Casa Vieja April 28 report

 

(01-07 April)
Release with Capt. Chico Alvarenga
Roy Cronacher - 16 raises, 11 bites and 8 releases on fly rod
Sean Tierney & Ned Ruffin first day - 6 raises, 2 bites and 1 raised blue, but no releases

Captain Hook with Capt. Ron Hamlin
Gary Beaumont and friends from Naples, Fla with 16 raised, 14 bites and 7 releases + 1 blue bite
Dr. Frank Denoff group from Orlando area first day results – 5 raised, 3 bites and 3 releases

Intensity with Capt. Mike Sheeder
Drs. Vanzant & Kelley from Oklahoma – 10 raised, 6 bites and 1 released on fly rod
Hooter’s Canada chieftain Johnny Goard and Mark James – 3 raised, 3 bites and 3 releases. The following day they were aboard the

Makaira – Capt. Jason Brice’s boat – 5 raised, 5 bites and 1 released
Konzelman & Majors from NJ on Makaira – 20 raised, 16 bites, 11 released

Rum Line with Capt. Chris Sheeder
The Longstreet group from Fla – 25 raised, 20 bites, 13 released + 2 marlin raised, only 1 bite
The Cuomo group – 18 raised, 14 bites, 12 releases + 2 marlin bites and 1 released 350 - the group also fished on the - Circle Hook with Capt. Eddie Bairez – 8 raises, 6 bites and 4 releases

(08-14 April)
Fishing has slowed down - dirty water to 20 miles plus. They were finding fish in the dirty as well as the clean.

Denoff group added 5 more sails + 1 blue about 150#

The Murphy group from So. Fla fished the
Intensity (15-7-3 + 2 blues 500 & 200#)
Rum Line (42-33-18 and raised 3 blues)
Makaira (18-12-8)
That was the week before the full moon

The Turner-Berezwick party from Fla fished the Makaira (8-7-5) found them 12 miles out the first day and 5 miles out in dirty water on the last day.

(15-23 April)
And, the IGFA Expedition had:
Captain Hook (9-7-4)
Rum Line (9-8-5)
Intensity (13-10-6)
Makaira (7-6-4)

Fishing continues to be slow during the Easter celebrations.

The Galindo party from Venezuela fishing the Rum Line (18 thru 21) scored poorly 3-2-1

The Barreto family from Brasil fishing on Intensity in four days (19 thru 23) scored only 9-5-4 + a 250 blue.

Robertson family from Texas fishing on Release (21 thru 23) had 6-5-2 and raised two blues. The other half of the group fished Rum Line scoring 6-5-3 and releasing a 150 blue.

(24-present
Hixon-Serodino group from Georgia and Tennessee fished (24 thru 26) on Makaira 4-4-3 and 300 blue; Release 7-7-4 and Paul Hixon caught a 450 blue - his first; and Intensity 16-15-11 and a 150 blue.

Looks like the marlin have arrived early. We have plenty of space for the ABMT in mid-May and following days after. If you are interested in marlin fishing, then this is time to be here.

 

 

 

 Casa Vieja April 2011 report

Casa Vieja Lodge April 2011 report. Coming off a great March, the weather turned on us - clear skies and the water rough.

Release with Capt. Chico Alvarenga
Roy Cronacher - 16 raises, 11 bites and 8 releases on fly rod
Sean Tierney & Ned Ruffin’s first day - 6 raises, 2 bites and 1 raised blue, but no releases

Captain Hook with Capt. Ron Hamlin
Gary Beaumont and friends from Naples, Fla with 16 raised, 14 bites and 7 releases + 1 blue bite
Dr. Frank Denoff group from Orlando area first day results – 5 raised, 3 bites and 3 releases

Intensity with Capt. Mike Sheeder
Drs. Vanzant & Kelley from Oklahoma – 10 raised, 6 bites and 1 released on fly rod
Hooter’s Canada Chieftain Johnny Goard and Mark James – 3 raised, 3 bites and 3 releases. The following day they were aboard the

Makaira – Capt. Jason Brice’s boat – 5 raised, 5 bites and 1 released
The Konzelman – Majors party from NJ on Makaira – 20 raised, 16 bites, 11 released

