Billfish Ballet
V. Kim Kutsch, DMD.
March, 2005
“It’s a whole different deal”, fly-fishing guide Gary Graham explained to me as I was casting and stripping my fly-line into the surf from the beach on the East Cape of Baja Mexico. The sun was baking down on us, it was June, the temperatures were reaching into the mid 90’s and I was heaving my shooting head line as far as my 8 weight Loomis GLX would cast it. After about 30 casts I had missed a couple of fish, I was breathing hard, drenched with sweat and commenting on wondering whether or not I was having fun. “You think this is fun, you should join me in Guatemala for sailfish sometime” Gary added I have fished the world with a fly-rod in my hand in freshwater, and traditional gear for big game fish, but I had yet to join the ranks in the growing sport of saltwater big game fly-fishing. So it was I found myself with a new addiction…saltwater fly-fishing. Fly-fishing for sailfish in Guatemala sounded like a necessary treatment for my urgent condition.
As always, Dana rolled her eyes when I brought up the topic, and I resorted to playing the “something I’ve always wanted to do” card. Maybe I’ve played this card a little too often lately, because she just looked at me in amazement. “You sure you want to play that card?” she asked. But as always, within a few minutes of my pleading and begging, she was ready to go. It didn’t take too much convincing to Bill Brown and his wife Sharon to join us and before I knew it, two more couples joined us for the Guatemala adventure.
What do sheep hunters do in the off-season to keep their sharp eye, physical stamina and keen sense of adventure? Big game fishing has some of the same allure as big game hunting, the physical and mental challenges, the sheer adventure and love of the sport. My two greatest passions in the field are sheep hunting and fly-fishing of any variety. Tom Brokaw said “If fishing is a religion, then fly-fishing is high church”. If that is true, I would add that Guatemala is the Mecca of this religion. It is not surprising that when I got to San Jose’s Villas del Pacifico, I ran into a significant number of sheep hunters in Guatemala for the sail-fishing. It has been my observation that I am not alone in my love of both hunting and fishing. An observation that seems completely lost on Safari Club International I might add.
Guatemala is an interesting country with a colorful history. The geography varies from dense rainforest and jungle to high rolling hills where the vegetation from South America meets the pine trees and vegetation from North America. Coffee and cocoa are major agriculture crops for exportation. The wildlife includes coatimundi, monkeys, jaguar, alligators and plentiful birdlife. The mornings are alive with the native bird cacophony, parrots and toucans are abundant, and the national symbol is a small colorful bird with a long tail, the Quetzal. Its tail feathers adorned the headdress of the Mayans and today it appears on the Guatemalan currency. Without a doubt, it was the center of the Mayan dynasty. In the 1600’s the Spanish appeared and introduced Catholicism to the native people. Today there are many remaining cathedrals and monasteries scattered throughout the country. The Guatemalan people today trace their roots to the Mayan people and the Spanish explorers. While the past 40 years have seen serious social and political upheaval and violence, following the 2003 political elections, the country is much safer. The new government recognizes the importance of tourism and would like Guatemala to become the next Costa Rica. Travel is fairly safe for tourists in Guatemala today, but one will still see armed guards everywhere, and tourists should travel wisely and stay on their toes.
We arrived at the international airport in Guatemala City in the morning and transferred to a small plane to visit Tikal. The ruins and pyramid temples at Tikal are amongst the most spectacular in the entire Mayan nation. The ruins were first discovered in 1848 and then charted in the 1880’s. Restoration of the site has been continuing for the past 100 years, with major restoration of the largest temples completed in 1996. The park has three nice hotels close by and multilingual guides available to show the ruins. We spent a full day in Tikal, climbed several of the temples and visited both museums.
