RODS & REELS SPORTFISHING ADVENTURES

FOR OLDER CATCH REPORTS, READ BELOW:

Updated on 20th December 2007....Happy Christmas

The marlin bite has slowed down here in Guatemala though the sailfish have SNAPPING with an incredible bite that has just kept on going for the past week or more. Once again proving December to be a great month for big numbers.........
Today the 20th Dec we had on board ALLURE anglers Hill Dishman with his two sons Drake and Brett with their friend Greg Laswell on day one of their two day fishing excursion to Guatemala. It was the Drake, Brett and Gregs first time here and what an introduction to this incredible fishery. We returned to the dock having raised 70 sails, we got 55 of those to bite and released 24. It was very consistent action right through the day with more than a little bad luck affecting the ratio, alot of pulled circle hooks midway through the fight had us wondering what was going on......?? Still an awesome day on the water and with alot of practice under the belt we are looking forward to tomorrow and better results.
Dec 17th-19th we welcomed back to Guatemala for their 3rd year fishing here Marc Felton and his dad Ron with their friend and first timer to sailfishing on the fly Dave McIntyre. Dave had heard the stories and was not dissapointed. It was a little rough on day one with seas of 4-6ft in the morning, it did not dampen the sailfish bite though and Ron and Dave released 2 doubles on the fly. The first was in rough seas and the fish really stretched us with one going up sea and the other down sea, it was testing and took a while though due to good angling we released them both. The second double of the day was later in the afternoon in calmer conditions and the fish sticking together this time. Rons fish was a beauty of around 120lbs....we finished the day raising 28, getting 12 to bite the fly and released 7


Mates Alex and Julio with Ron, Marc and Dave pose with Rons big fish before release, one of a double for Ron and Dave.

On the 18th we stopped in short and found a bite that we suck with through the day, we had some incredible bites though a little bad luck, pulling the hooks on several releasing 6 from 14 bites. We pushed further off-shore on the last day and really got into them, though teasing them in seemed to be no problem, getting them to eat the fly did. We raised 49 fish today, getting 18 bites and 10 releases, a great day of flyfishing. The highlight of the day was having a shot at a triple hook-up though we popped the 20lb tippet on one, Marc and Ron got theirs to stick getting a father and son double on the fly. A great trip and we look forward to seeing them next year.

Dec 14th-16th had Guatemalan veteran Fred Herring Jnr introducing his father Fred Snr and friends Randy Allen and Henry Wuertz joining us for 3 days of conventional fishing. The 14th was practice day with the mates helping and teaching the techniques of 'bait n switch', pitching baits rigged with circle hooks to teased up sails. Plenty of shots and learning today with 54 raises 42 bites and 26 releases. Day 2 and the cockpit was all theirs, it was a slow morning though the afternoon bite got hot with 3 doubles a triple and a quadruple at the end of the day. Great fishing by the guys seeing it was their first time (barring Fred Jnr) hooking all their own fish getting 22 from 41 bites and raising a nice fat blue that did not eat the pitch bait. The last day out Henry really wanted a shot at a blue so we chased schools of bonito that were popping up though not really holding and tried live-baiting for several hours in the morning. There were lots of birds and bait through sticking with them proved difficult. Henry caught a nice yellowfin on a group of spinners and we stuck with live-baiting till 1.30 in the afternoon before running to a bite we had been called into off-shore. It was well worth it, the sails were red-hot and we released 19 in an hour and half with a quad and several other multiple hook-ups. We ended up with 21 from 46 bites for the day raising 52. Another great trip for the guys releasing 69 sails.

Father and son double, Fred Herring Snr and Jnr with a couple of nice Guatemalan sails

Updated on the 13th December

We have been stuck at the dock the last few days and feeling ill for it too, for all the action that has been going on out there that we have been missing out on......Monday as reported it went off, though the details have just come through. Nat Harris fishing with Capt Haole on the fly had an unbeleivable day releasing an est 350lb blue, the perfect bite resulted in a solid hook-up and Nat pulled all the right moves, near free-spooling the fly reel on the first run. When the fish calmed down he put the heat on and they had the fish boat-side in 25 min. That's a world record fish on the fly, congratulations to the team, incredible stuff! Jim Turner, owner of the Casa Vieja and fleet heard of the bite and flew down to fish with Capt Mike Sheeder on the Intensity, live-baiting all day they released 3 blues and a black, missing another 2 blues.
Things slowed down on the marlin front on the 11th though the sailfish were snapping with boats releasing up to 35 on the baits. The bite was right at the bottom of the pocket at 8 to 10NM.
Today the 12th Dec in the same area fishing baits boats had up to 40 odd bites and 25 releases, marlin were right there at the bottom of the pocket too with boats getting one a peice, Capt Mike on the Itensity released his first marlin on the fly. Congrats to him and the angler Jake Jordan. Capt Brad Phillips on Decisve had a slow morning in the same area so went off shore to where the fish were a few days previous. Spotting a school bonito they pulled up and started live-baiting, inside 3 hours they released 6 blue marlin from 7 bites!!! Incredible stuff with just a solo angler on board. Congratulations to them all. A helluva marlin bite with lots of sailfish and plenty of doardo.
GUATEMALA IS GOING OFF!! We had a day doing maintenance today and then we are out every day from the 14th till Christmas day. The only opening we have this month is from 30th Dec to 1st of January and then a couple of openings later in January as well. Check out the on-line calendar on the site and get in touch with us to experience fishing at its absolute best.........

Updated 10 Dec 07

6th Dec we were joined by Jim Gardner and Broughton Cochran for their first trip to Guatemala. We had a great day on the water raising 33 sails 3 blues releasing 10 from 26 bites on the sails and pulling the hook on the one blue of around 350lbs that did bite. The guys were keen to hook their own fish and chose a difficult day to learn with alot of the fish biting, though not 'eating' well it seemed, making the numbers a little askew..........Still it's all part of the learning curve of the bait and switch using circle hooks. There were plenty of dorado around as well for the next few days.

7th Dec and Jim was our solo angler for the day and very keen to have a go on the fly rod, having never cast a fly before, let alone to a billfish he had a great day. We were away from the fleet for the majority of the day, and showing the extent of fish around still had a great day raising 27 fish getting 10 to bite and releasing 5 on the fly. An awesome day for a first timer. There were a couple of red-hot doubles and one triple that were in the numbers raised where you wish you had another angler to cast another fly in the water. In-shore from us the fleet were on a strong bite with the guys on baits releasing up to 29 and a couple of blue marlin to boot. We never realised how good the bite was and joined the fleet late in the afternoon raising 12 fish quickly and releasing 2 from 4 bites.

8th Dec Roughton was back on board with Frank Norton. It was a different day, raising plenty of fish though having a real tough time teasing them into casting distance. We raised 24 and did have 8 very good bites on the fly, there was abit of bad luck for the first timers on the fly with popped tippets and a broken hook, still we released 2 sails and were unlucky not to get the release on a couple more. The boats on baits released up to 23 and today on the western side where we were there were no marlin seen for the first time in days. The Capt Hook went solo over to the east side of the pocket and caught a blue of the teaser in the morning. Seeing no sailfish though hordes of bonito they tried live-baiting for the last 3 hours of the day released another 3 blues.....A helluva day, nice job Ronnie. We weren't out yesterday (9th) and today though the fleet went east chasing the marlin bite that Ronnie had found and the reports are of a fantastic marlin bite that we wish we were a part of. Yesterday more than 14 marlin were released from the fleet of about 7 boats and the same thing today with the best releasing 3 blues and a black. Nearly all the fish are being caught on live bonito around the large schools in the area. Today it was more of the same with 16 marlin released among the fleet. Incredible fishing, alot of sailfish around the same schools as well. We're looking forward to getting out there in the next couple of days and will have more reports.

