Fishing Guatemala 2025

Trip Conception Garry and Steve (the author of this blog) first started planning this trip back in April 2025. Our previous year's trip to Madagascar had been disappointing from a fishing perspective so we looked for a new opportunity. Garry looked at SportQuest (whom we had used in last year's trip) and came across Guatemala as a possibility. Note that Kev was also involed in the initial planning but had to back out due to other commitments in the November time frame that had been chosen. Why Guatemala Guatemala is in Central America sandwiched in between Mexico and El Salvador. It has coasts on the the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Guatemala is the self-proclaimed "Sailfish capital of the world!" where its Pacific Sailfish are much bigger than their Atlantic counterparts. Having only caught a single Sailfish in Madagascar last year, we were keen to try somewhere that boasted a chance of more of these. In addition, Guatemala realises the business potential of protecti...

We started the day with a lovely breakfast that was waiting for us at 6am. Marty was also there to tell us more about what to expect during the day. Apparently there had been unfavourable winds for a few days prior to our arrival that had significantly reduced the catch rates. However this switched to favourable on the day of our arrival and people caught Sailfish, Dorada and Marlin. Pacific Sailfish

Today we fished on their other boat called "Sur Reel". We only sailed for an hour instead of the two hours that we sailed yesterday. That put us around 30 miles off shore.  Marlin day Today started much more slowly. It was over an hour before the first bite. Unfortunately the fish wasn't hooked. Fifteen minutes or so later and another bite - which also wasn't hooked. Interestingly this came on the same rod as the first. Over the next 45 minutes that rod was hit twice more and none of them hooked up.  Here we go It was during retrieval of the 4th missed bite that one of the other baits was hit and I had the first fish of the day - a Sailfish. This was our 1st attempt at some underwater footage - not easy when the boat is moving forward continually. We then had a few Bonito and small Dorado before the fun began in earnest. The Marlin Capture

A bit of something different today Today we asked to do some inshore fishing to try and catch a Rooster Fish. This was on Garry's list of species he wanted to catch. I had caught these previously in Mexico. The day started with rain whilst we had breakfast. This cleared by the time we left the dock. The plan was to head south along the shoreline until the tides changed and inshore fishing would deteriorate - then head out into open ocean for more billfish. Roosterfish

Another Split Day We planned to fish inshore to start with in the hope of catching more Roosterfish or whatever comes along. Then head out for more billfish. Inshore Fishing We spent the best part of 2 hours inshore fishing. The crew quickly caught enough live bait so we could concentrate on the actual fishing. However it wasn't to be - not even a positive bite. Offshore Fishing

Our last fishing day We planned to fish between 40 and 50 miles from shore. This would take about 2 hours to get there. It is where most of the fish have been caught recently. They are usually closer but not at the moment. We had a slightly earlier breakfast and headed for the dock about 30 minutes ahead of our usual time. As usual the boat and crew were ready for an immediate departure.

Final thoughts This was a very successful trip. We went to catch Sailfish and managed lots of those. Garry also ticked Sailfish and Roosterfish off his list of "never caught before". We were also fortunate enough to catch a very big Marlin. The biggest fish that I have ever caught - although we both shared the work/catch. So we were able to tick Marlin off our lists too. Garry had tried over many years.