Pacific Fins

On our globe today, there are fewer than 10 places where anglers can reliably catch billfish in numbers. Two of them are found in the Pacific off Guatemala and Panama, and both are within 20 miles of shore.

For several years, I have enjoyed an association with the Guy Harvey organization. I helped develop their expedition program whereby anglers, both novice and seasoned, enjoy trips of a lifetime catching and releasing sailfish and marlin and landing yellowfin tuna, mahi-mahi and other fish that may wind up on dinner plates.

Our destination in Guatemala is the Pacific Fins Resort, located about two hours from Guatemala City in the port city of Iztapa.

Earlier this year, I made my second trip to the resort. So, too, did Emerald Coast native Stephen Sametz. Both of us greatly enjoy all that Pacific Fins has to offer, while also participating in the expedition program, which benefits the Guy Harvey Foundation and its research in the eastern Pacific. The foundation’s work, aimed at protecting marine species, is seeing to it that sportfishing activity continues to economically benefit Guatemala as a developing nation.

Sametz, a real estate broker who is also the business manager at the Matthews & Jones law firm in Destin, strongly believes in the foundation’s mission.

“I like giving to that organization,” he said. “I have five grandchildren, and I hope that we will sustain our marine fisheries so that they can enjoy them when they are older.”

Sametz said he is especially appreciative of efforts by the foundation to supply marine curriculum to K-12 schools in Florida and beyond.

Hilltop view from near Antigua, Guatemala, includes a portion of Lake Amatitlan. In lower photo, the Agua volcano appears in the background behind the Santa Catalina arch. The arch, built in the 17th century, once connected the Santa Catalina convent to a school. Photo by iStock / Getty Images Plus: Lucy Brown – loca4motion

Soon after you land in Guatemala, a Pacific Fins representative greets you as you come through customs and takes you to the resort or to the old capital city of Antigua for lunch and some sightseeing. Once at the gated property, you are escorted to your very clean and comfortable room that adjoins an open-air restaurant/bar and pool overlooking an inland waterway. Pacific Fins is an all-inclusive resort whose restaurant is open from 5 a.m. into the evening; the bar opens at midday and closes when people are ready to retire.

The restaurant’s menu offers many options, but seafood entrees take top billing. Fish dishes are prepared in a variety of ways, mostly with mahi-mahi (dorado) and tuna caught that day. At dinner, guests come together and talk about their catches. Here, there are plenty of true stories to be told.

The resort’s boats are all at least 35 feet in length and are equipped with air-conditioned cabins and restroom facilities; they are manned by a captain and two crew members.

Trips are limited to two or three anglers, meaning that everyone gets plenty of time in the fighting chair. There is an art to setting a hook in a billfish, so the mate usually accomplishes that before handing the rod off to an angler, who will spend 20–30 minutes winding the fish in. Mates teach anglers how to let their stout fishing rod and the captain’s maneuvering of the boat assist them in taming a bruising billfish.

Fishing over a deep underwater canyon called the Pocket, Sametz and his fellow anglers had hooked some 20 sailfish on conventional tackle and brought the majority of them to the boat before he was given a chance to hook one on a fly rod.

He made a cast of about 30 feet to a sailfish that had been attracted by teaser lures dragged behind the boat.

“Dr. Harvey explained to me that sailfish are the only billfish that stop in the water when they catch their prey,” Sametz said. “So, after you feel the bite, you need to give the fish five or seconds to chew and then set the hook.”

Sametz did so, and the fight was on.

Big sailfish hooked by anglers operating out of Pacific Fins Resort are a challenge to land on conventional tackle, but the especially adventurous fisherman may land one with a fly rod, as seen in this photo. In this photo Steve Samatz of Destin (in white cap) accomplished the feat. Sportfishing yachts in the Pacific Fins fleet include Checho’s and the Gypsy. Photo courtesy of Pacific Fins Guatemala

Whipping a sailfish, he said, does not involve the kind of pump-and-wind grinding that characterizes bottom fishing for grouper. Rather, the angler gains line when the fish is ready to surrender it. Try to horse the fish, Sametz said, “and you may find yourself with fingers bruised by a spinning reel handle.”

“You can only get so much leverage with a fly rod,” he said.

Before it is released, you have a chance to get a few photos of your billfish at boatside. Meanwhile, your fellow anglers will have captured video footage of your fish leaping from the water during the fight.

Regulations require that billfish be released. They often recover within hours and are ready to challenge an angler again. On an average day, 10–12 billfish will be hooked. On days when the wind and water temperature are just right, catching 25–35 is not out of the question.

The boat is stocked with various cold beverages, and the crew prepares a hot lunch. Should the boat catch a yellowfin tuna, you will enjoy fresh sashimi on the way in.

Boats return to the resort each day around 4 o’clock in the afternoon. There, a dip in the pool, a cocktail and an appetizer restore the angler, who is glad to be back on land for a time before the boats leave out again in the morning.

On departure day, you rise early for breakfast, head for the airport, catch an afternoon flight to Miami or Atlanta and make your connection to North Florida before delightfully crashing in your own bed.

» To inquire about an expedition, email browland@guyharvey.com.