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Sometimes timing is everything.
The Friday before Halloween, at a Boy Scout charity luncheon, my friend Nat Harris—who fishes Guatemala annually—showed me an email from his booking agent, Herb Rosell of South Fishing Inc. The email said the blue marlin had shown up, and that Intensity, owned and captained by Mike Sheeder, had a cancellation for Halloween weekend. I pondered for a second, then asked Nat to forward it. I sent it to my son, JT Coley—my usual fishing partner in Guatemala—to see if he could make it. He replied immediately: “Book it.” I reached out to Herb, and by the following Friday—Halloween—we were on our way.
To say the first day started out intense would be an understatement. Capt. Sheeder explained that we’d be pulling a spread of teasers and, once a billfish showed in the spread, he’d call out the location so JT could pitch a bait to entice the bite and come tight. It’s an incredibly exciting way to fish: you see the fish in the spread, work the bait, adjust the teasers—everyone moving in rhythm, with the captain orchestrating and the angler constantly reacting. Most times you see the fish eat (and miss), which definitely gets the heart racing.
The plan was for JT—a student at NC State who mates in North Carolina during the summers—to hook all the fish for the experience. Almost immediately after we started, the captain yelled, “Marlin, right teaser!” JT pitched, the fish lit up, came back, took the bait, and the fight was on. Moments after releasing that first blue, the captain called another. JT pitched, hooked up, and released our second.
“Put the camera down and take the rod,” JT said. I was confused until he added, “There’s another one swimming in the spread.” I grabbed a rod, JT pitched to the second blue, and suddenly we were on a doubleheader. Capt. Sheeder skillfully maneuvered the boat as we swapped sides, trying not to lose either fish. After releasing JT’s, we focused on mine and, about 15 minutes later, we had a successful doubleheader release.
We were thrilled—and we had no idea it was just the beginning. JT pitched and hooked three more blues, and we released them. I checked the time: 10:45 a.m. We had just pitched and caught six blue marlin, standing up on 25s (30‑pound tackle), in an hour and 45 minutes, averaging about 200 pounds. Exhilarating. We rounded out the afternoon with a few sails.
The next day, Capt. Sheeder decided we’d try live-baiting for blues. We caught several bonitas and kept the bigger ones for bait to better our chances. Live-baiting requires the angler to sit by the rod and hold the line in hand; the captain said if you feel a violent tug, hold on as long as you can until it rips free. That morning, JT hooked and released two even larger blues, both putting on a show—jumping and tail-walking, with one nearly coming into the boat. It was electric. That afternoon, the blue bite slowed, but we released nine more sailfish.
On the third morning the bite was slow, so around 11 o’clock we switched to a more conventional spread, and the classic Guatemalan sailfish action turned on. We released 24 sails, including four doubleheaders, for nonstop chaos in the best way.
In three days, we released eight blue marlin and 35 sailfish. I doubt anything will ever match the “intensity” of that first morning aboard Intensity.
