Endless Summer Fishing Trip Part 3: Fly Fishing Guatemala

By Peter Cottrell and Rowan Nairn

Guatemala is a relatively unfriendly place if you have zero command of the Spanish language. Well, this is how we felt when we arrived in Guatemala City destined for Iztapa, a small town on the pacific coast.

Other than its location and reputation as the Sailfish capital of the world we knew very little of the town. As it turned out, the cheapest way of getting to the town was a 4-hour bus ride in a 'chicken' bus shared with about 70 locals and an assortment of farm animals. Had it not been for the cramped conditions the trip would have been more enjoyable as we descended down amazing volcanoes, some visibly active, through the coastal savanna bushveld.

The town of Iztapa itself would have made Maputo look first world. We were very proud of ourselves for having arrived in Iztapa intact and checked into a hotel using nothing but sign language. However it quickly dawned on us that securing a fishing boat for the next few days would be somewhat more difficult armed with nothing but the fisherman's guide to Spanish.

The aptly named Marina Pas Vela (Sailfish Marina) made our lives easier in more ways than one. Firstly the English menu provided an opportunity to eat food other than mangos and secondly there was an abundance of fishing boats moored at the dock.

Over a couple of beers we proceeded to elicit information about available charters from fellow drinkers at the bar. The quality of the information was dubious at times as we received offers ranging from US$200 to US$1600 per day all promising Sailfish on the fly.

We eventually settled for a respectable captain who offered his services to us after the forthcoming International Sailfish Competition. It so happened that the competition had begun that morning and as the days negotiation concluded, the boats returned all flying more Sailfish flags then could be counted.

We decided to hang around and wait for the final tally for the day, which was a staggering 650 Sailfish released between 23 boats. Almost more surprising was the group of South African anglers all sporting the Green and Gold of the SA Billfishing Team. These stats only made our weeklong wait more agonizing.

The couple of days that we did go out made the wait worthwhile. The day's fishing begins with a run out to blue water, which can be anywhere from 25 to 40 miles off shore. We started settling in for a long wait as is customary with Billfishing in Southern Africa, however not 5 minutes after the teasers were in the water the first Bill was slicing the ocean.

Seeing a hungry, brightly lit up Sailfish behind a teaser is a sight the one can never tire of. Lady luck was with us and just as in a script, the teaser was pulled, the fly was presented and the Saily casually ate the popper. What resulted was a majestic display of raw power as the fish proceeded to strip off line all the time dancing on the water. After a long tussle the 90-pound fish was boated, photographed and carefully released.

Our best day on the water resulted in 45 fish being raised, 15 teased, 10 hooked and 3 boated. As one can imagine we were overjoyed by the seemingly non-stop action on the boat, however these stats did not raise an eyebrow from any of the local captains on the dock that evening.

Much of the success of Sailfish on the fly must be attributed to the slickness of the crew. Each member of the team must know his role and carry it out to perfection. The captain to spot fish, tell the client when to cast and the manoeuvre the boat during the fight. The deckhands have their hands full maintaining tackle, clearing lines, teasing fish and re-teasing if necessary. Needless to say, even on our tight budget we gave the crew a handsome tip at the end of every day and we were soon to learn what a tough job it is.

Several days after our last charter we were invited to crew on a boat for a day. After having seen it done for a couple of day we thought that we were more than up to the challenge. However, three bungled fish later and a stomach full of humble pie; we felt that it was time to act more professionally.

The next fish that erupted behind the teaser you could not miss from a mile away. A big Blue Marlin had hit the teaser. This time things went according to plan, we even managed to keep the blue on the teaser while the fisherman rigged up his 14 weight. This was certainly a hungry fish and needed no encouragement to eat the big pink popper. Chaos reigned as we cleared lines and the fish sped off into the deep blue. It seemed like hours before the leader was brought into the rod tip for the official land.

The fisherman was overjoyed with the catch and eagerly accepted our offer to take some underwater photographs of fish. Swimming in the big blue with a fish of that size and grace is an awesome experience.

Meanwhile, news of the catch had quickly spread to the other captains on the water, and we are sure that this time eyebrows were raised. They were evidently very envious that the greenest crew had caught the first Marlin on fly for the year.

Our stay in Guatemala was made all the more pleasant by fortuitously meeting Captain Brad Phillips, a South African captain of some repute who holds several Billfish records including 27 Sailfish released in a single day on fly. Whether actually fishing or simply observing, Sailfish on the fly is an unforgettable experience. In short, Iztapa was a hard place to leave.

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