Guatemala – my first sailfish on the fly
Fishing a new worldwide destination is always an exciting new height for me, so the opportunity to fish Guatemala’s famed pacific sailfish location was too much of an opportunity to miss.
Several phone calls to Peter McLeod at Aardvark McLeod and visits to several Guatemala fishing websites got me really fired up and determined to visit this framed sailfish destination in central America. The catch rate per boat, year round in Guatemala averages 15 hook ups a day on conventional tackle with the record of 76 sailfish to a boat in one day and on average 5 to 8 hook-ups on fly per boat per day. The record to date is 28 on a day on fly tackle indicating that this location was certainly not lacking in sailfish.
I have fished most of the worlds saltwater destinations over the past 25 years, mainly shallow water fly fishing for tarpon, bonefish and permit. My deep blue water fishing had been mainly trolling and bait fishing for marlin, sailfish and whatever came along on the day. The only offshore fly-fishing I had done was for dorado in the Florida Keys and black finned tuna and bonito in the Gulf of Mexico. I have caught a good number of sails on bait and trolling but my only two attempts to catch sailfish on the fly were a failure mainly because of the lack of sailfish on those two days.
I was soon phoning some of my long time fishing buddies and it didn’t take me long to put a group together. I was going to be joined by Richard Ward and Terry Eustace, both well-travelled anglers who I have fished with in many worldwide locations and our Italian friend Federico Quintana who has also fished extensively worldwide.
None of us had caught a sailfish on fly, so this was our quest and Guatemala, the sailfish capital of the world, was our chosen destination. The peak season for sails was October through to May so we booked 5 days fishing the second week in January.
We re-read every bit of literature we could find on fly fishing for sailfish, set to tying saltwater flies and leaders so by the time of our departure we were all well prepared for the task ahead.
On arrival in Guatemala, we were met and transferred by mini bus for the two hour journey to our private villa at the Del Pacifico resort near the town and coastal port of San Jose. Our journey took us through lush fertile green valleys boarded by impressive, still active, volcanoes rising to over 12,000 feet. On nearing our destination our driver, Manuel, got a call on his mobile from Carlos Cornejo, the manager and part of the company, welcoming us to Guatemala and updating us on the recent conditions and fishing. Early the next morning, we were at the Marina Pez Vela for introductions to our captain, Marvin Avilla, his two man crew, Quapa and Napa and his 35ft Bertram, the Reel Diver. Marvin spoke good English and whilst fully appreciating our desire to fly fish, suggested that we concentrate on more traditional methods as the sailfish were quite widely dispersed. “Make up your fly rods, and if we get among a reasonable number of sails we can switch to fly” he said. We agreed and set off.
On the run offshore, we drew straws on a rota on who was first on the fish and so on. Terry was first away followed by Richard and Federico with me last! We agreed that the rota would be ongoing for our five days fishing. Two hours later, with numerous changes to teaser and the spread pattern, we had our first hit on one of the trolled ballyhoo. Terry was on the rod and hooked sail was tail-walking 100 yards behind the boat. Without warning, the sail changed direction and was now running back towards the boat at an incredible speed and despite Terry winding as fast as he could, the line was cut by the boats props.
The following morning we set off, having decided to concentrate again on conventional trolling baits with the fly outfits ready to switch to, as the take had been quite low overall the previous day. For the next three hours we fished without signs of fish. Then, just as we were tucking into one of Napa’s superb ham and cheese sandwiches, we had our first strike of the day and Federico was fighting a very acrobatic sailfish. Quapa made a first class billing of the fish with his gloved hand and with the help of Napa the estimated 90lb sailfish was brought aboard for some quick photos before being safely released alive. Our captain called for Napa and Quapa to get the spread working again as he had seen more sails when Federico was playing his fish. The adrenalin was now high and within seconds or starting again, we were into two sails with myself and Terry trying to prevent the two fish from crossing lines and the skipper doing a first a first class job of backing down the boat to help us stay in contact with the fish. Terry got his fish to the boat first and Quapa billed the sail and brought it aboard for more photographs before releasing it. Then I brought my fish alongside and Napa released it. Both fish were estimated at around 90lbs.
