MERRY CHRISTMAS, THROUGH DEC 23rd

December 17 and 18th we hosted Chief Tauzin again, this time with Micheal Michalka, Greg Spitzenberger, and Casey McDermand all from Houston, Texas. The fishing was great leading up to the trip with all 3 of the boats out there on the 16th releasing over 30 sails a piece. So we were looking forward to a great hot bite out there 16-25NM to the east. The fish done a disappearing act on the fleet though, they seemed to be spawning with some big females and 1-2 smaller males around the big girls, I guess they had other thing on their minds and went off the bite. Still, in 2 days of fishing we raised 23 in the spread, had 20 bites and released 12 sails, the mahi mahi bite was very good with 13 big mahi's boated, all in the 25lb and plus range from plenty of bites, so lots of good sport there....

Triple header of slammer mahi's!!

L-R, Mate Julio, Michael, Casey, Chief in the back ground and Greg

The results

23rd December we hosted for one day of fishing from Antigua Hal Vogel, his son in law from Chicago Joseph Grigely and Manuel also from Antigua. Before this there was some good fishing out wide to the west though we hit a good cold front blowing hard from the ENE. With the crew we had it was decided to run up the beach to the east, then head out and troll down sea all day to make life a little easier. On the fly today with Joseph a keen angler on the long wand. Trolling down seas all day we raised 7 sails and had 5 bites on the fly, pretty good considering we never worked any particular area....

Manuel and Hal before releasing a nice sail.

Mate, Julio

Overall the fishing has been good, now the cold front has passed through we'll be able to work areas where the bait and birds were congregated. January is looking full though there are still some opening's from there on in. See you down here, in the meantime stay safe and have a great New Year. We have another bash at the OASIS planned and a full house with the Blue Dawgs playing once again till the wee hours........we'll be out there fishing from the 31st on, hangovers and all!!

FISHING THROUGH DEC 14th

December 11th-13th we welcomed back to Guatemala Mike Fay and Vern Leder, it was great to catch up with them again and get into some good fishing as well. Although it had been a couple of years since their last trip here they were keen to get straight into it and they fished exceptionally well with a 75% hook up ratio over the 3 days. On our first day out we raised 26 sails with Mike and Vern hooking all their own fish they released 16 sails form 21 bites as well as Vern boating this nice mahi....

Vern Leder
A great welcome back to Guatemala! The next day we fished the same area about 30NM to the SE and found the fish about mid-morning. We trolled off them looking for a blue though still had a great day releasing 9 sailfish from 14 bites. With a bit of a stiff ENE wind blowing the last day we went to the west and found current line loaded with bonito's, Mike caught a nice mahi and also had a blue marlin of about 300lb on for an exciting few minutes before the hook pulled. For the rest of the day the guys were pitching the light stuff, 12lb test off the teasers and had a blast releasing 7 from 10 bites.

Mike with a nice sail on 12lb test
A great trip then for Mike and Vern with 54 sails raised and 32 releases from 45 bites, a couple of big mahi mahi and a missed blue. With the majority of the fish coming up on the teasers it was exciting fishing! Here's what Mike had to write in the visitors book:
"Amazing! That is the word that comes to mind. Great service, fantastic attitudes. It is all about taking care of the clients and catching fish!! Thanks guys. What a great trip! Mike Fay


December 8th we fished a local group for Matt Hartell's 'despedido soltero'. Matt, from Antigua's Old Town Outfitters and a few friends celebrated it with a day's fishing and a night at Sailfish Oasis. We went out wide looking for tunas though unfortuantely couldn't find the spinners. Despite that the fishing was good, not working in any one area we released 8 sails from 12 bites and one mahi mahi, great fish taco's for lunch!

Mateo with lunch
With a couple of double headers it was good to see fish and bait over a large area. Inshore to the east the fleet got onto a good sailfish bite, the fishing is looking good in Guatemala!!

Sean and Drew with one of the double headers for the day

November 30th and December 1st we fished regulars Hill Dishman, Chief Tauzin, Todd Mucha with John Henry Johnson here for his first billfish trip. Out wide we got into some spinner dolphin and boated 9 good sized yellowfin tunas, throw in a few big mahi mahi and 12 sailfish bites it was a good 2 days of fishing.

