Sailfishing Guatemala

Get all lit up with Guatemala Sailfish.

Guatemala is recognised as the home of the most prolific fishery for Sailfish in the world. Our boats regularly have over 50 shots per day in peak season and you can anticipate 15-25 shots on a “regular” day. Nothing is ever guaranteed in fishing – but this is about as close as you can get if you dream about casting to Sailfish within 20ft of the stern, multiple hookups and constant action. The coastline and ecosystem support vast quantities of bait all year round and warm eddies that hold large pods of sailfish between 2 and 50 miles from port. Guatemala holds many official (and unofficial!) records for Pacific Sailfish.

There is also good action for Dorado and Tuna if you want to bring something home for the table in the evening. In addition you may have the opportunity to hook up in to Blue Marlin which are around in considerable numbers during the season. Inshore you may find Roosterfish, Wahoo, Cubera Snapper and Amberjacks to bust your arm! Fishing occurs anywhere from 2-50 miles out from the breakwater, although it is more usual to find the fish in what is termed the “pocket” – a deepwater canyon that is 25 miles wide and with drop offs from 1000 ft to 5000 ft. Our packages are all-inclusive; we will take care of you from the moment you land in Guatemala until we return you either to your hotel the evening prior to departure or to the airport on the day of departure. Angling Direct Holidays with our Guatemala partners can offer accommodation alternatives to suit all of our clients needs so whether you prefer the luxury and privacy of a villa staffed with a personal chef, maid and waitress, or the larger resort atmosphere of the Villas Del Pacifico, we will be happy to work with you to ensure that you enjoy the fishing trip of a lifetime.

What our customers have to say: "It was just mad from the time our lures hit the water we had pods of Sailfish all over our baits. We ill never forget it what a trip all we have left to say is a big thank you." Peter Child "Caught my first Sailfish on the fly and then ended up having 6 more all in 3 days fishing, simply the best Sailfish fishing destination, great service, great guides and boats. Well worth the journey. " David Harrington. "As Tina Turner would say "Simply the best" it was the best of everything highly recommended, can not wait to comeback. " Tim Hopkins

Private Villas

F/B

We offer private 3&4 bedroom villas sleeping up to 8 clients. They are staffed with a personal chef, maid and waitress so that there is maximum flexibility for menus and individual preferences. Breakfast is served prior to leaving for the dock each morning, and on return you will find freshly made Hors D’oeuvres and cold drinks. Dinner may be Dorado caught on the trip that day - or whatever your party has chosen for the evening…………but all served as you like it, when you want it. All national drinks are also included.

The villas are located in a secure compound next to the Villas del Pacifico resort, and access to the resort amenities is available to clients. They are a short 5 minute walk to the magnificent volcanic beach.

Villas Del Pacifico

F/B

An alternative to the Private Villa is to stay at the resort itself. Packages are based on double occupancy in fully air conditioned rooms. Also available are 2 bedroom bungalows and suites. Resort facilities include swimming pools, several restaurants, bars and games facilities. The packages are all inclusive; meals are usually served buffet style and all national drinks are included for the length of your stay.

Real InterContinental Guatemala Hotel

B/B

There are 239 luxurious rooms and suites in the Real InterContinental Guatemala hotel, all thoughtfully appointed and featuring a variety of modern amenities. The exclusive Club InterContinental® offers a range of upgraded services and personalized attention on a private floor with controlled
access.

Fine dining is assured at the Real InterContinental Guatemala hotel with the Café de la Paix, our authentic Parisian-style brasserie, and Café Saint-Honoré, our French-style boulangerie and patisserie, which features fast service and healthy choices. Scenario Bar offers fine liquors, whiskies, rums and cocktails. 24-hour Room Service is also available.

The Real InterContinental Guatemala hotel provides over 2015 square meters of flexible meeting and banqueting space and can host functions from 10 to 1000 guests. A comprehensive range of audio-visual equipment is available, together with the services of a Business Center.

 

Suggested Itinerary

This is a suggest itinerary which can be changed if you so wished to suit your requirements personally.

