THROUGH MAY 15th

May 13th through the 15th we fished the Brad Sears, Chief Tauzin group of Frank Merendino, Blaise Herbert, and Craig Wieland from Denver, Colorado and Sean Horigan, Joe Guedry, Brent Kirkham, Chief Tuazin and Brad Sears all from Houston, Texas.
The group split between the two boats ALLURE and ADIOS over the 3 days, on ALLURE for the 1st day we had Frank, Blaise, Sean and Craig while Brent, Joe, Brad and Chief went with Capt Julio aboard ADIOS. A short run to the east a little had us in the blue water and into a slow though steady bite for the day..

L-R Frank Merendino, Blaise Herbert, Sean Horigan and Craig Wieland
We ended the day with 11 sails in the spread and 5 released from 10 bites. ADIOS had a little bit of bad luck with a few fish jumping off though still a good day on the water.
14th the crews swapped it around though the action was more or less the same, the only difference being a better hook-up ratio, we released 8 sails from 10 bites today and got inventive with Joe's water-proof camera..

L-R Brent Kirkham, Chief Tauzin, Brad Sears and Joe Guedry with mate "Conejo" just before releasing one of today's sails.
Things were a little tougher the last day out for everyone out there, ADIOS raised a blue of about 200lb on the short teaser that refused the pitch bait, on ALLURE we raised a blue of about 350lb's that came up the middle to the bridge teaser then started jumping through the spread long enough for Blaise to get out the video camera and video the fish jumping through the teasers and around the boat. Getting the fish to eat the pitched mackerel was another story....Both boats ended up releasing 1 from 2 bites to ensure no skunking and a nice dorado for the end of day sushimi...

Capt Julio with Joe Guedry and Brent Kirkham with another great shot before release.
The guys had a great time down here staying at the SAILFISH OASIS being looked after with great food and enjoying the ambiance. We're looking forward to fishing with the crew next year...

The weekend before, May 7th and 8th we welcomed Jamie Dishman back to Guatemala, this time bringing his wife Cindy, daughter Annie and her boyfriend Adam Wheless all here for the first time.

Annie, Adam, Jamie and Cindy enjoying a cocktail at the end of the day.
First day out we followed reports from the previous day of a fairly good marlin bite to the west. We worked the area hard and did raise a blue of around 300lbs on the short left, though it refused the pitch bait. Continuing in the area we managed to release a sail and raised another that teased in hot though missed the bait. The bite from the previous day had all but disappeared, a few boats worked the area hard with little success. With not much going on to the west the following day we headed to the eastern side of the pocket and in deep-water had steady action through the day, including a couple of double headers, one for the girls...

Mother and daughter pose with a couple of nice sails before release.
The guys were not to be outdone and got onto a double of their own, we had 10 bites from the 11 raised and released 5 of them and landed a couple of nice sized dorado. The group had a great time here and finished up their last night in Antigua staying at the wonderful Casa Santa Domingo.

FISH REPORT through end of APRIL '10

L-R Chris Badge, Caleb Wray, Phil Shildts, Alan Rothrock and Jeff Graham.

The Jeff Graham organized group of above came to Guatemala from April 28th through May 1st to celebrate Phil Shildts' bachelor weekend. It included a couple of days fishing aboard ALLURE on the 29th and 30th and finished off climbing Volcan Pacaya checking out the lava flows and a couple of nights in Antigua hitting a few local bars.
To the fishing, the first day out started well releasing a couple of sails fairly early on in the day including Phil's first sail.

Soon after the weather changed as an off-shore squall approached and we ran around the worst of it. Setting out lines in the middle of the pocket it wasn't long before Alan Rothrock was hooked into a nice marlin on the plus side of 350lbs on 20lb test.


