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MAP
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Fishing in Guatemala
Our services, Equipment, Seasonal Info, Conservation..
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Guatemala’s calm Pacific Coast has hands down some of the greatest bill fishing in the world, come and find out why....
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Fishing in Guatemala
Billfishing in Guatemala can be considered some of the best in the world. With numbers like 82 releases in a single day by a single boat, and 166 releases in 3 days on conventional tackle, 46 in 3 days of fly fishing, and an annual release rate of more than a dozen billfish per day, it’s clear that Guatemala’s Pacific coast offers the highest concentrations of billfish found anywhere in the world.
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Tropical Discovery Services and its local partner Fins & Feathers, have successfully developed and refined the art of deep sea fishing in utmost comfort and luxury, in Guatemala’s untapped and magical southern Pacific waters.
For those short of time or just looking for a first fishing experience, try a full or half day of inland fishing for roosterfish, mackerel, snapper, snook and the like. It is bound to be a fun packed day.
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Our Service
Whether a novice or expert fisherman, looking for a half day or one week fishing adventure, you'll love Guatemala for its quantity of fish, natural beauty and ease of access. Only two and a half hours from Miami, and an hour from your charm hotel in beautiful colonial Antigua Guatemala, or minutes from one of our select hotels on the Pacific coast, you can't beat the cost per release anywhere in the world. World class vessels run by highly respected American Captains and a professional local team to accommodate your every need, awaits. Boats are ready to leave the Fins & Feathers dock as early as 7:00 a.m., ready to head for the best "catching" your captain can find.
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We will arrange pick up and drop off from you hotel, and provide any other specialty items you might need. Delicious lunches, sodas and beer, prepared and served by your hard working, ever-smiling deck hands will be awaiting on board – along with all the necessary equipment. You will have to do nothing but catch fish. The Tropical Discovery and Fins & Feathers team is ready to make your fishing experience the greatest ever, from the time you first make contact with us in Miami or Paris, throughout your experience in Guatemala, until the time you get home.
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Bait & Tackle
You can expect a complete selection of top quality tackle and equivalent service on all fishing boats. Whether you prefer fly, ultra light, conventional or spin, our crew and equipment will satisfy your every need. The boats, besides sporting high-end tackle, hold bait coolers full of locally fresh caught ballyhoo.
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Because of the great numbers of fish you’ll see here, it’s an excellent opportunity to go for a billfish on fly rod. This is now the fastest growing segment of the saltwater scene and the entire bases fleet has the full fly tackle arsenal at the ready. Rest assured the Fins & Feathers Captains are accomplished in the necessary boat maneuvering, while the crews are eager and experienced in teaser techniques. All the boats have had days in which at least 15 billfish have been released with the fly rod! Their skills are equally polished in light tackle and multiple hook up procedures as well.
Twenty pound general tackle is the standard, all boats have rigged 50#, 80#, or 130# tackle ready to pitch to the occasional "beast". Of course, our crews are always happy to rig your own tackle if you’d like to bring it.
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Season and Species
Sailfish are abundant year round in Guatemala, with small twin peaks occurring usually in the November-December months and again in the April-May time frame. Since 1993, our Guatemalan boats have averaged more than 20 billfish raises per day per boat.
The larger sailfish up to 150 pounds are usually taken during the Fall but for pure volume of 80 to 100 pound fish, December through June tends to be the rule. During this time you’ll be tantalized with 20 to 40 bites a day and, on some of those exceptional days, more than 70.. Just incredible!!!
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Fly fishermen take note; feather tossing anglers aboard the “Intensity” let go 260 billfish in 2001 - and they did it with an average release rate of almost 5 fish per day. Days with finicky or non-aggressive feeders are far and few between.
Marlin add to the excitement and they generally show up in concentrations for a week or more several times a year. The Fall and Spring both have at least a 2 week period when blue marlin appear and tend to displace a portion of the sailfish. During these times, a run to the far offshore drop can normally put you on a 100 pound or better yellowfin tuna as well as the average 400 pound blue marlin.
Closer to home, you’ll enjoy 10 to 20 sailfish bites a day. As an average, every boat will encounter a marlin every sixth day during the year. This number can be seriously upped by requesting a marlin adventure!
Throughout the year there are lots of good size tuna and dolphin fish in the 20 to 40 pound range to be caught, should that be your choice. Along the coastline, and within minutes of the docks, roosterfish are plentiful and of impressive size. Inshore fishing is also done the comfortable way by all the vessels in our own luxurious fleet. Scheduling a day of inshore fishing is an excellent way to round off your tour or fishing expedition. Please ask for our fishing reports should they be of interest to you.
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Commitment to Conservation
We here at Tropical Discovery Services and Fins & Feathers are committed to conservation and catch and release practices. In most billfishing circles, it is a wonderful thing when a new fishing practice serves both an increased rate of effectiveness as well as the conservation of the quarry. The use of the circle hook to catch billfish is perhaps the “greatest thing" to happen to deep sea fishing in a long time.
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Our crew has had some extensive experience with the use of circle hooks. As of October, 1998, total catches of sailfish via use of the circle hook from these boats numbered 848 from the 1370 bites recorded. This translates to a 62% success rate. With marlin, the release rate on circle hooks comes in at 29 for 43 or 67%. These numbers reflect a lot of experimentation and attempts at refinement that have obviously lessened these averages. Using bait with the traditional "J" style hooks throughout 1997, the Artmarina boats recorded 5111 sailfish catches out of 9297 bites and 52 out of 96 marlin bites, a 55% and 54% rate respectively. In comparing these averages, there is no doubt that the hook up ratio has been improved by the use of the circle hook.
As a result, the concomitant benefit from the use of this hook is the vastly improved condition of the fish caught. Borrowing by analogy from a study done on tuna, the conclusion is that the survival rate is greatly increased by hooking a fish in the corner of the mouth rather than in its stomach, gills or other internal areas including eye sockets or throat latches. The observations of all our crews conclusively support the view that the health of the average circle hook caught billfish is far better than the average one taken by a "J" hook. Bleeding is almost non-existent. Fish jump more often and more actively. Sounders, or fish swimming for the depths and sulking there, are far fewer.
*Images and content courtesy of Fins & Feathers
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