John Henry Johnson with his first Pacific sailfish

The fishing has been good the last couple of days here in Guate with boats releasing up to 15 sails a day, we are back out tomorrow and then again next weekend. More reports to follow though the season is shaping up to be another great one in Guatemala. We still have the odd opening in February and March with January 21 to 24 open as well. Get in touch with us to secure a trip in these prime months.
We also got notified last week by The Billfish Foundation that ALLURE was the top blue marlin release boat for the Pacific in the 2011/2012 season. Guatemala featured well with most sailfish releases and sailfish tagged, it is definitely THE prime billfish location in the world. Come and experience it.....

ALLURE WINS IN EL SALVADOR

Anglers Drew Donalson, Hill Dishman and Jamie Dishman and the crew...

October 31st-November 3rd we had ALLURE co-owner Hill Dishman his brother Jamie and good friend Drew Donalson join us for the run to El Salvador for the XVIII Annual Bahi del Sol Billfish Tournament. Leaving out early on the 31st we ran about 80NM to an area outside of Bahia del Sol and trolled our way down the edge. Pretty slow pickings for us with greenish patchy water we raised a blue that made a half assed bite at the pitched mackerel and a sailfish that didn't bite at all we only caught a few mahi's to about 30lb's
First day of the tourny we ran east, and got into some fish though fairly slow, luckily the guys made the most of their chances going 3 from 5 bites from the 6 sailfish raised and 7 mahi's boated. Better action offshore for the the rest of the fleet so we ran out wide the following day. The bite had slowed some though once again great fishing from Hill, Jamie and Drew making the most of the few opportunities, we raised 10 sails, 8 of them bit and released 7, the one we missed 'chewed' through the leader after 5 mins hooked up and staying down and dirty on us. End of the second day saw us 4 fish behind the leading boat though sitting in 3rd place overall and in striking distance.
After checking out the satellite imagery we decided to run out to the east to a good body of water coming in from out that way.

Watching the sunrise on the run out east last day
It proved to be a good call and we were into some fish right off the bat, it slowed some mid morning and after trolling another 6NM into 500ft of water we came across whales, spinner dolphin, spotted dolphin, birds working and bait galore. No tunas though we got covered up by big mahi's so much so we had to get the baits out of the water and just pull teasers. We boated about 12 mahi's all in the 20lb-30lb range and cut off a bunch more than that! The sailfish bite was pretty good too with 20 raised for the day and 13 releases from 16 bites and raised a nice blue that unfortunately didn't eat. Another great day for our team angling wise and they did enough to take it out winning by a 2 fish margin with 23 releases overall from 26 bites (we had to DQ one fish on the last day due to a minor technicality so 22 'official' releases for the tourny). Good job and congratulations to 'em!

Jamie, Hill and Drew enjoying a few well deserved cocktails after the prizgiving.

October 26th and 27th we welcomed back Jack Pitts and Joe Segulja with clients Joe Cantu from ZAZA Energy, Don Pierce from Cornerstone Engineering and Kenneth Braden from CH4.With patchy water at best we concentrated in the cleanest we could find and had a good trip raising 14 sails and releasing 9 from 12 bites and boating several nice mahi's. Definitely a good early season trip for the guys which included a lunch and coffee farm tour in Antigua.

Joe Cantu, Kenneth Braden and Don Pierce with a double header

We have the Presidential Challenge series coming into town this week so it'll be the first time this season with more than a couple of boats on the water, the fishing should be good! Still a few openings in December and the one set of dates in January 21-24 open so get in touch to secure a great fishing adventure in Guatemala......

Off to a flyer.....October 11 and 12th

After spending the last few weeks busy with the boat out of the water doing the yearly maintenance and getting the lodge in order it was great to finally get back out on the water. Even better to get out there with family and a good friend all the way from New Zealand, my brother Marcel(o), his son Matthew (Mateo) and Craig(o) Kelly from the Bay of Plenty NZ made the long haul out here to Guatemala for a week of checking out the sights and of course the main event a couple of days of fishing.

Kiwi crew....2nd from left, Matthew, Craig and Marcel with the crew.
The guys timed their trip well with some great fishing, and all just 12-15NM from the breakwall! Our first day out was trying to find the fish and get the guys familiar with the spread we pull here. After hitting the blue water at just 7NM off the beach we put them out and found some fish after about an hour and a half of trolling with a double header of sailfish in the spread, hooked and released.

Craig and Marc with one of the double headers of the day.
From there on in it was pretty consistent action throughout the day with 3 triple headers creating a bit of mayhem on deck, the first triple was a bit of a fire drill for the guys with 3 bites and 3 misses. A great way to learn though and the next 2 triple headers in the spread were all hooked and released successfully. We left the fish biting at 2.30pm (work duties calling) and headed back to the dock with 17 releases from 27 bites as well as 4 big mahi's boated ensuring a great meal back at Sailfish Oasis.

