Category: Daily Fishing Updates

September 19, 2011

The unstoppable Captain David has mastered the maneuverable 26-foot Explorer and has her dialed in. He got her back in the water just in time to score some nice ‘off-season’ trips.

With calm seas and sunny skies proving to much to resist, Duane Stanley and his wife decided in the morning to go first for a billfish and come back to shore to catch something to eat on September 19.

Captain David was up for the challenge and brought along First Mate Alex from the Wanderer to do battle with the big boys!

About 8 o’clock they had their first hit and it was a nice Sailfish. The fight was short and fierce with Mrs. Stanley on the reel.

They released this acrobatic species a few minutes later, then came inshore had a field day on multiple species.

First, two nice Yellowfins came up the water column to David’s cloud of irresistible Bonita chunks. Duane made quick work of them and put them on ice. Then a line popped off a little stronger, and everyone thought that a big fish had hit the popper.

When most people think of a ‘double strike’ it is when two lines go off at once…not two fish on the same lure! It’s almost as if the fish missed seeing the Explorer. This Big-Eye Jack and his little Yellowfin companion could not help but throw themselves in the boat.

All of that surface commotion woke up the slumbering reef beasts, and Duane followed up this oddball double catch with a true Hall of Fame monster.

This Cubera Snapper fought like a panther and Duane Stanley earned his Hall of Fame enshrinement by digging his heels into the deck and holding on for dear life. A sweat-drenched, knock-down, drag-out, bareknuckle fish fight ensued with Duane and the Explorer emerging victorious.

Duane wrote us the following email:

“The day was amazing, we had such a good time and those guys down there are great! What are the chances that Snapper makes it on the Hall of Fame?”

It was a great day of ‘off-season’ fishing for the Explorer and clearly the clients, crew and Captain were all pumped to be on the water. Hall of Fame fishing for sure!

August 24, 2011

With the rains coming and the season almost over, Captain David welcomed client Marc Carson for North Carolina for a five-hour fishing trip and he came away with some excellent Yellowfin Tuna and a nice Sailfish release.


Great work by Captain David to squeeze every drop out of the Explorer‘s maiden season.ย  Look our for this legendary boat to raise the bar even higher in 2012.


August 21, 2011

Craig Sutton and Danny “Shake and Bake” Baker were honored to welcome Lifetime FishingNosara Hall of Famer Seรฑorita Richmond Phipps to the Wanderer for an excellent trip that covered the entire fishery both offshore and inshore. Sra. Phipps got things going early and taught the boys exactly how Costa Rica billfishing is done.

They obviously learned a thing or two because Danny followed up Richmond’s catch with a beautiful Sailfish of his own.

As the day wore on the Wanderer proceeded inshore to see what tasty morsels they could pull off the reef. Craig and Danny bent a few rods and piled the fishbox with a Yellow Tail Snapper and a Gilguero Snapper.

Great work by a true FishingNosara legend, the one-and-only Richmond Phipps!

August 20, 2011

Our new friend Wade Boyken from Merritt Island, Florida began his first of multiple days of fishing on the Wanderer with a huge day of Sailfish strikes.ย  Captain William took them offshore where the Sailfish bite has been absolutely incredible the last few weeks.

Check out these great Sailfish releases:



By the end of this trip the Boyken bunch released 3 nice Sailfish. Wade has more trips coming this week. Stay tuned!

August 19, 2011

On August 19 US Representative for FishingNosara Craig Sutton was on the Wanderer for an afternoon billfish hunt with Captain William and First Mate Alex. Joined by Danny Baker of Virginia Beach, they started off with a nice-sized Dorado (about 30lbs.) and then started raising Sailfish left and right. Out of nine potential strikes the boys managed to catch and release three beautiful Sailfish.

August 17, 2011

It’s been raining for the last few days but yesterday the weather finally lifted and client Mark Carson took to the Explorer for a half-day fishing with Captain David. They got a few Bonitas for use as strip bait then headed offshore to where the swarms of Sailfish were before the rains (see August 8-12).


Though not as thick as before, Mr. Carson still caught and released a nice Sailfish. It’s good to see that the rain didn’t impact the fishing too much and we think that the next few days may provide one of the last weather windows for a few months. Good perseverance by the Explorer.

August 12, 2011

Jeff and Brian Bickel had such a good time on the Wanderer that they signed up for an additional day of fishing with Captain William and First Mate Alex. After going 4 out of 6 on Sailfish a few days ago, the Brothers Bickel were looking to improve upon an already legendary performance.