Updated on 4 December by Capt. "Kiwi"

Since the previous weekend the fishing here has held steady and during the last week went off on Wednesday 28th with boats releasing up to 35 sails on the baits and into double figures on the fly. A-Fin-Ity with owner Davis Clapp last week released 100 sails in 5 days of fishing, alot of those days were late starts and back to the dock early once they'd acheived their goals for the day. Friday 30th saw the best bite at around 12-15NM with boats releasing up to 20 sails on the bait and 7 on the fly with still the odd marlin being seen.

On the weekend the marlin made their presence felt with boats raising up to 5 and a good mix of sails and dorado as well with the average boat releasing a dozen or more sails. Sunday the marlin started to bite with all the boats out there getting in on the action and seeing at least a couple of marlin a piece and all the boats bar a couple came in flying a marlin flag or two. Coupled with a good saifish bite, good fishing all round.
Yesterday the 3rd Dec, the fleet went out wide chasing the marlin bite and were not let down with most boats getting into some blue marlin action though the sailfish bite out there was a little slow. Meanwhile, right here at the bottom of the pocket at just 9-12NM Tom Boyce with solo angler Bruno Gilbert on Que Vela! had some great sailfish action raising around 25 and getting 15 bites on the bait. With well over 40 seen tailing and free jumping the sails are there in numbers though a little lazy with all the bait stacked up inside. They seem to be feeding on minnows and were spitting up wads of bait once hooked. The odd blue is still around inshore as well with Spindrift releasing a blue of around 180lb, this fish was also spitting up plenty of bait. With the amount of fish and bait around it all looks good.

Out wide there are groups of spinners and yellowfin tuna in with them, you can expect some dorado action and by all accounts the marlin bite is as good as it gets. Sailfish inshore with the chance of a shot at a blue means world-class fishing all round.

Updated on 27 November by Capt. "Kiwi"

The 11th annual Guatemalan leg of the Presidential Challenge of Central America just passed through from November 16th-18th. As usual the fishing was good and it all came down to time to decide the winner of this leg with 3 boats finishing on 2900pts. A change in the points system saw a marlin worth 500pts and a sailfish 100pts on the exclusive tournament Berkley 20lb test line.

a couple of bites. We raised a nice blue aggressive on the teaser, though fading on the bait and near the end of the day we were 3 from 8 when luck took its turn and a perfect sized blue for the 20lb tackle came into the spread with just 20mins till lines out. Craig Johnson did an excellent job and the fish sure put on some fireworks, though with aggressive angling we released the 150lb marlin in 9 minutes. Nice job Craig, we were back in the hunt just 300pts off the top boat with 1500pts.

The marlin fishing continues to be nothing short of RED HOT here in Guatemala, several boats have fished over the last week or more with outstanding results. Cut back to the weekend before last when 4 boats were out on Saturday the 29^th Sept and 30, that's right 30 blue marlin were raised between the 4 boats. Out of that two of the boats released 4 a piece and the other two boats released 3 and 2 respectively with fish ranging from 200lb to 450lb's. No one was out for a few days after, however the Spirit of Pillar II came into Guatemala from Costa Rica after hearing how the marlin bite had been so consistent. Looking for the woman's 16lb or men's 20lb tippet record on the fly, they have hooked and fought potential records every day for the past 6 days. That's good fishing. Taking into account the run out and the amount of time fighting fish the 20 they have raised in the process is pretty impressive as well. Mid-week the Spindrift with Capt 'Haole' didn't do too badly either, raising 7 blues in one day, and releasing 2 from 4 bites.

All this adds up to nothing short of world class marlin fishing and it is happening right now.

On ALLURE we are a week short of having the boat in absolute immaculate condition after spending the last few weeks hard at work on everything from the engines to the bottom, re-placing the gen-set to the AC. All the tackle is next and we'll be chomping at the bit to get out there and amongst the action. We have openings in November and December and it is looking good for these months. In the past 5 years that we have been here and further back these months have proved to be the most consistent on the calendar. Stop thinking about it and get in touch with the team at Rods and Reels to book your trip and we'll do our absolute best to make it the trip of a life time!!

Updated on 3 September 2007....Read on!!

Martin Harrison and Bill Black went on to release 23 from 32 bites on their second day out and 6 from 18 on day three as well as a 400lb blue.

On Allure we finished the season with a pretty good marlin run and some good sailfish bites as well. The Mike Fay group were 12 for 16 on day one and finished with 16 from 23, pulling the hook on a nice blue of around 350lb on their last day. Capt Mick Childs joined us for a day and a half getting 8 from 16 sails and a nice 300lb blue on the half day and finishing the next day with 14 from 24 and 1 from 2 on the blues.  The super-sized group of Hill and Donelle Dishman, Rob and Cathy Derrick, Kurt and Susan Hanson, Rick and Mary Roberts had a blast here in Guatemala with the girls spending a day enjoying the sights of Antigua and fishing the other two days. We caught dozens of dorado up to 35lb, plenty of sailfish and raised 5 blues with Kurt releasing one of around 250lbs. On the last day we raised 3 nice blues getting 2 bites. The penultimate bite of the trip was for Hill when a beauty blue in the 500lb range crashed the teaser in just 120ft of water just before lines out. A great bite had us solidly connected for a few minutes and a couple of jumps before the line went slack revealing a straightened out Mustad 10/0 circle hook....that's fishing and this time the fish won. The Don Finkell group also had some good action raising 7 blues and releasing 3 from 5 bites with fish to 400lb's and the biggest sail for Allure of the season at 150lb+ to name just a few. We finished the season heading to Panama for a couple of weeks fishing from the mother ship Cebaco Bay in the north, just east of Isla Coiba. Despite a period of early rainy season weather with green water that was testing the first week  we had a great time catching plenty of cubera snapper to 45lb's, big mullet snapper, monster rooster fish to 55lb's and big blue-fin trevally on the inshore reefs to name but a few of the species. The weather changed for the better at the end of the trip but with the water only a clean green at best we still got into plenty of yellow fin for sashimi. Lots of live-bait size yellow fin and bonito had us encounter 5 blacks and a blue in 3 days of serious marlin fishing, all on live-bait.

From April on through to now has proven to be great marlin fishing here in Guatemala with periods of good sail-fish bites as well. It really is a year round fishery with some great marlin fishing in the so called 'off-season' months. A couple of the boats here out of Marina Pez Vela released up to 5 blues in a day from up to 8 bites and raised double figures in July. Blacks have also made their presence felt with several caught making opportunities for grand slams. With only a few boats on the water the marlin numbers really have been remarkable with multiple shots a day. I managed to get out last Sunday on Teaser to have a crack at a marlin on the fly; we raised 2 blues and caught one on the pitched mackerel that refused the fly. The second resulted in a solid hook-up from a nice 300lb+ blue on the fly for Tony Haupt that popped the tippet on the first run. On that day 4 boats were out with 8 marlin raised amongst the boats and 3 releases. The marlins are still out there with one of the local boats releasing 4 in a 3 day charter a couple of days ago. Typically the bite is better through November for marlin and the sailfish bite picks up as well.

Allure is currently out of action in the middle of a small re-fit, installing a new 11.5kw gen-set, and getting all systems worked over and maintained so the boat will be tricked out and ready for the up-coming season by early October. October through December are some of the neglected yet most productive months here and the best weather too. We have some great deals through to the end of December and have openings right through the season with a few in the busy months of Jan-March. Secure your trip on arguably the finest boat in Guatemala right away by contacting Rods and Reels Sportfishing.

2^nd April 07 and it's the first day of a 3 day trip for Martin Harrison and Bill Black, both from Houston, Texas. Fishing slowed a little compared to the previous days but is still holding, the guys did well, a little assistance from the mates seeing it was the first day and on the sails we went 14 from 19 bites, a great ratio. We also raised two small blue marlin, both bite the bait though the first got wrapped on the bill and broke through the leader and we got the release on the second, it refused the pitch bait on the 50lb set up but went back and ate the ballyhoo bait on the 20lb rigger set-up. After a great 35 min battle and plenty of grey-hounding jumps Martin subdued the fish estimated at 175lbs.

