Lights Out Guatemala Sailfishing (November 2024)
After nearly five decades of fishing, I’ve learned to be cautiously optimistic and to expect a few curveballs. Therefore, even thought Casa Vieja’s fishing reports showed exceptional catches heading into our recent trip to Guatemala, I didn’t want to be unnecessarily disappointed. A change in the weather, the wind or the mood of the sailfish could hurt the bite substantially.
Indeed, on the Uber ride to Dulles Airport our Honduran driver tried to put a stake through my heart when he asked if we’d be affected by Tropical Storm Sara, which was flooding his home country just to the east of Guatemala. That got me nervous that not only would the fishing suck, but that we might even get a day or two canceled.
I vowed not to think about it on the plane – easier said than done. Fortunately, our van driver assured us that the storm had gone far to the north of Guatemala’s Pacific coast, and I calmed down for a bit….until one of our guests texted to see if the storm would impact us. Then I started worrying again.
I needn’t have worried. Despite some flukey weather, the fishing stayed strong for the duration of our trip. Indeed, it was by far the most productive of our five visits to Casa Vieja Lodge.
Day One
For the fourth time in five trips, we were on the Finest Kind, but our prior captain Nicho Alvarenga had been “promoted” to a newer boat, the Pica Mas, which happened to be the one that my brother and his four business school friends would be on. He was replaced by veteran Capt. Benji Baires.
Day One dawned partly cloudy, with no wind. The seas are often pretty calm in Guatemala, but any time it’s close to flat is a huge bonus. Not only does it make the ride more comfortable, but it helps us relative novices to see the fish in the spread. Normally we’ve started with a ride of 90 minutes to 2 hours, so we were surprised when the captain shut down the boat after 58 minutes to start fishing.
It didn’t take long – 8 minutes after all of our lines were out, we hooked our first sailfish. It jumped and spit the hook, which I feared was a bad omen.
I shouldn’t have worried. The bite picked up again right away. Our friends Carl and Lisa Vicars, neither of whom had caught a sailfish before, got plenty of chances. We had numerous doubles, two triples, and the bite continued steadily all day. Hanna was especially happy because we caught a couple of mahi before lunch, which meant that we got to eat fish instead of hamburgers or chicken.
When it was time to head in, we were beat, but it was our best day in Guatemala to date: 40 raised sailfish, 33 bites and 28 releases.
Day Two
Some heavy rain came in on the evening of the first day of fishing, which once again had me worried that the bite would shut down. When we got out of the marina we could immediately tell the difference – the water was substantially rougher. Not painful or dangerous, it just meant that we had to work on our balance a little more. Fortunately, all of the members of our group were wearing the Scop Patch, and no one suffered mal de mer.
On this day, the run was even shorter: A mere 37 minutes, as we started where we’d left off the day before. The fishing picked up right away as we were surprised to have our first bite a mere two minutes after we started fishing, and a few minutes after that we enjoyed our first release.
With the larger waves it was tougher for us to see the fish, but Captain Benji had no such issues. We didn’t have any triples, and only a handful of doubles, but the bite was steady. Every time we thought it was going to shut down, and there was a lull, we’d get another bite. It started to pour just before it was time to go in and Hanna and I closed out the day with a wet t-shirt contest pair of sailfish.
Daily totals: 35 sailfish raised, 31 bites, 24 released.
Two day total: 75 raises, 64 bites, 52 releases.
Day Three
It once again rained on the evening of our second day of fishing, even harder this time. It was still coming down decently as we launched on Day Three, although it was a mere drizzle by the time we got to the fishing grounds after a run of exactly one hour.
Was this the day our luck would run out?
Unlike Days One and Two, we did not get a bite in the first ten minutes. It took until we’d been trolling for 35 minutes, but fortunately they were pretty steady after that.
At 9:45, a fish grabbed one of our baited lines and started to make a long run without jumping. It was Hanna’s turn on the rod and she fought the fish capably, and it was pretty clear immediately that this was no 80-pound sailfish. It made long runs and after about 20 minutes she got to the leader but when the fish saw the boat it took off again.
We were pretty certain that it was the marlin she’s coveted and craved for several years, but we never saw the fish. At the 40 minute mark she got it to the leader again, and our mate Tony had his hand on the leader, but eventually the hook pulled. She was shocked, then devastated.
He’d touched the leader, so it was a legal catch, but we can’t say for sure that it was a marlin – or what type – since we never saw it. We’re hoping that Carl’s underwater footage helps us figure that out in short order, but either way it still feels like her quest is incomplete. I felt terrible for her and I still do.
The water wasn’t nearly as rough as on Day Two, and we spent the rest of our final day on the water steadily adding to our sailfish numbers. We had some incredible visual strikes where the fish either came charging across the surface to grab the bait after following a teaser, or else came up like a windshield wiper and then bit.
Day Three was our slowest, but it was still exceptional, with 22 raises, 19 bites and 14 released sailfish. On two of our previous trips that would have been our best day.
Trip Notes
Our final totals: 97 raises, 83 bites, 66 releases.
My brother’s group, fishing on the Pica Mas, had even greater success. They were at the top of the leader board all three days, with totals of 108 raises, 102 bites and 81 sailfish released. They had 30 and 31 releases on Days One and Two, respectively.
Prior to this trip, our best single day had been our first day on our first trip back in 2020, when we released 23 sailfish. We beat that on two of three days this time.
Prior to this trip, our best three day total had been on our second trip, in February of 2021, when we released 19, 19 and 6 for a total of 44 sailfish. We’d beaten that after two days this time around.
Through five trips we have now released a total of 179 sailfish, an average of just under 12 a day and 36 per trip. I am still amazed by those numbers. When you consider that in most other sailfish fisheries a few per day is considered solid, Guatemala’s production is simply insane.
We can’t guarantee any particular numbers, but we can assure you that if you fish the waters offshore of Guatemala with Casa Vieja Lodge you will have a fantastic chance to have the fishing trip of a lifetime. Everything about the operation is first-class, and a “once in a lifetime” trip may turn into an addiction, just as it has for us. Shoot us a message if you’d like more information or for us to help you set up a trip.
