FISHING AT 4 MILES OFFSHORE IN GUATEMALA?!
If there hasn't been a fishing report update in some days, its because I am fishing like a mad man.
I just got off a 4 day stretch with a shared boat of clients from Ohio and Rhode Island. The fuel bill was in my favor this week as we only had to go 6 miles off shore to find productive blue water. In fact, some days we laid up at just 4 miles to find a good morning bite. On our 26 foot walk around at 30 knots, that get you there in less than 20 minutes.
The interesting combo with this shared group was the fact we had one conventional angler, and one fly angler. It actually worked out great, and both anglers had tons of action.
First day we had around 18 sails raised, 2 with a fly in the mouth, and we released just 8 for the day. Keep in mind the clients hooked all the fish as do all of my anglers coming down here. The mate will tease the fish, and help keep the spread interesting, but the anglers are catching the fish, unlike other charters who simply hand you the rod.
Second day a bite slower as the weekend fishing pressure pushed the fishing apart. We still managed to release 5, one on the fly, and 7 jack cravelle around 15 lbs. 1 Jack on the fly, which was fun as well.
Third day, started slow and end better. We had a couple doubles, released one on the fly, and raised about 12 sails all day.
Fourth day, SLOW in the morning. Almost 3 hours without a single raised fish, and we weren't the only ones. As we trolled west we found incredible water difference and it was 30 minutes into better water that things turned. We had 4 hook on the fly, many aggressive fish. We ended that day despite the slow start with 13 fish raised, and two landed on the fly. That last day was just a fly day.
Over all lots of good fishing if you find productive water. Several shots on the fly, and more blue water is being pushed in from Mexico. I will be fishing for the whole month, so please excuse the slow reporting. Tight lines.
Capt Starrs
A picture says it all!
HOT HOT BITE!
Jan 20th, 2011 the bite is hot again in Guatemala. However, you have to work for it. There was a good crowd gathering at about 35 miles, as we all trolled out in random directions looking for the concentrations of sail fish. Finally we got word at just about 38 miles (from Chris Sheeder) there was a good late morning bite (about 9am). At about 40 miles we had the best results with at least another 12 boats trolling on top of one another. We ended the day with 18 bites and just 6 releases. We had a new guy on board who hooked all of his fish, as well as took home a nice 15 lb dorado. Happy camper to say the least. The water content is perfect, temperatures are in 83.5 to 84.5 range. We were able to push out at 30 knots with almost no chop. The boats that fished later raised as many as 40 fish that day. Great teasing fish for the fly, and just a great time in general. Saturday we are out again, then Tuesday, and then Almost two full weeks straight through of fishing! So don't expect a new report until mid February. We will keep you posted on facebook.
Tight Lines,
Capt Starrs
Happy New Years my anglers!!!!
The word ''sabiki'' was very useful this past week. I made it out with some friends and clients who demanding that we used live bait found at the near by buoy on the way out to the bill fish grounds. We loaded up the live well with at least 15 blue runners with sabiki rigged poles. We made a 14 mile run off shore and started trolling dead bait until we found an appropriate live bait spot. It was 1 hour into our trip that we spotted a large bird resting on what appeared to be a large pillion. We made a couple passes and nothing was biting, but we knew something was below. We then got our fin nor spinning gear and shimano bait runners rigged with our live bait and deployed them with a one motor trolling speed. I mostly had the boat in neutral. From that point we were busy with the bites. One after another dorado were hitting the bait and we landed 8 dorado all over 15 lbs, one was 30 lbs on the scale. As the afternoon slowed down, the sail fish began to take over. We landed 6 sail fish and hooked 8. Despite the ''slow'' bite we did alright and we repeated the same procedure with great success for the next 4 days of fishing. A great way to end 2010, onto another great year of fishing and new interesting clients.
Tight lines!
We are already getting our next group on Christmas day. 26th and 27th we will be way off shore chasing bills. The bite has slowed down by Guatemalan standards, but 40 miles south east will get us in fishable water. Yesterday one boat released 15 sails, which is great, but they had to push way off shore for it. The water temp is around 84 degrees and perfect for marlin and sails, just need a bit more blue water to turn this fish on again.
Points I will try and hit despite the 40 plus mile hike:
13° 20.92´ N / 90° 20.55´ W
44.5 NM 153° Mag.
Tight Lines and Merry Christmas
Capt Starrs
The bite is HOT, HOT, HOT! We fished Thursday and Friday (Dec 16th and 17th), with impressive results. While we fished a bit short at 25 miles to find the bite to be slow, the radio talk further south was all positive. Before we started our troll south to meet the other captains we raised a nice 300 lb blue marlin which took the 20 lb penn (not the 50 we pitched) and gave our client Bill a 55 minute fight! We then released the big fella and continued to end the day with several more sail fish raised and just a few releases, and a few dorado in the box.
The next day dec 17th, we filled up the tank and punched out to the 40 mile marker where we were greeted with a very hot Guatemalan sail fish bite! We raised at least 25 sails, hooking 15, and releasing 6 sails. At one point we had 4 sail fish in the spread. Incredible numbers!
The bite continues to improve despite the full moon upon us. Right now we have intense schools of bait fish, sails, marlin, and we know where they are. For now all I have to offer is this half decent video of our past clients.
Tight Lines
Capt Starrs
