Richmond Phipps is FishingNosara’s only Lifetime Achievement Hall of Famer for good reason; she’s been harvesting marine life in this area since the 1970’s and since day one has been a guiding light for our fishing group.
She brought her staff to the Explorer to celebrate Thanksgiving and Captain David did a masterful job of handling the full boat and still catching a whopper.
This lovely Cuberra Snapper wieghs about 35lbs. and is delicious eating. Any larger than this and the filets aren’t quite as dense, but this Snapper is right in the sweet spot for excellent table fare.
Buck Davis has come to Nosara from the wonderful town of Kingsland, GA just up the road from our home office in North Florida, and he has brought the healthy appetite for fun that makes South Georgia famous.
His group got things rolling on the Explorer for an inshore meat harvest with plans to move offshore in the Wanderer later this week.
The fishbox got full early with this nice 30lbs. Dorado; perfect for sandwiches and sushi! Later in the day they scored a handsome Amberjack estimated to weigh 25lbs.
Let’s see what fortunes the deep blue water hold for these Georgia anglers later this week.
Brad and Annette Negaard are visting Nosara from good ole’ Jacksonville, FL and they are just the most recent in a long line of First Coast anglers who’ve successfully invaded Sailfish City. The Wanderer headed offshore at 7am armed for battle and as usual the mighty flagship delivered the goods.
The Negaard’s are proud alums of Jacksonville University (mascot: Dolphins) so it is fitting that Annette and Brad bested two of the baddest fish in the ocean. Even in Costa Rica, Dolphins are smarter than Sailfish.
They had a double hook-up leading to a pair of safe releases, plus had a third Sailfish escape just a few yards from the boat. Great performance from these Northeast Florida anglers! Here’s the second release:
The Negaards have another trip on the schedule for the 20th so stay tuned!
William Lukof wanted to get his place at the recently crowded Dorado table and chose Captain David of the Explorer to make his reservation. The 26-foot super panga trolled about 5 miles offshore and found this meaty Mahi on the end of the line.
Mr. Lukof made short work of this fish and returned to shore with a few hefty sacks full of fresh fish filets. Great performance by the indefatigable Explorer.
Francois Bernier joined Captain David and Mate Carlos on the unstoppable super panga for a 3.5 hour inshore fishing trip early in the morning on November 17. The Explorer took her usual spot over the reefs of Pincha Padre and Monsieur Bernier reeled in this excellent Amberjack.
Francois is moving up to the Wanderer for a date with some billfish in early December, but until then he can chow down on some fresh fish filets.
Our new buddy TJ Conrads brought his family down from Boise, ID to take aim at some big game. TJ is an interesting adventurer who wrote the book on traditional longbow hunting (hunting with a wooden bow and arrows that he literally makes).
He has hunted with bow and arrow all over the world, in every different place you can imagine. An outdoorsman’s outdoorsman, TJ was also thrilled with the idea of offshore Costa Rican fishing.
Fortunately the Wanderer never leaves port without a full quiver and Captain William set his aim offshore at the blue water beasties.
Things got off to a fast start with this bright green Dorado finding its way to the ice chest in the first hour of the half day trip.
This respectable Dorado clocks in around 25lbs. and will certainly keep the family fed for the week.
Captain William guided the Wanderer a little further offshore into billfish territory and on cue a mean pair of Sailfish took off with baits just after 10am.
TJ and the posse reeled ’em in while the crew coordinated the daring and difficult Double Sailfish Release.
Great safe fish-handling like always by the incomparable First Mate Alex, and truly a fishing feat for the ages by TJ Conrads and his family.
We look forward to seeing Mr. Conrads again down the road…can’t say the same for these fellas:
Bruce Birkett ain’t scared of some hardcore fishing action, and he proved that by signing up Captain Carlos and the Adventurer for five straight day of action. On their first excursion Mr. Birkett slayed the some big Dorados. Check out the king of the crop:
We are excited for Bruce’s good action so far and are pumped up to see what he can make happen on the 23′ Panga this week. Stay tuned!
Bill Harris and the boys rejoined the Wanderer and followed up their Dorado haul from Wednesday with an equally fruitful Yellowfin Tuna harvest. Captain William guided the flagship about 6 miles offshore to the deep water break and started knocking out Yella Fellas on a high speed troll.
They ended up with six tasty Yellowfin Tunas in the box plus added a pair of Dorado for good measure.
This is our first big Yellowfin harvest of the season and you know that First Mate Alex was itching to get the sushi tray out. Fresh sushi on the boat is one of the FishingNosara traditions, and it always makes for some big smiles.
Bill and the boys are pumped up and have added one more fishing day on November 10. Let’s see if they have some luck with the billfish on their final day in Nosara.
The legendary Bill Harris has returned to Nosara along with his buddies from west central Florida. Once again he has signed up the Wanderer for two full days of offshore marine harvesting, and we are happy to report that his first trip went splendidly.
The Dorado bite has been fully-on this season yet no one could predict that these fellas would haul in ten green monsters in the course of the 8 hour trip. The biggest tipped the scales at 45lbs. with several respectable fish also ending up in the box.
What an amazing performance from these Florida anglers. Now that dinner is taken care of for the week we expect Bill Harris to go billfish hunting tomorrow. Stay tuned for updates as they are available.
