On Day 3 of their Costa Rican Fishing Adventure, John Michael Burling and his group hooked up one of the nicest Blue Marlin of the season. This fish tore through the spread hot and heavy picking off baits until First Mate Alex dropped a fateful pitch bait to the beast. Captain William spun the boat around and keep this monster on a short leash…too much slack and this baby would be a memory.
After a vigorous half-hour battle this Blue Marlin was ready to be released to do battle another day.
Dennis Seltsam came to Nosara with a singular purpose: Catch the fish of a lifetime! This Kentucky angler booked the Wanderer for a full day of Marlin hunting and I’d say the time spend traveling and trolling paid off.
Take a look at this beastie:
This Blue Marlin is estimate to weigh 250lbs. which isn’t exactly a record breaker, but look at that girth! This barrel-shaped torpedo gave Mr. Seltsam a heck of a fight but once again Captain William and the Wanderer prevailed victorious.
Great safe release as always by First Mate Alex!
Dennis will be working the inshore reefs tomorrow with Captain David on the Explorer and we’ll see if the good times keep rolling.
Legendary day for the mighty Wanderer and the Zach Condon group. This New Hampshire-based angler has seen the results put up by Captain William and First Mate Alex for other New Englanders (most recently the Mukon family) and he immediately booked a full day on the on the flagship.
Zach said they wanted billfish…Fishin’ Accomplished!
As usual the big blue beast delivered the goods for these clients who released a MASSIVE 300+lbs. Blue Marlin and backed that up with a 180lbs. Striped Marlin. They also had a Sailfish but lost it right next to the boat, literally inches from the second Grand Slam of the young season for the Wanderer.
First up was the bad Blue Marlin…this guy is a monster even by Costa Rican standards! Amazing teamwork to safely land this monster and set up a safe Marlin release.
Looks like we need to get a wide angle lens for the camera!
We talk a lot about successful billfish being the result of combining the right boat, angler, and tackle for the job. This dedication to teamwork and precision was on display an hour later when another bodacious billfish beckoned.
Look at this picture from the Striped Marlin battle, and take careful note of everyone’s eyes:
The angler’s eyes are on locked on the fish and she is focused on maintaining tension and winning back line from the Marlin.
Her assistant is baling the line back on to the spool properly, thus freeing the angler from worrying about the tackle.
First Mate Alex is watching the tip of the rod for clues on the Marlin’s next move. He can tell by the faintest jerk or vibration of the rod tip if the fish is about to take off running, dive deep, or charge the boat…by transmitting this info to Captain William at the tiller he provides the Wanderer with a split-second advantage over the Marlin.
“Just one of many videos we took on our recent Costa Rica trip. This one is of a giant Marlin I caught shortly after Marcia and I released a nice double sailfish hookup! It is now thought by most that she is in fact a Black Marlin between 450-500lbs, at first thought to be a Blue Marlin. Worked her aggressively standing and got her boatside in less than hour.”
“We released this fish after after pulling her a good while, her color returned vividly, spectacular and will post that release video soon and some other great vids!”
“Listen closely to the mates first comment as he grabs the bill…….funny….enjoy!” -Tyson Wegman
Make some room in the Hall of Fame for Tyson Wegman! After an excellent day with Captain David on the Explorer, Mr. Wegman and his squeeze took to the Wanderer with the sole intention of catching billfish…what happened is a day of big Marlin and multiple Sailfish releases by the big blue beauty.
They got on the water early and at around 8am the first bills came calling. First Mate Alex set the hook in the first Sailfish and handed off to Tyson when immediately the long outrigger popped out of the clip…another Sailfish was on the hook!
The combination ofย top-notch tackle, consistent angling,ย Captain William’s stellar boat handling brought home this amazing Double Sailfish Release.
