2017 CVL Billfish Season
The reports have been tailed for the 2017 Casa Vieja Lodge Billfish Season:
22,351 Raises
17,208 Bites
10,464 Releases
If you were one of the many anglers that helped contribute to this number, stand proud! Congrats to all anglers for helping us achieve this! All of these numbers can be found on our daily fishing reports HERE, where you can search by date, boat, or even species. A disclaimer that not all 9 boats of the fleet fish everyday either. A large portion of these numbers come in the people season January-June, and then again October-December, so these numbers truly are spectacular and made for a lot of rigged bait!
For reference here has been the past few years, but after a handful who’s keeping track :
2015 2016
18,250 raises 28,051 raises
14,627 bites 23,535 bites
8,250 releases 13,949 releases
The King Joins the Fleet
A new member, Poco Loco, is added to the Casa Vieja Lodge Guatemala Fleet. The Poco Loco, a 44’ Kincheloe Nickerson, built in 1989 in Stuart, Florida is available for charter for the 2017-18 fishing season at Marina Pez Vela, Puerto San Jose, Guatemala.
At 44’ feet the Poco Loco is the largest boat, and sixth classic wood hull in the Casa Vieja Lodge Fleet. Debuting as the King of the Fleet, this 44’ Kincheloe Nickerson, boasts a maximum speed of 33 knots, a cruising speed of 25 knots, 2 staterooms, and an open salon. At the helm, Owner of Casa Vieja Lodge, Captain David Salazar, will navigate the Pacific Ocean in ease with a triple SIMRAD HD Display NSS12 evo3 and Halo-4 Radar, making time even better spent on the water.
“We want to offer our clients more space and luxury while they are out on the pacific waters. This also makes fishing a group of 5 much more comfortable.”
If you are interested in fishing the world’s most lucrative billfish grounds, look no further than Casa Vieja Lodge on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. With an average of 12-15 sailfish raises per boat per day, double and triple hookups are of the norm. Experience 5-star angling with an elite group of captains and mates that do more than just hand you the rod, they teach you how to fish.
Selecting a new boat to add to the Casa Vieja Lodge Classic Sportfishing Fleet, let alone a name doesn’t come easy. “I’m a little crazy, un Poco Loco.” said Captain Salazar after deciding. “It just seems right.”
Casa Vieja Lodge now consists of 10 private charter boats and is the only fleet in the business that posts their daily fishing reports online for the world to see great, good, or average, because they like to believe there’s nothing below average when you are out on the water! See HERE for daily reports.
New AFTCO Shirts Available
Since 1958 AFTCO (American Fishing Tackle Company) has been leading the industry in fishing tackle. In 1989, AFTCO entered the clothing division. AFTCO is still a family business like Casa Vieja and in 2018 Casa Vieja Lodge has partnered with AFTCO to produce custom CVL Samurai Performance long sleeve shirts. Your favorite boating shirt just got better with AFTCO!
AFTCO Samurai Performance Shirts are NOW available in all 9 boats, plus a new CVL lodge design by Alan Woolford, at La Tiendita at Casa Vieja Lodge. Be the first to have the new Samurai Performance shirts this season. The highly anticipated Poco Loco design will be available by the end of the month. Add these new shirts to your collection and feel the AFTCO difference! Online sales will be available soon enough!
Fishing Highlights
Welcome 2018! It’s time for the billfish to wake up and come out and ring in the New Year! One thing is certain, it’s a balmy 85 degrees and will remain that way throughout the winter!
The Golden group has been spending New Year’s Eve at the lodge for close to 10 years now. This year was different when Josh Golden an aspiring dental student brought 100 dental kits for local children. He presented an educational slideshow of the importance of dental hygiene.
As always below are some fishing highlights and you can see the daily fishing report HERE.
- Fishing December 20th & December 28th-January 10th, the Afinity (39’ Billy Knowles) with Capt. Nico Melendrez, had 143 raises, 103 bites, and 67 sailfish releases. They also had 1 marlin raise, 1 marlin bite, 1 marlin release, 2 tunas, and 12 mahi-mahi!
- On December 21st, the Finest Kind (40’ Whiticar) with substitute Capt. Chris Sheeder, released 8 sails on bait, 2 on fly, a striped marlin AND a blue marlin…GRAND SLAM! From December 27th-January 10th they had 174 raises, 109 bites, 60 sailfish releases. They also had 3 marlin raises, 2 marlin bites, 1 marlin release, AND 10 mahi-mahi.
- December 27th-January 10th, the Intensity (37′ Gamefisherman) with Capt. Mike Sheeder, had 87 raises, 55 bites, and 37 sailfish releases. They also had 11 marlin raises, 2 marlin bites, 1 marlin release, 4 tunas, and 3 mahi!
- December 27th– January 10th (fishing 8 days), the Spindrift (38’ Stolper) with Capt. Nicho Alvarenga, had 110 raises, 67 bites, and 45 sailfish releases. They also had 1 marlin raise and 8 mahi-mahi.
- December 28th-January 10th, the El Cadejo (35′ Contender) with Capt. Efron Rizzo, had 50 raises, 38 bites, and 21 sailfish releases. They also had 2 marlin raises, 2 marlin bites, 2 marlin releases, and 7 mahi-mahi!
- December 28th– January 10th, the Release (37′ Merritt) with Capt. Chico Alvarenga, had 107 raises, 76 bites, and 48 sailfish releases. They also had 1 marlin raise & 8 mahi-mahi.
- December 28th-January 10th, the Makaira (37’ Rybovich) with Capt. Jason Brice, had 133 raises, 113 bites, and 69 sailfish releases. They also had 6 marlin raises, 4 marlin bites, 2 marlin releases, and 10 mahi-mahi.
- January 1st-3rd, the Pez Raton (35′ Contender) with Capt. Franz Hoffman, had 40 raises, 36 bites, and 9 sailfish releases. They also had 6 mahi-mahi!