More frantic shouting from the captain and we were quickly fishing again and within minutes we were hooked up to another sailfish and Richard was fighting another big sail. In the forty minutes from hooking Federico’s first sailfish, we hooked and landed five more sails. At the end of our second day, we had hooked and landed 11 sailfish and another dorado – all on conventional tackle. Back at the marina, we were told that we were the top boat for the day with the next best having four sailfish and the rest of the boats had either blanked or caught a single sailfish. Marvin and his crew were very happy and we were very hopeful that we would stand a much better chance of us catching our first sailfish on the fly.
Day three, and back in the same area as the days previous success, we were determined to concentrate on fly fishing and our captain took us through the procedure. The fly rod would be in the right hand side of the transom of the boat with 30ft fly line stripped out into a bucket of water. The fly and leader were laid out on the deck so it could not get snagged. When a sailfish was see attacking the teaser, Quapa would cast a hookless fish strip bait to the sail and try and tease the fish to the boat. The captain would then put the boat out of gear and the angler would drip the fly into the water and allow the still moving boat to feed out the fly line until it was straight out tight behind the boat. The angler then, with one back cast, would cast the fly if possible to the side and in front of the teased sailfish. This precise same moment Quapa would pull the teaser away from the sail so that all that the fish would now see was the anglers fly and hopefully take it. The right hand outrigger was secured out of the way to enable the angle to make his back cast. Our captain told us that apart form two-baited ballyhoo on the longest lines back from the boat all the other rods would be with various hookless teasers. He explained that the two ballyhoo with hooks were insurance for any fish that could not be teased to the boat and they would also be more likely to be taken by dorado or tuna. So the scene was set and it was my turn in the rota, and with only two full fishing days left, I begged the fishing gods not to waste my chance on the two baited ballyhoo being taken before I got my chance with the fly rod. I was ready, within easy reach of the fly rod and one hour into the day my prayers were answered. Almost before the captain called out I saw the bill of a sailfish strike the teaser on the outrigger.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Quapa make his cast with the teaser rod, fly rod now in my hand and the fly in my other hand, I was waiting for what seemed like minutes for the captain to put the boat out of gear and tell me to cast. I could clearly see the sailfish only 20ft behind the boat striking at the teaser. I saw Quapa pull the teaser away from the sail and at that moment the captain put the boat out of gear and I let the fly and fly line fall into the water and when the forward momentum pulled it tight and straight, I made my back cast.
What happened next will stay in my mind for the rest of my life.
The sailfish turned and with only my fly chugging on the surface took the fly and turned away. Holding the line tight in my left hand until I felt the weight of the fish, and only then did I strike it several times. My hooked sail lived up to the species reputation for being one of the fastest fish in the ocean. In what could only have been a few seconds, my fish was spiralling out of the water 150 yds away.
The captain was now backing the boat towards the distance jumping sail to give me the opportunity to get the 45lb test gel-spum backing back on the reel. Once I had a few turns of fly line backing on the reel I tightened the drag on the Tibor Gulfsteam and applied as much pressure on the fish as the leader would stand. Even when the fish went deep and sounded I still applied as much pressure the 9ft 13 weight Sage had in it and soon I felt the fish coming up to the surface where it went into a series of sky reaching jumps which I knew would tire the fish and all being well, the fish would be mine. Sensing this, the captain manoevered the boat to enable me to bring the tired sail to the side of the boat where Quapa and Napa were able to glove the bill of my sail and bring it into the boat, job done. Big smiles and handshakes all round, my first sailfish on a fly.
For the rest of our week we had two more chances to sails on the fly. Federico’s sail failed to turn with the fly and Richard’s fish lost interest at the very last moment. The long lined tolled ballyhoo took our total for our five days to 19 sails, 3 dorado and 3 yellowfin tuna with my sailfish the only one on the fly. This was slow fishing by Guatemalan standards, and the uncharacteristic cold front we had been experiencing had definitely slowed the bite. That’s fishing for you!
We thanked Mervin, our captain, and the crew; we could not have had a team who could have worked any harder for us. It had been a tough five days, not easy fishing but we all learned a lot and on our return to England contacted Peter McLeod and asked him to book us all again for the following year.
With flights via Madrid or Miami, getting to Guatemala is relatively straightforward and the best time for sailfish is January to April. Accommodation can either be in the resort or in private villas, each with its own staff. For those wanting to combine some serious fishing with a family or non-fishing partner, Guatemala has plenty to offer. From the world heritage site of Antigua Guatemala, the old capital, to the cloud forests of the Verapazes and the Mayan ruins at Tikal, there is plenty here to keep everyone happy.
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