Anyone who loves the sea, deep sea fishing (especially billfish), beautiful countryside, a captivating foreign culture (especially the latin), and excellent rates should consider fishing with Capt. Tom Boice out of Pez Vela Marina, Port San Jose, Guatemala.
I have been fishing there with my sons and other friends for six years. I am now 75, and after a lifetime of fishing can truly say I saw, hooked and released more sailfish during my time there than all the other years off the Florida East Coast and Keys, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Cape Hatteras together.
Tom fishes a 28 foot Super Panga center console that is well equipped with electronics and, especially, good tackle. This is a good sea boat and lets you be right where the action is. Tom normally fishes four lines-two outrigger lures with ballyhoo, and two naked ballyhoo flat lines just behind two teasers. All are fished short and the greatest thrill of all is to have a big sail come right up behind a teaser and then bring the naked ballyhoo to it. We used 30 lb test line with 80 lb leaders and all circle hooks. which have let us release all sails unharmed. If you are experienced you can do it all with Tom-rig baits, work the lines, hook the fish and release them. If not, he will guide you through the basics until you are comfortable doing it on your own.
We always stay with Tom in a beautifully furnished private home with a pool, outside thatched roof cabana/dining area, in a gated community of other homes. Downtown San Jose is only minutes away with good restaurants. El Capitan, a favorite of mine, is also close by with its huge thatched roof and lava sand/dirt floor.
Tom Boice, also a U. S. Resident and Colorado native, has lived in Guatemala for twenty-three years. He is fluent in Spanish and has an excellent working knowledge of Guatemala and its history. His home in Panajachel overlooks one of the world's deepest and most beautiful fresh water lakes, with three towering volcanoes in the background. It is a place that should be visited and is only a few hours from San Jose.
I have many wonderful memories of fishing on Tom's Superpanga, but one is permanently engraved. My oldest son, Al, Tom and I had just set the lines one morning when a sail took each outrigger line and another immediately came into the flat lines. We had three very large sails. At one point they all three made a spectacular leap together, outlined by the volcanoes. We were able to fight and release all three. That particular event could only have been shared on a boat like the Pez Vela with a friend and Capitan like Tom Boice. I will never forget it-nor will Tom and Al.
Contact Tom on his website. He can arrange transportation to and from Guatemala City, or you can do it on your own as we do. The accommodations are beautiful, the weather is beautiful, the women are beautiful, the sailfish are plentiful and beautiful, and the rates unmatched by any others. If you wish, contact me and I will be happy to tell you anything I can about Guatemala fishing with Tom Boice.