2013-2014 TBF OVERALL RELEASE & SAILFISH RELEASE AWARD, PACIFIC OCEAN!

BIG NEWS FROM THE BILLFISH FOUNDATION

We've just received some great news from The Billfish Foundation which has topped of a great first year in Guatemala for ALLURE II. We won Top Overall Release category and Top Sailfish Release category for the Pacific Ocean.  We picked her up June/July 2013 and took her around from Stuart, Florida through the canal to her new home here in Guatemala for the start of the fishing season. From November 1st 2013 through to October 31st 2014 we fished a total of 144 days releasing 1636 billfish, the breakdown being 1621 sailfish, 12 blue marlin and 3 striped marlin. That's an average of 11 billfish releases a day, our best day out there was 53 from 89 bites on the sailfish with the best blue marlin bite being 5 in the spread for the day.

It has been an awesome year fishing on a great fish raising boat in an incredible fishery, it's why we've made Guatemala our home for the past 11+ years, the billfishing is second to none. A big thanks to all the clients that fished with us this past year on ALLURE II, winning these awards is really down to the anglers.....

Right now we are looking ahead to the next season, so if you're thinking about a trip down here, get in touch with us to fish on the best boat in Guatemala. We have some prime dates available in February on the boats which are hard to come by and can accommodate groups down at the Lodge.......

Which is a really sweet place to stay!!

See you down here....contact:

liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com

FISHING THROUGH DECEMBER 6th '14

ALLURE II WINS 74th ILTTA

Sailfish Oasis Lodge, proud to be a sponsor of the 74th ILTTA

Dec 2nd through the 6th Club Nautico of Guatemala hosted the 74th Annual ILTTA (International Light Tackle Tournament Association) series here in Guatemala. Both Allure, Allure II and Sailfish Oasis Lodge were proud to be associated with the Club in assisting with this prestigious event of 27 three angler teams representing 10 countries. Down at the Oasis Lodge we hosted 5 teams from Venezuela who had a great time and all commented on the excellent facilities, quiet and the perfect place to unwind after a day on the water.

To the fishing, by Guatemalan standards the fishing was a little on the slow side though as the tournament progressed the bite got better day by day. 

Dec 2nd, first day out on Allure II we started well though continued looking down to the west for better activity, we found better quality deep blue water with plenty of birds, bait and life though no billfish. The boats fishing on the flats side of the pocket had a reasonable bite with up to 11 releases. Allure was positioned well with 8 releases and on Allure II we finished the day nearer the bottom with 5.

Dec 3rd we found some fish on the edge of the western side of the pocket in the 400ft-600ft area and the fleet ended the day there with most boats having reasonable activity and up to 15 releases. Allure ended with another 8 releases and on Allure II we had a fun day with angler's representing Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Curracao Yacht Club of the Netherlands Antilles. The bite was steady through the day with 10 releases from 17 bites for the guys and 2 blue marlin in the spread as well. We got close to the release on the first blue of around 200lbs when it threw the hook and the 2nd was a red hot 400lb fish on the short right teaser that had no interest in switching to the ballyhoo presented to it. It sure was an adrenaline rush with that big head full out of the water hot on the teaser right behind the boat though she would have been a struggle to get on to with the 20lb tournament line and inside the max 20min fight time....

Take off!!

With a lay day for the teams on the 4th we were back to the fishing on the 5th. The boats went far and wide, to the east and west looking for the best of what Guatemala has to offer. Plenty of marlin seen by the fleet today, blues and stripes though the sail bite was sporadic. Allure ended with 6 releases, on Allure II we had a slow morning though found a bite around midday for our crew representing the US and Costa Rica. In the space of 35 mins we had a flurry that saved the day with 8 releases in the form of back to back triple headers and a couple of singles......and then it shut down. We ended the day with 12 from 14 bites though had to unfortunately DQ one of the fish so 11 counted. On the inside at the bottom of the pocket some boats found some pretty good fishing with up to 15 releases for the day.

