Costa Rica Fishing Report Archive | FishingNosara
The Explorer is back in the water and she is primed for another season of rocking and rolling on the Costa Rican blue water. This year she has a new trick up her sleeve: a beautiful new bow rail which converts the prow of the Super Panga into a full-fledged casting platform.
As if the Explorer wasn’t scary enough for the reef dwellers, now Captain David has a new arrow in the quiver. Keep an eye right here on the FishingNosara blog as the season gets fired up this week.
You think Captain David isn’t itching to get back in the water? Check out what he built this week:
C’mon, what Safari Cart is complete without a rod rack? Excellent modification to one of the old Bluesmobiles…Captain David is ready to rock!
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FishingNosara Year in Review (click any month for the full report)
November 2010 Also local fisherman Eduardo Berrios had some great catches and Juan Adriatico welcomed the massive Cuberra Snappers back into the fishbox. Great start to the season!
Things continued to improve in December with several Marlin releases on the scorecard. The Lougran Wedding was a great fiesta on the NPR campus, plus the boys did a number on a behemoth Broomtail Grouper. Our buddies Charly and Silvia also took out a few massive Yella fellas on the blue beauty. Steve Mears also hooked up a Hall of Fame Blue Marlin and a bunch of kids from California had a blast on the Wanderer. January 2011 Steve and Alex Levine put the first billfish in the Explorer with a beautiful Sailfish release while the Wanderer welcomed Roy and Cathy Cox, Henry Doggrell, and Ed Haynes; all had huge fish.
The bottom fishing was top-notch as well with tons of Tunas, Snappers, Groupers, and more caught on the Explorer and the Wanderer. This month also marked the first shipment of Safari Carts to Guiones Beach and they have become legendary around town. March 2011 Meanwhile, the Marlin began to get scarce and the Sailfish swooped in and started tearing up the spreads. March brought the first double billfish releases of the season which was a sign of things to come in 2011.
Ricky Soloman, Eric Kelly, and Brian Ware also scored nice Marlin releases as the Wanderer ended the month with 12 billfish releases in a 10 day span. May 2011 Another Hall of Fame day was had by Mike Cothran with multiple billfish releases including a nice Striped Marlin. Also Captain David welcomed our new friend Eddie McGowan for a feast over the reefs.
Also in June was the biggest Marlin of the season scored by newly minted Hall of Famers Tyson Wegman and Marcia Mulford. This team also scored a double Sailfish release to go with the mammoth Marlin.
Jennie and Johnny Daniels had an excellent honeymoon trip with Captain David and we welcome our great friend Greg Vetto back to Nosara for some great fishing.
The Wanderer was slap full of Yellowfin tuna by the end of the month with multiple Yella fellas over 100lbs.  The Marlin left town in August and FishingNosara changed our address to ‘Sailfish City’. It was not unusual to have reports of five or six releases per trip this month; this trend was hammered home by the Brothers Bickel who had two double Sailfish releases in one day! Throw in some Dorados, Cuberras, and big Yella fellas and you have one of the best months in FishingNosara history. With most of the other boats on the hill, FishingNosara kept thing popping in September with some great Sailfish releases. Client Marc Carson on the Explorer caught the fish of a lifetime with Captain David while Captain William and First Mate Alex stayed on the Sailfish with Wade Boyken on the Wanderer.
We finished the season with a pair of excellent Sailfish releases by the legendary Senorita Richmond Phipps. With her blessing, we put the 2011 season to rest with high hopes for another amazing season of Costa Rican sportfishing in 2012.
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We always have two eyes on the ocean: one for good fishing conditions, and the other for good surf.
Fortunately a good buddy of ours has set up and all new surf forecast blog called DaBuh’s Surf Forcast. Check out the kind of charts he has on his site:
In addition to this live surf intelligence this blog has lots of good content on a variety of surf topics and is a fun read.ย Keep an eye on DaBuh for more additions and improvements in the coming weeks. Pura Vida!