Rum Line with Capt. Chris Sheeder
The Longstreet group from Fla – 25 raised, 20 bites, 13 released + 2 marlin raised, only 1 bite
The Cuomo group – 18 raised, 14 bites, 12 releases + 2 marlin bites and 1 released 350 - the group also fished on the Circle Hook with Capt. Eddie Bairez – 8 raises, 6 bites and 4 releases
 

3/11/2011

Capt. Hamlin on the Captain Hook reporting from Casa Vieja
Ocean City anglers (1 & 3 Mar) raising 57, having 53 bites and releasing 25
Tom Inman party (5-6-7) raising 182, having 168 bites and releasing 82 including a 250 blue
Marty Cawley party (8-9-10-11) raising 71, with 64 eaters and releasing 24
Carruth party (14-15-16) raising 149, with 137 eating and releasing 88

Capt. Brice on the Makaira reporting from Casa Vieja
Drs Cambria & Carson (1-2-3 Mar) on the fly – raised 123, with 40 eaters and releasing 11
The Ferrer family from Puerto Rico (5-6-7) raised 123, with 109 eating and releasing 61
The Batesko Group (8-9-10) had a number of boats – these figures are for Makaira only – raised 61, with 55 bites and released 28
Charlie Daniel and son (12-13-14) – raised 70, with 63 eaters and 34 released. This was their first time sailfishing and probably won’t be their last!

 

2/10/2011 by Al Schaefer of Casa Vieja

With things looking rosy and not much rough water - we hosted Cam and Iain Nicolson and David Barber on the Captain Hook, Kirk Weisman on Intensity, Ross Darling on Rum Line and the Krzyzewski group on the Makaira and Spindrift:

 

Cam and Iain had fished at the end of January on Spindrift with great success, but now they were going to battle with the fly rods and getting the fish to eat was a different story. In their 3 days (1-2-3) with Capt. Hamlin, they raised 30 sails, got 15 to taste the steel and released 6. PLUS Cam caught his very first blue marlin - about 200 on his first cast! His brother caught a juvenile about 150 the next day.

 

Following the Nicolson's were David Barber and Jonothan Lark from the Barta Boys & Girls Club of NC. In their two days (4-5) they raised 24, had 12 bites and 11 releases, plus a 150 blue.

 

Ross and Ed Darling were back on Rum Line, as they are every year at this time. Fishing 3 days (3-4-5) they raised 41, had 20 bites and released 9 on flies with Capt. Chris;

 

Kirk Weisman and his Brit partner Bob Smithson fishing fly and spin aboard the Intensity (4-5-6) raised 50 sails, hooked 18 and released 15 and raised 2 marlin, but no takers.

 

The Krzyzewski group had to fly out of the midwestern snow to get down to the sunshine of Guatemala. Fishing on Makaira and Spindrift for 3 days (4-5-6) they raised 141 sails, with 112 bites, and 82 releases. I know they'll be talking about this trip for years to come

 

02/7/2011 from Sailfish Bay

 

Feb 7 - The Brandsma group raised 33 sailfish on Maverick and release 15 conventional.

 

The Bodine group raised 25 sailfish on Gypsy with 12 strikes and released 3 on fly. They also raised 2 marlin.

 

Tara Tiedemann, Tom Tiedemann, Vicki Tiedemann, Bob Ridenour, and Deb Ridenour joined us. Fishing on Bavarian they raised 35 sailfish and released 22 conventional. They also released 2 on fly and 1 dorado.

 

Feb 6 - Marcos and his group raised 25 sailfish on Bavarian and released 4 all on light tackle. They also raised 1 Blue marlin, but it was a short battle.

 

Ralph Bodine, Tom Dungan, and Tim Lindgren arrived at Sailfish Bay. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 21 sailfish with 8 strikes and released 1 on fly.

 

Lee Brandsma, Josh Brandsma, Ryan Brandsma, and Eric Hagstrom arrived for some Guatemala sailfishing. Fishing on Maverick they raised 36 sailfish and released 16 conventional.

 

Feb 5 - The McLarty group raised 15 sailfish on Maverick and released 6 conventional.

 

The Wild on the Fly group raised 8 sailfish on Gypsy, hooking 5 and releasing 2 on fly.

 

Our local friend Marcos raised 18 sailfish on Bavarian and released 9 conventional.

 

Feb 4 - The McLarty group raised 16 sailfish and released 9 conventional. They also caught 1 dorado.