29-31^st of March saw Allure hosting another couple of guys from Houston, Texas. Bill Nelson and Richard Weaver timed their trip well. Compared to how the fishing had been for most of March, the bite really went off. These guys were experienced and went straight into hooking their own fish from the out-set. Still, it takes time for the co-ordination to get back to speed, plenty of practice on day one saw over 50 fish in the spread, with 47 bites the guys released 28 sails with some big 100lb+ fish in the mix it was a great day. Day two slowed a little though the ratio climbed with another 28 releases though this time from just 39 bites. On the last day we mixed it up some hitting the beach in the morning and live-baiting for roosters, we got one small rooster and a big 12lb mackerel for lunch. A bit of a late start to the blue-water made the decision to try a little closer to home, a good 15 miles from the main fleet we still got into a good bite, a promising sign for the days ahead with 21 from 33 bites. It was a great trip for the guys releasing 77 sails in 3 days and a couple of dorado as well.

25^th-26^th March had Cabela's regulars Doug Zingula, Hollis Perkins, Ray Mulligan and Dave Billman. This time down the group had grown to 12 anglers using Capt Jono Nicholas on the Reel Escape and Capt Nicho Alveras on the Nany. All 3 boats released about 30 sails a-piece in the 2 days with Jono getting his guys onto a blue as well. On Allure the first day the guys picked up from where they left off last year missing only a handful of fish with 13 from 19 bites and 3 nice dorado saw great fish burgers for lunch with sashimi later on. The second day saw the sail action pick up with 18 from 31 bites. Good to see the guys back and looking forward to next year!

22-24^th March one of Allure's owners, Hill Dishman was back down with friends Bill Kinney, Jim Donnan and Brady Scarber. The fishing at this stage was starting to pick up, first day out we went 9 from 14, second day saw a couple of back-lashes and burnt fingers with Bill, Jim and Brady being new to the circle hook- pitching baits form of fishing, getting 9 from 19 bites and 3 nice dorado on the 20-25lb range. The techniques of using circle hooks and the lay-out of the boat and the spread saw the last days percentages go very high with 12 sails released from 16 bites. Excellent job.

Previous to this we saw some fairly tough fishing with occasional good days in the double digits. The fish have been pretty tough on the fly, difficult to tease and to switch to the fly, though we have had our good days and lately they are getting more aggressive. There have been plenty of blues around this year and we've had our fair share of shots and released a few as well. Going off-shore and looking for the bite saw some great tuna bites in amongst the spinner dolphins, mostly in the 20- 35lb range and the occasional 40lb tuna, we did pull the hook on a nice one as well. Doing the beach and live-baiting for rooster fish has had it's results as well, the highlight being with Cam Sigler Jr, Shane Sigler and Paul Roberts, after getting a couple of sails on the fly we fished the beach for the last few hours of the day leading up to the high tide. It was pretty much non-stop action till we pulled our lines and ran to home with Cam Jr getting a nice 40lb+ fish on the 20lb spinning tackle and Shane getting a beauty of 35lbs + on the 12lb conventional gear that we have and Paul doing the same thing on a nice fish in the same range on the same tackle. These fish fight hard and the guys had a blast.

Things are picking up and we are expecting April to be great month here in Guatemala for the sails and typically the marlin bite heats up as well. There will be more reports to follow.

The big event of the last week was the annual No Sancocho Sailfish Shootout running from the 7^th through to the 9^th Feb with teams from Texas and, for the first time this year Louisiana. After arriving in Guatemala City most of the group of 24 chose to stop off in Antigua at the Hotel Casa Santo Domingo on the way down to the coast for a 5 star lunch followed by a visit to the Jade factory. Then it was on to Casa Vieja on the Pacific coast where the team meeting took place followed by refreshments, Texas sized steaks and local jumbo shrimp.

Day one fishing aboard the Captain Hook, Club No Minors took the early lead with 15 releases followed by Reel Nasty fishing aboard the Release with 13 releases and the Louisiana Mafia with 10 releases on the Canaso. On Day Two the big movers were the Circle Hookers fishing aboard the Release with 24 releases to put them into 3^rd spot with 28 releases overall. Reel Nasty and the Louisiana Mafia finished the day tied with 29 releases overall.

It was another tight finish to a great tournament with team Reel Nasty looking to make it 3 titles in row fishing aboard Allure on the last day and opting to fish the fly. It wasn't to be however with the Louisiana Mafia fishing aboard the Intensity taking it out on their tournament debut. Reel Nasty came in second closely followed by Club No Minors. In the boat division the Release with Capt Chris Sheeder and Team Tejas Vaqueros caught 6 fish in the last 45 minutes of the day to make a total of 14 releases and a total of 51 for the tournament to take first place from the Capt Hook. Prize giving took place at Marina Pez Vela with a Mariachi band and plenty of rum punch.

Before the boys rolled into town we had Jim Williams, Ron and Art fishing the fly for 3 days from 4^th-6^th of February. The fishing was far off-shore but worth it with 40 raised on the first day; getting 18 bites we released 8. Day 2 slowed some with 14 raised sails, a small blue that wouldn't tease and 2 from 7 bites. It got slower with 3 from 6 on the last day out of the 11 raised. 

It was a family affair from 11^th-13^th Feb with Marc, Ron and Jay Felton from California coming for sails on the fly as well. Fishing was slow on the first day, we did however raise 2 marlin, the first was a fish of about 250 lbs which didn't stick around too long, the 2^nd was a blue of around 400lbs, we got two bites on the mackerel out of it but unfortunately the hook did not stick. On the Sails we raised 8 getting 3 bites and releasing 1. Inshore the next couple of days proved better with 3 from 5 on the fly, a couple on bait and 4 from 12 with a handful on bait on the last day as well.

16^th and 17^th  Feb regulars Joe Young and Buddy fished for two days while their wives enjoyed Antigua. Again on the fly proved testing, we went 100% with 2 from 2 from the 4 fish raised on the first day, and a tough day with the fleet out wide on the second day came up with just the one fish raised.

Things turned around quickly the next day with first timers to Guatemala, Smith Ragsdale and his lovely wife Susan. The bite was just 8 NM out and with 20 raised we got 10 to bite the fly releasing 4 and getting a couple on the bait from 3 bites. The second day was fly only and the averages increased with 6 from 10 bites from the 24 fish raised, the highlight of the day was Susan releasing a measured fish that worked out at just over 105lbs. A great catch for a new comer to the blue water fly game, congrats Susan. We also raised about a 300lb blue that teased half way in on the long rigger teaser before turning off.

It took a while, but things have swung and the blue water and better water temperatures have returned bringing fish with them. The fishing up to now, 2^nd Feb improved since the 24^th when finally a body of good water moved in.

31^st-2^nd Feb. Guatemalan first timers Tim Courtney, John Herring, Perry Perdue and Rusty Williams from North Carolina got into the action quickly. We started fishing at 8 miles and finished at 20 miles straight out in front. Getting bites all the way the better action was at the 20 mile mark. We released 16 from 24 bites on the sails and a nice 350lb blue on 50lb stand-up that Perry got the better of after about 20mins for the release, the fish had other ideas though and again peeled out line greyhounding to the horizon before sounding. The rod was passed to John and he got it boat-side after another 20mins where some great jumps on the leader showed the fishes true bulk. The bite held in the general area and we got 21 from 35 bites the next day including a quad hook-up and release. The last day out we decided to mix it up, 4 on the baits and 3 on the fly before running in at lunch to catch live baits and fish the incoming to high tide for roosters. We released 3 nice roosters from 5 bites up to 25lbs on the 12lb tackle.

28^th-30^th Jan. Larry Lloyd and Jim Pike joined us from Michigan. 12 from 16 bites the first day had us run back to the general area the next day where there had been plenty of fish raised and seen free jumping. It was tough going however with only 7 sails raised, 3 bites and only one sticking all the way to the boat for a release. We did raise a 200lb blue that took a half hearted swipe at the teaser and did not eat the pitched mackerel. A change of boats to the Nany and areas to the east paid off the last day with 20 releases for the guys and their best day ever on the conventional tackle.

