RUINED IN GUATEMALA

I just got back to the East Cape after spending a week in Guatemala. Information on our current fishing conditions is hard to come by. Yesterday no resort cruisers fished. This morning only 2 departed to try their luck. Inshore the water appears to be very clear and is loaded with bait. At dusk and dawn hoards of pelicans are gorging themselves on the bait. Even the in shore tin boaters are few and far between right now. I did hear a report that beach fishermen a little south of us are hooking some nice roosters. Walking the beach this morning, was as deserted as Redemption Island. I did see 3 shrimp boats come in and anchor up after working all night.

My experience in Guatemala was outstanding. Visiting the ancient Mayan ruins that were discovered and carved out of the jungle was the main objective of our trip. Tikal was unbelievable. It was also an incredible adventure, taking a river boat to Ceibal while observing crocodiles and large fresh water turtles, then walking through the jungle listening to howler monkeys in the wild.

At Flores we found ourselves with a free day and decided to look for a place we could fish for snook. Fishing is not heavily promoted and getting info was not easy. Finally we decided it would be worth the two hour taxi ride to Rio Dulce near Livingston where the river dumped into the Caribbean. The following morning ready to depart at 5AM we woke to a torrential down poor. Not wanting to ride 2 hours and get shut out we decided to cancel.

You can take the fisherman off the Sea of Cortez but you can't take fishing out of his soul. In the afternoon the weather cleared and we found a pangero to take us out on Lago Peten Itza at Flores. The guy only had one make-shift rod so I hand lined a small Rapala while we trolled. I have no idea what the limit was but in just a couple hours we had a boat load of pez blanco.

Our time in Guatemala will always bring great memories. The people were warm and friendly, food excellent, prices reasonable, sights unbelievable and a wonderful place to vacation. Reading the travel advisories had me very nervous and as where we live in Mexico I found none of it to be true.

One last note. We were flattered when the Fred Hall Fishing and Vacation Show approached us about using Jen Wren Sportfishing in conjunction with Accurate Reels and Rancho Leonero for their grand prize at the Long Beach and Del Mar show this year. More on this in my next blog.