Dec 6th and the last day of the tourney in the boat division we were 4 fish off the top boat sitting in 4th place overall. The fleet worked the bottom of the pocket where some boats were having some good activity and the best had been the previous day. On Allure II we pushed wide to 25NM and fortunately found some fish out there with a consistent bite all day ending with 16 releases from 24 bites, good enough to take out the boat division by 2 releases!! The fleet ended up out there and most boats saw good fishing, Allure ended with 11 releases to finish in 6th overall from the 27 boats, a nice tourney for Capt Julio as well. A big congrats to Hunter Blount for taking out the individual angler award and to team Ballyhoo Fishing Club #1 from Venezuela for winning the team event, also to Club Nautico for a successful well run event enjoyed by all.

Team Ballyhoo Fishing Club # 1 from Venezuela winners of the coveted 'Big Belt'.

Allure II heading back to the slip after winning top boat....

Nov 22nd through 23rd we hosted both boat owners, Craig Johnson and Hill Dishman for 2 and a half days on the water and some great times at the dock with the rest of the 'crew' here in Guatemala. Good times and good fishing too with an awesome tuna bite found, so plenty of fresh sashimi to take home for the guys. Some incredible tuna bites out there with all the plugs and teasers getting smashed by some nice sized tunas pushing the 40lb mark...

Craig Johnson with a typical sized tuna...

We also released 13 sailfish from 18 bites with some good sized tough fighting fish out there like this one for Hill Dishman...

Big sail acting like a marlin....

And on the last morning we got into a nice blue marlin hot on the right short teaser that swallowed the pitched mackerel for Craig on the 50lb stand-up gear....

Great way to start the day, 5mins after lines in, tight to a blue...

The fish put on a show, charging the boat on the first run and then going ballistic away, Craig did a great job releasing this nice fish.....

Shades of grey in the early morning sun...

And cocktails in the afternoon sun on the way home....

All in all good fishing and Allure II is proving to be THE boat to fish on here in Guatemala, all the anglers that fished her over the tournament commented on the super comfortable lay-out, large cockpit, excellent mates, overall a great fish raising machine!!. The Oasis Lodge is also THE place to stay here in Guatemala so we have THE package for you.....

Right now the family and I are in Kiwiland for our first Christmas in New Zealand for 12 years catching up with family and catching the local tasty snapper here....

 8yr old Johnny with a nice NZ snapper (squire fish) from last evening.

The Lodge is still open with Capt Hill Dishman hosting a group this weekend on Allure II and I'll be back on the 26th fishing through the Xmas-New Year period and on. We are super excited about the season ahead and looking forward to a great year overall.

We have had a couple of un-expected dates open up in February and March, these will go fast as they are prime time here in Guatemala and hard to come by. Get in touch with us before they go:

liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com 

Cheers and a Merry Christmas to all from the crew on the boats and down at the Lodge.

HOT START TO NOVEMBER....

PCCA RECORD 849 BILLFISH RELEASES

On the dock end of day one

Nov 7th through 9th Guatemala hosted the last of the 2014 PCCA series and the fishing was hot with the 12 teams releasing a record 849 billfish over the 3 days of fishing with 845 sailfish and 4 blue marlin. That is some incredible numbers right there! 

We fished Team TBF on Allure II and got into the fish the first day though our practice day averages unfortunately didn't roll over to the tournament day with 25 sailfish releases from 44 bites. We also raised 3 blue marlin on the teasers and got 2 of them to bite though lady luck was not on our side and none of them stuck! On day 2 we ran out wide to where a bite had been found the day before and the guys picked up the pace releasing 29 from 40 bites today with one of the team, Mark Wodlinger winning top angler for the day with 12 of the releases. Nice going Mark..

Seeing 'no one remembers who comes second', we rolled the dice the last day running to the east to try to find a bite to overcome the deficit we had incurred the first day. It was a fun day and we found some fish though not in the numbers needed with 11 from 17 and another nice blue that we missed on the rigger. 

A big congratulations to Team Picaflor for taking out the Guatemala leg and to Team Tranquilo for winning the Costa Grand Champion trophy.

Some big sails out there...

LYN BILBERRY GROUP, 32 RELEASES

Lyn Bilberry

Nov 11th and 12th we welcomed back Lyn Bilberry, Wayne Beason and Larry Fagg returning to the Oasis to fish with us on Allure II for the 3rd time since November last year. That in itself says something of what we have going on here in Guatemala and they were not disappointed! First day we found the fish late with 8 from 12 bites though got into them good the second day with plenty of pack attacks and from the 51 raises the guys released 24 from 41 bites! Helluva day, some good mahi's for the trip as well.