25^th-27^th Jan. Gary Miserlian bought his group of 12 anglers fishing 3 boats for 3 days all the way from the cooler climes of Michigan. The group released 86 sail fish in their time on the water, also catching several nice dorado up to 35lbs and small yellowfin tuna to 15lbs for sashimi and steaks. Their last day was spent in Antigua and it included a walking tour of the historical sites, an afternoon visit to a coffee farm and a macadamia nut farm.

Carl Lehner and Ricky Richardson arrived on the 22^nd Jan and fished through to the 24^th. They caught the end of the cooler off colored water, so it was tough, especially with the fly rod, trying to get the fish that did come up to tease all the way in AND bite the fly. We did get 4 bites on the first day it got tougher the second with just one bite, so a move to the west the next day found us in blue water and a reasonable water temperature. We finally got into some fish too, raising 20 for the day. Again, the fish were lazy due to so much bait around and trying to tease them in proved hard work. The afternoon saw a change in attitude and we did get some incredible bites, the guys did great releasing 4 from 5 bites, with the 5^th fish lost just before the release when the hooks pulled after 15 mins.

The fishing really took a turn in the other direction straight after the tournament, we raised 12 and went 6 from 9, on the day after and since then the average fleet release total per boat has been 3-5 a day. The fishing has stayed slow right up to this report being the 17^th, green patchy cool water and not a lot of fish. We have had some good rooster fishing to break the day up occasionally and there have been a few blue marlin seen and caught, as well as a couple of stripies. Still all in all not what we are used to here in Guatemala, but that's fishing and it's sure to change any day now with the new moon.

4^th-6^th Jan. Fishing with different teams every day in the 10^th Anniversary Presidential Tournament of Champions and the fishing turned on. Day one with Lou Lamar and Billy and his 10 year old son Mackey in Team USA, 2 we went 22 from 36 11 sails from 14 bites. It was great to see the father son combo in action and score 3 double headers together. Day 2 with Team USA 1 Dianne Locke, Bill Easum and Scott Parsons the fishing slowed some in the morning and we went off the bite but got back into it in the afternoon going 14 from 22. The last day we had on eventual tournament champions Team Edgewater consisting of Jack Reveland, Paul Pfaf and Ben Martz, again the bite was slow in the morning but pretty good in the afternoon and they ended up with 17 from the 31 bites. Congratulations to Paul Pfaf who caught 10 of those fish and went on to win overall top angler, also to Ronnie on the Capt Hook who took out the top standings in the boat division.

29^th-31^st Dec. Regulars to Guatemala Zachary Brice and Jon Theuerkauf were this time joined by Zach's wife Nancy and son Brandon. Jon had his daughter Hannah with him. The water was slightly off color the day before to the east with a strong 2knt current pushing from the west so it was decided to go west to find the mother lode. It's a long ride out to the edge, and when we got there the current was still pushing hard against the edge and the water was a beautiful deep blue. Unfortunately despite looking fishy it was anything but. We raised a hot little blue marlin which was incredibly well lit up and we got an aggressive bite out of it, but after coming tight for a couple of seconds the hook pulled. For the rest of the day the guys went 100% getting 2 from 2 on the sails. Back to the east the following day produced a good steady action through the day and 18 releases from 26 bites. Day 3 slowed again and the area of blue water where we fished the day before had shrunk considerably. We sancoched another small blue of around 150lbs and after a rough start the guys and gals hardly missed a fish in the afternoon going 9 from 13 on the sails.

27^th-28^th Dec. Owner Hill Dishman came down with friends Jay Survant and Steve Finken for a quick couple of days fishing straight after Christmas. Steve and Jay were also new to the game of bait and switch, so a couple of sancochos are allowed on the first day without too much of a hard time. We had more than a couple the first day releasing 8 from an undisclosed amount of bites......but let's say we raised 19 sails and they were all in an eating mood. We started the second day catching live baits for some rooster fishing up the beach, but early on it didn't look good with the water inshore very dirty. We gave it an hour before heading offshore armed with live blue runners ready to pitch on 12lb gear. The first fish came up on the bridge teaser, the boat was knocked out of gear and the livey pitched, with the prop wash clearing we watched as the aggressive sail was on it in no time. We kept the left pitch rod ready with a livey for the day and had some fun catching 3 sails on the 12lb gear. Jay and Hill had an excellent day and Steve didn't miss a fish all day, we returned the excellent numbers of 12 from 15 bites from the 18 sails raised.

22^nd Dec. We hosted Antigua Guatemala locals Jean Louis Trombetta and Katie Pokorny along with Katie's brother Rory Cunningham and his fiancé, Tania Hammond all the way from England. They are out for a few weeks and decided to include a day on the Pacific sampling the offshore fishing that Guatemala has to offer. It was an incredible day out there, flat seas and the sailfish were snapping so it was a real treat for a first time offshore fishing experience. We put lines in at just 10nm out and with only the one day on the water the focus was on teaching the bait n switch and drop-back procedure we use when pitching ballyhoo baits with circle hooks. Rory was first up and after a small mishap with the first fish, pitched to the second one to come on to the teasers perfectly, did everything as it should be done and caught his first Pacific sailfish. Jean Louis has had a bit of experience, although several years ago, and had no trouble getting into the swing of things again. The girls got in on the action as well releasing a couple each on the bait, a couple of testing fish too that sounded which were stubborn and tough to get up, though the girls never gave up and worked the rods well to release the fish. By after mid-day we had 14 from 19 bites, and a nice 30lb dorado from a couple of bites, a helluva average for the best of anglers let alone first timers.

13^th & 14^th Dec. Abelo, Elden Sorsby joined Craig Johnson with sons Nick and Craig and friend Steve Smith for a quick trip to Guate. Craig was introducing the family to fishing Guatemalan style on the new boat, so it was head first into baiting the fish. It's a bit of a technique and can take a little while to get the drop-back procedure figured so burnt thumbs and back lashes are the norm when thrown in the deep end on the first day, and so it proved to be. Still, it's the quickest way to learn and it wasn't long before the average started swinging in the boys favor. Mid-morning caused the most excitement when a triple crashed the spread, one of the fish we saw race in from out wide to hit the right bridge teaser. The incredibly lit up fish grabbed everyone's attention because it was an albino, its pecks, dorsal edges and tail were bright white, its bill a light pink, and white patches on the body, to see it back there glowing in the deep blue water was an incredible sight and got the adrenaline pumping all round. A sancocho first time round only saw the fish come back more aggressively on the left teaser, luckily it was very aggressive and a little help from mate Julio saw us come tight on the fish. Steve hooked one of the others and we released them both in healthy condition after a couple of obligatory photos of the rare white sailfish. The sight of the fish in the spread will be one that remains. The afternoon again proved to be the best action and we ended with 15 from 30 bites. Day 2 was a half day so we left the dock a little after 6 am to make the most of our time seeing the fish were 35-40nm out. At 32 miles we came across a large group of spinner dolphins, so it was out with the cedar plugs and tuna lures. Before long we had a double of sails on the teasers, one disappeared before we could get a bait to it and the other was baited, hooked, caught and released. We finally got in front of the spinners to where the birds were working and 3 rods bent over. It was a great start to the day getting 6 tunas in the 25-30lb range and nice 20lb dorado. Lessons learnt on the first day carried over and the boys did an excellent job releasing 8 sails from 9 bites before we pulled lines at 12.30 to head to the dock.

