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Perfect Lure For a Perfect Place
By CAPTAIN BART MILLER
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El Salvador offers exotic fishing ground for marlin
For some time, my good friend Paco Saca offered
to play host for some of the bounty he experiences
regularly: Great fishing, fine Salvadoran food,
drinks, culture, beach house lodging, a custom sport-fishing
machine, tackle and crew. Paco had me hooked early in this
game of fun and fellowship. His offer had long passed the
temptation period. My plan to fish with him was forming
when a large manila envelope was delivered to my office.
It was a chart of El Salvador with all the yellow highlighted
shading of the fishing grounds where he has had the most
luck. Also, Paco had taken the time to add information
like “this is where I caught my big one,” another
saying this is where “a big blue spooled me,” and
more exciting info. Could all this be true? Of course.
Paco has no need to fabricate stories. I thumb-tacked
the chart to my office wall so I could swivel my chair
around and dream of traveling to the little-known exotic
fishing ground.
Paco had introduced me to other fishermen in El
Salvador like Marco Guirola and Juan Carlos Sanchez.
Each of these fine fishermen had told me stories about
their experiences; further confirming being spooled,
tales of yellow fin tuna, mahi mahi, sailfish, black
marlin and blue marlin of all sizes, swordfish, not to
mention a cornucopia of bottom fish, mangroves full
of snook and other smaller inshore game fish. All of this
led to my decision to have this fishing trip documented by
a video team. I put out the word and got a nibble from
THE BITE TV. Together we built a team of players,
able crew, and sponsors with the help of Paco, Capt.
Sanchez of Blue Sail charters, Taca Air and Black Bart
International. Four men in the high-definition video
team were onboard along with Capt. J.J. Logan who
agreed to ride shotgun to master any deck problems.
For all of us onboard Paco’s Sandy-ita, it was fantastic
to work with a man of such special talents.
Our departure went smoothly from Miami
International Airport. Paco and Juan met us at the
airport in the capital city of San Salvador. Darkness
had set in as we breezed down the road to Paco’s
beach house. Paco was hoping we would like his little
hideaway in El Tamorindo, about a two hour drive from the
airport. His hideaway is simply enormous. Once inside it
was easy to see his little beach home is closer to being a live-in
spa capable of housing a sizeable group or family. Music from
the 1950s filled the room. Digitally enhanced sounds and songs
of Frank Sinatra, Nat “King” Cole, Perry Como and Tony
Bennett filled the room. The entryway leads to the living room
with a portion of the space dedicated to a wrap-around trophy
area chocked full of trophies, photos and news clips all relating
to Paco’s passion for big game fishing.
Paco’s custom 38-foot sports Pursuit is moored in the
Gulf of Fonseca several hundred yards from the house. Each
morning our group
would gather on
the beach ready
for boarding
procedures, and
then off we would
go to his favorite
fishing grounds.
The only boats
I noticed during
our one week stay
were the three in
our group. I love
fishing without
pressure from
other boats competing to share or
dominate the bite. This scenario
makes the finding
and holding of fish
far more realistic,
especially when
hunting for the
big ones. Paco put
us on fish in short
order. First were
the mahi mahi
schooling around
the constant flow
of floating trees
and other debris
in the water. I
had a premonition that big blue
marlin may very well be in this
little known fishing zone. Why
not? Costa Rica, Guatemala,
Venezuela and Panama all
have exceptional fishing. I
was haunted by the remarks
from locals about broken lines,
spooled reels and many sightings
of what is believed to be giant
blue marlin.
Paco had asked me to make
him a special lure. It was the
least I could do to show my
gratitude. To design a personal
lure was to take a proven lure
shape and then give it a really hot
makeover. The challenge was to
make a fish head with a partial
body. The head and tail were
fish-like. The fish part of the
lure was translucent and glowed.
It also had strobe lights that
flashed every couple of seconds.
The head and skirt were bluebacked.
The body and belly
were pearl with see-through
floating colorful holograms.
This same look was continued
into the skirt. Each head had
a pair of realistic fish eyes. I
purposely kept this lure’s weight
slightly down so that it could be
trolled at lower speeds of seven
to 8 ˝ knots. After the first test
run I knew this lure would be
very special.
Our big fish decided to
bite Paco’s new lure without
hesitation. It was no surprise.
What was a surprise was
that Paco was fishing in 50
fathoms with a temperature
of 89 degrees. That was very
educational, since I usually fish
in the 80-84 degree range. My
depth preference is always from
100 to 1,000 fathoms. This is a
classic example of the role local
knowledge plays in the final
hunt. The depth at Paco’s fishing
ground was not a flat bottom.
There was plenty of good up and
down bottom structure, along
with a seemingly endless supply
of food to fulfill any predator’s
food requirements.
There is no mistaking
the special sound of a big
fish strike. It always comes
with considerable force and
sheer dominance. These
apex, alpha hunters mean
business. At the first notice
there is a resounding thud
followed by line being
ripped from the reel with
what could be termed an
unmistakable giant power.
Those who know this sound
will automatically go into
the big fish methodology
mode. These veteran
monster fishermen are more
readily able to handle the
intense forces that need to
be dealt with early in the
game if there is to be any
hope of success. Either learn
how or lose while trying.
After all heavy line becomes
light line, and the light line
becomes nearly impossible
to deal with because of
the fish’s incredible speed,
power and mass. Big marlin
are the real test when big
game fishing. The weakest
link in your tackle will be
the final measure as to the
outcome of most heavy
weight battles.
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