Long established as the premier destination for Sailfish, Guatemala is fast building a reputation also for Blue Marlin fishing as well as some Black Marlin in the height of the Season between February and April. If anything, the catch rates for Blue Marlin in and around the deep water drop offs surrounding the shoreline of Guatemala have been increasing in recent years.

The same deep blue water that attracts and holds bait in vast quantities, also attracts predators - and as you move up that food chain, in the end you get to one of the most efficient predators in the oceans - the Blue Marlin. The marlin are looking for bigger morsels however than the prolific sailfish - in order to be successful consistently catching marlin, big and fresh baits are needed. The two primary baits that are used as either trolling baits or "fling" baits are whole (often salted) bonita and a large strip bait cut from the belly of dorado. These baits both have the benefit of a natural smell and have action in the water that looks like a smaller fish running from a larger predator.

The productive waters already hold records for numbers of billfish - including most in a day on conventional (124) and on the fly (57)....as well as most in a season. The large concentrations of bait and clean blue water that so successfully attract and hold the sailfish - also provide fertile hunting grounds for marlin.

The fishery is largely undeveloped for Marlin, as the fleet is relatively small and the charter operations to date have always focused attention and tactics that target Sailfish - but even with the smaller baits and slower trolling speeds we have seen a consistent trend of improving raises for Blues that average 350-400lbs. When using some of the larger baits as discussed above, the raise rate becomes significantly higher.

Certainly the deep waters hold large Blue Marlin as well - pelagics up to a thousand pounds have been recorded, but it does seem that the area predominantly holds juveniles in the 400-500lb range. Interspersed with the Blues are Black marlin as well 'that tend to be larger on average, but the numbers tend to be fewer - perhaps only one in twenty marlin raised in Guatemala are Blacks.

Fishing for Blue Marlin in Guatemala is somewhat underdeveloped, as certainly the fishery to date has focussed on the abundant sailfish population - but the boats and crews are used to handling big aggressive pelagic fish ! When we do target marlin, we will up the speed from 6-7 knots to 9+knots and start to pull big hawaiin type teasers that make a lot of commotoin and drag a huge bubble tail.

For the most part, we do not troll bait unless we are in an area that we know is currently holding marlin - and then we will typically rig a live bonita, small dolphin or mackerel as a live bait to be trolled at a low speed.

Because the fleet have not regularly targeted the Marlin, it is largely unknown as to the full potential - but we do have experience over past seasons of most boats raising at least one fish per day when the runs have been on.

This trend has only been improving in recent years - perhaps we are more "tuned in" to the fish and so more alert to spot them, perhaps the interest has in itself driven better reporting - or possibly we just have more anglers coming down to Guatemala for fishing - and more days on the water inevitable drives more fish raised and so more marlin observed.

Whatever the cause - the fact is that more and more visiting anglers are now regarding Guatemala not just as the premier sailfish destination in the world, but also the home of a strong and developing marlin fishery.

Our sense is that if we direct our efforts towards Marlin tactics, these statistics can only improve, and we anticipate the fishery becoming a significant Bluewater destination for all pelagics over the coming seasons.

There are several notable but largely unexplored deep water canyons over 1000ft that are likely to hold good concentrations of large marlin - because Marlin hunt the line between deep water and the coastal plain. The nearest of this significant structure is about a 2 hour run from the marina - and so really requires a dedicated run to fish that area and away from the rest of the fleet.

To develop a better understanding, there needs to be some exploratory fishing - but the opportunity exists to be among the first to "discover" a new Marlin fishery, with the worst case outcome being to switch tactics and catch Sailfish either on conventional or fly until your arms fall off !

We have the boats, crews, equipment and gear - we just need some anglers with a pioneering spirit and a sense of adventure to accompany us. We will work with you to adjust our tactics to yours to make it a thrilling adventure for all of us !