9^th &10^th Dec. A girls trip to Guatemala for Donelle Dishman, Lida Arendale and Teresa La Fuze included 2 days of fishing along with 3 nights in Antigua. Antigua proved a hit and so did the fishing. A late start didn't affect the outcome of the first day, with the bite still close at just 14 miles out and the fish again turning on big time later in the afternoon the girls had a intensive introduction to bill fishing. Getting the spinning gear out through the day to learn to pitch baits to the fish on the teasers mixed things up and overall they were in outstanding form with several multiples adding to the day tally of 25 from 38 bites. Way to go girls!! The next day was another late start and things were different from the previous day, a bit of wind and a change in the water color for the worse slowed things down. We got our first for the day not long after getting the lines in and then it shut down for us. Wanting to introduce the girls to the fly we swapped the baits for teasers after lunch, Teresa was first up and not long after getting the run down of how we tease and cast to the fish, we raised a hot triple. The first fish teased in aggressively and crushed the fly in the same manner, Teresa did everything right and once hooked solid Donelle pitched a bait with the spinning rod to one of the other fish which mate Julio kept at the back of the boat with the teaser. A fly/spin double took a while to get in since they both headed in opposite directions, but we got them both. Teresa put the heat on her fish and got it up after it stubbornly sounded, it was a beauty too, of around 110lbs. Awesome work!! We knocked off early so they could spend their last night at the superb Casa Santa Domingo in Antigua. A great way to finish off a great trip.

7^th & 8^th Dec. New comer to blue water fishing Tyson Dunn was keen to learn the ropes from Guatemalan regulars Jamie Dishman and Bradford Klein. The techniques were shown and Tyson picked up the circle hook style slowly but surely. A bit of bad luck with pulled hooks and chewed through leaders affected the numbers but we had a great day all round getting 16 to the boat from 30 bites. With the conventional style of fishing mastered the next day we turned to the fly. It was another slow start but the afternoon was nothing short of red-hot, we had 57 fish in the spread for the day getting 26 to bite the fly and releasing 10 all on 20lb tippet. Pitched baits on the spinning gear accounted for another 3 from 5 bites, good humor all round and great fishing!!

Mate Julio with Jamie, Tyson and Brad getting into the Christmas spirit Guatemalan style with a nice sail on the fly

6^th Dec. We hosted now Guatemalan regular Davis Mithcell with associates Bill, Tony and Davis Griffin. The bite had held steady since the tournament and the fishing was still just 12-16nm straight out. It was a great day for the fleet overall and on the Allure we had steady action right through the day releasing 31 from 52 bites, raising over 60 fish and picking up a couple of nice dorado in the 25lb class as well.

1^st & 2^nd Dec. After a tournament lay day on the 30^th the fleet was back out for the final 2 days of fishing. The boats that did fish the lay-day racked up some pretty good numbers just 15nm right out in front, so that's where we started. It started slow and finished slow for us but the middle part was great fishing, we ended with 20 from 36 bites on the Allure. The last day of the tournament proved to be the best with some great numbers to give the anglers a taste of what Guatemala can produce. In the boat section Decisive had an outstanding day and came from behind to release 41 sails and take it from the Sirena by a couple of fish. In the team section Guatemalan National Sportishing Association won and in the individual standings Romano Delamora was top angler, the home ground advantage tipping the balance. Congratulations to all and to Club Nautico for running an outstanding tournament. On the Allure we finished a few fish shy of the overall placings with 27 from 48 bites.

29^th Nov. The fleet spread out looking for the fish from the day before, several bites were found , though nothing significant. It was a similar day to day one for the fleet, some boats seeing them, and some having a tough time raising fish. On the Allure we went east finding a couple of bites that proved good for several boats and again, tough for others. Our fortunes were reversed from the previous day and we finished top boat for day 2 with 15 from 26 bites.

28^th Nov. The start of the ILTTA tournament hosted in Guatemala for the second time in 3 years, a big turn-out this time with around 30 boats and teams of 3 anglers from around the world,  including teams from as far away as Italy and South Africa. The first day proved a hard grind for most boats, the average being about 9 releases. The Nany topped the day with 15 releases from 25 bites. On the Allure we had a tough day, right there with the fleet we managed to get 6 from 11 bites and also raised a blue marlin of around 300lbs on the bridge teaser that stayed deep and wouldn't come up to the ballyhoo.

22^nd Nov. Cindy Garrison from ESPN's Get Wild joined us with the camera crew to experience Guatemala's flat seas and abundant sailfish. A pretty severe cold front put paid to the flat seas with a 5-6ft step chop making fishing uncomfortable and tough for everyone. We didn't leave the dock till 1000 and after just 10 mins of having the baits in the water we raised a blue of around 250lbs, quick action had the mackerel pitched to the fish hot on the bridge teaser, another great bite and Cindy was hooked solid to the fish. A tough fish it was too, but after nearly an hour we got the marlin boat side and over went underwater cameraman Tony Ludovico to get some great footage. We managed to get a couple of sailfish in tough conditions as well before heading back to the dock early.

16^th to the 19^th Nov. We started late in the morning on the 16th managing to get lines in the water by 1030 after a 20nm run. Craig and Harvey got in on the action early, releasing their first sailfish in the first 15 minutes of fishing. Hill finally got his turn and what a great introduction to the boat for him, his first fish on the teasers being a 300lb blue marlin. He pitched the mackerel on 50lb and after a great bite came tight. The fish put on a spectacular display with several grey hounding runs, awesome stuff! After about 25mins we got the fish boat-side, and released it in good condition. The day ended with 10 from 15 bites on the sailfish and 1 for 1 with the blue. The 2006 Presidential Challenge kicked off the following day. After a great start, Craig Johnson catching the first fish of the tournament and following up with another 2 fish to be 3 for 3 in the first half our of the tournament, things slowed down for us. We ended the day with 9 releases from 16 bites. Day 2 saw a great bite/ catch ratio going 11 from 13 bites. The highlight of the next day was Craig Johnson's 250lb blue marlin on the tournament 20lb tackle. Having a 30min time restraint on billfish Craig did an excellent job on the rod with some aggressive angling and got the release with just 3 mins to spare.  All in all a great trip with plenty of good memories.

November 15th & 16th Owners, Craig Johnson and Hill Dishman, and their good friend Harvey Steinhagen III, arrived  in Guatemala for their inaugural fishing trip on the ALLURE. After a late start on their first day they managed to release 10 from 15 sailfish. Hill's first fish was a 300lb marlin which he reeled in one 50lb line after a 20 minute battle. Craig was not to be outdone releasing a 250lb blue marlin on 20lb tackle 3 minutes within the 30 minute time constraint set by the Presidential Challenge Tournament rules. During their stay they released 34 sailfish and 2 blue marlin along with lots of laughs and animal antics.

May 1st Fishing today with Hill Disman and his party who have come down yet again to Guatemala to fish.  We move offshore, trying a different stretch of water which proves successful. Finding a much better bite, only enabled us to produce 7 sails from 10 bites, but that might have had something to do with the 500lb. Blue Marlin we fought and released after two hours on 20lb test. By the way that was the second Blue we raised that day.

April 30th Again...a slight decline in activity keeps the numbers slightly low. 6 releases from 9 bites.

April 29th The previous day's bite slows down, however we do
manage to release 11 sails from 14 bites. See you next year Hill...

April 18-19: Don Finkell and his party came down to Guatemala once more to try there skills on the sail fishing waters and were rewarded the first day out with a very lively bite ! We fished the active spot 17-20 miles out where fishing had been hot and cold for a few days and had a steady rise to our spread pretty much all day. Ended up with 40 fish raised of which we released 19, enough to have everyone in the group successful at hooking there own! Next day saw a cool down in the fish bite , we had planned to try out the fly fishing but the sailfish were anything but cooperative. Still we found a few dorado and with the addition of some borrowed limes and wasabi we enjoyed a special treat of fresh marinated mahi-mahi strips and managed by the end of our day to release 9 of the 19 fish we did find. The exciting moment came late in the afternoon when a marlin crashed the spread..hopeful moments spent trying to entice it to take our ready bait offering...but finally no dice! All in all a very enjoyable day and Don and his group were a great  bunch to fish with!

Capt. Gerry

6^th-8^th April saw the return of now Guatemala regulars Doug Zingula, Hollis Perkins, Ray Milligan and new-comer to the team Steve Seitz. After leaving the dock a little late we were pleased to hear a few of the other boats had pulled up at just 2 miles off the port break wall and had already raised a few fish. We did the same and had the same results, and up till 11.00 the bite was pretty good, raising 20 sails, getting 17 to bite and releasing 9. After 11.00 the bite shut down and the guys pretty much stayed at 50% ending the day with 10 from 19 bites. Day 2 slowed a bit but a big school of dorado provided plenty of action and a lot of fun, boating over 50 dorado in the 5-8lb range, add 5 from 9 bites on the sails and it was a great day. The last day produced some more good action on the sails going 10 from 20 bites.

