June Flash (updated 6/30/97)

• Alain Gallicchio and Michael Balaban were our last Caribana customers this past weekend, before the boat goes in the yard. Their first and last days were pretty slow, but they were covered up with sailfish on Saturday, and managed finally to release one third of a triple header. Chef Michael did a great job preparing a few fo the nice dorado they caught, however. Better luck next time!
• Javier Escalante, Dan Ray and Ron Zwarich were our first customers aboard the new Courtesan Too yesterday, a 53' Hatteras (formerly the "Caribana III") we just took in (partial) trade for the Pilar. They "christened" Capt. Hector's new boat with a nice dorado shortly after lines in (which the crew thought was a good omen), released 2 blue marlin (including Ron's first), and had a Grand Slam in the baits. Most important, they all had a good time (which is always a good omen)!
• Courtesan arrived safely in St. Thomas on the 19th, after a pretty rough trip. The reports we've had from our friends who have already started testing the North Drop indicate that the fishing has been pretty good. Capt. Dave will be fishing for the next 3 days, so we'll have a first-hand report soon.
• John Bowen went 2 for 4 on the blue marlin druing our final sea trial of the Pilar, and Commandante Jesus Ramirez (of the Guardia Nacional) released a white as well, but the sailfish would not cooperate for the slam.
• Juan Hernandez was Pilar's last (?) customer on the 8th, entertaining the Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela and Capt. Hector's old swimming instructor. They had a few sailfish bites, and Juan released one, but the target species (dorado, this time) would not cooperate. We hope Juan enjoys his new boat....
• Mike Stewart was Courtesan's last "pre-St Thomas" guest this month, and although we had 14 billfish bites in his three days the final result was two sailfish releases. If he'd been concentrating more on the baits instead of his young companion, perhaps the statistics might have improved (but then he might not have had such a good time?)
• Rick Crosby, Bill Waller, Dennis Lee and Tracy Cearley released 5 sailfish and a blue marlin last weekend, and Rick boated a 104 kilo yellowfin tuna (in 1 hour and 6 minutes, on 30 lb.) as well. Nice going!

May Flash (updated 5/31/97)

• Johan and Maria Donald visited us from South Africa this week, after a whirlwind fishing tour which has included stops at Cabo San Lucas, Tobago, Key West, Guatemala and now Venezuela. (Parenthetically, they report that our old friend Jim Toabe's group recently released an albino sailfish in Guatemala with Capt. Ronnie Hamlin, only the second albino ever released.) Their first two days of fishing they were covered up with sailfish, but they ended up their stay with a total of 3 blue marlin and 4 sailfish releases, so I guess the trip was worthwhile.
• John Nardi, Phil DiGiacomo, Jim Foley and Mike Maxwell came down for a Memorial Day Weekend of swordfishing action, but were frustrated by a lack of bites both days (and nights) they tried. They did release 3 sailfish, but will have to come back to try for the swordies another time.
• Bimini Gill (yes, that's his real name) and his friend Molly were here last week to try to set one or more blue marlin world records under the I.G.F.A. fly fishing regulations, so Capt. Dave and the Courtesan crew stripped the boat for battle, removing one outrigger and the fighting chair and removing (or taping up) every possible fixture in the cockpit. Unfortunately, there is no new world record pending at week's end, but Bim did battle with 5 of the 13 blue marlin we were able to tease to the boat, and released one of them to increase his lifetime score to 9 striped marlin releases and 5 blue marlin releases on the fly. Nice going!
• Richard Cunningham and Byron (Barry) McCaldin went bonefishing for a few days in mid-May, taking their first crack at catching these speedsters on the fly. They caught quite a few, but we think they caught almost as many bills aboard Courtesan as bones in Los Roques! Wednesday they were 3 for 6 on the blue marlin, and Thursday went 8 for 8 on blues, 1 for 1 on whites and 1 for 3 on the sails to slam out. Friday was a little slower, with one blue marlin release, but Saturday saw two more blue marlin added to the score, plus a sailfish and a nice 100 lb. yellowfin Barry wrestled to the boat in just 16 minutes. Their total 4 day score: 14 blue marlin, 1 white marlin, 2 sailfish, a nice tuna and a few dorado. You guys who are fishing for sails in Mexico, be here next year!
• Mike Wilder and friends released a sailfish, pulled the hook on a 200 lb. class yellowfin (after wearing our at least 2 anglers) and caught a few nice dorado in mid-month. And Tiago Neiva De Oliveira, our first visitor from Portugal, released his first blue marlin aboard the Courtesan Too. Nice going! Oh, and Javier reports that he is now 3 for 7 (scoring NOT spewing days vs spewing days- now that's progress...)
• The 3rd Annual International La Guaira Billfish Shootout (a small prize is offered to anyone who, in the opinion of the judges, can come up with a useful acronym for this) concluded Sunday, May 4. We're pleased to report that Team Dale Clavo (Mike Wilder and Michael Stewart) won the event aboard Courtesan, beating 22 other boats who released, in total, 68 billfish: 48 blue marlin, 4 white marlin and 16 sailfish. The Dale Clavo (which means "hit the nail" in Spanish, which roughly translates to "lets get on with it" in English) guys released 6 blue marlin and a single white marlin in three days of fishing, and emerged ahead of Gigi IV in 2nd place and Exile in 3rd. Michael Stewart was the top angler as well, after an unassisted (IGFA rules) double header on the last day. Nice going, Dave, Cesar, Alberto and both Mikes!