The Wanderer went back out to Sailfish Alley and started pulling the high-speed lures over the blue water break. Around 10am the first strike came in the form this big Yellowfin Tuna on a C +ย  H Black/Orange lure.


The bill collectors came calling in the early afternoon as several hungry Sailfish started tearing through the spread.

Sailfish hunt in pairs and First Mate Alex has perfected the art of the double header hook-up. Alex quickly sets the hook when the first one hits and Captain William angles the fish so that the backside of the spread can remain deployed.

With an angler keeping the first fish honest, Alex then drops back a pitch bait to the other Sailfish and the double header is on! Many clients have achieved this feat in the already-history-making 2011 season, but very few managed to pull the feat off twice on one trip!

Make room in the Hall of Fame for the Bickels! Excellent job by Captain William, First Mate Alex, and the famous Wanderer.

August 11, 2011

The Wanderer is on fire this week with the scorecard showing lots of Sailfish releases heading into a full day trip with Dr. Robert Barrett and his crew from Orlando, FL. While on the way out to the blue water, Captain William spotted the telltale splash of a spinning porpoise school and we all know what that means…Yellowfin Tuna Frenzy!


The Florida boys deployed our arsenal of Williamson Jet Poppers into the mass of bubbling water and started pulling Yella Fellas in at a rapid-fire pace. They knocked out fourteen Yellowfin Tunas before moving on to the deep water.


The offshore Sailfish boulevard is still thick with pelagics as evidenced by Robert Barrett’s two monstrous releases. Great trip by Dr. Roberto and the posse…tons of good-eatin’ Yellas and a pair of world class billfish as well!


August 10, 2011

It has been ‘Sailfish City’ ever since the rain cleared up two weeks ago, and August 10 will go down in history has one of the best days in FishingNosara history. Both the Wanderer and Explorer released big sails today, plus Captain William delivered some of the best fish-fighting photos this report has ever seen.

Martin Epstein from Florida has four trips scheduled this week and his first day on the Wanderer got his acclimated to the fantastic fishing we have in Nosara. Things got started quickly with a nice 35lbs. Dorado in the fishbox and sushi on the plate.

Later Captain William expertly found the blue water / green water break and First Mate Alex switched over to brightly colored lures to take advantage of the clear water. The Sailfish were thick and came swarming through the spread in waves.


After the first five releases and with First Mate Alex’ arms about to fall off, Captain William masterfully billed and released the final Sailfish. The Wanderer’s scorecard shows 6 Sailfish, all released.


Marty and his posse have two more days on the Wanderer and a trip with Captain David on the Explorer booked for this week, so look out for Mr. Epstein to continue his assault on the blue water.

Speaking of the Explorer, client Tyler Malmstrom from New Jersey caught the fish of a lifetime with Captain David very close to when the Wanderer was fishing. So close that Captain William snapped this amazing sequence of the entire fight all the way from the hook to the capture/photo to the safe release. Amazing photos of an amazing fish!







Here is the email we got from Manuel:
I have to tell you man. Tyler had one of the best trip he ever had in his life. He released 4 sails and lost 2. He never caught big fish before.

When he booked with me he said, “Manuel, I want to catch big fish.” I said, “Let’s do it man”. This guy was totally crazy this afternoon.

Regular readers of this blog always inquire as to the authorship of this thing…basically “Who writes the blog?” The fact is that it is a communal effort between Craig and Matty in the US office, the Captains/crew taking the photographs, and Concierge #1 Manuel passing the information between these two elements separated by 1500 miles and a language barrier.

Great work by the Captains, Clients, and crews…and especially great work by Manuel #1. Pura Vida!

August 9, 2011

Robert Barrett and his boys from Orlando, FL had a nice trip on the morning of August 9 on the Wanderer. They started on the bottom fishing with our Cuberra Snapper Tactic and guess what? They caught a 35lbs. Cubera Snapper along with three Yella fellas.

The good fishing continued offshore as they topped off the trip by releasing two nice Sailfish. The first one came in on the long shotgun line and David (on loan from the Explorer) billed and captured this beauty. Nice work by the young Mr. Barrett to keep this fish healthy for its release…even First Mate Alex was impressed by the boy’s strength in keeping the fish off of the gunwale:
The next Sailfish was business as usual for First Mate Alex:

Great performance, no? This super-productive day shows what is possible even this late into the season. Great work by the Wanderer and Roberto Barrett!