31^st March-2^nd April. For their 4^th year in succession Jon Theuerkauf, and Zach Brice came down to Guatemala, this time joined by 'Doc' Andrew Pugliese. Prior to their arrival the fishing had been fairly slow so the fleet was spread out and it wasn't long before Jono on the Man O War started calling in a few fish. A move in his direction had us in the fish before too long as well. It didn't take long for the guys to get back into the swing of things and apart from the mates helping Doc out with the drop-back procedure; they were hooking all their own fish. They ended up with 12 from 20 bites on their first day out, that's not too bad. The bite the next day just got better and with it the hook-up ratio got better too, a great days fishing with consistent bites through the day saw us back at the dock with 33 releases from 49 bites and a couple of nice dorado in the 35lb range. Zach and Doc had to get back to the States early and Jon was out solo for the last day, he was in outstanding form releasing 14 from 18 bites himself and the mates chipped in when the  doubles and triples came in to the spread getting 3 from 6, the boat ending the day with 17 from 24 bites. Nice going to the guys and a great trip!!

24^th-26^th March. Fishing slowed down some from the bite of the last few weeks and the fleet was spread out over a big area. It seemed to be the same all round with most boats ending with half a dozen or so bites. On the Reel Escape we ended with 4 from 6 and a nice dorado of around 45lbs. 25^th things got a bit better with lines in at just 8NM out we found a steady bite and released 15 from 26 bites. 26^th the guys wanted to try the fly, but with an easterly of 20+ knots it wasn't the easiest of conditions to learn in and by midday it was decided to go back to the baits and conventional fishing. For the morning session we raised 7 sails getting 4 to bite, we jumped off 3 and released just the one. For the afternoon we ended with 6 from 10 on the baits. A big congratulations to Capt Jono on the Man O War who got his clients on to a beauty of a blue marlin est. at 800lb+ on 50lb gear late in the afternoon, after 2 ½ hours they finally got the fish up to where the mate could get a couple of wraps on the wind on leader for the release. Awesome fish!!

20^th-22^nd March. All the way from Sweden solo angler Martin Malmsten joined us for 3 days of fly fishing. An experienced salmon fisherman on the fly gear it was Martins first time out on a blue water excursion casting to billfish. What a great introduction, coming to Guatemala with expectations of being happy with one sail a day he was left speechless after day one raising 32 sails. It was a fast learning curve with alot of the fish coming up in doubles; Martin got 15 bites releasing 6. The fish were a bit finicky the next day with 33 sails in the spread we only managed to get 12 to bite, he faired a lot better on the bite/catch ratio though catching 8 of them. With the fish moving further to the west each day it was decided to head east for the last day, there were fish out there but with ALOT of bait around it was tough work on the fly, we did get 6 bites from the 14 fish raised but a couple of popped tippets and a couple jumping off mid-fight we only got the 1 release.

16^th-18^th March. Brett and Mark also came to Guatemala with low expectations and a 4 day trip in mind. 18 from 34 bites the first day, 34 from 56 the second and 27 from 39 the third day had them re-consider their last day out. With aching arms and 79 sailfish under their belts they decided to head to Antigua for a day of sightseeing instead of another day on the water. It's always an option, and a good one with plenty to see and do. 

Well, we have just experienced a RED HOT BITE here in Guatemala, INCREDIBLE stuff!! Probably the BITE OF THE CENTURY!!

12^th-14^th March 2006: Father and daughter team Dave and Amanda Perryman from Palm Beach, Florida timed their trip pretty well too. Not like the day before, but the fishing was still incredible out there. We started on the fly and the day started slowly releasing 8 from 12 bites before moving to the baits by late morning and ended with 53 releases from 73 bites from a red-hot afternoon bite. The next day was more of the same starting on the fly Amanda released 7 from 15 bites, with multiples coming into the spread every time the teasers were put in the water it was awesome stuff. The morning was red hot this time around and we changed to the baits by 10.30, Dave and Amanda got into the thick of it, hooking the majority of the fish and just missed out on the 50, getting 49 from 81 bites on the bait. The afternoon bite slowed and you had the feeling things were starting to die down. It proved to be, it couldn't go on forever and on the last day we concentrated on the fly releasing 10 from 19 bites and 4 from 5 bites on the conventional tackle. Still a great day raising 47 fish all up...Amazing fishing, in an amazing fishery. There are still a few openings for this year, or start planning your trip for next season to experience the world's premium bill fishing. From early October on, it's all good..

6^th-10^th March: The Gilleece group timed their trip pretty well with Hugh Gilleece Snr (Jay), Hugh Gilleece Jnr ( Jimmy), Randall Ward and Richey Denzler joining us for 5 days. The guys came down to Guatemala specifically to learn how to use circle hooks and for the first day and into the second the mates hooked the fish before the guys took over. Things started fairly good and by just after noon on the first day we had released 20, the afternoon died for us and we ended up with 28 from 46 bites. Day 2 the bite started and it was good consistent action releasing 50 from 73 bites. Day 3 and the cockpit was all theirs, another great day saw us with 41 from 67 bites and that was despite leaving the bite for a couple of hours looking for bonito to do some marlin live baiting further offshore. We ended the day back in the bite after Ronnie Hamlin called saying he was getting bitten pretty good. The next day the bite just got better and better and we could have racked up some good numbers but for muchas sancochos!! Day 4 saw us back at the dock with 51 releases from 93 bites. Their last day started slow, the goal being 30 fish for 200 releases for the trip, it looked for a while to be a tough one, but the afternoon bite went off and we pulled lines when we hit 50 releases from 71 bites. What a great trip, the guys releasing 55 a piece, 220 sailfish released for the trip.

And here is where things started going crazy, we knew there were a lot of fish out there and thought it would be good when they started to bite, but no one knew quite how good...

I thought for sure the bite would start to slow, with the action being so good for the previous 4 days..Wrong.... We had the day off and on the 11^th the bite pretty much peaked, and we only wish we were out there to be a part of it. The reports were incredible with a couple of new records being set, Capt Ronnie Hamlin on the Captain Hook with his dream team of anglers released 124 sails and were back at the dock at 4.30PM. Capt Chris Sheeder aboard the Release fishing with his boss´ Jim & Liz Turner had a world record breaking day releasing 57 on the fly!! Jim accounted for 54 of those personally which blew the old record away. Congratulations to all, unbelievable stuff.

2^nd-4^th March: Butch Barnhill and Lon Hamby joined us for 3 days, things started turning around with the blue water pushing in and lots of bait being marked out there. The fish that had been seen jumping and tailing were starting to bite, but there was still A LOT of fish out there not interested. Still, first day up we released 17 from 24 bites, the next day started slow but we got on them later in the day releasing 20 from 34 bites. On their last day out we decided to mix it up starting with a rooster fish in the morning, it took a while to find them but we released 3 beauties, one real nice fish pushing 50lbs, the other over 40lbs and the smaller still over 30lbs. We got out to the blue water a bit late but still managed 7 from 14 bites on the sailfish. The day could have been exceptional but for a bit of luck going the wrong way with 2 nice 25lb+ dorado pulling the hooks and a nice blue of around 300lbs pulling the hook after the 4^th jump.

25-26^th Feb: Saw the second group come in from Hughes Pipe Supplies, things turned around a bit getting 10 from 18 bites the first day and 7 from 15 the next, along with 24 dorado taken off a bamboo raft that was loaded with bait and dorado.