Next stop on
our trip was Lake Atitlan. This natural lake is a volcano caldron and is the
deepest lake in Central America. Several dormant volcanoes rim the lake. The
Hotel Atitlan is a five star hotel with the most incredible view and floral
gardens galore. Nearby
is a natural preserve that has both history of the lake, and exhibits with both
plants and animals. Several small villages share the shoreline of Lake Atitlan,
and nearby is the most notable, Panajachel, which evolved as an expatriate US
hippie community. “Pana” hosts numerous eclectic restaurants, art galleries and
handicraft markets.
No trip to
Guatemala is complete without a visit of the open markets in Chichicastenango.
The markets are crowded sites where local citizens gather on Thursday and
Sundays
only
to buy produce and sell their handicrafts. Chichicastenango is a city that sits
on the tops of hillside ridges, with the city stretching along the ridgelines.
The major cathedral of St. Thomas is the oldest cathedral in Central America. It
is a mix of both Catholic and Mayan religions and altars of both religions
co-exist inside of the church. We happened to be present for the festival of
Saint Joseph. The celebration included a procession of the twelve apostles
through the city square and constant fireworks. I hired a young local guide to
give us a tour of the city and he explained all of the customs and rituals to
us. But I had had enough sightseeing; I was ready to go fishing.
We left Chichicastenango and traveled by minivan to San Jose to meet up with Gary and spend four days fishing. The roads in Guatemala are very good and dominated by the local mass transportation, the Guatemalan bus system. The buses are all fairly new Ford and International and brightly colored. Guatemalans favor bright colors for almost all aspects of their lives, including clothing, homes, buses and even graveyards. But be warned, the buses travel at full speed and drivers will race each other to get to the next stop to pick up fares.
San Jose is a beach resort town on the Pacific Ocean where many Guatemalans visit on the weekend from Guatemala City. The Villas del Pacifico is your usual beach resort, complete with multiple swimming pools, cabanas, water sports and an excellent restaurant and bar. The rooms have air conditioning, which is a plus because the climate is warm and humid. We met up with Gary Graham of Baja on the Fly, who would serve as our fishing guide for the next four days. We enjoyed a nice meal and then I went to bed to begin the ritual of waking up every hour wondering if it was time to get up yet.
After a hearty Guatemalan breakfast, assorted melons, huevos rancheros, fried plantains, and refried black beans, the dawning day greeted us on the 15 minute ride to the boat dock. We spent the four days fishing with the same crew aboard the Blue Light Special, a newer 32’ Bertram with all of the necessary amenities. The run to the fishing grounds was about an hour, in the meantime Gary instructed us on the techniques, protocols, do’s and don’ts’ for trip. Russ Davis, Bill Brown and I endured the run with great anticipation.
Fly-fishing
for sailfish requires crew of at least three people, a serious understanding of
the technique, in addition to some luck. The basic technique involves trolling
teasers behind the boat in a unilateral set. This leaves one side of the stern
open for fly-casting. When a sailfish appears in the set, generally attacking a
teaser, the two mates man the teaser rods and orchestrate teasing the billfish
up to the boat. Gary acted as director for us on this event, and on his call,
the boat goes into neutral, the mates pull the teasers from the water and you
cast the fly directly where the last teaser was. Sailfish are attracted to
movement, so the moment the fly hits the water you drop the rod tip toward the
fish and begin stripping line to keep the fly moving. With luck, the sailfish
will circle and attack the fly several times, keeping the rod tip pointed at the
fish, you set the hook with your hand, not the rod. At this point your hand is
connected directly to the fish, when it decides to run, you let go of the line
and switch to the reel. It’s as simple as that, although there are numerous
opportunities for things to go wrong.
It didn’t take
long for the action to begin, the lines weren’t in the water 10 minutes and we
had a sailfish in the set. Russ was first up and connected on his first
sailfish, about a 130 pounder’. We took photographs and quickly released the
giant unharmed. Before we could celebrate the feat, another sailfish was in the
set and Bill was up. We had only one fighting glove between us, and we began the
30 minute ritual of the passing of “the glove”. The fish gave Bill three chances
but it was three swings and a miss and Bill finally struck out. It was finally
my turn and I watched the teaser with intense focus. Less than 20 minutes later
yet another sailfish was hitting the teasers. The mates carefully teased the
fish toward the boat, it continued to voraciously attack the teasers, bill and
sail out
of
the water, mouth wide open and charging the teasers in frustration. I watched
the sailfish approaching the stern, large billfish can be very intimidating. I
tried to remain clam and focused. Gary yelled “cast” and the choreography began.
