MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS from GUATEMALA

Jason Harlow, Reid Fleming and John Musselman.

Over the past weekend we welcomed John Musselman from Midlands, Texas, back for his third year in a row here to Guatemala this time bringing good friends Jason Harlow and Reid Fleming as pictured above. John still has the touch and Jason and Reid were keen to learn pitch baiting techniques to billfish off the teasers. We were lucky our first day out with some hot teaser fish providing plenty of practice! The runs were long though we had some beautiful weather out there and one of the first fish into the spread was a blue of around 300lb that slashed at the short teaser, sat under it and refused the pitched mackerel. We worked that area hard before running down the edge to a good afternoon bite. The guys fished real well picking up the 'touch', dropping back nicely converting a good hook up ratio to bites off the teasers. 25 bites with the majority in a 2 hour period after lunch as well as 4 big mahi's in the 30-35lb range.

Flat seas, beautiful temp and big aggressive sailfish, perfect combo!!

Our second morning out we encountered a large group of spinner dolphins, birds were working them and tunas busting up ahead of the pod. It looked good and we worked the area for a good, fun way to start the day. As usual the first few passes were the most productive with the fish becoming a bit finiky after that and we pulled a few off after some 'soft' bites. Still we boated 5 nice school sized yellow-fins before pushing off looking for the bite. Radio chatter was low down to the west where the previous days action was concentrated so we looked to the east and found fairly steady activity down that way with 18 sailfish bites for the day. Some more great teaser fish with a few rigger bites as well to mix it up and another great weekend of fishing here in Guatemala with 27 sailfish released from 43 bites and 50 raised, add 4 big mahi's and 5 yellow-fins for the table and life is good!! A great learning experience was had and the guys picked it up quickly fishing well and having a fun time while at it. That's what it's about and what makes Guatemala the number one destination, the amount of shots your going to get and how much you are going to learn in a short amount of time.....

We have a few days off before Christmas with both boats getting back out there soon after, fishing fairly steadily from the 27th on. There are still some dates open in January, the hot month of the year last season and few in February as well, things are moving so make sure you do!!

Happy Holidays to everyone out there, be safe and if you want to enjoy some of the best billfishing on the planet get hold of us:

liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com

Cheers!

        

FISHING THROUGH DECEMBER 8th

Nice fat blue for Allure II

Both boats were out there fishing December 6th though the 8th and enjoyed good fishing in different areas, always a good thing having different bites to choose from and both producing good numbers! On Friday the 6th we took out Allure with Team Wisconsin while Hill Dishman took the helm of Allure II with anglers Casey McDermand, Ryan Pyburn and Trent Marino. The fishing had been very good offshore so we chased that while Allure II stopped at 25NM on the side of the pocket raising a triple header right off the bat. On Allure we went out wide to the edge looking for the bite from the previous days, the current out there was pushing to the west pretty good and we found the blue water and fish mid-morning about 10NM from where they were the previous day. It was worth it out there with a good steady bite all day long with 24 releases from 36 bites as well as 5 big mahi's. Good times for Team Wisconsin!!

Back in-shore the fishing was also very good with Hill and the team having 25 sailfish bites and releasing 14 of those. The highlight of the day was Trent getting the bite from a good solid 350lb blue marlin on the rigger bait. A real nice fish on 30lb test for Trent and Hill doing a great job on the wheel.

Nice shot and nice fish on the 30lb

 

Mate, Enio on the leader.

Team Wisconsin had such a great day they decided to stay on for an extra day and Julio took them back out on Allure. Back to the days previous bite at the 25NM mark they made the most of their opportunities releasing 20 sails from 25 bites. On Allure II we went wide chasing the bite, the fish had moved 14NM down the edge and were not as concentrated as the day before. It was still steady fishing though quite a bit slower, good averages for Casey, Trent and Ryan missing just 3 fish releasing 13 from 16 bites.

