G’Day Mate
On our recent trip to Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, we fished on the Finest Kind, a gorgeous 40’ Whiticar captained by Nicho Alvarenga. Each day the captain had us either at the top or near it in terms of the number of fish landed, and that’s a credit to his skill and understanding of the waters.
But he wasn’t the only person who helped us to 37 sailfish in three days, including 23 on the first day on the water. Our mates Daniel and Tony were also critical to the process. They might not get the glory or the credit that a captain receives, but their nuanced participation was every bit as important and should not go unnoticed.
The sailfish spread involves four teasers, one long and one short on each side, along with two dead baits on each side. When a sailfish is spotted, the person who sees it, often the captain, yells out “Left long teaser” or the other appropriate description. Then the anglers need to get the appropriate bait up to or back to the point of attack, “feed” it to the fish, and then freespool until the circle hook is firmly in place. It sounds simple, but in the heat of the moment it’s anything but easy, especially in rough water – and if in the midst of this process the fish moves to a different bait/teaser, or an additional fish shows up, the difficulty level goes up exponentially.
Daniel and Tony were balletic in their movements, weaving around, over and under, never losing their cool and both tempting and hooking the vast majority of the fish that showed up. We asked to try it on the second day, and they skillfully coached us through the process, but our batting averages were lower than theirs. I’ve fished with and watched VanDam catch bass when others can’t. I’ve been in the boat when PMTT champ Spencer Berman figured-eighted a 52” Lake St. Clair musky with remarkable fluidity – it seemed like he only needed a single finger to make that one-pound lure dance. I feel like I know when someone is a cut above, and these guys were exceptional.
In addition to getting the fish to bite and hold the bait, there’s also skill in getting them to the boat without doing harm to either the anglers and enabling a safe release. It was obvious that both mates really cared about the resource, and they got the sails going again as soon as possible (the mahi were a different story — they quickly saw the business end of a fillet knife).
Obviously, I love to catch big fish, but I’ve been around long enough that I also take great pleasure in seeing someone else who is exceptional plying their craft on the water. This trip met that mark in every way.
