Casa Vieja Lodge
Iztapa, Guatemala

The red hot Guatemala sailfish bite had slowed down going into the third week of March.  My classmate from The Haverford School ’75, George Wood and his son Cary Wood, THS ’08 joined me for the only available dates coinciding with Cary’s spring break: Easter Weekend.  We arrived at Casa Vieja Lodge to learn that the sea was rough and the sailfish had disappeared.  On our first of three days of fishing, Captain Chris Sheeder took us to some blue water 14 miles off the coast, aboard the Finest Kind.  We raised our first sailfish at 9 am and I demonstrated how to cast the fly, set the hook and fight to release a Pacific Sailfish with text book precision.  Unfortunately, that was the last bite of the day.  My students were stunned, but we all remained optimistic.

Easter Sunday, we set off to the west about 40 miles, to where sailfish had been reported the previous day.  Cary stepped up for the first sailfish, and following instructions, executed the task to perfection.  George deferred on his turn and Cary hooked and released his second sailfish, going two for two by 9 am.  Then the bite slowed down.  Around mid afternoon, Captain Chris yelled from the bridge: MARLIN…SUPER GRANDE!  The cock pit sprang into a blur of action like a colony of fiddler crabs.  Too big for the fly rod, we dropped him a pre-rigged mackerel.  He took the bait, shy of the hook and leaped into the air, forty yards behind the boat.  HE WAS BIG! And he was hungry.  Another bait was dropped and Cary signaled he wanted to take the rod.  The hook was set, and after a spectacular fight, Cary had caught and released a 450 lb blue marlin!

Not a bad day for a young man whose previous experience included cat fish, cod and carp in the 10 lb range. Flushed with success, we celebrated amidst the uncommonly fine hospitality at the Casa Vieja Lodge. As we boarded the Finest Kind for our third day of fishing, we all knew that whatever happened would be gravy.  The sea was flat and the bite was hot.  By 9:15 we had released 4 sailfish including a double header.  Our numbers for one day were: 51 sailfish raised, with 21 bites and 11 released.  A good outing, even by Guatemala standards.

Fishing with George and Cary was an absolute pleasure.  We enjoyed lots of good laughs and we fished hard.  Captain Chris Sheeder and his mates Ricardo and Antonio are outstanding.  The most rewarding aspect of the trip for me was watching Cary’s instinctive mastery in the art of finessing a sailfish to the boat with a fly rod, coupled with his quiet confidence as he stepped up to the challenge of a 450 lb Blue Marlin.

Thanks for the memories, gentlemen!

More reports to follow.

Austin Hepburn
610.585.7583
www.austinhepburn.com

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