Every fish is different and this was one tough SOB, Alan fought the fish hard putting the heat on and we pulled angles on the fish trying to get it up. Conditions weren't the easiest either in rain and a steady 5ft with the odd 6-7ft rolling through making it all a little more interesting. We did get it up jumping on 3 separate occasions, the last time just on 3 hrs into the fight we got close to the fish though she took off down sea and on the last series of jumps got the big tail wrapped in the line. From there on the fight changed and nothing we did could hurt the fish, so with extra drag and angles the line eventually broke after 3 3/4 hrs of hard work. Tough luck Al....We finished the day heading back to where we'd had some action in the morning and released another 2 sails late in the afternoon.
April 30th had far better conditions out there, with a clear day and the wind dropping down from the previous day as well. A slow start though we found an area holding fish further off-shore than the previous day and ended up releasing 6 sails from 11 bites and boating a nice mahimahi for fresh fish tacos and sashimi.

We had a blast fishing with them and the guys were amped with all of them releasing billfish and keen to get back down here.

APRIL 23rd, 24th and 25th

Enjoying the SAILFISH OASIS...
The 'Steve Goodchild Group' consisting of 3 generations of Goodchild's including Steve his dad Leslie and Steve's son John were down along with Jason and Mike Lowrey, Jonny Nobs, Tim Bucanan, Cliff Mountain, Tim Leonard and John Russel for 2 days of fishing and 3 nights at the SAILFISH OASIS. The group split up the first day between ALLURE and ADIOS. Kind of tough for some boats out there today though on ALLURE we got into some action getting 20 sailfish bites and raising a big blue that did not bite. ADIOS didn't do so well on the sails though did raise 2 blue marlin, getting a big fish in the 400lb range to bite though missed it.

John Goodchild
On the second day Hill and Donelle Dishman and Chief Tauzin and girlfriend Amber came to the Lodge to join the group, they fished ADIOS today while the Goodchild group split with half fishing on Circle Hook and half on ALLURE. The fishing slowed a little though on ALLURE we picked up on the bite ratio releasing 10 sails and getting the bite from a nice blue in the 400lb + range, she pulled the hook unfortunately. the guys on Circle Hook released 7 sails and Hill and Chief fishing ADIOS saved best for last with Chief hooking into a nice blue of around 500lb's right at the end of the day. The big fish pulled hard though they got the release after an hour plus fight, add 3 sails and nice day had by all.
On the 25th Hill and Chief were out again and released 5 from 7 bites before heading back to the dock soon after lunch.
All in all the fishing is holding, we are fishing weekends from here on in and expect the marlin bite to stay steady along with good sail-fishing and traditionally the mahi bite picks up as well. The weather the last few days has settled down and we are looking forward to getting out this weekend. Come on down, some great specials to be had in May....

April 10th-14th, 2010

April 10th through 15th it was great to see our friends Eric Wright and Steve Massenhove make the long haul over the Atlantic from the UK once again for 6 days of fishing for billfish on the fly aboard ALLURE. Expectations were high after raising 3 blues the previous day and we ran about 20NM to the east, setting out the teasers near where we had finished the day before. It wasn’t long before we raised a blue on the bridge teaser, the fish acted finiky blasting from the bridge teaser to the flat line teaser though did not commit so we pitched the mackerel bait without getting the bite. The next blue we raised on the long teaser and teased the fish all the way to the back of the boat, Eric made the cast, though we could not get the marlin to eat the fly. For the rest of the day we worked the area hard trying to get another marlin into the spread without luck. The boats fishing baits did better today with live bonitos and rigger baits, several marlins released today though plenty acting funky, coming up on teasers though not committing to pitch baits. The sailfish played the fly game better for us, from the 17 sails raised we got 6 to bite the fly and released 3. A good start for the guys, taking up from where they’d left off last year.

11th….where did they go? The fleet ran back to the east with very little going on for anyone, a couple of blues raised and the sail action was slow too. On ALLURE Eric wasn’t doing so well with a bug from the UK so we called it quits early, not before Steve released a sail on the fly from his second bite to ensure no skunk.