Marc with a nice bull mahi

Craig with another....
The next day, Friday October the 12th we headed back to the same area and were soon into the sailfish bite. More of the same with several cover-ups in the spread and the guys were on it, fishing well. Around mid morning we saw a group of spinner dolphin off-shore and worked them for a couple of yellowfin tunas....

Mateo with his first yellowfin tuna.
We also landed another nice mahi and raised a marlin in the spinners that stayed deep on the teaser and peeled off before we could get a bait back. All in all another great day considering we pulled lines and headed back to the dock before 1.00pm with 10 sailfish released from 14 bites. Good averages and had it not been for other commitments we would have caught a bunch more....

AND his first sailfish release
A great trip for the Kiwi's and what a start to the season!! We heard from some of the local boats that went out over the weekend that the sailfish bite was on in the same area.
We have some great last minute deals available for November/December so get in touch with us for more details, these months are traditionally very good for the sailfish as well as good blue marlin fishing and of course the big mahi's and yellowfin tunas are often encountered.
SAILFISH OASIS is ready after yearly maintenance looking good and the perfect spot to come back to after a big day on the water...

Boardwalk to the bungalows and main rancho

Guest room, SAILFISH OASIS
Ideal for corporate retreats for up to 20 guests, extra options include golf at nearby Pete Dye designed course with incredible volcano views, volcano climbing, mountain biking and sightseeing in UNESCO world heritage site, Antigua. These are just some of the extra activities available, though it is the fishing that is absolutely number 1, we are looking forward to another great season here in Guatemala, don't miss out!

GUATEMALA SUMMER FISHING REPORT

The fishing has remained excellent here in Guate especially for mahi mahi and there is always a better than average shot at a blue marlin as well as the ever present sailfish. The problem with this time of year is not the weather nor the lack of fish, just the lack of boats out there and the coverage. When you are the only boat out there it can take some time to find the fish, though more often than not working the edges and currents we'll get you on to 'em.
May 21st and 22nd we welcomed Chief Tauzin back to Guatemala for a couple of days of fishing with partner Amber. In the days leading up to his arrival there had been a fairly good blue marlin bite with boats seeing up to 4 blues on the 19th. We worked the east edge of the pocket expecting the current to be pushing up against there and holding some fish, unfortunately the current had done an about turn on us and we missed the marlin though got into a few sailfish and mahi's. The next day we headed to the west side of the pocket with the current and found more life with literally hundreds of mahi's around some flotsam we spent an hour on the light tackle catching plenty before concentrating on the billfish. It was a steady day with a handful of sails released and the last fish of the day this nice 200lb blue which Chief baited perfectly off the bridge teaser with the pitched mackerel on the 30lb tackle. Nice job once again Chief!!

Chief's blue put up a good show.
May 30th we had 8 anglers from Belgium out for one day of fishing aboard ALLURE and CIRCLE HOOK. On ALLURE we fished Jan Pierle, Guido Van Werde and Paul and Tine Phillips along with hostess Christel Tinselboer. We had perfect weather out there and found the blue water and mahi's fairly quickly, though with billfish on the mind we worked up the western edge of the pocket and in the afternoon found an area holding some sails. We called Circle Hook into the area and they also got into some action. The group released 7 sails from 12 bites and 14 raises. Considering most of the action came late in the day we wished we were fishing the following day now knowing where the fish were!

Guido, Paul, Christel, Jan and Tine, happy anglers with a double header!

Tine with her first billfish release!!

And an extremely happy Jan with another first.

Sunday June 10th. With the blue water just 5NM off the breakwall and a nice definitive green/blue water line holding logs and trash we decided to head out for a couple of hours fishing late in the afternoon with Cyril Mischler and Thomas Neilsen. Fishing the current line we boated 19 mahi's from more than twice that number of bites (the guys were learning)....

Cyril with a typical sized mahi.
and trolled a mile or so off the current line into the blue water after catching enough mahi's to eat landing a double header of sails for the guys before heading back to the dock, not bad for a couple of hours fishing!!

Cyril and Thomas hooked up to a double header of sails, while we were on these we saw another 3 sails free-jumping in the area, so there were definitely a few about!