23-24^th  Feb: Brothers Nik and Joe Turano joined us for a couple of days on the fly. First up Joe hooked a nice sail of around 130lb on 20lb tippet, a tough fish and after 40 mins he got the release. Later in the afternoon we raised a real beauty pushing a solid 600lbs it was quickly decided to pitch a bait rather than cast the fly. After a great tease in by mate Marvin from the long rigger we had an incredible bite and Nik was solidly hooked to the big blue and strapped in the stand-up gear. What a sight!! After the initial run and jumps the fish settled down and we had the wind on leader over the gunwale and in the cockpit before the fish ripped off 50 yds of line in a few seconds and touch the gunwale breaking off. A bit disappointing, but still..The next day was still tough out there, though we did compensate with 8 dorado on the fly and a further 16 on the bait. Another group of spinners saw the brothers get 4 yellowfin from 6 bites on the fly and some sails were raised on the back of the spinners, though a bit of bad luck had 2 pull the hooks mid-fight and another 2 bites not sticking.

19-20^th Feb: The green water moved in and it was patchy out there, small pockets of blue with some fish could be found but all in all it was pretty tough fishing. Luckily we had a couple of good anglers on board to make the most of the few shots we had. Bryce Ball and Ron Fowler from Nth Carolina joined us for a couple of days and first day they went 8 from 9 bites. The following day we ran well offshore to look for better water but the further out the greener and dirtier the water got, we did find a group of spinner dolphins out there and caught 4 yellowfin tunas before leaving them and ended with 4 from 6 bites on the sailfish. Before their flight out the following day we had time to go out for a rooster fish along the beach, and within an hour of leaving the dock they released 3 nice roosters, a couple pushing 30lbs and one at 20lb

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3 Feb 2006. We got the Reel Escape back in the water on the 2nd and got her all rigged up for Day 3 of the XI Guatemalan International Tournament. It all went well and it was great to have her back and humming. We had on board Warren Meredith all the way from South Africa representing the Nomads Fishing Club, and Hunt Buckley and Monty Padilla both representing Mexico and Club Tepeyac. What a day for the tournament, the bite went off and we ended up raising 64 fish, getting 55 bites and releasing 25. It was pretty much the same for the fleet, an incredible day but muchas sancochos throughout the fleet

4 & 5th Feb, The Reel Escape was not involved in the last day of the tournament, instead we shared a group of 8 anglers with the Man o War. On the Reel Escape we had anglers Billy Kluttz, Will Leonhardt, Ryan Gossoons and Joe Horvath. With the bite the way it was the day before the fleet headed back out to the same spot about 15NM offshore. Billy and the boys came in late the night before so we didn't leave the dock till 9.30 and at just 3miles out the water turned a deep blue and we saw a jumper. We put them out and raised a fish almost immediately, the furthest we got from the Port all day was just 5NM and we had a pretty good bite, releasing 25 sails from 34 bites, with 3 doubles and a triple near the end of the day to top it off. The next day was another late start and a try along the beach for a Rooster fish came up empty. Meanwhile the bite for sails just offshore was pretty good in the early part of the morning for the fleet, but slowed by the time we got out there and it was a fairly slow day compared to the day before releasing 7 from 15 bites.

6-8^th Feb. From Destin Florida anglers Walter Givhan, Joe Young and son Chance and Julian Johnson joined us for 2 days of conventional fishing and a day on the fly. Day one was getting into the swing of things with the mates assisting the anglers except for Chance who left nothing to it and hooked about everything he feed a bait to. The day was an improvement on the previous one with everyone pushing offshore and we ended with a triple to make it 21 from 33 bites. On day 2 the cockpit was all theirs with no assistance from the mates the guys were hooking all their own fish, the bite was hot and from the 60 fish raised they had 51 shots releasing 28 sails.

On their last day out we turned exclusively to the fly, it was another great day with plenty of shots but a little bit of bad luck, a few jumped off mid fight and a couple of popped tippets can turn the numbers. Still, 9 releases on the fly is a helluva day, we had 22 bites from the 37 fish raised and some big fish were in the mix, Chance released a nice sail of 110lb+ on 20lb tippet.

9^th Feb. The bite slowed quite a bit from the previous days and we had a one day group of 5 from the Palm Beach Country Club, Florida. Slow but steady action through the day saw 15 fish raised and 7 released from 12 bites as well as two very nice 25lb dorados.

11^th-14^th Feb. From Austin Texas we hosted Dr Albert Horn and Cole Eslyn for 4 days of fly fishing. First day out we raised 17, got 10 to bite the fly and we released 5 of them which isn't a bad way to start out. The next was pretty similar though the bite seemed to be fading raising 14 and releasing 6 from 11 bites. On day 3 we pulled our teasers through the area in the morning and didn't raise a fish in 30min so decided to head out and look for a new bite. After midday and not having seen a fish you start to get worried but the water was a beautiful blue and we still held out some hope. At 12.30 we raised a double, then another double followed by a triple, we were on them and in 2 ½ hours we raised 30 fish. Getting them to bite the fly was another story and only when the multiples came in did we get aggressive bites. From the 30 raised we got 11 good bites and were a little unlucky losing a couple right next to the boat but still managed to release 5, not bad for the last couple of hours of the day, and at least we had somewhere to go the following morning. For the last day out the guys were keen to break out the 10wt fly rods and try for some jacks to start off along the beach and dirty water lines, everything looked good but we spent 2 hours checking out different spots and came up empty. Meanwhile the fleet was on the bite we'd found the day before and it was going off. We got to the area after 10 and it was red hot, for the day we raised a bunch of multiples in the 54 for the day and from 27 bites released 15 on the fly, a hell of a way to finish the trip! The boats on baits got upward of 50 releases for the day and the action is still great out there right now, unfortunately we have 3 days in so can only drool at the reports. We're back on the water Saturday the 18^th, and are full for February though there are still a few openings in March and April. So if you want to get a piece of some of the best sail fish action in the world get in touch with the team at rodsandreelssportfishing.com before it's too late.

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It's the start of 2006 and the start of our fish reports from the Reel Escape here on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Before getting into the last week of fishing here is a summary of the last couple of trips of 2005.

December 2005-January 2006

Dec 12-15. Solo angler Randy Rasins came to Guatemala to learn, and learn he did! After his second day of bait fishing he was a pro at the bait n switch, with smooth drop backs the circle hooks were finding the corner of the jaw every time and his last 5 bites ended in 5 releases. In 2 days he went 22 from 39 bites, with the second half of the last day going 6 from 8 bites you could really see how much he had learnt. The last 2 days of his trip he turned to the fly and went 9 from 17 and 7 from 12 bites respectively. From a guy who had never cast a fly to a billfish to end with 16 from 29 bites is incredible stuff, and just goes to show what a great spot Guatemala is to learn to fish like the best of them.

Dec 27-29. We hosted the Hughes family of 5 from North Carolina, in 3 days of fishing they released 81 sailfish and landed 4 nice Dorado. On the last day of fishing they hooked all their own fish totally unassisted and ended with 49 from 73 bites—what a day. To see the improvement in their fishing skills over the 3 days of fishing was something else. It also helped the Capt and Crews tally for 2005 to end at 1642 billfish releases in 138 days of fishing. Thanks to all the anglers who fished with us!!

Our first group for 2006 was a fly fishing bunch headed by Jeff 'Duct tape' Morrow and his group of anglers from Jacksonville, Florida. The fishing had slowed from the hot bite that ended December and by Guatemala standards was pretty tough, it just shows how spoilt we are...

3-1-06, Jeff Morrow and Dr Eduardo Sanchez made the most of their first day out going 5-9 on the fly, 18 fish were raised with a great triple and some doubles coming in to spread to keep the adrenaline levels up.

4-1-06, Jeff was joined by Homer Bliss, and a move west by the fleet paid off with some steady action. Jeff jumped aboard with his inflatable kayak that morning and the intention of landing a sailfish from the tiny craft; he succeeded with his first fish of the day. The fish came in hot and a great bite had the sail firmly hooked, a quick exchange from the Reel Escape to the Reel Flimsy and he was off getting dragged around the ocean by the big sail. Some great jumps and runs later he got the fish beside the kayak (inflatable, watch that bill!!) and managed to grab the feisty sail by the bill and pulled the hooks to release the fish. The kayak was stashed and the guys were into the swing of things over all with an impressive 8 from 12 bites for the rest of the day, getting 4 from 6 a piece with the last 2 releases coming from a double. (Footage can be viewed on the following two television links: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8828200/ Jan 24th and http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/25/earlyshow/leisure/main1236856.shtml

5-1-06 What a difference a day makes, the fleet spread out after a slow morning and went looking. We ended up to the east and in the last half hour raised 6 fish to save the day, and give us somewhere to go the following day.  We ended with 2 from 5 and one snapped 12 weight!