Steve Massenhove
12th….time to try something different and a run to the ledge out to the west paid off with a very steady morning bite. Not long before putting lines in Eric released the 1st sail of the day and from there on in, right on the drop off, we marked bait and had sails in the spread consistently raising 13 before lunch and getting 9 of those to bite. A combination of poor bites and a bit of bad luck had 3 sails released from the 9 bites. The afternoon shut down with 4 more sails in the teasers and just the one biting the fly.
13th….back to the west, lots of bait being marked on the sounder and lots of sails coming up on the teasers though teasing in half way before fading, the ones that did come in either swiped at the fly with their bills or bit poorly. Very tough and frustrating to be fly fishing with the fish like this. A very high water temp wasn’t helping either with the SST around 88’ in the AM and in the early 90’s in the PM. We did manage to get 5 to bite the fly from 21 raised, just the one released with several jumping off or throwing the hooks after poor bites. We raised a blue today too though couldn’t get to the back of the boat in casting range.
14th…..hard to leave 21 raises, to the same spot we worked hard once again. More of the same today with lethargic fish coming into the spread, some teasing in hot though not at all interested in the fly. From the 13 raised we released 2 from 5 bites and were very happy for it with a lot of the boats having a hard time. A combination of huge wads of bait and hot water made things tough for everyone.

Eric Wright
15th…..we went further down the ledge today looking for better fish for the guys last day on the water and found more of the same. Huge balls of bait, sailfish cutting bait on the surface, bonito schools busting bait everywhere, the ocean was alive though to get the fish to play the fly game was a big ask. Of the 13 sailfish raised today just 2 of the fish bit the fly, Eric and Steve nailed both of them to go home with 100% releasing both sails after some great angling, a nice way to finish the trip after some frustration of seeing poor bites, fish pulling hooks or jumping off in the past few days. Still a great trip had by the guys, challenging fishing, though that is part of trying to catch billfish on a fly-rod.
Steve left us a few images of last year’s blue on the fly that he caught, thanks and looking forward to getting one with you next year…....


A lot of fish out there right now with the guys on baits having the best of it, still some marlin around too and things are looking good for the coming weeks with all that bait out there. Some of the fleet went east today getting into sails and a few marlin seen as well meaning good fishing over a large area. We are looking forward to the coming weeks and expect the marlin and sailfish bite to get better, throw in mahi’s and tunas for the all round trip. Don’t forget that this is a year round fishery and the marlin fishing especially gets better through the summer months.

THOMPSON GROUP APRIL 7th-9th

So if you've been thinking about coming down though were not sure, read on, the fishing is good and expect all of April through May to be the same. The John Thompson organized group from North Carolina did and they had a blast....


The 4 father and son teams were made up of John Snr & Jnr and Will Thompson, Dick and Rich Crutchfield, John and Walter Munroe and Jerry and Jeff Pridgen. The group stayed at the SAILFISH OASIS and fished aboard Allure, Adios and Circle Hook for 3 days.
Just a quick report as we are out again tomorrow and it is late, though, first day out to the east proved good all round though we had a little more luck on Allure going 10 for 15 on the sails and hooking a 30lb mahi for John Thompson and a 220lb blue marlin double for Walter Munroe on 20lb test. Circle Hook went 7 from 10 on the sails and Adios 6 from 8.

Allure mate 'Conejo' gets a wrap on Walters small blue caught on 20lb test.
More of the same on day 2 with Allure releasing 9 from 13 bites and 4 big mahi-mahi and raising a small blue, Circle Hook caught all they saw with 5 sails and 2 mahi's and Adios went out wide looking though came back into the bite and released 3 sails, raised a nice sized blue that did not eat the pitch bait and landed a nice mahi.


(Top) John Thompson and (below) Dick Crutchfield with a couple of typical sized mahi's
The blue marlin bite went off today the 9th with a bunch of blue marlin flags flying at the dock, on Allure our luck changed, not for the better, despite raising 3 blue marlin including one beauty of 500-600lbs we never caught one with an aggressive bite from a 250lb fish throwing the hook, we did release 6 sails and landed another 3 big mahi-mahi, Adios released a nice blue pushing 300lbs on the 30lb test and 7 sails. Top honors went to the Thompson's fishing with Capt Eddie Bairez on Circle Hook, they released 9 sails and in the last hour of the day released 2 blues on the rigger baits and 30lb test, hooking the second fish just minutes after releasing the first to John Jnr in the last minutes if the day.....What a finish and what a day!!