This kind of catch is enough to earn Tyson enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, but the fish that came calling an hour later at 9:30am was truly the fish of a lifetime:
Estimated weight: 500+lbs. Released: You betcha. First Mate Alex: He may look exhausted, but you try wrangling a half-ton of billfish in less than an hour and we’ll see how you feel. This capped off two excellent days of fishing for Tyson Wegman and we can’t wait to see him back in Nosara soon…the billfish may not feel this way!
Let’s check out her pictures from this exact moment in time:
Fantastic work by Captain William, Alex, and the Wegman group! You sir, are now officially a legend.
A day that will live forever in the annals of FishingNosara history! First off, Master Captain Vibert on the Cabo welcomed back Ivan DeLuca, a longtime friend and repeat client for a day of offshore billfish hunting. They had some good early action on the troll, then nailed a sweet 150lbs. Striped Marlin.
Meanwhile over on the famous Wanderer client Jesse Feldman and his posse had a counter to Vibert’s great catch. How about a 300lbs. Blue Marlin release?
As icing on the cake they boated a pair of nice yella fellas for the table. It used to be said that the Marlin bite turns off after Easter…Great work by the Wanderer and the Cabo to prove that the Marlin bite down here does in fact stay on well into September.
Michael booked the Wanderer for a great day of fishing with the family today. Captain William kept them on the fish and First Mate Alex along with Captain David on loan from the Explorer brought the big boys home with quickness and skill.
First up was a nice 35lbs. Dorado, but the monsters came up to feed later in the day.
Of course this beauty was safely released.
Michael and his posse added two more great billfish releases to the Wanderer‘s scorecard: a 100lbs. Sailfish and a MASSIVE 300lbs. Blue Marlin. Great work by anglers and crew on this fantastic day!
As the Ship of Fools Tournament neared, the scrimmage match with the Explorer came at a perfect time. Basically the Wanderer was not about to let the litte brother eat all the food.
After Jack’s first sailfish catch on the Super Panga, Captain William came roaring up from behind and immediately put a nice Sailfish on the hook. A short fight and a quick release later and the score was nearly tied with the Explorer holding a slim lead in the form of a Bluefin tuna and a White tuna.
When Alex returned the teasers to the water he noticed that a curious Marlin had popped up about 50 yards behind the boat. He immediately pitched a rigged ballyhoo to the blue monster and set the hook.
So the Wanderer won the scrimmage, but the ability to share spots and tactics certainly helped FishingNosara find its way to the leaderboard come tournament time.
What better way to prepare for the Ship of Fools Tournament than a little intersquad scrimmage between the Wanderer and the Explorer.
On the Super Panga was Captain David, Craig, Matty, and Jack who had their sights set on Sailfish. Sure enough after the daily mopping of stray tunas on the ride out Captain David set the TLDs out in a classic Bait-and-switch high speed spread.
Around 10 am the first bill started shopping the baits, first the short line, then the long outrigger, and finally settling on a bonefish rigged on the shotgun line. The line screamed off and Jack locked in for the fight. In shockingly efficent fight, Jack brought the Sailfish home in 8 minutes. Great work by boat, angler, and Captain.
Meanwhile, the Wanderer was not about to let the litte brother eat all the food. They came roaring up behind the Explorer and immediately put a nice Sailfish on the hook. A short fight and a quick release later and the score was nearly tied with the Explorer holding a slim lead in the form of a Bluefin tuna and a White tuna.
When Alex returned the teasers to the water he noticed that a curious Marlin had popped up about 50 yards behind the boat. He immediately pitched a rigged ballyhoo to the blue monster and set the hook with expert ease.
So the Wanderer won the scrimmage, but the ability to share spots and tactics will no doubt help FishingNosara find its way to the top of the leaderboard this weekend.
On March 22 Rick Solomon and his family were on the Wanderer and caught the fish of a lifetime. This beauty was good enough to land them a spot in the FishingNosara Hall of Fame. Check out this Blue Marlin!
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What a fighter! It is not often that First Mate Alex almost gets pulled in by a fish…good thing David had his back. Despite the strength of this fish, it was live released to battle another day.