6-1-06, anglers Lonnie Dean and Tom Edwards had an unlucky morning with some un-aggressive bites on the fly, but made up with it with a great afternoon. They ended the day with 6 from 13 bites; we raised 20 fish but had a hard time convincing some of them to bite the fly. The days end was a classic, with just over an hour to go we raised a red hot triple, Tom cast and hooked up, his fish headed east and mate Marvin kept the other 2 fish snapping at the ballyhoo teaser right at the transom. Lonnie stepped up and stripped some line out, cast and instantly hooked up, we got back on the fish for a quick release just before the fish headed west pulling the hooks about 30 meters from the boat. Winding in the fly, and the 3^rd fish came in hot on it, he teased the lit up sail to within 20 ft of the boat, re-cast and the fish crushed the fly with a great going away bite. After a great battle we released both his and Tom's fish. A triple release! What a way to finish a great trip with a great bunch of enthusiastic fly fisherman

10^th January, Stu Brandes and Terry King fished with the Reel Escape for their last day in Guatemala, the blue water was moving in closer and at about 15NM out we got into some good action on the fly once again. We raised 20 sails and the guys fished well going 6 from 11 bites scoring a double in the mix, you have to love those multiples on the fly!

13, 14 &15 January

We were happy to see the return of Mark Hatter who was accompanied by his brother Doug. Sadly the Reel Escape was out of commission so I accompanied them on one of the local boats filling in as deckie for the last 2 days. The fishing was all close at between 5-10 NM out and was fairly slow for those of us on the fly; we still averaged around 12 raises a day, though the boats on bait had the better action for sure. Still the brothers made the most of their opportunities and scored some great releases including Doug's first release which was a horse of around 125lb on 20lb tippet, not bad for a guy who had never cast a fly at a billfish before! After getting a few fish under the belt Mark dropped down to 12lb tippet material and scored a great angling achievement releasing a big sailfish of 110-115lbs. He topped that off the next day stepping down even further to 8lb tippet and when the fly was cast the fish absolutely launched itself at it from left to right clearing the water on the bite at such aggressive speed I thought the light tippet would have popped for sure. It all held together though, even after some blistering runs and a dozen or more greyhounding jumps he managed to get the fish boatside for the release, a nice fish too of around 80lbs on the 8lb tippet! Doug also got into the light stuff and did a great job releasing a good fish on 12lb. On day 2 while aboard the Full Circle we raised a nice blue marlin of around 200lb, a perfect size for the fly and the heavier 14wt with the 20lb tippet was pulled out. The fish teased in like a freight train, probably too aggressive though and when the boat was pulled out of gear and the fly cast it over shot the transom and we never saw the fish again. Still, it got the adrenaline levels up and added to the 7 blue marlin raised in 2 days by the fleet in a mere 150ft of water..only in Guatemala.

Mark is a fly fishing journalist and an accomplished photographer who has all the latest camera equipment and we hope to be featuring some of his great shots on our site very soon.

16, 17 & 18 January

The return of the infamous Dishman group. It was a scaled down group this year but certainly with no less enthusiasm. These guys know how to have fun and even though the fishing wasn't as good as it could have been this didn't dampen anyone's spirits. Day one on the Release with Capt. Chris Sheeder the team released 10 from 21, day two 9 from 16 bites and day three 2 from 4. Day two on Sirena was a definite improvement (we believe this had something to do with the outstanding Chinese banquet served the night before by our specially imported Chef from New York), Hill Dishman, Brad Klein and Dean Lane managed a perfect 10 from 10. Day Three was slower though the Man o War had a great day on the fly going 5 from 8 bites and getting a couple more pitching baits on the spinning tackle. On the other boats the lack of fish was made up by the abundance of rum punch and good humor! We look forward to the return of this fun loving group of Texans next year.

Cheers, Capt Kiwi Chris, Marvin and Guapo

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HOT NOVEMBER FOR CAPT. "KIWI" CHRIS whose boat wins TOP OVERALL BOAT title in the PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT 2005 in GUATEMALA

For the 5 days of conventional fishing and the one day of flyfishing the REEL ESCAPE released 109 sails and 1 Blue making an average of 18 sails released per day. Great fishing on a great fish raising boat.

What follows is a more detailed day by day report: 

16 NOVEMBER 2005
This was our first day out for the new season and on board we had James Cambridge, Scott Bowers and his lovely girlfriend Paola, both men being part of the legendary 'Rip Roaring & Ready' Team who were warming up for the Presidential Tournament.

Luck was on our side with our first fish being an estimated 275lb blue marlin, what a way to start the new season! The day continued to go well with 20 sails from 28 bites.

17 NOVEMBER 2005
Our Hawaiian friend Mick Childs joined the rest of his 'Rip Roaring & Ready team for day two and they were in top form releasing 32 sails from 41 bites.

18 NOVEMBER 2005
Well known angler Gwen Hahn joined us for her tournament warm up and did a fine job on the fly releasing 10 from 17 bites, what a great day on the long wand!

PRESIDENTIAL TOURNAMENT

19 NOVEMBER 2005
The angler draw for Day One saw the Lonesome Gull Team of Lisa Armstrong, Clint Everett and William Blakemore join us. We stayed with the fleet for the first hour of the day and then decided to take a risk and break away, which turned out to be the right decision as we hit upon a great bite in the last few hours of the day resulting in an impressive 21 for 28 bites and a missed blue. Having had radio problems we had no idea of our standing in the days tally and we were very pleasantly surprised to hear upon our return that we were Top Boat for the day.

20 NOVEMBER
Team Puerto Rico members Evelio Mederos, Angel Muntanar and Carlos Barnes were aboard for Day Two and it seemed that the fish had gone further off shore and so went the fleet. The bite was not as hot as day one but the team managed a respectable 14 sails for 20 to give us the Top Boat for Day Two. We also raised a 150lb blue.

21 NOVEMBER
Day three we hosted Jim McCord, Jim Vaughn and Hans Kaspersetz of Team Priority who effortlessly released 12 from 18 sails to contribute to REEL ESCAPE'S Overall Top Boat Title for the Tournament with a total of 47 releases. We would like to say 'thanks' to the expert anglers we were lucky to have on board with us and hope they return to fish with us again.

November 2004 Fished 11 days, Raised 161 Sailfish and 3 Blue Marlin. Average Sails raised per day 14.6 and dorado to 35lbs

December 2004 Fished 12.5 days, Raised 438 Sailfish and 1 Blue Marlin. Average sails raised per day 35 and dorado to 30lbs

January 2005 Fished 16 days, Raised 352 Sailfish, 0 Blue marlin. Average Sails raised per day 20.3. Rooster fish, grouper and dorado to 40lbs

February 2005 Fished 24 days, Raised 763 Sailfish and 1 Blue Marlin. Average Sails raised per day 31.7. Rooster fish, grouper, dorado and yellowfin tuna to 45 lbs

March 2005 Fished 26 days, Raised 719 Sailfish and 6 Blue Marlin. Average sails raised per day 27.6 . Rooster fish, dorado and yellowfin tuna

April 2005 Fished 22 days, Raised 458 Sailfish, 7 Blue marlin, 1 striped marlin. Average Sails raised per day 20.8. Rooster fish, dorado and yellowfin tuna

May 2005 Fished 21 days, Raised 295 Sailfish and 2 Blue Marlin. Average Sails raised per day 14. Rooster fish, grouper, dorado and yellowfin tuna to 45 lbs

June 2005 Fished 11 days, Raised 171 Sailfish and 5 Blue Marlin. Average Sailfish per day 15.5. Rooster fish and dorado