So for the 9 father and son anglers fishing over 3 days on the 3 boats that was 62 sailfish releases, 4 blue marlin released from 9 raises and 11 big mahi-mahi. It does not get much better than that.
We are out the next 6 days on the fly and then through next weekend though there are some openings so if you've been thinking about it.....just get on the phone and do it. SAILFISH OASIS is a wonderful facility with excellent food and service and we'll look after you 2nd to none on the water.......

Fish Report March 31st

The Jim Franklin organized group from Texas joined us for 3 days of fishing from March 29th through the 31st. The group consisted of the big man Jim himself and from his company and clients of Flo-Zone, Gregg Graves, Brandon Cook, Donita and Terry Roe, Randy Myers, Tommy Green and Chad Lenamon. The fishing is starting to turn around here and despite the majority of the group fishing 2 days, they released 46 sailfish and boated several nice dorado for the pan.


Things have been a little slow the past couple of weeks though things are looking up with some good fishing the last few days over Easter with boats releasing 15-20 sails and a few marlin in the mix. On our last day out with Jim, Brendon and Gregg we released 9 sails from 11 bites in the last 2 1/2 hrs of the day, 10NM inshore of us Pelegian raised 11 and on the eastern side of the pocket AND inshore the bite was also good. Good news that over a large area there was good fishing. It is looking like April could be a great month down here for the sails and the blues are making their presence felt as well.
Previous to this Hill Dishman was down for his first visit in a couple of months with friends Robert Blevins, Haig Wright and Tommy Tilotta. Fishing was a little slow though some slammer dorado and several sails kept everyone on their toes.

They finished their trip in Antigua for a few nights and a round of golf on Sunday at the spectacular La Reunion Golf Resort here 20mins before Antigua followed by an evening enjoying some great live music and local brews at the Cafe No Se......

See you down here, I'm predicting April to be a great month for both the sails and blue marlin. We have had a couple of cancellations at the end of the month so there are some openings and into May there are also prime dates available. Get in touch and we'll ensure you have a great trip all round...

Fish Report through March 20th...

Tom Preston's small blue on 30lb test
March 12th-13th John Lindley came back for his second visit this year, this time with son's Joseph and Justin and good fishing buddy Tom Preston. Fishing was still a little tough by Guatemalan standards though they all got into a bit of action releasing 4 sailfish, a feisty little blue of around 140lbs for Tom and boating 3 nice mahi-mahi. A good effort and a good time had by the Lindley group.

Justin Lindley with his sail...

March 14th we welcomed back Martin Harrison, this time with his family, wife Carolyn and son Arron. They were down for a Spring Break excursion which included a day's fishing, some time in Antigua, a couple of nights at Lake Atitlan and visiting the Mayan ruins in Tikal. To the fishing and and from 8 sailfish raised they caught 2 from 4 bites, raised a blue that did not bite and caught 2 nice sized mahi.

Martin and Arron, great mahi and sails..



Monday the 15th we welcomed the Johnson clan for their Spring Break vacations here at the Sailfish Oasis and a couple of days fishing aboard both boats. Todd Johnson and family did well releasing 8 sails from 13 bites, boating a nice mahi and raised a nice marlin in excess of 400lbs that pushed alot of water although swiping at the bait a couple of times the big fish did not eat the pitched mackerel. Craig and crew released 6 sails, caught a couple of nice mahi's and got into some good tuna action boating 5 yellowfin for fresh sushimi and and sushi rolls back at the lodge.

Todd and son's also enjoyed a round of golf at the beautiful La Reunion Golf Course on the side of Volcan Fuego and a few days in Antigua with the whole family.

March 19th and 20th another return visitor Chris King who last year came with his eldest son Alan came back this time with twin sons Wilson and Lee for a short Spring Break visit. They got into some good action here catching mahi's and releasing a total of 9 sailfish from 12 bites....


AS previously mentioned the bite is not what it had been up till a couple of weeks ago, not what we are used to here in Guatemala, the El Nino is perhaps leaving it's effects felt. We had good fishing up till early/mid March so we expect things to turn around again. What we consider slow is still good bill-fishing comparatively so we are looking forward to the next month. Right now there is some reasonable action out there and the marlin are starting to show up more as we slide into April, more reports to follow with both boats fishing the next few days before a short Easter break.