I’d like to report that I made a perfect cast, but truth be known, I hooked the
bridge in my back-cast. Gary spun around with a puzzled look on his face and his
hands up. “Where’s the fly, what happened? I said cast!” he shouted. The skipper
quickly released the fly and I cast again. This time I dropped the fly right in
front of the fish, and began stripping the line. He hit the fly hard and I set
the hook, but came up empty handed. The water behind the boat was now foaming; I
couldn’t tell if it was from the prop or from the giant billfish frothing at the
mouth. I guessed that latter. With Gary urging me on, I cast again and started
stripping the line. The big fish spun around in a second and in a move that
could only be described as out of anger and frustration, attacked the fly with a
vengeance, intent on taking no survivors. I hung hard on the line to set the
hook. The line and hook connected on flesh and I hung it hard again, and again,
now the big fish seemed surprised and suddenly ran hard, with the line screaming
through my fingers. If you forget to let go of the line soon enough at this
point, the heat and friction will remind you, and before you can release it you
will have a memorable burn on your index finger and thumb. Just trust me on this
one, take my word for it, and wear your fighting glove. The sailfish burst clean
out of the Pacific about 250 yards out, and the “billfish ballet” began. Trying
to throw the hook,
the
big fish put on a serious aerial display and danced on the surface for several
minutes. I slowly worked the large arbor Abel reel one crank at a time, trying
to keep the big fish’s head up, all the while Gary giving me calm and confident
instructions. After about 30 minutes I was able bring the sailfish along side of
the boat. The mate grabbed the bill and gently removed the fly from the
sailfish’s mouth. We invited the sailfish into the boat for a few pictures and
then returned him quietly to his domain in the Pacific. I sat down…my arms were
spent; I had leaned into the 14 weight rod and put as much pressure as I could
on the fish. Suddenly I was aware of the throbbing in my index finger, a nice
fly-line burn as a souvenir. I had a Gallo beer to celebrate, I didn’t even get
to finish it before there was another sailfish in the set and it was show-time
once again.
It pretty much
went like that for four full days, just about the time we had a chance to sit
down; another billfish was in the set. The nice thing about Guatemala is that
there are lots of fish, so you get lots of chances. If you screw up, in about 20
minutes you get another chance. Gary considers Guatemala to be his classroom for
saltwater fly-fishing, and rightfully so. He wrote the book on it, literally.
Period! Enough said!
We
graduated from his 101 class and are ready to move up. I can’t describe to you
what a pleasure it is to spend time in this setting with a true master like Gary
Graham.
We bid our goodbyes to Gary and headed for a last look at Antigua. This is the ancient capital of Central America. The city has been devastated by earthquakes in the past, and the one in 1773 pretty much leveled the city. The capital was then moved to Guatemala City and it was a number of years before Antigua was considered safe enough to repopulate. The ruins are well maintained and there are several worthy museums. The cathedral ruins give a quiet testimony to the majestic city this must have been at its prime. We enjoyed some fine meals, Argentine wines and then packed our bags for home.
How do sheep hunters spend their off seasons? Well, this one looks for unique adventures in other places of the globe. Often I like to include some fly-fishing in the mix. If you are looking to fly-fish for saltwater big game fish, Guatemala is a prime place to provide the necessary diversion from your daily activities. It’s a great classroom for the first timer to the fly-fishing saltwater fraternity. For those already addicted to the sport, it’s a great therapy session for an urgent condition. The people are friendly, the food is great, and the sights are spectacular. Oh, and the fishing is beyond description…but then again, it’s a whole different deal… Kim Kutsch