Fly Guys & Gals

If you ever caught a billfish on the fly rod, it’s hard to go back to conventional bait. The pure exhilaration of the bite is truly one of the most fascinating bites. If you can follow directions, then our Captains and Crews will coach you to your first of many billfish on fly. Each boat is equipped with conventional, spinning, and fly gear, just let your Captain know your preference. This month, 60% of anglers were fly fishing and released sailfish, blue marlin, and striped marlin all on the FLY!

“Right teaser!” yells the Captain. You grab your fly rod, put the fly in the water. One mate is reeling in the right teaser with the billfish comin’ in hot, the other mate has control of the left rigger. Captain has all eyes on the water, then puts the boat in neutral, “Ready. . .CAST”. Your heart is pumping, and a single spade cast is all you need to present the fly to the lit-up billfish, and at that exact moment the mate yanks the teaser out of the water and, BOOM you see him bite your hot pink fly and head left! “AHHHHHHH,” you scream and set the hook by pulling opposite right, then your reel mimics your scream. Now the fight is on! Head down to Casa Vieja Lodge to experience how the story ends!

Spring Training

Time to pack some warm weather clothes and head down to Guatemala for Spring Training to get prepared for billfish tournament season starting in May. Unless you retired from fishing then you have no excuse. Planning on fishing a “practice day” the day before your tournament? Oh good idea, boat rides are fun and you might get one bite to practice and then during the tournament your single million dollar bite strikes and well . . . Good luck on those odds! We got a better idea! Come and train at Casa Vieja Lodge with 12 bites/day and wake your memory muscle back-up. We go catching, not fishing!

Raising Bills

During the Miami Boat Show Casa Vieja Lodge hosted the 2020 Raising Bills, a laidback evening on the water to benefit The Billfish Foundation. Over 200 industry insiders, and VIP clients managed to raise just over $10,000. A BIG THANK YOU to our sponsors Contender Boats, Cummins Engines, Sportsman’s Adventure, Bob Hewes Boats, Costa, and YETI.

At The Billfish Foundation’s 2019 Tag & Release Awards Ceremony many of our anglers were recognized for their release and tagging efforts throughout the year. Congratulations and THANK YOU to our anglers because without them our Captains wouldn’t be equally as impressive! Capt Jason Brice of the Makaira received the Top Release Captain- Sailfish- Pacific Ocean and former Rum Line Capt Chris Sheeder received Top Overall Release Captain and Blue Marlin-Pacific.

Fishing News

February is about to leap into March and we are excited for spring fishing to begin! When looking at the fishing reports this month, keep in mind that many clients fished fly which typically leads to 50% less raises and bites, but who needs to release double digit billfish anyway? Single digit on the fly is good enough! And if you are unsuccessful at fly fishing, then have no fear, a return trip is near! Last week, we had 2 back to back GRAND SLAMS (a combo of sailfish, blue marlin, and striped marlin).

Check out a few highlights below. Remember, you can always stay up to date with our daily fishing reports on our website HERE:

• February 1^st-26^th, the Finest Kind (40’ Whiticar) with Capt. Nicho Alvarenga, had 328 raises, 249 bites, and 168 sailfish releases plus 15 marlin raises, 5 marlin bites, 4 blue marlin releases, 1 striped marlin release (Grand Slam), 2 tuna, and 12 mahi-mahi!
• February 1^st-26^th, the Afinity (39′ Billy Knowles) with Capt. Nico Melendrez, had 385 raises, 307 bites, and 207 sailfish releases plus 20 marlin raises, 10 marlin bites, 5 marlin releases, 5 tuna, and 28 mahi-mahi.
• February 1^st-5^th & 20^th-22^nd, the Poco Loco (44′ Kincheloe Nickerson) with Capt. David Salazar, had 58 raises, 48 bites, and 34 sailfish releases plus 3 marlin raises, 1 marlin bite, and mahi-mahi.
• February 2^nd-26^th, the Rum Line (40′ Gamefisherman) with Capt. Terry Brennan, had 206 raises, 170 bites, and 101 sailfish releases plus 11 marlin raises, 7 marlin bites, 2 blue marlin releases, 1 striped marlin release (Grand Slam), and 13 mahi-mahi!
• February 2^nd-26^th, the Makaira (37’ Rybovich) with Capt. Jason Brice, had 235 raises, 183 bites, and 122 sailfish releases plus 21 marlin raises, 14 marlin bites, 10 marlin releases, 4 tuna, and 15 mahi-mahi.
• February 2^nd-26^th, the Release (37′ Merritt) with Capt. Chico Alvarenga, had 301 raises, 222 bites, and 137 sailfish releases plus 19 marlin raises, 12 marlin bites, 6 blue marlin releases, 2 striped marlin releases, 5 tuna, and 13 mahi-mahi!
• February 3^rd-13^th & 19^th-26^th, the Pez Raton  (35′ Contender) with Capt. Franz Hoffman, had 103 raises, 58 bites, and 31 sailfish releases plus 3 marlin raises, 2 marlin bites, 3 tuna, 5 mahi-mahi, 8 roosterfish, 10 groupers (4 snowy groupers), and 3 snappers!
• February 4^th-24^th, the El Cadejo (35′ Contender) with Capt. Benji Bairez, had 171 raises, 123 bites, and 87 sailfish releases plus 8 marlin raises, 6 marlin bites, 3 blue marlin releases, 1 striped marlin release, 3 tuna, 9 mahi-mahi, 6 roosterfish, and 1 jack.
• February 4^th-25^th, the Spindrift (38′ Stolper) with Capt. Efrain Rizzo, had 212 raises, 165 bites, 117 sailfish releases plus 10 marlin raises, 7 marlin bites, 3 blue marlin releases, 1 striped marlin release, tuna, and 20 mahi-mahi.