered this small whale shark as well as seeing a couple of whales breaching. The amount of life out there this past week has been amazing, we also witnessed an est 500lb marlin chasing down a big 30lb bull mah-mahi to exhaustion before engulfing it....what a sight!
We have some openings in February, a couple of days in March and through into April. To come and get into the action get in touch with the team at Rods and Reels Sportfishing Adventures for a personalised package.

Fishing Report – Guatemala (Jan/2009)

Marlin fishing remained strong throughout December and the waters are filled with sailfish and dorado.

Capt. Mike Genoun and his wife Leah visited Guatemala for their first time. Mike is founder and editor of Florida Sportfishing magazine. Fishing aboard Hooked Up, with Capt. Nestor, they started fast with a 350lb blue marlin and 17 sailfish on their first day out! Their second day continued hot with more sailfish and they added 15 dorado between 20 and 35 lbs. Their final day they raised 2 more blues, Mike hooked one and released a nice 250 lb marlin and added more sails and dorado.

Bill O`Keefe and family arrived on December 26th to fish aboard his boat Fishy Business, with Capt. Tito, and in 3 days raised over 100 sails, releasing 60. They also raised several blue marlin and caught boat loads of dorado.

The bite continued to be good as the New Year rolled in. Captain Haron Valdez aboard the Captain Hook, raised 25 sails in the first three days of the year and went 1 for 3 on blue marlin. The group also caught quite a few yellow fin tuna and dorado, making for some great meals!

The fishing in Guatemala is truly second to none. Since the early 90’s our Captains have averaged 15 to 20 sailfish bites per day. This is about 3 times the averages seen Costa Rica for comparison. Every now and then we have a day that is just hard to believe and yesterday was a prime example, with several boats raising over 80 sails and catching over 50. This is the kind of action that makes Guatemala legendary for billfishing.

And if the fishing action is not enough to keep you entertained, how about some whale watching! Just offshore we have been watching numerous humpback and grey whales passing through on their way north. We have spotted several recent births and our clients have been photographing and filming the whales. We are looking forward to some great footage and will be placing photos and video on the website soon.

We are in the prime of our season right now and the weather and fishing action should be outstanding for the next few months period.

Posted By Pacific Fins, Guatemala Jan/2009

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

Fishing Report – Guatemala (Jan/2009)

Marlin fishing remained strong throughout December and the waters are filled with sailfish and dorado.

Capt. Mike Genoun and his wife Leah visited Guatemala for their first time. Mike is founder and editor of Florida Sportfishing magazine. Fishing aboard Hooked Up, with Capt. Nestor, they started fast with a 350lb blue marlin and 17 sailfish on their first day out! Their second day continued hot with more sailfish and they added 15 dorado between 20 and 35 lbs. Their final day they raised 2 more blues, Mike hooked one and released a nice 250 lb marlin and added more sails and dorado.

Bill O`Keefe and family arrived on December 26th to fish aboard his boat Fishy Business, with Capt. Tito, and in 3 days raised over 100 sails, releasing 60. They also raised several blue marlin and caught boat loads of dorado.

The bite continued to be good as the New Year rolled in. Captain Haron Valdez aboard the Captain Hook, raised 25 sails in the first three days of the year and went 1 for 3 on blue marlin. The group also caught quite a few yellow fin tuna and dorado, making for some great meals!

The fishing in Guatemala is truly second to none. Since the early 90’s our Captains have averaged 15 to 20 sailfish bites per day. This is about 3 times the averages seen Costa Rica for comparison. Every now and then we have a day that is just hard to believe and yesterday was a prime example, with several boats raising over 80 sails and catching over 50. This is the kind of action that makes Guatemala legendary for billfishing.

And if the fishing action is not enough to keep you entertained, how about some whale watching! Just offshore we have been watching numerous humpback and grey whales passing through on their way north. We have spotted several recent births and our clients have been photographing and filming the whales. We are looking forward to some great footage and will be placing photos and video on the website soon.

We are in the prime of our season right now and the weather and fishing action should be outstanding for the next few months, so call us today at 888-700-3467 to book your fishing adventure.

Posted By Kiwi to Pacific Fins, Guatemala Jan/2009

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

Great fishing through 5th January

We had the week off from the 20th of December though the fishing was great right up to 24th and the 26th with the boats that did fish releasing 20-30+ sailfish and a few marlin seen as well. Since the 27th we have been fishing and the action has been steady with good fishing all round and some great days as well. Today we were called in from the west to the bottom eastern corner of the pocket by some of the fleet who had found some pretty good action. Guatemala is great like that, there are no secrets and everybody shares information, we trolled over the bottom of the pocket and sure enough there was bait and birds working the east side, mahi's were feeding on the surface and sails free jumping with regularity. On ALLURE we saw about a 30lb bull mahi mahi jumping with exhaustion as a 500lb+ marlin chased it down and after several attempts engulfed the worn out mahi. What a sight! We rigged up a 15lb mahi as live bait soon after with no luck though crushed the sails in the afternoon as we got into the bite. After lunch, just before 1300 we had just 5 sailfish releases and by lines out at before 1600 we had released 30 sails from 48 bites and boated a couple of nice mahi mahi with the Thomas Stephenson group from Wyoming. The other boats working the same area raised a few blues though none were released, let's hope they are a bit more aggresive in the spread tomorrow. The boats that ended up way out to the west experienced some reasonable blue marlin fishing though less sailfish action. This has how things have panned out the last week or so:

Mike Marshall into a blue on ALLURE.
January 2nd through 4th we hosted the Pacific Fins based 'Chesapeak' group with 3 rotating anglers for the 3 days. This group normally fish Cabo San Lucas, though with the great accomodations and hospitality, not to forget the incredible fishing, have decided to re-book Guatemala as their annual fishing trip. On ALLURE alone 35 sails from 51 bites were released along with some big mahi's to 30lbs boated. The action was about the same accross the board for the other boats with the exception of a 250lb blue released by the Captain Hook.


Photo by Mike Shores of Toby Solis' live-bait caught marlin.

December 30th-Jan 1st ALLURE shareowner Hill Dishman was joined by his wife Donelle and their friends. The fishing was great with 14 releases out of 21 bites on day one. The group started on the Jupiter on the 31st getting a couple of sails and finished the day on ALLURE, we left the dock at 1330 and fished just 5NM off the beach releasing 4 sails and boating a nice mahi. On our last day out the fishing picked up off-shore with 17 out of 21 bites. After spending New Years Eve on the coast enjoying an incredible firework dispaly the group finished up in Antigua for a great dinner at Panza Verde and the beautiful accomodations of Vista Real. Antigua has to be experienced while on any fishing trip to Guatemala!
January 2nd and 3rd, Hill Dishman, after deciding to stay on a couple more days, fished solo with Capt/Mate Richard Bowan on the 31ft Jupiter had a great time releasing 5 from 7 in close and out wide on the edge 12 sailfish from 14 bites respectively....good numbers.

December 27th and 28th ALLURE co-owner Craig Johnson introduced his family to Guatemala for a couple of days of great fishing. On day one after a late start the group enjoyed typical Guatemalan conditions, flat seas and plenty of billfish action! 13 sails released from 20 bites and some mahi's to boot. The next day on ALLURE we stayed in a bit closer as the bite from the previous day moved further off-shore. There were a bunch of big mahi's caught today with 8 from 12 bites, all the fish were in the 20lb to 30lb weight range! They also released 9 from 12 sailfish bites before hitting the dock early.