March 1st-8th 2010

Team 'Senior Citizens' Tom Bender, Tom Hudson, David Johnson and Earl Long.

March 1st we welcomed to Guatemala for their first visit Tom and Dina Bender and Tom and Mimi Hudson who were down visiting with the Johnson's and the Long's......Team Long Johnson consisted of the Seniors Mr David and Sally Johnson and Mr Earl and Betty Ann Long, along with sons (owner) Craig and Clayton Johnson and Forrest and Bennett Long. The Seniors fished with us aboard ALLURE while the Juniors fished ADIOS with Capt Julio. The wives enjoyed their stay visiting Antigua, shopping, seeing the sights and enjoying great lunches at Casa Santa Domingo while returning each night to the Sailfish Oasis.
First day out it was a matter of finding them, and it didn't take long for the crew on ADIOS to get into the action with a sailfish and then a strike on the rigger bait for Craig Johnson which turned out to be a nice blue marlin of around 200lbs. On the 20lb tackle it was quite a battle though Craig got the release in a little under an hour. It was a slow start for us in ALLURE though after working to the east we found some reasonable action and Tom Bender and Tom Hudson were into it and had the technique down in a short matter of time missing only a few fish, we ended the day with 7 releases from 10 bites and a nice mahi-mahi for Earl Long while on ADIOS the guys had the marlin and 3 from 5 bites on the sailfish.

Earl Long with his beauty mahi.
The next day in flat seas we knew where to run and started getting into the fish right off the bat. A steady morning saw the Snr's dropping back and hooking up like pro's, things slowed down some in the middle of the day though we got into some good action in the afternoon with a few multiples coming into the spread. A great day for the guys to finish their trip with 16 releases from 24 bites and a couple of nice mahi's. On ADIOS the action was hot in the middle of the day though slowed down in the afternoon and released 8 from the 16 bites from the 20 sailfish raised. A good day all 'round. The next day the Snr's left to Antigua for a couple of days while the ADIOS went out for another day. They kept their red-hot marlin streak up raising another blue that didn't bite and released another 8 sailfish and landed a nice mahi of around 35lbs.

On the 5th we welcomed Bruce Aikens and good friend Scott Adams from Michigan to Guatemala for 4 days of fly-fishing. You got to tell it how it is and the fishing turned off unfortunately for their stay here, we tried like hell and covered alot of water for little action. On their first day we worked up the eastern edge though could not get a fish to tease in, late in the afternoon we ran to where the guys on baits found a little late in the day bite and decided to change to conventional fishing with the baits to get a little action. In the last hour and half we released 5 sails on the baits to make something from the day.

Scott Adams with one of the many sails......
The sailfish were lethargic and not even coming up on the teasers so the next day we went wide to the west and trolled the whole way down the edge looking for better action and aggressive fish. Beautiful blue water, birds, bonitos, and lots of blue runners were busting though we only raised one sail that did not tease in. The guys fishing baits back to the east had a little action going though it was very slow fishing all round. Back on the baits the next day we raised 4 sails and released 2. For the final day it was back in the fly and we worked hard to raise 4 sails, 2 teased all the way to the back of the boat and we got one to bite the fly. It is what it is and sometimes it turns like that. We still had a great time with Bruce and Scott even though the fishing was tough and the guys humor helped to ease the pain. It was hard work for the whole fleet out there though there were a few marlin seen so it looks like the marlin bite maybe on the turn as it traditionally gets better through the spring and into summer. Right now there is plenty of great water and the current is pushing in so we are expecting things to turn around soon. No worries!!

Fish Report through February 27th

The Jimmy Thompson organized group out of Lafayette, Louisiana has just come through Guatemala fishing 2 days February 26th and 27th on both ALLURE and ADIOS and enjoying a few nights and the SAILFISH OASIS. The group had a great time here, with a steady sailfish bite and even a couple of blue marlin seen in the spread....

