It is hard to believe that 2010 is a thing of the past but we saw it out in style with some fantastic fishing off the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. In general the water was good and Decembers top days produced as many as 45 sailfish releases, with many blue marlin and even some striped marlin to spice things up.
Jon Sharp and Joe O'Brien started the month off on the 5th with 14 sailfish releases on the bait and 1 on the fly. The next day saw 9 releases on bait, a release on fly and two blue marlin raised with one that ate but we could not stay attached too. Their last day saw 6 on bait , 1 on fly and Joe releasing a feisty 125lb striped marlin on the
fly rod. Nice work Joe!!
Craig Zigler along with son Chuck and friend Chez Yund, saw some of the best fishing of the month, the 11th through 13th, releasing a 250lb blue and 7 sails their first day. Thing got very better with 30 and then 45 sailfish releases each of the next two days, to put the guys in a festive mood.
The 15th saw old friend Jon Beacher along with his son Teo and brother Bill fishing with us. Its always a highlight to see a young man experience the fantastic billfishing we have here and this was no exception. 9 year old Teo had the time of his life and father and uncle enjoyed it almost as much as he did, if not more. The trio released 14 sails the first day, 22 the next and 30 sailfish on the final day along with dorado and other odds and ends to make for an unforgettable trip for the Beachers.
The 20th saw my Australian friend Matt Smith down here with us along with Todd and Anatoli, 2 of his work colleagues from iCiX. The boys started off the trip wit a memorable day of golf at the stunning Pete Dye, Antigua Golf resort and had a great fishing trip releasing a total of 30 sailfish and a 250lb blue along with hordes of dorado and sushi sized yellowfin and were unlucky to be unable to capitalize on the 3 other marlin they had up.
After a lovely Christmas break we were back at it with the Mills family. Father Robert treated his wife Sheila, daughter Suzanne and husband Alex, daughter Helen to two days of fun. Things had slowed down a little but everyone got to catch a sailfish, for most their first, and the highlight was a 300 pound blue that did some great jumping around the boat giving everyone a chance to test their strength on the fish and get an idea of the power of these true open water predators.
Decisive's owners Steve and Diane Cothron were with us to see out the old year. Diane did a fine job releasing a 325 pound blue marlin on the 30th, her first blue and a wonderful catch it was. We had two other fat blues up in short order but just couldn't capitalize on them and saw a huge marlin free jumping in the area. The blues were certainly around and together with the handful of sailfish we released and some huge dorado it all made for a picture perfect last day of fishing on a flat blue ocean in perfect weather.
All that is left is to thank all of our wonderful anglers who joined us this past year. Whom together with our loyal supporters like Alutecnos Tackle, Pelagic Offshore Gear, Eagle Claw Hooks, Berkley Line, Hiltons Offshore Navigator, Big T lures, and Legend Lures, make this all possible for us and keep us as one of the most popular billfishing operations in the world.
So from all of us at Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures, may it be your best year yet and we look forward to seeing you all here with us over the coming year. Until the next report, tight lines, circle hooks and healthy releases.
Capt. Brad Philipps