Costa Rica Fishing Report Archive | FishingNosara
Our new friend Kristina Peleaz had one of those fishing days that will either make you an angler-for-life or quit the game all together. She had a Marlin on the outrigger but it resisted the urge to strike. Then she lost two big Dorados after prolonged battles.
Finally she caught a pair of Rock Snappers for the dinner table and a quartet of Bonitas for sport. Still I am sure she is haunted by the ghosts of the big fish that could have been.
Client Thomas Ellrott enlisted the concealed weapon Adventurer and Captain Carlos put him on top of the fish in virtually no time at all. Along with his young son, Mr. Ellrott caught a big old Conrio on just a 2.5 hour excursion.
Excellent work by the little boat set on building a big reputation.
Team VenHousen went back-to-back multiple sailfish days on the Wanderer on their second of four trips. Look at this trio of Pacific Sailfish released by this family from the Badger state:
Amazing job by Captain William to hunt these babies down and by First Mate Alex to coordinate the safe release of these majestic creatures.
They had five Sails interested in the spread and totaled three releases; that’s a great catch ratio! Plus they added this nice Dorado for the dinner table:
The VenHousen family has two more days booked on the mighty Wanderer this weekend so look out for more great catches.
The Adventurer is building a derringer-like reputation for packing a massive wallop into a small frame. Look at this Grouper that Captain Carlos put his clients on this morning:
We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating that the fish don’t care how big your boat is. Excellent work by the diminutive Adventurer.
John VenHousen brought his wife and daughter down to Nosara from Wisconsin and booked the family-friendly Wanderer for several 6.5 hour fishing trips.
Captain William took the Wanderer 20 miles off-shore to find good clean blue water. First Mate Alex deployed the spread at 11:30am and at just past noon the first big monster came calling. Mrs. VenHousen seized the reel and brought this beauty all the way in for a clean release.
At 1:30 another acrobatic Sailfish attacked and put on an amazing show for the VenHousens. Look at this girl fly!
John won back line from the beast and added the second Sailfish release of the day. Great start to a full week of fishing for these Wisconsin anglers.
It is a true delight to welcome back Captain Don Dingman and his crew from Hook the Future for a week of fishing and fun. He has some great kids lined up for educational fishing excursions later in the week, but on Don’s first day he and the crew got themselves re-acquainted with the big Pacific Sailfish.
The first big Sailfish came early, just before 9am. Captain Don brought her home for a quick release and set her free.
With the ice broken, the Hook the Future team broke out the cool camera toys and shot some extremely awesome footage. When the second Sailfish came it at 11am, Captain Don strapped up the GoPro HD Headmounted camera and got up close and personal with this beauty.
As 1pm approached the bite intensified, and this time is was Rebecca’s turn to land a marine monster. She was apt on the reel and brought this big girl home in no time flat. Excellent fishing by this Jacksonville angler!
Around 4pm yet another big beast ripped up the spread and this time Conrad the cameraman got to step out from behind the lens and boat a beautiful beast. Rebecca subbed as camera operator and Captain Don coordinated the release of this fourth Sailfish of the day.
The fifth and final Sailfish of the trip came just before lines out at 5:20pm. This was the biggest fish of the day by far and gave Conrad the chance to break-in his new waterproof pole camera.
The fish obliged the camera by putting on a heck of a show on it’s way to a safe release.
Check out more videos from Captain Don and his personal account of this trip at the Official Salt Life Blog. Pura Vida!
Shortly after the glow of finding our new project hull wore off, we had to address some very tangible obstacles. First off, we had nowhere to store this boat and even if we did, we did not have access to a boat trailer capable of hauling it.
Even if we could haul it, the flying bridge on this boat when fully deployed brings the overall height 26 feet. We plan on modifying the tower to fold down into the cockpit so we can trailer this boat through the narrow winding road around Garza, but as she sits today the top is permanently erect.
Here’s what we can surmise about the Slick Cricket as she was purchased. This is a 1982 T-Craft 30 foot hull with a Cummins B Series Diesel inboard powerplant backed by a TwinDisc Transmission; this vessel was formerly flagged as the Miss Jessi until 1994 when this high-end motor/trans combo was installed.