Wayne Beason with lunch..

And Larry with a good'in

TEAM SEAGO 46 RELEASES

Claude Seago, Gabe Jackson, Randy Spencer and David Froop

Nov 14th-15th we hosted the guys as above along with Jamie Croft and Mike Prosperie. Fishing both Allure and Allure II the first day it was a little slow with the first signs of a cold front blowing through and a bit of wind and chop to deal with. Both boats had some good fishing though with 8 from 13 and 13 from 17 respectively as well as some big mahi's. 

Taking just Allure II the following day we were greeted with calm seas and the fish were snapping, lots of doubles in the spread and some hot fish on the teasers. The guys made the most of the teaser bite learning the touch needed to pitch baits, let the fish eat, drop back, increase the drag and let the circle hook snag 'em in the jaw. A lot of fun out there with the crew today with 41 sailfish in the spread and 25 from 37 releases. There were some big females around.....

Check out this one for David Froop!!

That is a great start to the season and as usual November is living up to its reputation of being one of the better months down here with the first 8 days of fishing producing 169 billfish releases, that is an average of over 21 a day! December is also a month to look forward to with traditionally big numbers of fish out there as well. If you can't make it this year then start making some time for next November / December....the best weather and excellent fishing.

We just had notice of a cancellation December 27th through 30th, these are prime dates that have just opened up. If you're looking to take the family away for a special Christmas treat then this is the place. Get in touch with us here:

liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com

End of '13-'14 Season, Start of '14-'15

A GREAT END TO THE SEASON, AND AN IMPRESSIVE START!!!

A quick post here from the crew at the Oasis and Allure. The last month we have been super busy with Lodge and boat maintenance though we are now back in the water and Lodge is back up and running with many improvements!

19 SAILFISH AND 2 BLUE MARLIN

To the fishing.....October 24-25-26 to finish off the '13-'14 season Allure owner Hill Dishman was back down with brother Jamie and friend Casey McDermand. We ran out wide the first day and found some fish later in the afternoon after a slow morning hunting, a reasonable bite out there in the last couple of hours with 9 releases from 11 bites and a couple of mahi's.

Beautiful colors

The next day we went out wide and experienced more of the same, a steady bite with 8 from 9 bites released and Jamie got himself a nice mahi right at the end of the day. The guys certainly made the  most of their opportunities over the last 2 days with just 3 fish missed from 20 bites!

With at the best a clean green water out there we decided to look out to the east on our last day and found some beautiful water, a little cool though deep blue and it wasn't long before we had a couple of mahi's in the bin and a couple of sailfish releases. Into the deeper water a few miles off the edge we raised our first blue of the day, and from there on we found some good blue marlin action raising 5 blues and tagged and released 2 from 3 bites. We did the same on the sails, 5 raised and 2 from 3 bites and a couple of mahi's to take home. A great day on the water for the crew!!

Explosive!!

Last blue of the day for Hill...

To the start of the new season we fished a short day on November 3rd with Terry Atkinson and Kathy Taylor from San Francisco, leaving the dock mid morning and back soon after mid-day. Fishing the bottom of the pocket we boated a nice mahi and released 3 sailfish from 3 bites.

A great experience for them both and we applaud their fund raising efforts for the local school here, AIS.

OCTOBER 5th, 30 RELEASES FROM 37 BITES!!

James Cambridge and Monica Guevara with one of many!!

Right now we are counting down to the 2014 Guatemala PCCA tournament kicking off tomorrow, Nov 7th. We fished a practice day yesterday with our crew representing TBF, Mick Childs from Hawaii with James Cambridge and his girlfriend Monica Guevara from Costa Rica. To the west of the pocket we fished a large area and had a great day just 15-18NM off the brerakwall. The crew fished extremely well, dusting off the cobwebs and released 30 sails from 37 bites with 39 in the spread for the day. There was one other boat out on the water, they went out to the western edge 42NM out and found an even better bite. A lot of fish out there right now and we are hoping they stick around for the tournament!! It is looking good though, more reports to come...

Get in touch with us to get yer mug in the picture!! We are filling up dates for the season ahead fast, don't miss out.....contact:

liz@sailfishoasissportfishing.com

FISHING THROUGH SEPT 10TH....

