Fishing Day

It wasn’t too many years ago that the thought of hooking, playing and releasing a sailfish on a fly was only in the minds of a few adventurous anglers out to test their skills and equipment.

Now, it is not only possible for the average angler to entertain thoughts of fly fishing for sails, but a catch and release is probable at the right destination. And that is at Casa Vieja in the coastal city of San Jose, Guatemala. This area is said to hold one of highest concentrations of sailfish anywhere discovered yet and easily accessible. With numbers like 124 releases on conventional gear and 57 releases with a fly rod from one boat in ONE DAY, one can see why chances are greater of hooking billfish here on a fly than any other place on earth. One of the elements making these kinds of numbers possible is Guatemala’s approach to regulating billfish. It is illegal to possess a billfish there. Now, that’s the way to do it. It not only takes numbers of fish, but skilled boat captains and crews to find the fish, tease them within casting distance and help an angler bring it boatside for release. You don’t have to worry about them understanding how to work with fly fishers. You will be fishing on one of their 37 to 43 foot vessels with a crew knowledgeable of the unique fly fishing techniques.

Angling excitement is watching the fish’s bill cut through the water’s surface slashing behind a hook-less teaser and seeing the sailfish “light up” as it tries to eat it while crew member reels it to your casting distance behind the boat before yanking it out of the water away from the fish.

Confused, the sailfish now sees your fly hit the water and charges in for the kill. The next few moments are nothing like you’ve experienced before with a fly rod in your hand. The first-time billfish fly fisher is never prepared for the heart stopping jumps and rocket speed (sailfish have been clocked over 50 mph) as it dissolves line and backing off your reel.

On typical fishing days, you will have breakfast between 7 & 8 AM. Afterwards, you gather gear that you need on the boat and the van transfers you a short 5 – 10 minutes away to the marina. The boat and crew will be waiting for you to get under way. The run to the fish could as short as 10 – 15 minutes to as long as an hour from the marina. Most days will find fish in between these run times. The seas are seldom very rough. The English speaking captain will explain to you how to work with the crew for the casting and teasing. Lunches will be provided on the boat with water and soft drinks. This is a catch and release fishery. You will be back at the dock around 4:00 PM. The van will be waiting for you to return to the lodge for cocktails and snacks before washing up and taking a dip in the pool before dinner. Repeat this schedule for as many days that are in your package. There is email and phone service at the lodge.

If you are participating in the Jake Jordan Sailfish School, everything here will be the same, except that every night Jake will go over the days activities and talk about specific problems encountered when learning to fly fish for Sailfish. All equipment is furnished with the schools or you can bring your own. He will be with the class every day on the boat instructing.