June 19th-20th we welcomed back Jack Pitts and Roy Hefley this time with Guatemalan first timers Stacey Shivers and Cole Horton. We found beautiful blue water out there and some pretty good fishing with some mahi's 5 sails from 8 bites and 10 raises as well as a nice blue marlin that crashed the Legend lures black-head Piper off the bridge teaser near the end of the second day. All in all a great trip down to Guate for the crew who all enjoyed the wonderful facilities down at SAILFISH OASIS and aboard ALLURE and are all talking about their return trip down here....

Close up before release...

Cole Horton with his first billfish release.

Always good times and good fishing in Guatemala, as always we'll do our best to put you on 'em and show you a great time you'll never forget. ALLURE is the top marlin release boat for the 2011-2012 season down here in Guatemala and if you come down here for a few days we'll get you on to one of these beautiful tough fish guaranteed over the summer months, along with sails, mahi's and tunas out wide we have an all round great fishery here. For more details get in touch with us here at Sailfish Oasis.....

FISHING THROUGH MAY 2ND

Photo of the month. Natalie Hegg, Elissa Ator and Crystal Alexander

A fraction of the mahi's that were under the boat... June 30th to May 2nd we enjoyed the company of Nick and Jessica Lirette and their good friends Paul Herbert and Leah Langlinais. The fishing was kind of tough out there with large bodies of green water and huge areas of phytoplankton as well. There was some patchy to good water to be found and we covered alot of miles trying to find the best for them. We ended the trip with 17 sails raised 15 bites and 9 releases as well as several yellowfin tunas and too many small mahi's to count. There were literally thousands of small mahi's out there and the expectations were high on a blue marlin encounter though none were seen. With all this bait out there it is only a matter of time though. Offshore we got into the spinner dolphins and the yellowfin tunas were thick in the green water along with the blooms of phytoplankton, we could have filled the boat up though caught enough to eat and moved on looking for stick faces....

A second pass triple header for Nick, Paul and Jessica

A nice one for Nick Lirette

And Leah Langlinais got in the action as well All in all a great fun trip down here for the group with comments like these we look forward to seeing them back soon!! "Paul and I have never experienced 5-star treatment from touch down to take off, 5 start fishing, 5 star cusine, 5 star service and top nothc cocktails. Kiwi, Liz, Nick and staff have thought of everything to blow your socks off. We will return and hope to make it a yearly retreat. Leah and Paul Herbert.

April 27th-28th, Elissa Ator and Matt Gulledge, Natalie and Josh Hegg, Brian Garcia and Crystal Alexander enjoyed a couples weekend down here with some great fishing and good times down at the OASIS. In the 2 days of fishing the crew raised 31 sailfish and released 16 from 23 bites and a nice solid 300lb blue marlin for Josh Hegg that gave the big fella a good work out. Pretty good fishing considering we were back at the dock by 2.30pm both days for the crew to enjoy "NICKS!!!" great cocktails and cool off in the pool....

Josh's blue, last fish of the trip before heading back in early and taking it easy back at SAILFISH OASIS April 20-22nd Musselman Group

John Musselman, Douglas Ferguson, AJ Ferguson and James Mussleman with the crew John Musselman was back for his second year running, this time bringing his brother James and boss Douglas Ferguson with his son AJ. We got into some pretty good fishing with steady action over the 2 days with a half day on Sunday so the guys could experience Antigua, just an hour drive from the Marina. The guys did well hooking their own fish and learning the techniques associated with circle hooks and bait and switch billfish off the teasers, nice effort!! 51 sails raised and 27 releases from 46 bites. We had a great time with this fun crew and they had a blast as well. Good times on the boat and OASIS manager Nick taking good care of them back at the lodge.

Douglas celebrating a great catch!

And John swimming down a sail to release All in all good fishing, the tunas and mahi's are thick out there and it'll only be a matter of time before the blues start biting. Still a littl off-colored water out in front though this will soon change and I'm picking the fishing will be hot in the weeks to come. Some great deals to be had from now on in and ALLURE will be available to fish right through the summer months, come down and make the most of it and we'll take care of all the logistics and do out best to put you on to some great fishing...

Fishing Guatemala though April 18, 2012

Johndavid Lackey's blue of around 350lb's before release
Fishing has continued to be good here in Guatemala and as predicted the blue marlin have started biting and we'll expect them to be around for the summer months. We normally start seeing more yellowfin tunas and big mahi's showing up for the summer months as well as the sailfish bite so don't be thinking this is a November to May fishery only here in Guate. We have some great deals available for the months ahead so get in touch and we'll put you on 'em.

