ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 13, 1996 TAG: 9605130162
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANK W. ROGERS III|
Somebody sell my clothes, 'cause I've died and gone to heaven.
Can you imagine a person who has fished all over the world - who in 1995 alone released 1,578 billfish - getting so excited about a sailfish flurry that he yelled this at the top of his lungs?
Well, believe it. These were the words of Capt. Ross "Flash" Clark of the Intensity in the billfish-rich waters off the southern coast of Guatemala.
My friend and fishing companion, Charles Cabell of Richmond, and I recently experienced a fishing trip of a lifetime. Our enthusiasm matched Clark's as he precisely summed up how we felt for three amazing days of fishing. Finally, we had managed to put ourselves in the right place at the right time.
DAY 1: We arrived in Guatemala City and began our 90-minute drive to the coastal fishing village of Iztapa.
Guatemala City is home to 4 million people, and it seems most of them were crammed on old, brightly painted school buses along our route to the coast. A quick stop at a local convenience store reminded us we truly were in a Third World country. The entrance was guarded by a bulky individual armed with a pistol and shotgun.
Poverty and squalor lie to both sides of the road. People living in houses without doors and electricity. Trash piles burning along the roadside. Broken-down and dying vehicles are everywhere. It is a white-knuckle trip from the mountains surrounding Guatemala City down into the coastal plains leading to Iztapa.
Our home for the next three nights was the Fins and Feathers Inn, owned by Artmarina, S.A., the group through which we booked our trip. It is an oasis carved out of Iztapa that touts many of the amenities of the States, all secured within a 12-foot concrete wall patrolled by armed guards.
DAY 2: We were told the boats depart ``after breakfast.'' Nothing like the ungodly early start off the coast of North Carolina. The Intensity slipped away a little after 7 a.m., with Capt.Clark in command.
The marina actually is on a river, requiring a short run to the Pacific. This ``cut,'' as the locals call it, consists of two rock jetties approximately 40 yards apart. The current is swift, creating an inlet that words cannot adequately describe. Captains must position their boats in the middle of the current and wait for a break between ocean waves. Then, with a full throttle rush, an effort is made to shoot the calm water before the next set of breakers arrives.
The run was basically south for 50 miles. This is longer than usual for the Iztapa fleet, but was where the body of fish was located the previous day when one boat caught 29 sailfish, out of 49 bites.
The lines had been in the water for 19 minutes when we had our first action. In short order, we released a sailfish tripleheader. The action was consistent all day, with rarely more than a 30-minute lapse between fish. We raised 22 sailfish, had 19 bites and released 12. In the early afternoon, we caught and released a blue marlin weighing approximately 200 pounds.
Our 13 releases put us slightly ahead of the other boats. The talk back at the dock, however, was not so much about the fishing as it was the loss of a boat in the treacherous inlet on its return from fishing. The anglers on that boat happened to be our suitemates, and they clearly were shaken by the experience. It seems a relatively inexperienced captain got his boat sideways in the inlet and it capsized. All aboard were able to swim to safety, but the boat and all of its tackle were washed to the bottom of the ocean.
DAY 3: We returned to the same spot we fished the previous day and our action was pretty much nonstop, including something of a rarity, according to Flash. At one point, we hooked and caught five sailfish. While we were fighting these fish, a sixth swam around the boat and we fed him unhooked ballyhoo. For the day, we saw 37 sailfish, had 35 bites and released 23.
DAY 4: Our last fishing day had us on a slightly different course to a location discovered the day before by the Piragua. That boat saw 30 sailfish and caught and released 12, and also caught and released two black marlin, the largest estimated at 350 pounds.
Our day started slowly, then Capt.Clark picked up the lines and ran 11 miles south and the action began in earnest. The baits had not been in the water five minutes when we had our first sailfish bite. The action continued until we quit at 3 p.m. This day also included another ``five-banger.'' It was during this hectic event that Capt.Clark expressed so perfectly what everyone was thinking.
Our final day's tally was 28 sailfish raised, 25 bites and 19 releases. That made 55 billfish released in three days.
POSTSCRIPT: I guess blue marlin are more numerous in Madeira or St. Thomas, black marlin larger in Australia and white marlin more plentiful in Venezuela. For billfishing in general, however, and specifically for Pacific sailfish, I cannot imagine there is a better spot right now than Guatemala.
The Intensity is one of three boats forming the Guatemala flank of Artmarina, S.A.'s fleet (305-663-3553). In 1995, this three-boat fleet accounted for 5,569 billfish releases. This included 2,140 billfish released by the Magic, an 11.1 releases-per-day-average, and a world release record. One group of anglers managed to catch and release 121 sailfish in three days, including 58 in a single day. These are unheard-of numbers, perhaps more than you will see in a lifetime of fishing elsewhere.
Frank W. Rogers III, a partner with the law firm of Mundy Rogers & Frith LLP, is an avid sport fisherman.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: It rarely was more than 30 minutes between sailfishby CNBhookups in the Pacific off Guatemala. color.