JAMIE TARPLEY GROUP 32 RELEASES:

Dustin Hoffpauir, Nick Mayon and Jamie Tarpley

Sept 8th through the 10th we hosted the above group with Dustin from Houston and Nick and Jamie from Lafayette aboard ALLURE II. This was their first offshore experience, hunting for billfish at least, and we got on to the fish every day. A little tough when you're the only boat out there though we found fish and had great weather with a big body of beautiful blue water pushing in the second day. 

Great shot, beautiful conditions!!

First day on the water we found some nice water in the bottom western corner of the pocket, it was a small area that moved about 6NM during the day with green water pushing us to the west. We worked it hard and released 7 from 9 sails, boated a couple of nice mahi's and missed a nice blue marlin in the 400lb class late in the day. 

Jamie with his first ever billfish release.

Second day we went east looking for good water and found a new body pushing in from the SE. We worked to the SE and then across to the west side with the current. It was s slow morning though the guys got into them later in the afternoon and we had a great time out there releasing 13 sails from 20 bites as well a nice mahi for lunch, awesome day!!

Another beauty...

Our last day out we were on a bit of a marlin mission, we worked the west side of the pocket hard covering the edge through varying depths. No luck on the blue one though another action filled day on the water non the less with 12 sails released from 17 bites and the mahi's were biting hard today!! About 14 from over 20 bites on those, great sport and great on the table! All in all a helluva trip with 32 sails released from 46 bites, some great mahi fishing and a big blue on the short teaser that had everyone amped.....

The crew enjoying a few cold ones....

And this from Nick, always great to hear good feedback from happy punters:

Chris,

Just wanted to take a minute to tell you how thoroughly, I enjoyed the trip. From the moment we landed until we departed all necessities of international travel where taken care of far beyond expectations. The staff is very professional, the food is gourmet, the environment is relaxing and the crew on the boat is top notch.

5 star service all the way around from land to sea.

I have friends who are charter captains and by fishing with you it is obvious you take great pride and passion in what you do. Awesome job my friend, I will definitely refer your service to anyone interested.  

Nick Mayon

General Manager

Sept 4th and 5th we welcomed the Mike Gardner group from Austin, Texas for 2 days of fishing. The group of 10 split between both ALLURE and ALLURE II and for the majority it was their first trip down here to Guatemala. You gotta tell it how it is, and it was tough out there. We found nice water, covered a lot of area and then concentrated our efforts where there were a few fish seen. In the 2 days between both boats there were 4 blue marlin raised, 2 of them bit and one of them was on for a good 15mins and just 20ft from the release when the hook pulled. There were also 3 sailfish hooked and jumping that all fell off.....We missed them all, just plain bad luck from the ones we did get bites from, which was few. At least both boats had some reasonable mahi fishing!! We hope to see these guys back again and into what Guatemala is really about...

Right now we have closed the lodge for yearly maintenance and new construction, both boats are about to be pulled and go through their yearly up-keep as well. A busy time. We are counting down to late October when we'll be back in the business of releasing billfish and looking forward to it!! Traditionally November and December are excellent months as far as numbers are concerned. The rest of the year is filling up fast so get in touch with us to secure your dates. 

SUMMER FISHING REPORT THROUGH 22nd AUGUST

We've been getting out over the past few months and the fishing has been very steady with blue water in close for the most part and settled weather. Rain in the evenings and beautiful calm not too hot sunny days making it perfect to get out offshore and amongst it. Most recently we had through the lodge:

LIVING WATER GROUP AUGUST 17th and 22nd AUGUST.

From Houston, Texas we just said adios to the father and son 'Living Water' team of  Bo and Rob Herrin, Mark and Jack Nini, Dave and Jackson White, Ray and Quin Stroube and Matt and Michael Pletcher. The group came down donating and drilling a water well for the people of Santa Sofia in the  sugar cane district of Mas Agua through the NGO Living Water. Living Water locates the villages most needy of clean drinking water and these guys donated their time and money into buying and drilling the well. All in all one of the best NGO's around and they left this village with a hand pump which can deliver 5gal of clean drinking water a minute. Much needed and very much appreciated by the people of Santa Sofia.

While down here they squeezed in 2 days of fishing on both boats, Allure and Allure II and experienced some great fishing with 40 sailfish and1 blue marlin released and a few mahi's boated!!