FishingNosara and Nosara Paradise Rentals have kept the foot on the gas despite the off-season rainy conditions and the subsequent effect they have on conditions in Nosara. Check out this shot from our buddy Coconut Harry of the gas station in Nosara:
Manuel contributed this shot from earlier in the week:
Still, work continues around the Nosara Paradise Rentals campus as we prepare to make 2012 a banner year. Casa Neptune was the final house to get a fresh coat of paint and it came out perfect as always.
Meanwhile Captain David and Cumy have given the trusty Land Cruiser a thorough bumper-to-bumper inspection and she is all set for another great year ferrying our clients to and from the airports, not to mention hauling the boats in and out of the water!
Captain William and First Mate Alex have the Wanderer almost all the way tightened up and ready for another season of great fishing; Alex applied his carpentry skills to this new tabletop in the cabin which will serve as a great place to prepare tackle at the start of the day and prepare sushi at the end of the day!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and FishingNosara is proud to introduce our new Pink Safari Cart! A portion of the proceeds from the rental of this beautiful buggy will benefit breast cancer research…not just in October but forever! Special thanks to Craig Sutton Jr. of All Jakd Up Motorsports in Jacksonville for the custom paint job.
Finally, Craig and Matty are beating a path all over the Southeastern US promoting FishingNosara. We have begun offering a stellar vacation package at select Coastal Conservation Association Florida events and have had super time meeting all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts at the banquets.
Also Craig has been making the rounds at the New Smyrna Billfish Invitational and the El Pescado Tournament spreading the Pura Vida spirit. We are looking forward to the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show later this month as well. If you’re in the area c’mon and see us!
After a great day of fishing with Kurt Stecken, Captain David noticed the clear weather was sticking around and decided to squeeze in a quick family trip this morning. Joined by Nosara Paradise Rentals GM Javier Hernandez, Captain David and Betsy had a very fruitful 3 hour morning trip.
Nice roosterfish! Estimated to weigh 25lbs, this rooster was released. Later in the morning these locals put some dinner on the table in the form of three nice Yellowfin Tunas and a Yellowtail snapper.
It’s always great with our staff gets some time on the water. When one considers the effort to launched and recover both boats in a single morning it is clear that Javier and Captain David deserved some fun fishing. Awesome work!
With boat repair going faster than anticipated and a two-day break in the rains approaching, the Captains and crew of FishingNosara dared to ask the question “What off-season?”
Both the Explorer and Wanderer were in action today with client Kurt Stecken separating his group between the two boats. Launching and recovering two big boats at a time on the beach is no easy feat, but Cumi and Javier are pros and got the vessels floating with minimal troubles. Even better is both groups of clients reported excellent catches.
On the Explorer the action was consistent and fruitful to the tune of nine Yella fellas and a pair of 20lbs. Amberjacks. They also had a curious Sailfish knocking around behind the teasers but he wasn’t hungry.
Check out the water behind this client and his Amberjack…the Wanderer had some big action going on as well!
Sure enough the big blue beauty was busy packing the fishbox. They started a little slow with a small Jack and a quartet of Bonitas, then the lines started popping off with some big fish.
The Wanderer scorecard for the day shows six nice Yellowfin Tuna and a massive 60lbs.+ Amberjack. Clearly, they caught enough fish for the party tonight. Big fish, full bellies and happy clients…it’s what FishingNosara is all about!
The Ostinal Turtle Migration is in full effect! From August to December these ancient creatures arrive to nearby Playa Ostinal to lay their eggs; after 14 days the hatchlings make a mad dash for the sea. Due to human interference, there are only 6 places left on Earth where this phenomenon can be witnessed.
If you are planning on visiting the Nosara area in the next few months you do not want to miss this event. FishingNosara offers guided Safari Tours to Ostinal for both the arrividad and regresso, so make sure you plan a day for the turtles.
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!
February was a Marlin month for George Shipley and Dennis Paul who both nailed Hall of Fame-caliber monsters.
