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300 Sailfish Releases in 3 Days - Iztapa, Guatemala

Includes: The Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and any other exotic fishing locations in the Islands, Central and South America.

300 Sailfish Releases in 3 Days - Iztapa, Guatemala

Postby RudyGomez » Sun Mar 26, 2006 8:42 pm

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Sailfish Frenzy
By Herbert Rosell

March 11, 2006 Iztapa, Guatemala

I first met Bill Blount and his angling companions the evening of the 10th of March at the Quinta Pez Vela, making their annual pilgrimage to Guatemala. Mr. Blount is an extremely well traveled and accomplished angler. That night everyone at the Quinta Pez Vela was anxious and eager to see what the next few days might bring, especially since the Captain Hook (43' Willis) with Capt. Ron Hamlin at the helm was on its fifth straight day with over 50 releases. The local and visiting sportfishermen were also reporting impressive numbers of releases on seasoned gameboats like the Bolita, Escapade and Chipolopolo

I saw the group again the next morning at the Marina Pez Vela as I walked by the Captain Hook. Mates Eddie and Sammy were busy in the *beep* setting up for the day's challenge. I exchanged well wishes with everyone and boarded the Release (37' Merritt) with Capt. Chris Sheeder. The run to the fishing grounds was a short 40 minutes in typical 1-2 ft Guatemalan seas. I watched Capt. Ron lower the Captain Hook's outriggers and teasers into position.

Just a few minutes later the Captain Hook started backing down on its first sailfish. I was up on the bridge when I heard Ron on the radio to Tony Haupt aboard the Escapade, "Its a double". Mates Eddie and Sammy quickly released the sails, re-baited, and smoothly got back in position in minutes. I can tell you that Eddie and Sammy are as good as they come.

In between our own releases I could see Ron backing down, release after release after release. At a quarter to 11 our numbers on the fly were pretty impressive at 21, but Ron has just released number 43, in just 2-1/2 hours of fishing. Around 12:30pm, after a quick gulp of lunch, I heard Ron say, " I just released number 73." I asked Chris, "Did he say 73???" Yeap, 73! What a day!!! We had several hours of fishing time left in the day, and Ron was well on his way to surpassing his single day record of 83!

A couple of hours later we trolled by the Captain Hook, and they were hooked up on a triple. I just couldn't help myself and asked Chris to get an update on the number. It was "96." Holy Mackerel!!! I knew the Pacific Day Record was set! It was now building up to World Record. I have fished in Cancun and Isla Mujeres, locations known for incredible numbers on sailfish, but these weren't 30-40 pound sails. These fish were BIG!!! The average sailfish was well over 70 pounds and were being caught trolling.

When the fumes settled the numbers read 188 bites with 124 sails released! Captain Hamlin, who has over 21,000 career releases, had set the new Single Day World Record!! Congratulations to Capt. Ron Hamlin. Kudos to anglers Bill Blount, Bill Brown, Mike Baldwin, Aubry Dauterive and Pete West, pretty work!!! A most special "couldn't have done it without you" thanks to mates Eddie and Sammy who set the new single day bait rigging record of over 200 baits. Did I mention this was Bill's first day fishing out of 3. The next two days were equally impressive, with 81 releases on day two and 95 on day three, giving them a grand total of 300 releases in 3 days.

God, Thank You for Guatemala!!!
Rudy Gomez
CyberAngler Webmaster
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RudyGomez
How about cuttin’ some bait?
How about cuttin’ some bait?
 
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