George Jordan, Bernard Habetz, Mac Moore, Alex, Albert Habetz and Chad Habetz. MIA Jimmy Thompson and Seb Patout.
A long run to the fish the first day out which was no problem for the crew on ADIOS for the day cruising at 30+knts for a bit more fishing time in the day. Flat seas and blue water meant great fishing conditions and the bite in the afternoon was pretty good. ADIOS with Capt Julio Morales found some spinner dolphin with no tunas though they did catch a nice mahi-mahi of the group and raised a nice blue of around 400lbs, pushing alot of water on the teaser though not eating the pitched mackerel. The rest of the day they had steady action releasing 11 sailfish from 16 bites. On ALLURE we had steady action right through the day though our catch to bite ratio was a bit tough with the fish not seeming to bite aggressively, still the guys on the rods did their job well and released 12 out of 23 bites.
On Saturday 27th ADIOS got off to a flyer, after another long run on flat seas they started east of the fleet and raised 3 sailfish and a blue marlin soon after putting lines in. A great bite on the pitched mackerel saw them hooked to a nice blue of around 300lbs and a sailfish for the double header. They released the sail first and Seb Patout concentrated on the marlin releasing the fish after an hour on the 50lb stand-up. Nice job Seb!! For the rest of the day they caught a few sails releasing 5 from 8 in total.

On ALLURE it was slow to steady though picked up nicely in the afternoon with a couple of triple headers adding to the 15 releases from 21 bites. We changed to the fly for the last hour of the day and raised 4 fish, though getting them to tease was tough and the one that did tease all the way in refused the fly. Worth a try though with all the bait out there it was hard to keep them on the teasers for any amount of time. A great introduction to Guatemala for the group all the same and we hope to see them back here soon!!

10th through 14th February......

From back Stefan Boden, Christian Machate, Jon Theuerkauf and Dominik and Yannick Machate.

Snr Jon 'No Sancocho' Theuaerkauf came down for his 7th annual Guatemalan excursion from Feb 12th through the 14th. Christian Machate and sons Dominik and Yannick came back for their second trip all the way from Switzerland and brought with them good friend Stefan Boden from Hamburg, Germany. It is always good to fish with regulars and they started off well, even though it took us a while to get on to the fish when we finally did the afternoon bite more than made up for the very slow morning. Jon kept up to his form from last year, when he didn't miss a fish, and showed the mates up today as well not missing a fish all day. Great job seeing he is only down once a year! For the day we raised 24 sails and released 14 from 20 bites.

Yannick with his first fish of the trip.
Things kind of slowed down for us the next day. It blew from the east and made the run and first couple of hours fishing hard work, we got into a couple of fish early though with a few blue marlin being seen out wide we went out looking and got off the sail bite. 3 from 7 bites for the day and a nice sized mahi meant going out wide and to the west the next searching for the new 'bite'. Beautiful water and bait meant high expectations, near the end of the day we finally got on to an area and raised 10 sails releasing 3 from 8 bites before having to return early to meet the guys return chopper ride to the City. Christian and Dominick got into the action on the last day trying their hand at bait and switching, they had it down and are ready for next years trip for sure.....

10th of February we welcomed long time local 'Antiguans' Korey and Linnitt Peterson along with Korey's brother Kary and friend Pete Wood, both from Washington State and down for a few weeks R&R in Guatemala. A trip to Guatemala cannot be complete without sampling whats on offer in the "Sailfish Capital of the World"......an often and deservedly repeated quote from Kary during the day. The crew had an awesome time with pretty much consistent action through the day and heating up in the afternoon to finish with a triple hook-up, two in the baits and one on the fly.....We started the day on conventional tackle and just after lunch with 14 releases under the belt we changed to the fly. the afternoon bite heated up and we teased in some red-hot sails that resulted in some incredible bites right behind the boat. The day ended with 18 from 25 bites on the bait and 4 from 7 bites on the fly. A truly memorable day for all on board.....

Korey and Linnett hooked up to a double header...

Pete Wood and his first Pacific sail.....

Kary and a billfish on the fly!!

Korey and one of the bigger fish of the day caught with his first cast of a fly rod to a sailfish....

