A Fine Kind of History

The vessel that we’re delving into the history of this month has a very special place in our Casa Vieja Lodge hearts. A boat that lives on in fishing infamy: the Finest Kind, 40′ Whiticar!

Our Finest Kind has led a simple, but rich, life so far; she was made in 1982 by Captain Curt Whiticar himself, who was dubbed the “dean of custom boat building.” Thankfully in 1982, just 4 years shy of his retirement and leaving the boatyard to his family, Capt. Whiticar built our 40′ yacht with his own two hands; giving it that extra special Capt. Curt touch. 

Originally named the Bone Shaker, this 42-year-old vessel, was based out of Stuart, Florida for half of her life. This boat was and is still dearly loved by many in Stuart. If you ask around town, someone has a story of their first time mating or captaining on this boat. While she remained based out of Stuart for over 10 years, she was moved down seasonally to Isla Mujeres, Mexico!   

In 2008,  Captain David Salazar, took her out of Stuart and witnessed the love the town had for the Finest Kind. He took her across the Gulf, through the Panama Canal, up the coast of the Pacific and straight to us at Casa Vieja Lodge.

When talking about the original Bone Shaker Captain Bell was quoted as saying:

“It[‘s] a great head-sea boat which was Whiticar Boats’ claim to fame…It had a sharp entry, and ran really well into a sea or a chop. And once we got to where we were going, it was a fish-raising machine. It had a clean wash, and small propellers. It was a very strong boat…It was as strong as it needed to be, and then some.”

Since our acquisition at Casa Vieja Lodge, we’ve installed a brand new Blue Water Desalination Express XT Compact 800 GPD fully-automatic water-maker, so water rationing is a thing of the past! With her dual Cummins Diamond Series 450hp engines, climate controlled cabin, SIMRAD electronics, and her steep dead rise, this yacht is going to be one of the smoothest rides you’ll encounter.

When was the last time you fished on our famous Finest Kind with Capt. Benji? Or was it with Capt. Nicho, or even Capt. David? Oh, you haven’t yet?? Call us right away and we’ll fix that for you ASAP! 

Check out these epic throwback photos below, for a peek back in time to when our Finest Kind was churning out releases as the historic Bone Shaker out of Stuart, FL!

Where in the World is CVL?

“Wait a second, Guatemala is only right there?!” 

Yep. Don’t worry, we get that a lot. You think Spanish speaking country, and automatically assume we’re waaaay down at the bottom or in the middle of South America, right?

Wrong! 

POP QUIZ: True or False, Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala is closer to the US than any fishing lodge in Costa Rica?

Answer: IT’S TRUE!

Whereas Costa Rica is about 3500 miles away and a little over a 3hr flight time from our northernmost travel hub (Miami, FL.), Guatemala is just a smidge more than 2800 miles away and a 2h 15min  flight! 

We actually couldn’t be easier to get to! And trust us, we’re constantly working on making it as easy as possible—helicopter ride, anyone?

So whether you’re coming from Florida, the Midwest, Northeast, Texas or even the West Coast, we promise there’s an easy travel option waiting for you!

All in all, regardless of your point of departure, you’ll ultimately end up walking straight out of the airport in Guatemala City right into one of our waiting—air conditioned & fully beverage-supplied—vans! And no matter where you’re coming from, you’ll always end up right where you’re supposed to be: with us, fishing, at Casa Vieja Lodge.  

Want to Go Fishing?

Get on the books, before it’s too late! As you know, we start booking up 12+ months in advance, don’t miss your opportunity to fish our epic upcoming season.

Looking for a shorter trip to fit into your busy schedule? We currently have these 3 nights/2 full days of fishing trips available: 

• January 20-23; Fishing 21 & 22 aboard the Makaira (37′)
• February 8-11; Fishing 9 & 10 aboard the Afinity (39′)
• February 16-19, Fishing 17 & 18 aboard the Rum Line (40′)
• March 9-12; Fishing 10 & 11 aboard the Hooker (48′)

Availability for 4 nights/3 days of fishing:

• December 13-17, fishing 14-15-16 aboard the Pica Mas (48′)
• December 20-24, fishing 21-22-23 aboard the Rum Line (40′)
• December 30-January 3, fishing 31-1-2 aboard the Makaira (37′)
• April 15-19, fishing 16-17-18 aboard the Hooker (48′)
• April 20-24, fishing 21-22-23 aboard the Pica Mas (48′)
• May 5-9, fishing 6-7-8 aboard the Hooker (48′), Poco Loco (44′) and/or Release (37′)

Click the dates to book or call the Miami office (305) 854-4665. You can find our packages and rates on our website HERE. Rooming availability varies. 

Summer Fishing Report

WOW.

And so the sun sets on this Summer of 2024…and we could not be happier with the results!

But that’s not to say it’s the end for our historic fishing year!! 

Even though Summer is coming to a close, there’s still time to get in on this monumental action. We’ve got some openings for these last couple of months, and we want to finish out the year strong! Don’t you?? Come fish with us before 2024 ends so you can brag to your friends and family that you were here, you contributed to making fishing history at Casa Vieja Lodge!! 

If you’d like to see these unbelievable numbers for yourself, check out the cool new Fishing Counter we’ve installed on our homepage! There you’ll see our total Billfishing Release numbers for 2024, plus the last five years as well! 

How high do you think we can those numbers?? Call the lodge today and get in on this action ASAP! You’ve only got 3 more months, what are you waiting for?? 

For this months’ Newsletter, instead of just one month of fishing numbers, we’ve decided to go all out and show you the amazing numbers we acquired during the whole summer of our TENTH year at Casa Vieja Lodge!

Below are our fishing highlights (combination of conventional & fly) from June, July, August and September:

• A-Fin-Ity (39′ Billy Knowles) with Capt. Franz Hoffman, had 44 raises, 35 bites & 16 sailfish releases, 5 marlin raises, 3 marlin bites and 2 marlin releases, plus 2 tuna & 6 mahi-mahi!
• Chilero (38′ Warren O’Neal) with Capt. Nico Melendrez had 439 raises, 412 bites, 283 sailfish releases, plus 6 marlin raises, 4 marlin bites, and 3 marlin releases, plus 15 tuna & 33 mahi-mahi!
• Finest Kind (40′ Whiticar)with Capt. Benji Bairez, had 557 raises, 490 bites, 349 sailfish releases, 5 marlins raised, and 3 marlin bites, and 1 marlin release, plus 37 tuna & 30 mahi-mahi!
• Makaira (37′ Rybovich) with Capt. Jeffrey Garcia, had 257 raises, 244 bites, 177 sailfish releases, 8 marlin raised 6 marlin bites, and 5 marlin releases, plus 45 tuna & 28 mahi-mahi. 
• Pica Más (48′ Whiticar)with Capt. Nicho Alvarenga, had 471 raises, 412 bites & 296 sailfish releases, 8 marlin raises, 4 marlin bites and 4 marlin releases, plus 46 tuna & 44 mahi-mahi! 
• Release (37′ Merritt) with Capt. Sammy Baires, had 375 raises, 354 bites, 243 sailfish releases, plus 7 tuna & 27 mahi-mahi!
• Rum Line (40′ Gamefisherman) with Capt. Terry Brennan, had 340 raises, 325 bites, 214 sailfish releases plus 7 marlin raised, 3 marlin bites, 1 marlin released, plus 35 tuna & 34 mahi-mahi.
• The Hooker (48′ G&S) with Capt. David Salazar had 191 raises, 160 bites, 112 sailfish releases, 2 marlin raises, 2 marlin bites, plus 16 tuna & 6 mahi-mahi!