This is the Guide to Fishing Guatemala from The Book on Travel Fishing.
The world’s best volume sailfish fishery, Guatemala’s calm blue waters are home to great blue marlin fishing and all the dorado you want. The place is steeped in fishing tradition and home to some of the best and most prolific operations on the sportfishing landscape.
“You want a quote about the fishing in Guatemala, eh mate? How about, ‘consistency.’ The sailfish and blue numbers make it a great place to learn dead bait fishing skills, especially bait and switch. That we see so many fish day in day out allows us to show anglers from all over the world what offshore fishing is all about.”
—Captain Kiwi Van Leeuwen, owner of Sailfish Oasis“Guatemala is a year-round fishery for sailfish. I’ve caught 120 sailfish in three days in September. Every month of the year we’ve had 8 or 10 sailfish days. Every place has a three or four good-month period, here it’s good all year long. It’s the most consistent fishing I’ve found on the planet.”
—Captain David Salazar, owner of Casa Vieja Lodge
“Other than the obvious of this being the very best sail fishery in the world, with good numbers of blue marlin also, what makes Guatemala special is the flat seas and cooperative fleet that works together in finding and staying on the fish each and every day. There are no big hotels and not many visiting boats here. There are a few key charter guys that keep the old school ways of working together on the water for every angler’s benefit.”
—Captain Brad Philipps, owner of Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures
Guatemala Fishing Overview
When it comes to volume billfish fisheries, few places in the world can compete with Guatemala. The Pacific sailfish is Guatemala’s bread and butter. Boats fishing in this part of the world routinely sweep The Billfish Foundation’s annual tag-and-release awards for these fish. Before the deployment of the FADs in Costa Rica, Guatemala would win the Pacific blue marlin awards quite often as well.
The fishing is so good, so consistent, and of such high volume that it can be hard to put into perspective. Here’s a couple pieces of context:
- The world’s three most prolific billfish captains, as measured in terms of career release numbers, all spent significant portions of their professional fishing lives based in Guatemala. These captains, Ron Hamlin and Chris Sheeder (both wonderful men who are now deceased) and Brad Philipps, another great guy who owns Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures, could not have put up such numbers fishing anywhere else. Brad recently released his 40,000th billfish.
- The bulk of Guatemala’s Pacific sportfishing takes place from the same marina. Since its construction, boats departing from this dock—nondescript and largely unremarkable in most every other way—have tallied more sailfish releases than perhaps any other port in the world.
When you hit Guatemala right, you might see 50 sailfish in a day. There are enough of them, and they are here consistently enough, that you can fly fish for them. This is a sight to behold. There are not many places in the world with enough fish for this to be a doable proposition. If you’re in Guatemala, even if you’re not a fly fisherman, you ought to give it a shot. It’s incredibly exciting especially if a blue marlin happens onto the teaser.
The People: What Makes Guatemala Great
As good as the fishing is in Guatemala, perhaps my favorite part of the place are the people who fish here for a living. Guatemala is the home of the fisherman’s fisherman. It doesn’t have the glamour and luxury of Palm Beach or parts of Costa Rica, but it has incredible fishing. Since the 1980s, this fishing has been attracting a certain category of captain from all over the world. Americans, South Africans, and New Zealanders mingle with captains and crew who have grown up here. All are bound by the strange passion that so thoroughly captivates those who love offshore fishing.
The result is a dock that seems enchanted. The fishing here is good enough to be singular. Singular in that a trip to Guatemala is most easily compared with another trip to Guatemala, rather than thinking about it in relation to other destinations. In this place, stories and jokes flow freely. The atmosphere results from the mixture of adventurous people from around the world with those who were raised right down the road.
For the captains and mates who have grown up here and not fished anywhere else, it must seem strange to imagine people coming from all over the world to experience what happens so naturally and consistently in their own backyard. All the people who fish here, whether born and raised in Guatemala or somewhere else, are more than happy and more than generous to share Guatemala’s offshore bounty with those who have come to visit.
Bait and Switch: An Incredible Volume Billfish Fishery
Guatemala is a great place to learn to hook fish on a pitch bait. You get enough shots in a day to be able to practice—without having to stress too much about missing a bite or two. It’s hard to learn to hook fish on circle hooks in other places because you don’t get enough bites to be able to practice—and if you only get three bites on a trip, it really hurts to miss them.
The blue marlin fishing is good in Guatemala too. If you’re fishing when they are around, you might have four or five bites in a day. Any time you are fishing here, you can hope to at least catch one or two over three days of fishing. You can find dorado, happen upon schools of yellowfin offshore, even catch the occasional black or striped marlin. Trolling in Guatemala is really, really fun. The sailfish keep the action coming.
Days offshore are as often as not highlighted by teaser-crashing blue marlin. If you’ve caught your fill of sailfish, you can generally target blue marlin—either fishing different bottom or changing your tactics. The blue marlin here might average around 300 pounds or so. A good one is in the range of 500 or 600. The marlin can be around any month of the year. If you’re looking for more marlin, with a bit less reliable sailfish volume, you might come down between May and August. There’s big tuna here then too.
