Billfishing On The Pacific Coast Of Guatemala

Highly regarded for the numbers of sailfish caught on a regular basis off the Pacific

Coast of Guatemala, the calm waters also hold species of gamefish closer to shore.

In fact inshore fishing can be a perfect day that offers the prospect of sub-tropical saltwater fish as well as what would be normally considered bluewater only billfishing.

At times the warm ocean eddies can push in as close as two miles from the dock in Guatemala, so while your main quarry may be aggressive amberjacks in nearshore waters, it is possible at the same time to come across the sail of a billfish languishing on the surface within plain view of the marina.

Most inshore fishing is done from local pangas or centre console boats in the 17-23ft class, as light tackle or fly tackle is generally the order of the day.

Only a hundred meters from the harbour entrance sit the local pangas fishing modest structure with handlines targeting snapper for the table or market.

Inshore waters offer the prospect of the much sought after Roosterfish. Although the immediate coastline does not provide ideal conditions for fishing for these gamefish, they can be found usually trolling around areas of strong current within a few miles of the Pez Vela marina.

Most fishing for roosterfish is done with plugs or soft baits cast towards structure or rockpiles. Lacking easy structure in shallow water to target fish, the most productive means tends to be trolling either bait or rapala type lures to cover a large area.

This results in lower reported catch rates than other locales - but the roosterfish do appear sometimes in good numbers, and they usually bite aggressively - it does offer a less expensive option for a charter day or "rest day" (or half day), with a chance of bagging another trophy. Like most other members of the Jack family, it is not considered to be a good eating fish. Another exciting and productive way to fish the inshore waters of Guatemala is to "chase the shrimp boats".

Typically there are four or five shrimpers working within a few miles of the harbor, and the local captains will be happy to contact them to find out when they are lifting their nets - as when this happens, the debris from the nets attracts a whole food chain to the stern of the boat - predominantly amberjacks.

If your goal is to keep a bend in the rod all day long, you will find nonstop action on light tackle - that will leave you with a very sore arm at the end of the day - then this is a great and very economical alternative for a full of half day fishing.

Inshore fishing is easily achieved from smaller boats in the 17-23ft class that are more limited in their ability to make the 25 mile run offshore in search of big numbers of billfish.

by: Kevin Styles

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