I'll be featuring some great shots taken from Stefan Boden that the has kindly left with us in the coming weeks. Appreciate the shots Stefan!
The bite out to the west we found looked promising for the short amount of time that we were out there so we are looking forward to the next few days on the fly with Guatemala regular Jim Williams and his crew. There is still some availability in the coming months so get in touch to experience the "Sailfish Capital of the World"!!

NO SANCOCHO through 5th Feb

Last weekend January 29th through 31st saw the 2010 No Sancocho Sailfish Shootout roll through Guatemala. The event was a great success and the fishing kept up right through the moon phase resulting in 525 sailfish releases from the 10 teams over 3 days of fishing. Great fishing and a great tourny though it was overheard from a few of the mates on the dock that the tournament should be renamed the "Si Sancocho".
Read on for the official tournament breakdown below our last few days report....

Straight after the No Sancocho we welcomed back Butch Barnhill and father and son team Bruce and Robert Shaw to Guatemala from the 1st through 3rd of February.

L-R, Robert and Bruce Shaw, Butch Barnhill.
The fishing kept on after the tournament and we had steady action through the day resulting in 15 releases from 24 bites, a nice "reintroduction" to Guatemala for the guys. Their second day out got off to a great start with steady sailfish action and a few big mahi's bursting into the spread as well, Bruce got himself this beauty and we had a bit of bad luck pulling hooks a few near the boat.

The sailfish were biting funky today resulting in a few more 'sancochos' than normal, still 21 releases from 34 bites meant an action packed day.
With so much sail action over the last couple of days the guys opted to work the edges looking for a blue marlin, we worked up the western edge of the pocket and out wide hunting with no success, inevitably we ended up back with the fleet just 18NM offshore where the sailfish bite was going off. Despite getting into the action late in the day we still managed 12 releases from 18 bites. A great trip for the guys and we look forward to seeing you back here soon!!
On Friday the 5th we spent the day with Mike Callahan, Chris Seabald and Jose Steadman, the bite had slowed a little so we worked the eastern edge looking for the 'bite'. It looked great out there with birds, small bonitos and dolphin everywhere, we had flurries of action including a great blue marlin bite for Jose that we had on for a while before the bad luck struck and the hook pulled. We raised 14 sails for the day and released 7 from 11 bites.
All in all the fishing this year has been great and continues to be right now, we have a couple of days in and are back out again and steady through the month. There are still some openings scattered through the coming months so get in touch for more details. Read on for the official tournament report....

Here is the recap of the 2010 No Sancocho:

Day one started out with high expectations………some heads hurting for the Opening Ceremonies party at Casa Vieja the night before, and those expectations were met with a total of 213 sailfish released on Day One. The seas were calm, the water was blue, and the sailfish were snapping. All day long the radio was abuzz with releases being radioed in to the Committee Boat. It was a dogfight all day between Decisive, Rum Line, and Yo No Cuido but when the dust settled it was Rum Line taking the Day Money with 32 releases, followed by Decisive with 31 releases, and Yo No Cuido (aboard Circle Hook) with 30 releases. Rum Line pocketed $5,800 in day money, Decisive knocked down $1,500, and the Circle Hookers aboard the Allure where able to spot the first whale of the tourney, so they took the $400 whale pot. Chris Sheeder put $400 in his pocket for Top Captain on Day 1, and Brad Philipps won $200 for second place. Here is how it looked after Day 1:



Rum Line 320

Decisive 310

Yo No Cuido (Circle Hook) 300

Reel Nasty (Finest Kind) 200

Circle Hookers (Allure) 190

Four Fat Boys (Intensity) 180

Los Menirosos (Canaso) 170

Club No Minor (Release) 150

Team Penguino (Pelagian) 150

Tenacious (Adios) 130



Day 2 the bite slowed down just a little for everyone. Teams were allowed to fish baits only, which awarded 10 points for a released sailfish until 12:00 noon. At that time, the fly became optional and a sail released on the fly was worth 20 points, with an additional 5 point bonus if the fish was billed and the fly successfully retrieved. It was as close as it could get for Day 2 pot money, however the Circle Hookers made a charge late in the day releasing 4 sails on the fly. When the lines out call came at 3:30 the Circle Hookers had held off Team Decisive and Team Rum Line to take $4,200 worth of day money with a total of 240 points edging Decisive who had 230 points, and Rum Line who had 225 points. Chris “Kiwi” van Leeuwen took home the Top Captain pot, and Philipps took home the second place Top Captain’s money. Team Decisive’s second place finish on Day 2 was worth $2,700. The overall lead saw Team Rum Line holding the top spot, but with a very, very slim 5 point lead over Team Decisive. Yo No Cuido was in 3rd, and Circle Hookers moved up one spot to 4th. Perhaps the biggest shock of the day was at the Gringo vs Guatemalan soccer game at the local school. We handed out clothes and toys to the local kids, and then had a heated soccer match that saw the Gringos tie the Guatemalans 2-2. The first time the Gringos have ever come close in this match. The standings looked like this after Day 2.



Day 1 Day 2 TOTAL

Team Rum Line 320 225 545

Team Decisive 310 230 540

Yo No Cuido (Circle Hook) 300 140 440

Circle Hookers (Allure) 190 240 430

Club No Minor (Release) 150 185 335

Reel Nasty (Finest Kind) 200 120 320

Four Fat Boys (Intensity) 180 120 300

Los Menirosos (Canaso) 170 110 280

Team Penguino (Pelagian) 150 100 250

Tenacious (Adios) 130 30 160



Day 3 many it boiled down to a two team race for the top spot and a two team race for third place. The boats headed out a little further than the previous two days. There was a $600 consolation pot on line today for the bottom 5 teams after Day 2 results. Day 3 teams had the option of fishing the fly, the baits, or a combination of the two. The fishing started out hot and Decisive and Rum Line were constantly calling in releases. It was a see-saw battle between these boats all day. At the 1:30 pm update given by the Committee Boat, amazingly both teams were exactly tied with 805 points. With two hours left, it was anyone’s guess who would win the top prize. Rum Line quickly called in a release to take the lead, but Decisive answered right back with a double…..one released on the baits and one released on the fly. It was a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the tourney. Decisive went on to capture the 2010 No Sancocho Sailfish Shootout, and also picked up some hefty day money. They ended up with 370 points on Day 3, followed by Rum Line with 320 points. Their victory earned them $15,400 for first place in the Calcutta pot, and also an additional $5,800 in day money on Day 3. Rum Line took home $6,600 in Calcutta winnings, and also $1,500 in day money on Day 3. Canaso and Team Los Menirosos finished strong on Day 3 and took the Consolation Pot for $600. Yo No Cuido and the Circle Hookers finished in a dead heat for third. Philipps took home $400 for top captain on Day 3, and Haole pocketed $200 for second place captain on Day 3. For the tournament the ten teams released 525 sailfish on the baits, and 34 on the fly in the three day tourney. Decisive and Rum Line tied for the most releases on the baits with 73. Circle Hookers and Allure had the most releases on the fly with 9. At the award ceremony Sunday night at Casa Vieja….the cherished Rich Smith Memorial “No Sancocho” Game ball was awarded to my friend Antonio Valdez. What a deserving recipient. Also, each team had to contribute $20 per missed bite (sancocho) to the Sancocho Pot, and we were able to raise $5,800 for the local school to help pay for books and supplies to these kids, who would otherwise be left without. Congratulations to Team Rum Line for their second place finish….Jim Turner, Rick Murphy, and Juan Cruz Anon, and also to Captain Chris Sheeder. Congratulations to Team Decisive…..Steve Cothron, Scott Lund, and Harvey Steinhagen and also to the Captain of the Decisive Brad Philipps….Champions of the 2010 No Sancocho Sailfish Shootout.



Final Standings looked like this:



Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 TOTAL

Team Decisive 310 230 370 910
Team Rum Line 320 225 320 865

Circle Hookers (Allure) 190 240 230 660

Yo No Cuido (Circle Hook) 300 140 220 660

Los Mentirosos (Canaso) 170 110 305 585

Four Fat Boys (Intensity) 180 120 260 560

Reel Nasty (Finest Kind) 200 120 210 530

Club No Minor (Release) 150 185 165 500

Team Penguino (Pelagian) 150 100 140 390

Tenacious (Adios) 130 30 40 200