“WE DO A QUICK CHECK OF ALL OUR TACKLE AND WE ARE OFF”
We have all dreamt of catching a billfish on a fly. For many of us it is a bucket-list fish. I’m going to tell you about my experience in Guatemala, and what it’s like to catch one of the fastest fish in the ocean, on a fly.
It starts in Iztapa, Guatemala at the Blue Bayou Lodge, hosted by Captain Chris. We wake up in the morning to the smell of fresh coffee, birds chirping and a beautiful scene of mountains and volcanoes hazed over with a slight morning fog. Captain Chris is eager to get us out to the fishing grounds, so dawn patrol it is.
We arrive at a beautiful marina and walk down the long dock. As we approach our boat, the mates greet us with big smiles and get all the rods and tackle rigged and prepped for the day. We do a quick check of all our tackle and we are off.
I’ll never forget our first day. It was about a 15 mile run out to where they had been seeing some fish. Bird were in the air, bait on the surface, just everything you could ask for. Then, we got a free jumper.
Captain Chris hollers with excitement, “teasers in the water!”
My buddy, Bart, and I just look at each other like “here we go!” Heart pounding, waiting, anticipating for the moment to come.
Captain Chris hollers out “left teaser, left teaser!” We look out and we see a huge pacific sail with his bill out of the water, coming in hot!
Bart makes a perfect cast, rod tip in the water stripping fiercely, and here he comes! He’s on it! He ate it!
We are hollering with excitement as this hundred+ pound sailfish dumps the line faster than you could ever imagine. And you’re watching this fish tail-walk across a crystal blue ocean. It was by far one of the most magnificent things I have ever seen in my life.
I’m up next. With so much anticipation waiting for the next fish to come in the spread, I can’t even think about anything else; all I want is the opportunity to make a good cast. And my time had come…
“Right teaser, right teaser” Captain Chris shouted!
I look back and see this fish, but it’s different than the one before. It’s got a different color, it’s got a different demeanor and it’s much larger. It’s a blue marlin!
I make the cast. The fish turns and sees the fly and absolutely garbages it. I had stuck a 300+ pound blue marlin on a 12-weight fly rod.
Captain Chris is doing all he can to back down on the fish so I can gain some ground and get some line in. Within a matter of seconds, he had me well into the backing on the reel and he hadn’t even sounded yet. He was tail-walking and gray-hounding on the surface for a solid 45 seconds. We are all screaming with excitement, watching this fish walk on water.
I was doing all that I could to keep the line tight and try to catch up to the fish but, unfortunately, the fly had fallen out.
But making that cast, THAT fish, watching him eat it and take off the way he did was something I’ll never forget. That was a memory that will last a lifetime.
Fish like these are the reasons why we came to Guatemala and fished with Captain Chris. Bucket-list fish, chasing our unicorns, wanting something bigger and better.
It’s billfishing on fly, and it’s the best there is in the world. Book your trip today!
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Captain Brian Dopirak
“FISH LIKE THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY WE CAME TO GUATEMALA AND FISHED WITH CAPTAIN CHRIS”