Craig Linberg's blue tears it up near the boat
April 17 we fished John Stafford, Jamie Robichaux, Craig Linberg and David Dennis from Texas for one day aboard ALLURE. The guys first trip to Guatemala ended well, we fished the edge and got into a couple of sails and worked the area hard hoping for a blue. Inshore to the west there was a fairly reasonable sailfish bite that we got to late in the day and just before lines out we got the one we were looking for, a very aggressive 300lb blue marlin for Craig and sailfish double header to end the day. 18 sails raised for the day, 15 bites and 9 releases as well as the blue.

April 14-15 Jim Franklin Group 18 sails 1 from 2 blue marlin

L-R Raquel Hagan, Jim Franklin, Brooklyn Roux, Johndavid Lackey, Adriane Trevino, Kevin Jones, Charles Wilson and Christoper Dulock
Jim Franklin was back down in Guate for a couple of days fishing this time with a few of his staff and some clients. This group had a great time down at the OASIS and with us on ALLURE experiencing some good fishing with 33 sails raised 29 bites and 18 releases, as well as one 350lb blue, missing another pushing the 300lb mark and boating a nice 30lb mahi. Good fishing and good times!

We were marking wads of bait from 20ft-150ft down in 3000ft of water and working these areas resulted in some great afternoon action with a late in the day quad and a few double headers from some cover ups.

Chris, Kevin and Adriane with lunch and dinner

April 12-13th Mark Smith Group, 34 sailfish, 2 from 3 blue marlin
Mark Smith came back to Guatemala with his group of himself, Steve Widner, Terry Tollette, Charles Barlow, Kurt Primeaux, Harold Thibodeaux, Hardy Frank III and Shelby Gibbs. The group fished on ALLURE and A-FIN-ITY for 2 days and enjoyed good fishing and great times down at SAILFISH OASIS. First day with the group we missed a nice blue in the 600lb+ class that crashed the teaser and the pitched mackerel, a little bad luck with that one! They did get the release on a nice 450lb blue for Terry Tollette and another pushing the 200lb mark for Kurt Primeaux as well as 34 sails and a nice 40lb mahi.

Kurt about to release his blue

April 11th Jamie Dishman was down for a day of off-shore fishing and timed his trip well, we released 15 by lunch and then changed over to the fly, a little tough to get the fish to tease though we did get a couple more on the bait and one on the fly for the afternoon to end with 18 releases on the baits and one on the fly from a bunch more in the spread that would not tease...Nice going Jamie!

James, Ann Clary, Jay and Helen Elizabeth Old
April 7th and 8th we welcomed for their first time to Guatemala the Old family from Beaumont, Texas for a couple of days of fishing over the Easter weekend. Things started slowly though for the 2 days we ended up with 27 sails raised and 14 releases from 23 bites which included a few double headers and Helen Elizabeth opting to release her sailfish underwater....Jay Old is in the up-coming elections running for congress and we wish him all the luck in his endeavors.

Way to release 'em Helen Elizabeth!!

April 4th-5th Nick Johnson was back this year, this time with his girlfriend Kristin Shultz and 'el jefe' Craig Johnson, fishing was little slow over the 2 days though slow for Guatemala is still not too bad with 18 raised 16 bites and 9 saifish released...

April 1st and 2nd Staillion Group

Stallion had their annual Manager Meeting down here at SAILFISH OASIS LODGE and took a couple of days out fishing aboard ALLURE, A-FIN-ITY and CIRLCE HOOK. Fishing was a little slow they everyone got into a few billfish releases each and had a blast down here with a few mahi's boated and 35 sailfish released over 2 days of fishing.

Danny Tate before release

Allure crew with L-R Rick Armstrong, Joe Coyle, Nick Zafares and pilot Aaron.
March 26-30th we fished as part of the Mike Levitt group Joe, Rick, Nick and Aaron for a few days. Fishing came good toward the end of their trip and we had a great time with these guys over the course of their days on ALLURE. WE ended up raising 51 sails, getting 44 bites and releasing 31 as well as a few mahi's and missing a blue marlin on their first day out. We hope to see you guys back down here again....

Right now we have deep blue water just 3NM off-shore all the way out to the edge, there are few boats out though with all the bait and quality water we are looking forward to the coming days on the water, as mentioned the blue marlin are about and there is a reasonable sailfish bite as well, out wide there are tunas to be found so it is all looking good. We have days open in May and can offer some good deals from May through August. If anyone is interested in staying out and trying for swordfish, now is the time to try with the local long line fisherman usually doing better in these months as well. Life is short, come to Guatemala to enjoy it with some of the best fishing around!!