The River has been full of great action this month with Snook and other yummy species finding the hooks.
Take a look at these beauties:
That’s what I call bringing home the bacon!
After many months of pleading by the Fuppernos, the government sent some scientists and officials to test the river water for contamination.
There are suspicions that poachers upstream are using chemicals to harvest fish from the river and that is obviously dangerous to all Nosarenos.
The scientists took samples and are currently running them at a government laboratory.
Also the Fuppernos (Friends of the River) are staying on task by keeping the river clean and free of garbage; the return of the seasonal rains means that lots of junk is flowing down the mountain and only through the vigilance of the Fuppernos can the river thrive.
Recently the rains also brought a treat: this amazing triple rainbow! What a great blessing:
The Explorer is on a roll this week with the Yella Fellas and Randy Powell was the latest to enjoy Super Panga fishing.
This pair of Yellowfin Tunas are just right to fill the refrigerator for Randy’s time in Nosara. He has a trip planned later this week on the Wanderer so let’s hope this was a nice warmup for some offshore action.
Dave Wenzel was back in action on the Wanderer hoping to follow up his Sailfish release from earlier in the week with the crown jewel of offshore billfishing: a big bad Marlin! Captain William took the blue beauty 10 miles offshore and the monster came calling at 1:28pm.
Dave showed his Northeast Florida angling mettle as he strapped in to fight the furious beast.
Young son: “Why is Alex shaking the fish so violently?”
Dad: “Son, that’s the fish shaking the man!”
After a harrowing 25 minute battle Mr. Wenzel brought the beast alongside the Wanderer for a wonderful release.
Another amazing release by First Mate Alex, complete with his signature romantic sendoff
From Dave’s Facebook page: “I enjoyed the Wanderer 4 days and and only switched from David on the Explorer the last day (after they slammed the yellowfin I may add) to chase that Marlin dream.”
“I saw her, I hooked her, I fought her, she jumped a lot, Alex the mate and I landed her, then I jumped up and down like a 12 year old!!!!!”
“I did it, I won, 400 lb Blue Marlin. Now a bottle of Advil and an Imperial!
“Thanks to Alex for all the coaching and talk of techniques and information of the entire fishery. We enjoyed our entire visit. Well done NPR!”
The offshore action was slowed today by some rainy conditions, so the Wanderer stayed inside for most of the trip and dropped lines to the bottom.
Team Wenzel added a few morsels for the dinner table as well in the form of this small White Tuna and a tasty Ciero Mackerel.
The action was a bit slow, but the crew of the Wanderer keeps the mood light and fun no matter the scorecard. First Mate Alex showed Mr. Wenzel some of his signature knots, while Captain William found a small school of dolphins to the client’s delight.
Tracy Wenzel had a big Wahoo on the line, but ended up losing it after a few titanic leaps; The fact that she managed to hook the beast with spinning tackle is an accomplisment on its own, but clearly the fight was slanted in the fish’s favor on this encounter.
Still, it was a nice day of fishing with some filets to show for it. Team Wenzel is all smiles, showing their true Florida angling roots…let’s see if their patience will pay off as they have a few more trips on the schedule this week.
Conway Johnson and Savanna Blue joined Team Wenz for a big time on the Explorer with Captain David and had two nice Yellowfin Tunas to show for their efforts.
They will surely be popular at whichever restaurant they haul these meaty filets into.
It’s a family affair when our buddy Wade Boyken comes to visit, as this time he was joined by two youngsters eager to show the world how it’s done in the hard-fishing community of Merritt Island, FL. Wade and his boys had a triple sailfish release on their last trip to Nosara, and on their 2013 excursion the first fish of the day was a true fish of a lifetime:
This Blue Marlin weighs well over 400lbs. and is the kind of monster that would challenge a full-grown man; goes to show that these Florida kids can fish!
Even Captain William wanted to get a picture taken with this monster; regular readers of this report know that the Master Captain usually stays behind the camera, so the fact that he wanted this fish for his scrapbook really speaks to the might of this Marlin.
Later a nice Sailfish hit the spread and the boys worked together to bring her in. No fighting chair necessary when you have excellent teamwork like this:
What a fantastic family trip for Wade Boyken and the boys; we can’t wait to see them around Nosara again in the future.
Eric Thorne brought his son along on the Wanderer for an inshore fishing trip and this Tallahassee, FL-based angling duo nabbed some nice fish for the dinner table.
The heavy fish was this 25lbs. Amberjack, which unlike their Atlantic Ocean brethren are in fact quite good to eat here on the Pacific coast. Another exciting highlight was this bite-sized Dorado caught by young Mr. Thorne.
Great day of family fishing on the mighty Wanderer for Eric Thorne.
Chuck Elzer, Vicki, Elizabeth and Chuck IV returned to the Wanderer for a final pass at the blue water behemoths, and the amazing flagship delivered a dream trip for these Florida anglers. How about TWO Marlin releases backed-up by two mammoth Bull Dorados.
If this were their scorecard for the whole week it would be impressive; to do it in just 5 hours is truly FishingNosara Hall of Fame worthy!
The first Marlin came in at 2:15pm and was a mammoth fish. Looks at the shoulders on this monster; it looks like it’s been bench-pressing since elementary school.
Here’s what Chuck wrote in his email:
“This day of fishing was beyond my wildest expectations! I was hoping for a sail but didn’t really expect an opportunity for marlin. The marlin has always been one of those “must” experiences for me.”
“Not only did I get to experience it, my family did too! No photo or video can come close to the experience of seeing and feeling the power and majesty of that fish. I look forward to recommending Nosara to everyone I know.”
After a safe release by First Mate Alex, the Wanderer continued to troll for about 30 minutes when the outrigger line reported a strong strike. Once this big Bull Dorado reared it’s head, the word ‘strong’ seems like an understatement…this greenie looks like the Incredible Hulk!
With all these filets it’s clear that the Elzers are either A.) Going to have a huge dinner tonight, B.) Make lots of friends around town by giving away filets, or C.) Need to buy several FishingNosara soft coolers to bring these filets back to Florida.
Time was running out on the Elzer’s fishing adventure when the ‘Never Surrender’ attitude ofCaptain William and the Wanderer shone brightly. At 4:20pm a second massive Marlin took the hook and the posse strapped in for the final battle of the week.
What a perfect send-off for the Elzer’s…their four day adventure on the Wanderer is over for now, but the memories (and photos) will last a lifetime!
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…the Wanderer returned to the near-shore reef system again with Chuck Elzer and guess what they found: more big White Tuna!
Clearly the Elzer’s are some hungry anglers because they must have filled their refrigerator by now after two excellent days of White Tuna harvesting.
Anyone who has been to Garza is impressed by the authentic, laid-back nature of this classic little fishing village. However this rustic feel has it’s drawbacks as municipal services are slow to react to the growth in popularity of fishing in Garza.
Trash accumulation is one of these services that are lacking, so we took the initiative to create this garbage collection station to help keep Garza clean and beautiful.
Nice work by Javier, Arturo, and the rest of the NPR staff to put this project together. If everyone pitches in then we can keep Garza clean without sacrificing her native authenticity.
After many months of pleading by the Fuppernos, the government sent some scientists and officials to test the river water for contamination.