 

Joe Daniel, Steve Jensen, and Rich Jorgensen arrived from Wild on the Fly to film for The Outdoor Channel. Tough day fly fishing raising 4 sailfish, hooking 1 and releasing 0.

 

Feb 3 - Hank McLarty, Tony Turner, and John Taylor arrived at Sailfish Bay. Fishing on Maverick they raised and released 1 sailfish and 3 dorado conventional.

 

 

01/24/2011 from Sailfish Bay

 

Jan 23 - The Arata group raised 15 sailfish on Gypsy with 3 strikes and releasing 1 sail on fly.

 

The Pio group raised 24 sailfish on Maverick with 19 strikes and released 7 sails on light tackle.

 

Jan 22 - The Nudge group raised 34 sailfish on Bavarian and released 22 conventional.

 

The Arata group raised 22 sailfish on Gypsy with 7 strikes and releasing 2 on fly.

 

Dru Pio and Jessica Pannozzo arrived at SBL. Fishing on Maverick they raised 27 sailfish and released 6 sails on light tackle hooking all the sails themselves. They also caught 2 dorado.

 

Jan 21 - The North group raised 46 sailfish on Maverick with 31 strikes and released 15 on light tackle. They hooked up all their own sails.

 

The Nudge group raised 43 sailfish on Sirena with 41 strikes and released 25 on light tackle. They hooked up all sails themselves as well.

 

The Phelan group raised 24 sailfish on A-Fin-ity and released 18 conventional.

 

Harold Arata and Bill Kennedy arrived at Sailfish Bay to target sails on fly rods. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 25 sailfish with 4 strikes and releasing 1 on fly. Also caught 1 dorado on fly.

 

Jan 20 - Monster Day! The North group raised 45 sailfish on Maverick and released 25 conventional.

 

The Tucker group raised 58 sailfish on Gypsy, hooking 17 and releasing 10 on FLY.

 

Joe Nudge, Richard Stone, Todd Willard, and Mike Brinker arrived at SBL. Fishing on Sirena they raised 51 sailfish and released 33 conventional.

 

Dan & Larry Phelan also arrived. Fishing on A-Fin-ity they raised 65 sailfish and released 35 conventional.

 

 

Jan 19 - The Tucker group raised 30 sailfish on Gypsy with 10 strikes and released 7 on fly!

 

Brian North and Michael Schlauderaff arrived at SBL. Fishing on Maverick they raised 30 sailfish and released 16 conventional.

 

Jan 18 - Philip Tucker and Justin Corwin returned to Sailfish Bay for the 2nd year in a row. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 22 sailfish with 9 strikes and released 3 on fly. They also released 1 250+ lb marlin ON FLY. BAM!

 

Jan 17 - The Myers group raised 10 sailfish on Gypsy and released 2 conventional.

 

Jan 16 - The McGrath group released 1 sailfish and 5 dorado on Maverick.

 

The Topping family raised 20 sails on Bavarian and released 11 conventional. They also caught 3 dorado. They raised 1 Blue marlin but it was just a look.

 

Bryan Myers and Michael Rhoads returned to SBL for the 2nd year in a row. They were also joined by Nigel Staite. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 12 sailfish and released 3 conventional. They also caught 1 350 lb. Blue marlin.

 

Jan 15 - The Colucci group raised 5 sailfish on Gypsy and released 1 on fly.

 

The Topping family arrived at Sailfish Bay. John, Laura, John Jr. and Daniel. Fishing on Bavarian they raised 4 sailfish and released 4 conventional. They also caught 2 dorado.

 

 

 

By Jake Jordan fishing out of Casa Vieja

January 16 2011,

 

Anglers, Ken Haupt, and Greg Hyland, along with photographer George Coley, all from Northern California joined me at 7this morning aboard Intensity with Capt. Mike Sheeder and his mates Flaco and Waldo for their second day of their sailfish school. The seas were calm with sunny skies and 85 degree water and air temperature, fishing was slow for those of us who were fly fishing. All tree clients aboard intensity along with their instructor got to cast flies to sailfish, each angler got to hook and fight at least one of the 7 sailfish bites which we got from the 20 plus fish raised. We had some bad lick and made a few mistakes, and at the end of the day we released only one sailfish on fly from 7 bites. Some of the boats fishing bait caught as many as 20, tomorrow will be a much better day.