It’s clear that the former owner sunk all his time and money into the motor and then ran out of both because the rest of the boat shows signs of sloppiness and shortcuts. The rod holders, rubrail, and other through hole fittings are secured with wood screws rather than through-bolts. Virtually none of these important fittings have 5200 sealant in place making this hull a potential sponge of water intrusion.
Also all of the marine fabric throughout the boat is mildewed and rotted so there will be significant sewing needs. Lastly there is a ton of layout changes in store from the rod holders to the fuel fillers…everything must go!
Basically this boat feels ‘slapped together’ and presents a different challenge from our last boat build. The Wanderer was a tight drum of a vessel when we began tearing her to pieces; the Discoverer must restored to a level of strength and quality that she has never known. I must say it is exciting and daunting to breathe life into a hull that has had such a rough existance so far.
This seems like a good time to discuss the most chronic obstacle we will be facing on this build: We have virtually no money for this project.
The revenue generated by FishingNosara and Nosara Paradise Rentals barely covers the overhead, maintenance, staff and expenses inherit in running a resort in Costa Rica.
The reason we are building another boat is not that we have $100,000 burning a hole in our pockets, but because there were too many times this last season where we had to turn away clients because theย Wanderer was already booked. Though we predict that theย Discoverer will likewise be successful it will not begin generating money until she is in the water.
Like most of you readers, the last few years have been tough financially and the last thing we want to do is go into debt or put any of this boat build on credit.
Why am I telling you this? Well, if you want to see the perfect way to do boat work in a perfect shop with an unlimited budget then you may want to look elsewhere.
The FishingNosara Build Team consists of car mechanics, handymen, IT professionals, and other oddball characters and we build our boats with hand tools and guts. We’ve built world-class vessels in a patch of dirt in the rainforest, in an empty warehouse, and this time we’re doing it in the backyard.
Naturally you can take away lots of boat building knowledge from this project and hopefully it helps you on your own boat build. However it is our hope that all marine enthusiasts can draw inspiration from our commitment to hard work and creativity in overcoming obstacles rather than just throwing money at them.
In that spirit our good friend Marcus over at Ft. George Island Marina came through for us huge. He offered us a slip for the boat in his warehouse, use of their megacrane, and space in the yard to knock out the first phase of the project. All he asked in return was that we tear out all the moldy fabric before we make a mess of his facility.
After four sleepless nights of knowing our boat was sitting unprotected at a rickety wooden dock, Craig fired up the diesel and took her up river to the newly-built Ft. George Island Marina. Marcus tucked her into her slip and we all slept a little better that night.
The Discoverer was safe and sound, and we begin to search for a boat trailer and a permanent home for our new prize.
The newly minted Adventurer took client Laurie Anderson and her group out to the Pink Island for a afternoon Snorkel Safari Tour. Captain Carlos took the panga around the west point to the famous Pink Island.
This coral burm pokes out of the sea at low tide, and the island itself provides a barrier to the offshore winds. This keeps the water clear and the current rather slow; the recipe for perfect snorkeling conditions!
Additionally, there are several ancient (and not-so-ancient) sunken ships around this coral island. Laurie’s group enjoyed the snorkel-friendly conditions and had a wonderful time beneath the waves.
Our Snorkeling trips are safe, fun, and very popular with our guests. For those really wanting to take it to the next level, sign up for the new Lobster Tour and bring home some dinner from your Snorkeling excursion.
Client Chuck Perry released 1 sailfish this morning on a 5hr. excursion on the Wanderer. Pictures and details coming soon!
Morgan Trible and Kenny Strickler have built reputations as the most consistent anglers in the area. Hailing from the hard fishing state of Virginia, these guys seem to post Hall of Fame-caliber results every time they hit the water.
On this, their third trip of the week, the boys had a pair of early afternoon Sailfish attack the spread but spit the hooks. They deployed this special live bait spread to coax up another billfish:
The ladies were back in the boat for only 5 minutes before a mack-daddy Sailfish came for a visit. The fight was thrilling but quick as these Virginian’s added another great Sailfish release to their scorecard.
I love the ‘everyone look somewhere besides the camera’ pose here.
Also check out the blue FishingNosara coozie on the right; we have been out of stock of blue coozies for quite some time now, which means one of the guys brought it along from home. Hold on to that coozie, bud…it’s good luck!
With First Mate Alex’s careful assistance, Morgan released this Sailfish clean and ready to fight another day.