The water is also characteristically calm in Guatemala. The sailfish numbers and the sea state are the result of the same variable. The sailfish are here because of the presence of lots of bait. The bait is here because deep-water currents deflect off canyons on the bottom. They bring with them nutrient-rich, oxygenated water that sets into motion the foundation of life. When it reaches the sunlit upper reaches of the ocean, phytoplankton use the nutrients to grow. The bait is here eating the plankton. This upwelling not only sets off great fishing, but slicks down swell and chop when it hits the surface.
There are lots and lots of sea turtles in Guatemala. There are enough of them, in fact, that the ride to and from the dock usually includes some zigs and zags as the captain tries not to run them over.
The fishing in Guatemala is so good and so consistent that a trip here should be part of any traveling angler’s lifetime agenda. Do it once, and you’ll want to come back. The fishing is so good and reliable that it’s a great choice for someone who wants to see what offshore fishing is all about. For the serious angler, it’s a wonderland. Because it’s calm and the sailfish are so prolific, it’s also great for older folks, kids, and other demographics who might not do well in rough seas.
There are few places in the world where you can book a trip six months in advance and plan to catch 15 or 20 sailfish over two or three days. Of course, you should never vocalize or acknowledge this “plan” in your mind, as it might draw bad weather or a skunk. If your scheduling is good and your navigation of aspiration/hope/planning is such that it does not draw the ire of the universe, you might catch four times this many.
A Banner Trip in Guatemala
Over three days your boat releases around 75 sailfish (you lost exact count, because you started on the rum and cokes after catching 26 by 11 am on the second day). Ten of your sailfish came on the fly rod. This was badass! Watching them eat 15 feet behind the boat made you feel like Brad Pitt in “A River Runs Through It.”
If the mates had kept hooking fish the whole time, your release tally would have been triple digits. But now you’re a beast. You’ve got the hang of pitching to fish and hooking them yourself.
Your trip’s highlight was going 4 for 7 on blue marlin. The biggest pushed 450 pounds. You fought it stand up on a 50. Pitching the rigged mackerel, you hooked it your damn self.
You found the tuna one morning and ate really good for the rest of the trip. You’d have eaten good either way, but the sashimi always tastes better if you think there’s a chance you caught it. Before you depart, you’ve rebooked for next year. You’re bringing your buddies and might invite your wife. She’d like to fish for a day or two, and you’ll arrange sometime in Antigua.
Top-Shelf Fishing Targets in Guatemala
Sailfish, blue marlin, dorado, yellowfin tuna, occasional black and striped marlin
Guatemala Fishing Season
The sailfishing can be epic any month of the year. Prime time for sailfish is perhaps December through April, leaving some room for variation from year to year. May through August offers a bit more diversity. There are often big tuna around—sometimes to 200 pounds. The blue marlin fishing can be good, too. Sailfish are around but perhaps not as reliably in volume.
Travel: How to Get Here
Fly into Guatemala City. Your lodge handles the transfer to and from the airport. They’ll have a sign with your name on it as you exit baggage claim and will have a cooler of cold beer ready for the trip (they’re for you and other guests; the driver doesn’t drink them). Guatemala City might not be the place to drive yourself.
Fishing Lodges in Guatemala
There are lots of great fishing lodges in this place. Chronicles of three of the best are included in the charter profile section of The Book on Travel Fishing.
They are all wonderful. I’ve fished with each of them (and with any luck will fish with each of them some more). Which one is right for you depends on what you’re into. Check out the charter profile section for context.
- Captain Kiwi Van Leeuwen- Sailfish Oasis Lodge
- Casa Vieja Lodge
- Captain Brad Philipps- Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures
In addition to these, Captain Kennedy Hernandez is one of the nicest people in sportfishing. Kennedy grew up in Guatemala and began his career working with Captain Brad Philipps. Kennedy has been running boats for Big Buoys Sportfishing for a number of years to great effect. This operation fishes the same waters and catches lots of fish while offering a price point that is more approachable for some anglers. You can find them at www.thebigbuoys.com. No matter which operation you choose, you can’t go wrong.
One Thing to Consider
Guatemala is a wonderful place to plan a fishing trip. If your kids are into fishing and you want to show them the ropes of marlin and sailfishing, Guatemala is a perfect spot. The seas are calm most of the time, and there’s lots of fish and sea turtles. If your wife likes fishing, bring her too. Sailfish are a great option for kids (say 9 or 10 and up). They fight beautifully, jumping across the surface. They will not, however, dog you out like a 500-pound blue marlin or a big tuna. For these fisheries, there is a strength component. For sailfish, the physical threshold is much more attainable for younger or older anglers.
If you haven’t surmised as much, I really, really like Guatemala. That said, it may not be the place to bring people who aren’t into fishing. In the place you’ll be staying, there’s not likely to be much to do on land beyond the confines of the lodge. The lodges are great and well-appointed, and non-fishing folks will have a good time and be well-fed, but if they come with the expectation of a trip that involves the beach, shopping, golf or hitting restuarants, they may be disappointed. Most operations can book a day or overnight trip to Antigua. This beautiful town in the mountains is rumored to be the oldest city in North America.
Overall, Guatemala’s land-based activities can’t compete with the attractions or beauty of Costa Rica, Cabo San Lucas, or Panama. That said, once you’re offshore, there aren’t many places on earth that can compete with the sheer volume of billfish in Guatemala.
Launch Party: The Book on Travel Fishing