 

January 17, 2011:

Today Greg, Ken, and George all showed up ready for battle with the mighty Pacific sailfish on fly rods. After a great breakfast at Casa Vieja, we boarded Intensity with Capt.Sheeder along with mates Waldo and Flaco and left the dock at 7 AM. Just then a cell phone rang and there was a medical problem with Waldo's father so we pulled back into the slip where Waldo went to assist his ailing father and we picked up mate Christian. We steamed for 2 hours to a spot 45 miles from the marina and began to troll teasers in the calm seas with lots of sea life visible.

 

Soon we got our first Bite and Greg caught his first sailfish of the day, later George hooked and fought a nice sailfish only to break it off after a 5 minute battle, then by noon my buddy Ken Haupt hooked a really nice, wild pacific sailfish on a pink Cam Sigler fly. Ken fought this sailfish for 14 minutes without making any mistakes, (perfect angling) and then landed this awesome sailfish. After raising more than 20 sailfish and getting 7 bites this crew caught and released 3 sailfish for the day.

 

BLUE MARLIN ON FLY!

 

The next chapter begins here, at 3PM we were getting ready for the long two hour ride back to the dock, Ken, Greg, and George were sitting inside talking about this awesome day, I was in the cockpit with the mates when I heard Capt. Mike yell "MARLIN", "BIG MARLIN"!!I calmly picked up the TFO Bluewater HD fly rod with the Mako #9700 fly reel, rigged with a RIO Leviathan fly line , 20 pound tippet and a Cam Sigler Marlin Fly, with the drag set at one pound of pressure and got the fly ready to cast. Ken moved the sailfish rod out of the way, as I asked him if he wanted to take a shot, He said "You show us how it is done" so, when the big Blue Marlin came in hot I made the cast.

The marlin swam around trying to eat the teasers, I cast again, she swam under my fly and then chased another teaser which Flaco had cast to get her to come back in. I made the third cast and this monster fish attacked my fly within 25 foot from the boat. Within 10 seconds that marlin was 200 yards out gray hounding away and then back at the boat. Much of the next 30 minutes was a blur to me, I just did what I have been teaching anglers to do for the last 25 years of my Billfish Schools, "Relax and let the rod and reel do the work"… "don't squeeze the rod, loosen your grip, rod tip low, when the fish is going away then the angler should relax, then apply maximum pressure on the fish when she is facing you".

 

During the next half hour I ate some ice-cold pineapple and drank two bottles of water, took off my sun glasses, and worked through several Charlie horses in my legs, all while applying pressure on this big marlin. Capt. Mike who has caughtsix other Blue marlin on fly with me as his angler, maneuvered the "Intensity" perfectly. We circled that fish at least a dozen times as we tried to get an angle to bring her to the surface. At some point I was winding line in from behind the boat when she surfaced and jumped three times 100 yards in front of the boat, Mike swung the boat and I gained 250 feet of line and was on the fly line after an hour of battle.

 

One hour and 15 minutes into the battle I got within 20 feet of her and then she ripped off 50 yards of backing, she really looked big to me. I was thinking about "Oh lord, this fish is so big and my boat is so small" and then I was wondering just what this Marlin was thinking? With cheering from Ken, Greg, and George, I began to feel that marlin begin to tire, I had been resting and felt strong. I was on the fly line 25 foot from the leader and a release of another Blue Marlin on fly, the drag on my Mako reel was now set at 6 pounds of drag and she was coming up slowly. At 4:23PM I got the leader through the rod tip and secured the technical release, she surged and I let her have back 15 foot before stopping her and lifting her close to the surface, and then at 4:27 Mike slipped Intensity into reverse one more time and I wound the fly rod tip all the way down to the class tippet, confirming that this was a really big female Blue Marlin. She was really thick and deep, and was longer than the transom of the Intensity is wide, About 11 foot I think. I said that she was the largest fish that I had ever caught or even seen caught on fly, Mike said well over 400 pounds, the crew agreed. We got in after dark.

 

My 400 pound Blue Marlin, caught on 20 pound IGFA Class tippet, aboard "Intensity" with Capt. Mike Sheeder out of Casa Vieja Lodge , just a few days after my Sailfish tournament set all kinds of numbers records for fly fishing for Billfish events, made January 17, 2011 by far the best fish and the best day in my life.

