On January 2nd a 20 member strong fishing club group from the Washington D.C. area came to Guatemala to do a little sail fishing. They had a friendly pool going to see which angler would catch the most fish in three days. Now most of these gentlemen were not your regular lets go fishing once a year crowd, among them were boat captains with over 20 years experience and serious anglers. Reputations and bragging rights were on the line. By the time the group left on January 6th some were saying they had the best fishing of their life and that the number of fish in Guatemalan waters were incredible.

The group was met at the airport and driven down to the all-inclusive Villas del Pacífico Resort where they stayed the first three nights. The last night was spent at the Villas Antigua in the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala, the sister hotel to the Villas del Pacífico. Fishing was aboard five sport-fishing boats ranging from 31 foot Bertram’s to a 35 foot Viking. Expecting “knee knockers” (smaller boats where your knees banged against the knees of other anglers for lack of room) they were pleasantly surprised to see the size of the boats provided. The teams had been agreed to before leaving the USA and boats were exchanged daily so no one had an unfair advantage by fishing with a “hot” crew and boat. All boats were provided with a captain and two mates, had similar conventional fishing equipment, used Ballyhoo (with circle hooks) as bait and the coolers were full of snacks, sandwiches and cold drinks. The sailfish were waiting.

Over the span of 3 days those five sport-fishing boats caught a total of 369 fish out of which 343 were Pacific sailfish. All sailfish were released since Guatemala is catch and release for all billfish. The first day the group caught more fish (sailfish and Dorado (Dolphin)) than they had over a three-day period in Costa Rica last year. The shocked expressions when they returned to the dock were understandable. One member of the group said he had the best fishing of his life and he has been a boat captain for over 20 years. Needless to say tips to the crews were generous. After an incredible first day, the group decided to stop at the marina’s restaurant to refresh themselves, to toast each other and exchange fish fighting stories.

For the second day of fishing everyone got up early and expectations were high but muted doubts were raised that the day before had been a fluke, we still had non-believers. Crews smiled as they were promised generous tips if their boat caught more fish than others. At the end of the day, when the total number of fish was tallied, it was discovered more fish were caught the second day than the first prompting the same boat captain to say he thought the day before was the best fishing he ever had but today was even better. Competition for the pool was heating up and observant anglers made sure the correct number of fish caught was written down. There were smiles all around and with the number of fish biting even the stragglers were having a good time knowing they could catch the leader the next day. The marina restaurant had become the official spot to have “after fishing” refreshments and to discuss how the fishing had gone.

Since the third day was the last day of fishing everyone wanted to catch as many fish as possible. The tension on the dock was high as the teams left, especially among the frontrunners of the pool and crews were offered the sky if their boat caught a certain number of fish. To end three days of incredible numbers of fish caught and released, even more fish were caught that last day than the day before, one boat catching a total of 32 fish. By then there was no question there were plenty of sailfish and Dorado in Guatemala. Members of the group told us that it had been the best fishing trip they had ever taken, hands down. We probably raised the bar on future fishing trips but we cannot help that Guatemala has the best Sailfishing in the world.

After having the accustomed refreshments at the marina’s restaurant, figuring out who the winner of the pool was and handing him his reward (so he could pay the bill), all members of the group and crews got together and a group photograph was taken with a small sign on which was written the magic number: 369. After saying goodbye to the crews the group got in a bus and was driven to the city of Antigua Guatemala. On the way Volcano Fuego (Fire Volcano) was having a small but spectacular eruption and the driver stopped the bus so everyone could look at the beautiful scene.

After dinner that night some anglers decided to take the sights of Antigua, a city founded by the Spaniards in 1543. The next morning several anglers left the hotel early to buy souvenirs and to see Antigua by daylight. When everyone was in the bus, even those getting in late from sightseeing, the bus left for the Guatemala City Airport, a 1-hour drive away. A few of months later we received a couple of t-shirts made by the group to commemorate their 2003 Fishing Shoot out in Guatemala.

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