  Team Reel Deal (minus two anglers after the first day) released two blue marlin, a white marlin, and 2 sailfish aboard the Courtesan Too, but Capt. Hector finished out of the money and was unable to repeat his win of last year. Better luck next time!

April Flash (updated 5/1/97)

• Famous photographer and tournament organizer Richard Gibson put in a day with the Courtesan crew on the 28th, this time serving as an angler (of all things). He released a nice blue marlin, and Pollito released his first sailfish. Cesar and Alberto promptly threw our young lad overboard, so we are very glad he learned how to swim in the pool at Marina Portofino last year!
• Tabby and Grady Thurman fished hard, but their final score for the "100 blue marlin hunt" was disappointing, releasing a total of 19 blues and 3 sailfish during their stay with us. It wasn't for lack of trying, as they fished quite a few days, but, as the saying goes, "if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all..." Probably the best news about their trip is that Grady's daughter Corrinne caught her first blue marlin on the 20th, so repeated congratulations to you, young lady!

  At month end, the big action aboard the Courtesan Too actually began while Mrs. Thurman was fighting her first fish of the day. While backing on the fish, the crew spotted a 200+ lbs swordfish carcass floating in the water, and a mean mako "snacking" on the meat. Juancho originally wanted to gaff the swordfish plug, so after releasing Tabby's blue marlin they returned to the scene. Mr. Mako seemed unconcerned by their presence, and the swordfish meat looked pretty bad by this time, so Juancho decided to try to free gaff the mako! After bending all of our gaffs, and towing the shark backwards for the better part of an hour to ensure it was dead, it took all 3 crew plus Grady almost an hour to drag the shark through the tuna door. And it took 6 men and a hydraulic winch to drag the fish off the boat onto the dock. We didn't have a scale big enough to weigh the fish, but the "plug" weighed 140 kilograms (308 lbs) so we are estimating the gross weight of the mako at about 500 lbs. Inside the stomach we found the head (minus the bill) and a good portion of the swordie. And now Tabby and Grady have a very nice mako jaw for their wall in St. Croix!

• Donald & Susan Leas brought their twin sons William and Thomas (age 1 1/2) to Venezuela for their first out-of-the-country experience, with Uncle Rock Leas and Jan Schneider also along to help manage the boys (who are veritable devils, as one would guess from their ages). The twins didn't fish, but Don and Rock put in three days aboard Courtesan, releasing two blue marlin. Although the weather has been very calm, and the water temperature has gone up almost 5 degrees in the last week or so, the bait seems scarce and so the bite has been slow. Hopefully things will "light up" here as the moon has just passed its second quarter- in March, the period right after the full moon was spectacular.
• Raymond Webb, Kandace Kistner and Charles Aldridge fished 2 days in mid-month, going 6 for 7 on blue marlin Friday and 1 for 3 on Sunday. Despite their exceptional day on the 11th they took Saturday off to go exploring in Caracas (choosing shopping over fishing?), so your webmaster got to play hookey from the computer and we managed to add two more blue marlin and a nice yellowfin tuna to the year's statistics. Sunday they released another blue, and caught a nice tuna and a couple of dorado. Nice going!
• Steve Schmeusser, Dan Raff and Joe Sbriglia (all offshore mates from the Ocean City area) took a "busman's holiday" and came fishing with the Courtesan crew early in April, releasing 5 blue marlin, a sailfish and a white marlin in their three days. They produced a (regular) Grand Slam on the 5th.

• Old Flash Reports Index
• An overview of Marina Portofino
• Important information for visiting vessels and crews is now available at Port Entry Procedures
• A brief "How-To" for Owners and Captains regarding Legal Charters in Venezuela
• Read or Download our Dockage Contract and Yacht Registration Form
• QCA (Questions Captains Ask) (A list of FAQs by and for Captains)
• FAQs of General Interest about fishing conditions, accommodations, travel, etc.