9 - Days / 5 - Days Guided Fishing

Day 1	Depart HEATHROW AIRPORT (LHR) with BRITISH AIRWAYS AM Arrive MIAMI (MIA) PM Depart MIAMI (MIA) with AMERICAIN AIRLINES PM Arrive GUATEMALA (GUA) PM Look out for our English speaking staff holding up a sign with your name, you will then be transfer to the accommodation of your choice. Transfer takes about 1,1/2 hours, drinks served. Rest of the evening is yours to either relax or explore Guatemala's clubs and bars. Overnight: Accommodation of your choice F/B
Day 2 to 5	You and your party will be served a full American breakfast before transfer to the marina. Typical fishing day is 7am until 4 or 4:30pm, lunch and beverages will be served on board the sportfishing boats. In addition to the abundant sailfish population, you will have the opportunity to catch blue/black marlin, yellowfin tuna, dorado, roosterfish and wahoo. Overnight: Accommodation of your choice F/B
Day 6	You and your party will be served a full American breakfast before transfer to the marina. Typical fishing day is 7am until 4 or 4:30pm, lunch and beverages will be served on board the sportfishing boats. In addition to the abundant sailfish population, you will have the opportunity to catch blue/black marlin, yellowfin tuna, dorado, roosterfish and wahoo. After arriving back from your days fishing and some refreshing drinks you will have a private transfer back to Guatemala City for your last night. Overnight Accommodation: Real InterContinental Guatemala Hotel B/B
Day 7	Morning free to relax in and around your hotel. At around lunch time you will be picked up and transferred back to Guatemala international airport for your return flight home. Depart GUATEMALA (GUA) with AMERICAIN AIRLINES PM Arrive MIAMI (MIA) PM Depart MIAMI (MIA) with BRITISH AIRWAYS PM
Day 8	Arrive HEATHROW AIRPORT (LHR) AM

Departure Dates & Prices

28 to 31ft Sportfisher	3 Nights 2 days Fishing	4 Nights 3 Days Fishing	5 Nights 4 Days Fishing	6 Nights 5 Days Fishing	7 Nights 6 Days Fishing
	From	From	From	From	From
4 Persons	£1638 pp	£1964 pp	£2292 pp	£2615 pp	£2932 pp
3 Persons	£1831 pp	£2438 pp	£2671 pp	£3088 pp	£3511 pp
2 Persons	£2012 pp	£2577 pp	£3146 pp	£3706 pp	£4263 pp
1 Person	£2940 pp	£3959 pp	£4982 pp	£5990 pp	£6993 pp
35 to 38ft Sportfisher	3 Nights 2 days Fishing	4 Nights 3 Days Fishing	5 Nights 4 Days Fishing	6 Nights 5 Days Fishing	7 Nights 6 Days Fishing
	From	From	From	From	From
4 Persons	£1695 pp	£2050 pp	£2407 pp	£2758 pp	£3104 pp
3 Persons	£1907 pp	£2357 pp	£2824 pp	£2479 pp	£3740 pp
2 Persons	£2126 pp	£2691 pp	£3203 pp	£3763 pp	£4320 pp
1 Person	£3146 pp	£4164 pp	£5085 pp	£6093 pp	£7096 pp

Additional Pricing Info:

Note: These prices are for guide purposes only. Prices will increase or decrease dependant on number of people sharing accommodation or the fishing.

Whats Included & Excluded

Options Club and First Class Flight Upgrades, with British Airways. Quality fly fishing gear available for a nominal daily charge.

What's Included International return flights with British Airways. All necessary ground transportation. Accommodation in our own private villa or the Villas del Pacifico Resort. All-inclusive/all meals, open bar National drinks. Weekend entertainment and disco at the resort. Private villas come with your own chef, waitress and maid, International liquors served. Guided fishing (Captain and two mates) with conventional tackle, ballyhoo and lures. Lunch, snacks and beverages on the boat. Final night at the Inter-Continental 5 star Hotel in Guatemala City. English to Spanish pocket dictionary.

What's Excluded Personal insurance which should take out at the time of booking Airport departure tax, Gratuities, Personal expenses and any drinks/meals when staying in Guatemala City

Enquiries & Bookings

Once you have an idea of what destinations and duration of the holiday you would like, contact one of our consultants on 01603 407596 who will be pleased to assist you with any questions and additional literature you may require to help you finalise your holidays itinerary, availability and prices.

When you are ready to book your holiday, our consultants will take down all particulars and take a deposit payment, please make sure that before making any booking that you have read our terms and conditions. At the time of the booking we will ask you to correctly spell the first and last name of each traveling member, as some flights will need to be ticketed at the time of booking and due to airline regulations no name changes can be made, once a ticket has been issued. On receipt of the deposit we will send the lead booker a “Booking Form” and a deposit receipt invoice which becomes the legal contract between Angling Direct Holidays and your party

Tackle Required
Want to talk to our Penn travel consultant

Please note all big game fishing tackle is supplied with a full range of lures.

If you wish to target Sailfish on the fly you can for a nominal charge hire equipment on the boat or alternatively take you own.

Fly Fishing

Our captains and mates are well versed in fly fishing blue water with regard to boat preparation, tactics, the number and type of teasers (up to five), teaser colors to use, and how to position them. The angler must decide what role he wants to play with regard to teasing the fish. He can tease the fish himself or defer to the mate who is an expert. Being able to properly tease a fish to within casting range of the boat is as important as any individual aspect of catching a billfish. Other teaser rods must be handled with coordination and teamwork that is predetermined according to the number, skill, and desires of the angler.