The total numbers for the group from both boats was 62 sailfish raised, 56 bites and 40 sailfish releases with 3 blue marlin raised and 1 release from 1 bite on blue marlin, a nice big fish of around 400lb's!! Throw in a few mahi's and an excellent trip in all ways for the guys.

Nice blue for the son's fishing on Allure..

Sail for the fathers, Bo Herrin in the background loosing line on the 2nd of a double header!

L-R Jackson White, Rob Herrin, Quin Stroube, Michael Pletcher, Dave White, Jack Nini, Matt Pletcher, Mark Nini, Bo Herrin and Ray Stroube.

FITZGERALD & CASSIDY GROUP, 4th AUGUST.

Friends from New Zealand, Jock and Rowena Fitzgerald with daughter Kirsty and her husband Michael Cassidy finished off a tour of the Americas with a few days in Guatemala. We managed to find some time to get them out on the water for 4 hours of fishing and it proved to be one of the highlights of their trip! Just 12nm off the coast we were in the blue water and in over 1000ft of water and into the fish.....

Rowena with her first ever billfish...

In the 4 hours we raised 13 sails got 10 of them to bite and released 6, we also pulled the hook on a nice mahi. Not many places in the world you can shoot out for a quick fish and release 6 billfish!!

Michael Cassidy with a tough one! 

We had a great couple of nights down at the lodge and showing them around the sites and sights of Antigua, their only regret was not allowing enough days for this part of their trip! Good times...

And Kirsty with another first.

PERSIA BACHELOR GROUP, 2nd AUGUST.

Down for a couple of nights at the Oasis and a day of fishing offshore we hosted the Edward Persia group for his bachelor weekend. The guys got some great fishing in and had a blast down at the lodge sampling some great tequila's and of course the finest rum in the world.

Fishing aboard Allure, Allure II and Spindrift the day was set for a mini day tournament. Fishing was steady right through the day with 22 sails released 1 blue marlin and 6 mahi's boated. From there it was back to the lodge for another large night and the following day up to La Reunion for a day of golf, then on to Antigua for a night at the wonderful Casa Santa Domingo and a night out sampling the finest mezcal in the world, Ilegal down at the Cafe No Sé. Perfect bachelor weekend, good times with everyone commenting so!!

Edward and dad Michael Persia with Scott and Mark.

July 12th we hosted a local group from the City for a one day charter, the blue water was still in close at the bottom of the pocket and the fishing was great. These guys released 8 sailfish from 12 bites, 1 blue marlin from 2 bites and boated 16 mahi mahi! Awesome day...

Sailfish.

Blue Marlin.

29th of June we had another one day charter here and in the same spot the fish were snapping with 26 sails raised and 15 releases from 23 bites! All just 10-12nm off the beach, as it has been for most of the summer months.

June 27th, with the fishing being so close we took out friend George Carver with the idea of trying to release one on his 10wt flyrod. With the teasers in at just 8nm it wasn't long before he achieved his goal....

George putting as much heat as you can on a 10wt!

After that it was back in to try for a rooster fish on the fly at the barra....no luck there though we got the one we wanted!

June 20th-21st

Stu Stover, Charlie Hansen, Jean-Paul Michel and Spencer Morgan

We hosted these guys for 2 days on the water here, the fishing was a little slow and we worked the bottom of the pocket as well as checking out wide. Plenty of deep blue water out there though the fishing proved better back inshore at about 10nm. 16 sailfish from 26 bites is still good bill fishing and plenty of mahi's as well topped it off. Another great june trip for these guys and we'll see them back here next June!!

For the supposedly 'off season' that is some pretty good steady fishing especially seeing that a lot of these trips were just one dayer's, which means just a day to find the fish! For the most part the fishing and the blue water has been close. Over the past couple of months we have fished 10 full days and 2 very short sessions with 105 sailfish releases, 3 blue marlin and plenty of mahi's. If you're thinking about coming down in these months next year, don't hesitate, that is an average of over 10 sailfish releases a day and a better than average shot at a blue!!

We are starting to take bookings for the coming season and through to 2015, be sure to get in touch with us to secure your dates as they are starting to go. The lodge can accommodate  20 and we use  only the best boats and crews. Don't forget November and December have consistently seen some of the best fishing as far as big numbers go over the past 11 seasons we have fished here, great months to get down to Gutemala!!! 

