A New Year and more world-class Guatemalan fishing! 

The San Jose and BuenaVista Island fishing fleet have found the meat.  On New Years Day a few boats ventured off shore in search of table fare.  They where rewarded by a huge find which filled the boats and lodges with many dinners and lunches prepared to order. Captain Jody Elswick, Troy Shields of Troy Marine and Tony Ludovico of BuenaVistaSportfishing, along with there partners participated in the adventure by filling up the boxes with gaffer dolphin and tuna. They also raised two blue marlin and a black!  Of course Tony also needed to get in the water to bond with and photograph the marine life.  He is editing his work for posting as I write.  Meanwhile Sail fishing as turned on big time. As of the beginning of the week Sails have been caught within 10 miles of the coastline in every type of boat you can imagine. Raising 50 plus fish has not been uncommon.  The fishing and weather are hot! Consider escaping the cold weather and getting in on the action. Email me at “LET’S GO FISHING” and setup an affordable trip. 

Monday December 29^th we met with Garrett, his son and their friends at the dock in the Marina. Garrett had organized this trip with three friends as a sort of going away gift for his son Garrett Junior. Garrett Junior was scheduled to go to the mid East to work for a multinational company setting up refrigeration facilities in that area, and was excited and looking forward to this trip.

Our weather was flat calm with a light breeze and it appeared to be one of our typical Guatemalan fishing days on the water.  We picked up bait at marker number 3 and headed out for some “meat fish” and possibly a couple sails.

At about 30 miles out we found a school of spinner dolphin, jumping and spinning, since sometimes yellow fin tuna run with the spinners we dropped back a couple lures. We had immediate response with three sails rising up, one coming up on a “bubble jet lure” which because it was rigged with a “j” hook, we pulled away from him hoping he would switch off to a circle hook rigged ballyhoo but instead he disappeared into the blue. The other two followed his lead and faded away.

Later on we came upon a floating log with a bird perched on top, trolling by we could see the Dorado cut through the water and hit the baits, and were immediately hooked up with one Dorado while looking for the second. Since there seemed to be little interest in our dead baits we switched over to live baits and tossed them out while we fought the first 30 pounder which was still hooked up.  After a tiring fight the first Dorado was gaffed and put into the fishbox and we had two bigger Dorado on line resulting in two more adding their bulk to the fishbox. By the end of the day we had caught six huge Dorado’s and about six nice size bonito (atun negro).

In Central America Bonito are called “Atun negro” which when translated literally means “tuna Black”. Of course the name comes from the color of the fish’s flesh, however sometimes the Central American name gets translated back to English as Black tuna” or more creatively “Black Fin Tuna”. Obviously Bonito are in no way “Black fin Tuna “so this sometimes can lead to some misconceptions over Central American Tuna species. Most people insist that Bonito is not good to eat and is only good as bait or cat food. Of course at this point we should consider “when on a cat, eat as a cat”? Actually Bonito makes excellent sashimi and when grilled is also good, key point is to take out the dark meat running along the backbone as this tends to give the flavor a very strong fishy taste which most people don’t really enjoy.

On our way in our mates prepared a nice plate of Sashimi half made with fresh Dorado, and the other half with Bonito. Because the Bonito has a dark red almost black flesh people tend to be a bit apprehensive to eat it.  Dorado, on the other hand, has a nice white meat and most people reach for the Dorado first but after tasting each, everyone will prefer the Bonito Sashimi over the Dorado Sashimi.  When it comes to fresh Sashimi the better fish is Bonito and this was evidenced by how quickly the bonito was scarfed down instead of the Dorado.

At about twelve miles from the coast our captain yelled out that there were some whales off to the West of us and we headed that way to take a look.

The sea was flat calm, and crystal clear, when we arrived we found not one, but three whales. One was a baby and was about 20 feet long, another appeared to be its mother and the third we assumed must be the “daddy whale”. 

Since the whales seemed to be somewhat stationary and were at least staying on the surface both myself Garrett Jr. and My brother Mark decided to get on the mask, snorkel and fins and jump in the water to observe the whales.  After maneuvering the boat around to be able to minimize the amount of swimming we would have to do, I was in the water in time to see the mother whale with the baby swim by, all magnificent 50-60 feet of her, I backed away as her tail came down about four feet from me, fortunately since she wasn’t diving it was a very gentile movement.

We tried to follow her swimming, but her smooth swimming ability far outpaced ours and we were soon left behind, we got back in the boat and intercepted her at about 50 yards further in her circle. This time “we” included  Mark, Garrett, Myself and Christina, and we stayed still and waited for the whale to come by. She came straight at us swimming slowly between us, splitting us apart with her bulk, she was not aggressive, just huge, both groups back pedaling in the water as the massive whale and pup slowly swam by. We could see her motherly, watchful eye looking at us and we could see very clearly that she was using her fin on the right “fin” side to help push the pup to the surface to breath.  Down below us at about 50 feet was the immense bulk of the third whale who we assumed was the father standing by.

The baby was white, wrinkled and looked completely newborn, there was some of what appeared to be afterbirth in the water as well. Due to the way the mother was escorting and helping the baby we assumed it was newly born within the last few hours, and for this reason we remained a respectful distance from the pair.

At about this time another boat, the Fishy Business showed up and started filming the whales with us in the water. With the two boats the whales seemed to become more comfortable and possibly even friendly, seemingly hanging around with us. Perhaps they felt safer with us loony humans in the water close to their baby, as we may make a better shark meal then their baby, or perhaps the bond between humans and mammals is much closer then we think, and there is safety in numbers.

