Guatemala’s Pacific West Coast is known as the #1 billfishing destination in the world!

Double-digit sailfish raises have been recorded by our crews every month of the year, as well as marlin releases. Grand Slams are an everyday possibility from December thru March and again in the late May thru July.

In the Sailfish capital of the world, they truly are year-round, but double and triple hookups are common October thru August. The average Pacific Sailfish released are in the 80-120lb range.

We see more Blue Marlin April thru August with average Blue Marlin in the 200-400lb range. However, on average, while targeting sailfish every Casa Vieja boat will encounter a marlin every three days. A 50 lb pitch bait marlin rod is always on deck on each boat.

The peak season tends to be December thru March with the average Black Marlin in the 250-400lb range.

Seen more frequently November thru February the average striped marlin is in the 90-150lb range.

April through August lends to bigger schools of the Yellowfin Tuna and the average is about football sized of 25-45 lbs. Many times when a pod of spinner dolphins is in the area expect these tunas to be in the midst of the action. Catch one of these and have fresh sashimi aboard your boat!

We see more schools of the Dolphin March thru August however a floating log or object usually tends to attract these species. Catch one of these and have the mate prepare a fresh, hot sandwich on board!

Although very rare in these waters we see them October thru December.

Roosterfish & Cubera Snappers: Always a big favorite with our traveling anglers – peak season for these inshore species is from March thru July. Other inshore gamefish species include skipjack tunas, bonitos, sierra mackerel, red snapper, broom tail grouper, tripletail, rainbow runners, crevalle and horse-eye jacks.

Billfish Conservation

thebillfishfoundationFor more than a decade, billfish conservation has been central to our fleet’s philosophy. With total release as its commanding theme, our captains added the exclusive use of circle hooks with bait and billfish to their operating procedures long before it was popular. As innovators in this style of fishing we have upped our hook-up ratios while insuring a far healthier condition of our released fish.

Casa Vieja Lodge is right at home in a country whose national policy make it illegal to possess a sailfish. Guatemala’s fishing laws are exemplary of a strong national marine conservation ethic and of a country which is the region’s leader in billfish protection. Although always under test by commercial interests, the future of billfishing in Guatemalan waters appears quite secure.

We are proud to be Featured in Marlin Magazine and take great pride in being assosiated with such a great conservation program. Recently we had the privilege to work as part of a team to promote sailfish conservation. This conservation effort was well documented in the August/September 2013 issue of Marlin Magazine. Click here to see the article in its entirety.