 

 

 

1/10/2011 by Al Schaefer of Casa Vieja

Coming out of the gate from the Castronovo group at the end of last year with four blues caught, three in one day to now.
Veteran fly fisher Nat Harris caught his 400th sail on fly yesterday (5th) with Capt. Ron Hamlin on the Captain Hook. In four days they raised 23 sails, had 10 bites and caught/released 4 AND raised 9 blues, teased 7 in, had 4 bites and caught/released 1 over 300#. Had other 3 on, but broke the tippet and one of those fish was over 500#!
Dr. Stemmer from Boca Raton followed up with 24 raised, 10 bites and 5 released plus a 350 blue on flies.
Capt. Jason Brice on the Makaira: reports the Beaman party was on board for the first three days of the new year. Carroll Beaman, George and Patrick Humphrey raised 21, had 14 bites and released 11 sails. Jason said they were unsuccessful trying to get Carroll one on a fly. Lots of dorado from peanuts to slammers - everywhere!
Following Beaman were the Hillmann's from Chicago area raising 6 sails and releasing 2 and raising 1 blue and releasing it (175) on their first day. Second day brought more sails 15 and releasing 8 plus an additional 350 blue on the fly. Final day produced 16 sails with only 4 hooked and 1 released and one large blue raised but it wouldn't eat.
Following was Dr. Serure and his son Dean on their first day raised 9 sails and released 2 on the fly and raised a blue marlin.
Capt. Mike Sheeder on Intensity: Had the Weisman party on board for some more fun and action. Kirk and his daughter put the steel to 6 sails and released 4 and raised 3 blues, but they had lockjaw.
Capt. Chris Sheeder on Rum Line: Started out with Tom Siska (4th) for a single day charter - raising 21 sails and releasing 5, plus raising 2 blues and releasing one about 250 on flies.

 

01/9/2011 from Sailfish Bay
 

Jan 9 - The Kitson group raised 5 sailfish on Gypsy with 2 strikes and released 1 on fly. They also caught 1 300 lb. Blue marlin conventional.

Jan 8 - The Weeks group raised 4 sailfish on Sirena with 2 strikes and released 1 on fly.
The Kitson group raised 4 sailfish on Gypsy with 1 strike and 1 release on fly.

Jan 7 - The Weeks group raised 15 sailfish on Sirena with 3 strikes and released 2 on fly. They also raised 2 more Marlin, but they didn't take the bait.
Our fly fishing invasion continued in January with the arrival of Brent and Sally Kitson. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 8 sailfish with 2 strikes and released 1 on fly.
Josue Sagustume and Lazaro Zamaro fished on Bavarian. They raised 6 sailfish and released 5 conventional. They also raised and released 1 250 lb. Blue marlin.

Jan 6 - Mr. Maki raised 7 sails on Maverick with 4 strikes and released 1 on fly.
The Weeks group raised 11 sailfish on Sirena with 3 strikes and released 1 on fly.

Jan 5 - Mr. Maki raised 12 sailfish on Maverick with 6 strikes and released 2 on fly.
The Weeks group raised 14 sailfish on Sirena with 5 strikes and released 4 on fly. They also caught 1 250 lb Black marlin conventional and 3 dorado. So far the Weeks party has released sailfish, a Blue Marlin, a Black marlin and dorado. Nice mixed bag.

Jan 4 - Mr. Maki raised 6 sailfish on Maverick with 3 strikes and released 1 on fly. He also raised another 2 marlin and hooked 1 on fly.
The Weeks group raised 6 sailfish on Sirena with 3 strikes and 1 release. They also raised 3 marlin, hooked 2 on fly, but released the last one conventional!

Jan 3 - The Weeks group raised 6 sailfish on Sirena with 3 strikes and released 1 on fly. They also caught 1 dorado.
Mr Maki raised 2 sailfish and 2 marlin on Maverick. 0 releases on fly.

Jan 2 - Mr. Maki raised 2 sailfish on Maverick with 1 strike and released 0 on fly.
Mark and Stan Weeks arrived at SBL. Fishing on Gypsy they raised 2 sailfish with 1 strike and released 0 on fly. They also raised 2 Blue marlin, but neither took the bait.
Tough day.

Jan 1 - Fishing on Maverick Mr Maki raised 6 sailfish with 3 strikes and released 2 on fly.



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