El Salvador sails- Paradise Fishing Lodge

[galilee gale]

On March 25th I was able to take my first fishing trip in El Salvador and they’re right it’s Hot Hot Hot. The fishing that is. The weather was beautiful-cool temps and calm seas. We fished out of Paradise Fishing Lodge along the Jaltepeque Estuary at Costa Del Sol, El Salvador. We fished off the “Fanta Sea” which is a Bertram 38 Special. Both the lodge and boat are kept in immaculate condition. The Captain- Juan Campo is a master at running the bar across their inlet and really showed me a thing or two. The mates, Jorge Correa and Willie Garcia made the trip a lot of fun showing me how to sew circle hooks to Ballys, comparing east/west coast methods, lure choices, fishing stories, and work experiences. My son in law Josue is from El Salvador and now lives in the US. This was his first trip back in over a year. We took his dad, his little sister, and two of his dad’s neighbors. We ran offshore 15 miles first thing and found unbelievable bird activity. We made our mind up to catch some dorado first for a dinner the next night and trolled there til 11:00 am. We had lots of short bites on sailfish baits and had bailers all around the boat. We threw 6 in the box and headed offshore to Marlin Point. We started trolling out there at noon and by 2:30 pm we had raised 7 sails. I caught my first, Josue’s dad caught his first sail- first saltwater fish of any kind, and a third fish which hooked up broke the line while we were clearing the other rods. We were able to tag and release 2 sails. All three of these fish were hooked up on medium size lures running off the riggers. The four sails that rose to the teasers would only stay up long enough to get us excited but not long enough to take pitch baits. Two of the newbies were very sick and since I’d accomplished what I came for I couldn’t bring myself to torture them any longer. Plus this gives me an excuse to go back sooner. I'll try linking some photos when I get them on the internet- I'm not used to posting them that way.

[galilee gale]

I think I finally had time to figure out how to post some photos.
First is a photo of the lodge from the river.

Now for the crew:Juan, Me, Jorge, Willie, and Josue

Couldn't leave out a Dorado Picture-look close everything eats a illander

Tag and release on my sail

Josue's Dad's sail

Sail unfurled

Released in good shape

[bwheeler@dbcradio.co]

Hello, Gaiilee,

I'll be in Los Cobanos, El Salvador the middle of October. I'm having a hard time finding information on fishing in the area. Can you point me to anything, particularly species that are active in October. Many thanks. B.W.

[galilee gale]

bwheeler,

No problem. October will be the beginning of the dry season and the better billfishing season there. When El Salvador hosts the Presidential Marlin Tournament they hold it in November so I believe you're getting the timing right. They also can fix you up with inshore fishing in the Jaltepeque Estuary if that's what you're after. Paradise Fishing Lodge has a website at www.paradisefishinglodge.net When you e-mail the El Salvador e-mail address or call down there, ask for Isabelle. She's the manager. She's very nice and is helpful. The lodge is owned by folks from here in Delaware and they seem to be doing a great job with plans for the lodge. I've just made a reservation for a January trip this winter.

[Ozimo]

Is Paco around? He'd have the answer, since he does this tournament. The last time I saw that webpage, it belonged to Chad Marquis in Panama.

[Legend]

Hey Abe, howya doing up there - cold enuf for you? Heard you sold the Ozimo. Chad changed his webpage a while back to www.paradisefishing.com

When are you coming down this winter? Drop me an email.

[Ozimo]

Yeah, we sold her to some dummy, who converted her to a live-aboard. I wonder how it took them to get rid of the squid smell <g>