FISHING THROUGH JUNE 15th

L-R, Javier Burga, Thor Sheffield, Chris Gohl, Toby Roberts and John Timura

 

May 29th, the Thor Sheffield group of above joined us on ALLURE II for one day of fishing and one night down at the Lodge. A mixed group with Javier and Toby living in Guatemala, Chris in Costa Rica and Thor and John from Islamorada, Florida, the pressure was on to get the guys into some fish. We tried our luck in middle of the 'Pocket' about 15NM straight out front where we found good blue water. A slow start we picked away at a few mahi's with Toby landing this nice bull ensuring fresh mahi tacos for lunch....

From here we worked our way to the western side of the pocket from the deep water to about 600ft and picked away at the sailfish in the morning with 7 releases before lunch from 10 bites and all the guys getting into a few releases. After lunch we got the one we were looking for, John Timura an experienced fisho had never caught a blue marlin before and was chomping at the bit to try. We'd had some nice bites from the sailfish on the teasers with pitch baits so he'd had enough practice in the morning session to have a crack and soon after lunch we raised a blue in the 150lb class on the left bridge teaser. The mackerel was pitched and the fish was teased to the back of the first wave right behind the boat where the John had the mackerel waiting, a perfect switch, great bite, freespool, lock-up and John was hooked into his first blue. Great job with the bite and on the rod!!

The fish came up jumping then stayed down and dirty for the rest of the fight, putting up a tough scrap on the 50lb stand-up. We got it up boatside, tagged, a couple of photos and released back to the deep....

Nice going John....

In the afternoon we had a couple more sailfish releases...

For Javier...

And Thor...

Before we had another blue marlin up on the left short teaser that nailed the pitch bait, shot to the other side, whacked the right teaser and ate another bait on the left rigger.....we missed that one twice. All in all though an excellent day on the water with 4 mahi's boated, 11 from 15 sailfish bites and 1 from 2 blue marlin bites. Good times, great fishing!!

 

We had Hill Dishman with Casey McDermand and Steve Lipari down on May 30th though there was a low off the Golfo de Tehuantepec that turned into a tropical depression and soon the named storm Boris. We ventured out on the 31st though conditions deteriorated with strong gusty ESE winds. We managed 2 from 2 sailfish bites and postponed the rest of the trip after a rough ride back to the dock. From the Pacific side this far south they are kind of a rarity, this one dumped some rain on us after the wind subsided...

 

June 13-14-15 Hill Dishman was back down with his wife Donelle and brother Jamie and Cindy Dishman for a couples weekend. Friday the 13th it was the brothers only as the girls spent the day in Antigua and what a great start to the day.....The blue water was just 5NM off the beach with a very defined current line from dirty inshore water to deep blue almost purple water. Fishing just off the current line we were into them straight away. The early morning bite was on and we released 6 fish from 6 bites in the first 40 mins of the day. From there on in it was steady action working out to the drop off at the bottom of the 'Pocket' 8NM out to as far as 12NM off the beach. A great day on the water in excellent conditions we ended up with 21 releases from 31 bites.

The next day the girls joined us and we ended up having a late start leaving the dock at around 0900, the blue water had pushed in even closer to 3-4NM off the beach, a bit slower today though still steady action with 9 releases from 14 bites and a few nice mahi's for lunch and dinner.

Hill and Donelle Dishman with a typical sized sail before release.

And Cindy with another.

We were back at the dock by 1600 to see the World Cup clash England vs Italy.....

 

 Sunday the 15th it was just Hill out as Jamie and Cindy headed back home to Houston and Donelle spent the morning by the pool down at the Lodge. That morning we worked the 1000ft to 400ft mark at the bottom of the pocket again. Beautiful day out there, deep blue water and again steady fishing with 7 releases from 10 bites and back at the dock for midday to head to Antigua and an enjoyable afternoon up there for Fathers day. For the weekend then, 37 billfish releases and several mahi's all just a few miles off the beach, it doesn't get much better than that!

 

We are still here and so are the fish!! We'll be out again this weekend and have some trips booked for August, if you want to come down to get into them get in touch with us. Also don't forget we are taking bookings for the upcoming busy months November and onwards through 2015, it has been a great year here and we're looking forward to more of the same next season!!