Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures - Fish Report - April 2010


April is behind us and what a month of fishing excitement it proved to be. There were some great days on the sailfish with a period during whihc they were balling bait on the surface in stunning "Blue Planet" style.

'Decisive' also had some exceptional blue marlin days, with big dorado making a constant showing to keep everyone happy.

Bob Edmonds started the month off along with his daughter Claire releasing 9 from 16 sailfish bites on the 8th. The following day Bob released a 350lb blue
marlin along with a few sails for Claire and a tasty sushi yellowfin along with a slammer 50lb bull dorado. The blue marlin bite really turned on the next day
with 'Decisive' raising 5 blues, one of which was well over 500lbs, releasing 2 of them in the 300lb class on the 50lb Alutecnos tackle to add to the 6 sails
from 17 bites to end an amazing trip for the father and daughter duo.

The 11th through 14th saw Joe Zimmer and Richard Benn with us for 4 days of hot action. The first day saw us raise 4 blues with a bite from each of the 175lb
fish we saw, the big girl we raised would unfortunetly not play. Richard did a fine job releasing one of the feisty fish. The 12th saw us heading out west
finding the sail, releasing 14 from 31 bites as they proved a little finicky with all the bait around. On the 13th we mixed it up throwing the fly at those fish that would tease and leaving a bait in reserve for those that would not
play the fly game ending the day releasing 10 on bait and 1 on fly. Things started to click on the fly on the 14th with the two good fishing friends getting into the groove of the fly game, releasing 8 on fly and 6 sailfish on
bait to see out a grand trip.

Rick Lawrence, Rick Belmare and Dave Geddes fished with us on the fly from the 15th to the 17th. We raised more than 50 sailfish over the next 3 days with the
guys releasing 2 on fly and 3 on the spinning gear on day 1. Day 2 saw 4 fly and 5 spin releases. A feisty 200lb striped marlin proved the highlight of day three
which dave did a fine job getting to the boat for the release to add to the 3 sail releases.

The 20th saw us running east with our friend and neighbor Scott Lund to find hundreds of sailfish balling bait along with whales, dorado and porpoises in on
the unbelievable action. With so much bait the sailfish proved finicky with countless just havign a look or seen swimming right through the spread while
feeding on balled bait of different sorts. On a day like this catching fish really didn't seem to matter, it was all about just enjoying the onceans bounty.
Scott did however manage to releasing 4 on fly, 14 on spin and a handful of 40lb plus dorado on fly and bait. The action was mind-blowing and that evening Scott
just couldn't resist and invited our Antigua friends, Billy and Kate Burns and Charlie Nicholas to join us the following day to enjoy the amazing spectacle to
release 12 sails on bait and 2 on fly, and some very large dorado which really got the visitor all pumped up, prior to heading for the swimming pool around
midday to recount the days events and enjoy for some RnR.

Brian Rausch and Jessica Roberts saw some exceptional fishing on the 23rd and 24th with each releasing a blue marlin in the 500lb range along with 25 sailfish
and some slammer 40 plus dorado, to make for an incredible weekend.


The 24th saw us out for a short day to entertain Luis Samayoa and his guests Wayne Leighton, Thomas Hazlett and Adolfo Lau, releasing 6 sailfish and a few
eating dorado before calling it quits.


My old friend Len Kouba released a grander with me years back off Bom Bom, Africa and we reunited to share stories and enjoy Guatemala's fabulous
sailfishing to release 13 on the 26th. The 27th saw us raise 2 blues which would not eat the pitchbait and Len release 20 sailfish, with another 18 on his final
day for him total 51 sailfish for his three day trip and see out another great Guatemalan month.

It's always hard to predict what the fish will do but with all the bait, good water and great action we have seen it's hard to believe that we will not see
another few great months of fishing ahead of us.

Until the next report, tight lines, Eagle Claw circle hooks and healthy releases.

Capt. Brad Philipps
"Decisive"
Guatemalan Billfishing Adventures
Telefax in Guatemala:
502(country code) 7880-4152
Email: info@guatbilladv.com
Website: www.guatbilladv.com
USA Phone Number, direct to us in Guatemala:
(512) 535-1751