Thank you. Thank you.
A couple weeks ago we wrapped up our 2026 season at Sailfish Oasis. We sent the year out with a bang. On their best day, the last group released 9 sailfish from 12 bites with a blue marlin and a bunch of dorado.
2026 was our 20th year fishing on the Allure in Guatemala. And what a year it was.
In March, Capt. Jono set the lodge release record with 81 sailfish released in a single day. On the year, we had two days of more than 100 sailfish bites—and a third with 95. The biggest blue marlin we released pushed 600 pounds.
From a bookings perspective, 2026 was one of our best. We appreciate all the clients who came to fish with us, many of whom return to fish with us year after year.
When we look back on the season that passed, we’ll remember it for a run of sailfish fishing that was historic enough to be written up in Marlin Magazine. We’ll remember it also for the El Niño and the warm water that settled about the Pacific over the summertime.
More than anything, we’ll remember it for the folks we fished with. The thank-you note from a 10-year-old after catching sailfish and blue marlin with his dad and brother. The 73rd birthday party we celebrated with our good friends in August.
What’s Happening Now
As we do every year at this time, Sailfish Oasis is closed until October 10. This annual break gives our team a chance to get some rest and regroup.
It gives us the chance to perform some maintenance on the lodge and the grounds. We’ll have the Allure II shined up and ready.
LOCK UP YOUR SPOT FOR the 2027 SEASON
We’re also in the process of ordering the thousands of ballyhoo and the thousands of circle hooks we’ll need for the year ahead. When we open in October, it will be sailfish season.
From October through May, our part of the world experiences the height of the season for the fishery that put Guatemala on the map. We’re excited.
Our 2027 is filling up. We’re happy to say this.
We have some prime dates available in January. Year in, year out, January is center cut, middle of the bell curve, peak sailfish season.
Every year is different, but we’ve had some of our best sailfish days ever in the month of January. In fact, before we broke it in March, the lodge single-day sailfish release record came from January. The picture above is from that trip.
If you’re looking to experience the type of sailfish trip that put Guatemala on the map, January is as safe a bet as you’ll find.
Recapping 2026
2026 was marked by extremes. It produced both record-breaking bites and times when we had to run a bit further and try a bit harder than we sometimes do. Here is a rundown of the season we’ve just completed.
An Incredible Sailfish Bite
In March, we experienced a sailfish bite of historic proportions. It was good enough, in fact, to be profiled in the July/August issue of Marlin Magazine.
On March 1, Captain Jono broke the lodge daily release record with 81 sailfish from 101 bites. On the year, we had two days with more than 100 sailfish bites, and another with 95.
The stretch in the first half of March was really incredible. 101 bites, 64 bites, 72, 95, 50, 40, 48—those were number of sailfish bites the Allure II experienced in a day over a span of less than two weeks. Each is the number of sailfish bites on one boat, with one crew.
It is days and stretches like these that underscore what an incredible fishery Guatemala really is. When the bite is good here, there is no other place in the world that can match it.
And it was not just March. On February 18, the Allure II had 113 bites. February produced 46 bites on the 17th. And days of 41 and 39.
Our best day in April produced 46 bites. Our best day in January 35, with several days o. Our best day of sailfish in the summertime produced 26 releases out of 41 bites.
And that’s the thing about Guatemala from November through April. Year in, year out, we’re likely to experience a number of really world-class stretches. When it’s right, you might expect to raise 40 fish a day. When it’s wide open, that number might be 100.
The days of seeing 100 fish don’t happen every year, but they happen often enough that we’re prepared for them every time we leave the dock. That’s what makes Guatemala Guatemala.
Some Really Warm Water
The summer of 2026 brought a powerful El Niño event and super warm water temperatures. This made fishing tougher than normal, for us and for boats fishing across much of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Boats from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama experienced the same phenomenon and the same impact on fishing.
The last time we experienced an El Niño event was 2015. On the heels of the warm water, the 2016 season produced some of the best fishing in the lodge’s history.
As Kiwi describes it, “The last big El Niño we had was 2015. The 2016 season was far and away the best fishing I’ve ever experienced in my life. That was the year of grand slams. Stripies, blues, everything condensed in this area. The sailfish bite was insane.”
Will that happen again in 2027? Maybe, maybe not. We can’t guarantee it, but we’re looking forward to finding out.
LOCK UP YOUR SPOT FOR the 2027 SEASON
With the warm water we experienced, the steady, consistent runs of blue marlin fishing that summertime in Guatemala often brings never quite materialized this year. We had stretches of good marlin fishing, but all in all this season didn’t quite stack up to 2025. But that’s fishing.
All that said, the biggest blue marlin we released this year pushed 600. And we had some good stretches and raised a good number of blue marlin.
2027
The 2027 season will be our 21st year fishing the Allures in Guatemala. All years are different.
We’ve learned enough to know that you can’t guarantee any one day in Guatemala. But if you are looking to book a trip three, six, or 12 months out, with the hope of experiencing the best billfish numbers of your life, there is perhaps no safer bet in the world than Guatemala.
We love this place. We’d love to show you what it’s all about.
