Guatemala Delivers Yet Again

Fishing Tournaments, Lodge News

Twenty years ago, in 1993, Guatemala hosted the International Light Tackle Tournament Association (ILTTA) tournament, and I got to travel down and cover the event as my first-ever assignment for Marlin magazine. I’d worked there a year, and they were finally letting me out of the building. I met two guys on that trip that I’ve grown…

Interview: Capt. Chris Sheeder

Lodge News

This Guatemala-based captain has more than 20,000 billfish releases to his credit. Few places compare to Guatemala for numbers of billfish. Capt. Chris Sheeder, who runs the charter boatRum Line out of Casa Vieja Lodge, has been fishing Guatemala for 12 years now and he’s got a long resume to show for it. Over the years he’s…

Guatemala Goes Out With a Bang

Lodge News

Guatemala went out with a bang, definitely not a whimper. With only two boats, I got to fish on both of them. Usually, with four boats, the instructors stay on the same boat for all four days, so we get to talk with and coach all of the students for a day. Both skippers, Chico (TK) and…

20 Chances Off Guatemala

Lodge News

No April Fools here, just a bunch of lucky and happy anglers, especially after getting here yesterday afternoon and being told the fishing was slow, with the only boat out seeing only four fish. Today, my team had more than 20 chances and reckoned we had released 17 sails. To be honest about it, I lost count,…

Guatemalan Sailfish On Fly

Lodge News

Fly fishing is changing. 30 years ago, big fish – I’m talking about really big fish, like Pacific sailfish, bluefin tuna and even marlin – were simply not compatible with fly fishing. If you told a bluewater sportsboat captain that you wanted to fly fish for any of these classic big game trophies, you’d be…