Equipment:

For mahi mahi: string a 10 wt. rod with a floating line and a small popper, slider, or small wounded bait fish fly on about a 2/0 hook. A clear intermediate line will probably take more fish with a small closure or deceiver but isn't as much fun. For smaller yellow fin an 11 wt. is a good choice. Even small yellow fin are fast, hard fighters. Small bait fish patterns work well on intermediate, sink tip, or 300 to 400 grain lines.

For sailfish: Catching your first sailfish is very easy and very difficult. Easy if you do what you are taught. Difficult, as you are in such a state of excitement with a 10 foot animal trashing your fly with his bill 20 feet from your face, you somehow can't even chew gum right. This is truly a totally electric moment, one to cherish for the rest of your life. A 12 wt. rod is the ticket for the experienced angler. I prefer to have three rods ready, if possible, with different colored flies. Many, including beginners, prefer to use heavier rods to a 14 or 15 wt. for the really big sails here.

For marlin: A 15 wt. is your best choice. All reels must be large arbor with good smooth drags: Islander, Tibor, or Pate. I like to load 35 or 50 lb. gel spun as the base for backing. I loop this (with a bimini twist) to 30 lb. flat Dacron braided backing, and then loop again to about 50 feet of Elite braided running line, and then loop again with a Lefty loop onto a blue water fly line or a length of Courtlands lead core of from 18 to 28 feet depending on how big the fly is you're casting and the size of the rod. Novices can use a straight 30 lb. mono leader with a 24" length of 80 or 100 lb. shock tippet or a prepared IGFA leader.

For sailfish, I have a great deal of confidence in flies that are red over white; blue over white, dark pink over light pink. For marlin or sails I will fish any of the above but also like green and yellow (dorado colors).

It is critical that flies have strong sharp hooks. A hook is sharp when it cannot be firmly dragged across your fingernail without digging in. Owners and Gamakatsu are good choices.

Fighting techniques: The captain or mate will ask whether you're right or left handed. This will allow proper positioning of a stripping basket and determine which side of the boat for the majority of the teaser placement. Strip out about 40 feet of line and cast it becoming used to the line. You won't need any more line than that, as fish are teased in close by one of your fishing partners or the mate. Strip your line in and, as it comes in, coil it in your stripping basket or bucket with about 6" of water in it. This way, when you cast, the line that will shoot out first will be on the top and the line that shorts out last will be on the bottom, avoiding many unnecessary tangles at the critical time of delivery. Make a plan with your captain and mate as to how you want things done. Who's up first, who's next? Usually what constitutes an up is a legitimate chance to cast to a billfish and he tries to eat your fly. If you miss, you're done - next angler. If the billfish doesn't attack and try to eat the fly, you're still up.

Determine how many and what type of teasers, and assign who's to man each of them. For example, if you're targeting marlin you might want to use a whole rigged black fin tuna or a good-sized mahi mahi belly bait as your primary teaser, whereas a rigged ballyhoo and smaller belly bait, or rigged sardine or mullet with a skirt might do the trick, particularly if color coordinated with your fly. Often we like to colour coordinate teasers and/or skirts, particularly with marlin, so your fly looks somewhat like the teaser when you present it to him. Have several rods rigged, two or three for sailfish, one for marlin - or more if you're targeting marlin with big teasers and belly baits.

Discuss with your captain if you want to fish IGFA regulations or not. There is a better chance of setting a record here on billfish than anywhere else I know of If fishing IGFA regs, the engines must be in neutral before you can cast. Cast slightly behind your billfish but near their head. I always try to cast to the side of the billfish that they're heading and behind. Billfish have peripheral vision and see and hear the fly. By casting in this manner, you can get an angle going away and set the hook in the opposite direction the fish is swimming towards. This improves your chances of getting your hook set in the comer of the mouth. All billfish have mouths like concrete. They have a small soft area in the top front of the mouth and a very narrow band circling the mouth. Except for these tiny areas, and you have almost no chance of gaining a purchase there, you have to set the hook in the corner of the mouth.

Set the hook hard several times until the fish starts to jump or run. If he jumps quickly drop your rod into the water to reduce your chance of breaking your line. If he runs, let him go. Often sails or marlin will jump or greyhound across the surface at over 65 mph. They are the ocean's fastest swimmers. Let them go. Jumping tires them. Always keep your rod low when fighting billfish. Never raise your rod up high as many of us have been taught. When the billfish completes his run, he'll go down. Back down on him - tighten your drag and put the wood to him. Side angle him with a low rod then change directions. Repeat this process. It discourages him and makes him give up earlier. When he runs again, let him and repeat the process. This way, you can drastically cut your fighting time to under 30 minutes, often under 15 minutes if you're good at it.

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