On our last day out we split up the guys between the both boats having a mini tournament with Casey and Trent heading out with Julio on Allure and Hill and Ryan on Allure II. Allure went back to the 25NM fishing hole while we went out to the east looking for a new bite. The fishing dropped off some for the whole fleet with boats spread far and wide looking for the fish. Our first of the day was a great catch though, this nice bull mahi on the fly for Hill.....

Pretty tough going from there on in, we covered some ground and raised a double, teasing one in for Hill on the fly and getting the other on a bait for Ryan. We landed another nice mahi and that was our day. With tournament rules having a sail on the fly worth 3 pts and on conventional 1 pt we came back to the dock with 4pts. Allure had the same, they saw 2 and caught 2, both on the conventional tackle.....(we set them up there). Slow fishing to finish off but fun times out there and a big night down at Café No Se in Antigua to round off an excellent weekend here in Guatemala.

2nd from left, Ryan Pyburn, Hill Dishman, Trent Marino and Casey McDermand

 

The water was a bit cooler and off-colour to the east though things should start cleaning up and getting back to normal here soon. Allure II is back out there in the coming days so more reports to come.

We are counting down to the big annual New Years eve bash here at Sailfish Oasis with the Blue Dawgs confirmed to play once again. Anyone wanting to come down and enjoy the festivities is more than welcome, it is always a blast.

Apart from that we have January 6th through the 9th open as well as some dates at the end of January, prime dates!

 

 

 

 



THANKSGIVING through 30th NOV

Nice big sail at the end of day one

From Thankgiving day on through Saturday the 30th we fished with solo angler Amanda Thompson. A super keen fisho she has spent time this year in Cape Verde, Nova Scotia and on the Reef in Aussie as well as Alaska! This was her second trip this year down to the Oasis fishing on Allure. Our first day out we found some nice water out to the west and worked the drop off out there hard, good conditions though nothing much going on out there. A move back in-shore to 400ft of water and we started to see some fish at the end of the day raising 7 sails and Amanda did a great job missing just one fish going 4 from 5 bites.
Friday 29th, with the current pushing to the east and everything seeming to move that way we started about 10NM to the east of where we had finished off and were soon into a few bites. With the big cold front pushing down from the US through the Gulf we had a stiff ENE wind blowing the whole day. The afternoon doing the opposite of what it normally does here in Guate and picking up even harder and making conditions sporty out there. We worked the area hard and the fish were biting steady through the whole day. Keen to hone her skills pitch-baiting off the teasers she did just that missing just one fish off the teasers and that one threw the hook jumping, the other misses came off the long rigger baits and mostly because of multiple hits. 25 fish up in the spread and 21 bites today with 16 releases, an awesome day and great percentages in trying conditions!!

                               Great shot from day 2
Our last day out we mixed it up as she was keen to give it a try on the fly rod, her first try saltwater flyfishing. We moved further to the east and more to the middle of the pocket today, the current had started to push more off-shore and it wasn't till later in the afternoon that we found the fish. In the morning session we raised a few sails though they were hard to tease all the way in. Our first fish of the day was a 20lb bull mahi. A great catch on the fly!

Nice bull mahi on the fly!!

 

We did release one sail on the fly in the morning session from 2 bites with the other one jumping off just before the release. Later in the afternoon we found some fish further off-shore and enjoyed a great last 2 hours of the day. The fish were still kind of tough to tease in, some coming in hot, the majority slow and not biting, more slashing their bills at the fly. We got some good practice in though and things came together well, we ended up raising 15 sails, 7 bit the fly with 3 jumping off and the other pulling the hooks soon after the bite. 3 billfish releases on the fly from 7 bites on your first attempt is good stuff seeing the fish were not biting aggressively as well. Nice going!

And the results, nice going Amanda.....

All in all, 3 great days on the water. The conditions laid down nicely in the afternoon and weather wise things should get back to normal in the coming days. Water conditions should also improve with a lot of patchy water out there coming right as the winds lay down.

 

We have just received news of a cancelation in January, some prime dates are now open in what was the best month of the year last season. Get in touch with us here at liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com to secure these before they go.

 

Hope to see you down here to experience billfishing at its best!!