Contender Boats Group Trip

Casa Vieja Lodge hosted the 2018 Contender Boats Top Dealers Trip on October 18-22^nd. These exceptional industry professionals were rewarded for their hard work with a 5-day trip to Guatemala. Tropical Storm Willa got in the way of the first day of fishing, so the group of 28 toured Antigua and soaked in all of the culture of this World UNESCO Heritage Site. Day two and three called for fishing and they did just that, collectively raising 44 sailfish and releasing 19. They also had 3 marlin releases, 36 tuna, 76 mahi-mahi, and 2 roosterfish, the fish still shaken from the storm and slow for Guatemalan standards. A few favored individuals that opted to take a break from fishing and got their adrenaline pumping with a rappel down a 120m waterfall and slowed down later in the day with calming in-room massages.

All anglers reveled in the nightly activities which began with the famous Mariachi band, Casino night, pig roast, and ended with a spectacular fireworks show. There were a handful of other games played amongst the group accompanied by many laughs, signs, and cold beverages. Overall a first-rate trip for the 2018 Contender Boats Top Dealers!

If you want to plan your next corporate or CME please contact the Miami Office for more information (see footer), or CLICK HERE to learn more.

 

Snow Bird Dates

For those of you that have secured your 2019 dates, we commend your efforts on being responsible fishing vacation planners, we are like-minded. For the other group of individuals that enjoy herding cats for an extended period of time, we are asking you to get the whip out and make your friends/family/colleagues commit to dates at Casa Vieja Lodge. Our remaining snow bird season of January-March is extremely limited and listed below are remaining open fishing dates for the final meow:

• December 27-January 2: Afinity (39′ Billy Knowles)
• January 29-February 1: Poco Loco (44′ Kincheloe Nickerson) & Finest Kind (40′ Whiticar)
• February 6-8: Rum Line (40′ Gamefisherman)
• February 13-15: Pez Raton (35′ Contender)
• March 18-20: El Cadejo (35′ Contender) & Pez Raton (35′ Contender)
• March 25-27: Spindrift (38′ Stolper)

We invite our annual snow birds to also secure your 2020 dates as you all have too many best friends and seem to tell everyone about the incredible fishing, the relaxed lodging, the smallest details, and the overall 5-Star Angling Experience at Casa Vieja Lodge. We thank you enormously for the referrals but encourage you to please secure your prime fishing dates.

October Events

Please join Casa Vieja Lodge next week at the 2018 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, Wednesday, October 31- Sunday, November 4th. You can find us at Bahia Mar Booth #1062, near the Engine Tent.

Make sure to purchase tickets for the Annual Billfish Foundation Gala on Friday, November 2^nd, this year’s theme: The Spy who Tagged Me, at the Harbour Beach Marriott and bid on the Casa Vieja Lodge 3-day fishing trip in their Live Auction. May the highest bidder win!

Not in South Florida? Join David and Kristen Salazar in Tampa, this Saturday, October 27^that the 2018 Blue Green Gala the premier fundraising event for the Florida Fish and Wildlife and Conservation Commission and get another chance to bid on a fishing trip of a lifetime!

Fishing Highlights

After sharing our fishing reports online for the past four years, we aren’t about to start lying now so we can honestly tell you due to Tropical Storm Willa, now Cat 3 Hurricane in Mexico, October did not start off according to our standards.

Although the seas were still plentiful of dorado, we could not find a consistent school of sailfish, but that’s the ups and downs of the sport. Luckily, overall in Guatemala, we seem to have many more of good to great days of fishing but then again when you are out on the water it always seems to be a great day. See below for some of our highlights:

• October 13^th, 20^th, 21^st & 22^nd, the Release (37′ Merritt) with Capt. Chico Alvarenga, had 8 raises, 6 bites, and 3 sailfish releases plus 46 mahi-mahi!
• October 14^th, 15^th, 20^th, 21^st & 22^nd, the Poco Loco (44′ Kincheloe Nickerson) with Capt. David Salazar, had 14 raises, 11 bites, and 9 sailfish releases plus 4 tuna and 36 mahi-mahi.
• October 14^th, 20^th & 21^st, the Spindrift (38’ Stolper) with Capt. Efron Rizzo, had 17 raises, 9 bites, and 6 sailfish releases plus 1 marlin raise, 1 marlin bite, 1 marlin release, 14 tuna, and 14 mahi-mahi.
• October 14^th, 20^th, 21^st, & 22^nd, the El Cadejo (35′ Contender) with Capt. Benji Bairez, had 9 raises, 7 bites, and 3 sailfish releases plus 4 tuna and 10 mahi-mahi!
• October 15^th, 20^th, & 21^st, the Finest Kind (40’ Whiticar) with Capt. Nicho Alvarenga, had 15 raises, 12 bites, and 8 sailfish releases plus 1 marlin raise, 1 marlin bite, 1 marlin release, and 7 mahi-mahi.
• October 20^th & 21^st, the Pez Raton  (35′ Contender) with Capt. Franz Hoffman, had 4 raises, 3 bites, and 2 sailfish releases plus 1 marlin raise, 2 tuna, 10 mahi-mahi, and 2 roosterfish!
• October 21^st & 22^nd, the Makaira (37’ Rybovich) with Capt. Jason Brice, had 2 raises, 2 bites, and 2 sailfish releases plus 1 marlin raise, 1 marlin bite, 1 marlin release, 16 tuna, and 11 mahi-mahi.