Back at the dock we were ecstatic over the photos of the whales and the terrific day everyone had on the Fat Cat.

The fishing has turned on again. Typical summer like weather conditions have returned along with numerous sails(see pic) and a few large dorado (see pic) .   This week Buenavistasportfishing.com ’ Monkey Business joined in on the action.  The Petruaskas, from Lithuania along with Susy and Jody Elswick, owners of the lodge, enjoyed small boat fishing at its best.  In two days of couples fishing they raised 87 sails (see pic), hooked up on 64 and released 43.  Susy continues to sharpen her angling skills as well as her ability to make your stay a memorable one.   Come on down and enjoy the action.  The fishing is red hot and the pressure is light.  Contact me at mike@buenavistasportfishing.com so we can set up a trip of a lifetime.

Great fishing continues off shore Guatemala on the full moon.  Several boats from the San Jose fleet reported a good bite 22 miles out.  16 – 32 sail fish per boat where reported seen with catch and release numbers averaging in the teens. At least two Blue marlin where reported released on the 13^th. The weather and sea conditions are typical for this time of year.  Clear and calm.  Escape the cold! Come on down and hook up!

The main body of bill fish has spread out with the bite being anywhere from 20 to 35 miles offshore. The averages have slackened somewhat with 15– 30 sailfish being seen daily. Most boats in the San Jose fleet manage to hook up and release at least half of what they see daily.   4 or 5 of the boats have caught and released 1 or 2 blue marlin.  Of course what fun would it be if you didn’t get the occasional gaffer dolphin to chew up a few teasers and baits? Scattered Tuna amongst the spinner dolphins and migrating whales are part of the typical action found off the coast of Guatemala in our summertime. Bill Pino and his group of anglers from the northern hemisphere have made the trip south to BuenaVistaSportfishing lodge.  We’ll be posting the results of there efforts with a few photos this week.  Stay tuned.

Bill Pino of SquidNation fame as well as his group of long time fishing buddies emailed this report last night………

The fishing slowed way down today.  Only about 5 boats fished but we still managed 9 sails out of 15 bites and saw 10 more that wouldn't eat.  Gotta love slow days like that.  Also caught a 40lb dolphin that went on the grill.  Buena Vista is an incredible place.  Most boats caught between 5 and 15 with one boat also catching a blue marlin.  We'll be back at it tomorrow.  Check out these photos.  I'll try to have more by Thursday!

Bill Pino and his buddies reported in this evening……

Had a great day today in spite of some snotty conditions.  Our group fished on two boats.  I got to fish on the Relaese.  We were 21 for 35 on sails and saw another 13 that wouldn't eat.  The Monkey Business was 9 for 15 on sails.  Captain Hook caught 9 and another boat caught 6.  We also had a classic circle hook bite and hook up right in the corner of the mouth by none other then a sea turtle.  Great day today.  Will report back tomorrow.

A unusually rough day in Guatemala.  It is rare to have 6 to 7 footers and howling wind. Raymond, Bill and I went inside for a while to try for a Roosterfish on the Monkey Business.  Couldn't get bait so we chugged our way outside about 9 miles.  Good Move - in 2 hours we went 5 for 9 and busted two off..   Fishing slowed so we came back in to try for a Rooster but no luck 

The other half of our crew where out on the Release went 10 for 20 on the sails and 3 dolphin.   Had one sail deposit his bill in the side of the Release.  They now have a little trophy for their day.

One more day left. :(

Bill and I took a lay day and headed to Antigua for the afternoon with our host Jody Elswick and his wife Suzie. Had a great time sightseeing and shopping.  Took some really nice photos of smoking volcanoes.

The rest of the crew went out on the Release. Another rough morning but this time there was no fish to combat the rough waters. They kept moving offshore and found a few bites ending the day with 7 sails and 5 enormous dolphin.  Hopefully they will let me download some pics. I also heard there is some good video of the day.

On a final note the entire crew and staff at Buena Vista Sportfishing Lodge have been nothing but spectacular. The accommodations are first class, the food is just incredible and we all had a great time. The fishing was a bit off but we still averaged 10 sails out of 15 bites every day. Lots a giant dolphin. The bite is gonna turn around soon so get down here and start enjoying the great atmosphere and incredible fishing.

Gotta Go - our lobster and mahi dinner is awaiting at the table!  Thanks again Jody and the entire staff.

Captain Charlie Helmer of TranquilSportfishing.com along with Leanne and the rest of there group left the dock at 12:30 PM today in pursuit of Roosterfish. By cocktail hour they had returned to the lodge with a tale of success.  Slow trolling the surf line north of the lodge they successfully landed 6 Rooster’s up to 35lbs.  Pictures to follow!  The sail fishing continues to be fantastic off shore as boats are reporting 15 -30 sails sited daily.  Escape the cold weather and join the summer fun at www.buenavistasportfishing.com

I’ll quote Charlie! Wow! The sails where 10 miles off the beach. Why chase roosters in the surf when you can snatch sails within site of the lodge skyline. Charlie Helmer and his entourage went off shore with the fleet and released 14 of the 25 sails teased up yesterday  It’s getting really good!  Check out his Rooster photos!

The fish where very cooperative on Sunday and Monday but the weather was not. It was a bit choppy.  The main body of sailfish ended up 10 – 17 miles off the beach with boats seeing 20 - 30 fish to the teasers. The average catch per boat being 10 – 20.  The Fat Cat ventured out for Rooster to no avail as they were quickly lured away to the sail bite just off shore. The half days they spent trolling for bill fish produced a few doubles and a triple plus some meat in the box.