Costa Rica Fishing Report from FishingNosara
Costa Rica Fishing Report Archive | FishingNosara
Sam and Karen Guthrie capitalized on the swarms of Sailfish that have been blowing through our area like locusts. The mighty Wanderer put these clients in front of several super Sailfish.
After Sam fought and released the first one, it was Karen’s turn on the reel.
Wouldn’t you know that a second sail took the bait and set the table for another legendary Double Sailfish release.
Great work by Captain William putting them on the fish and First Mate Alex on the safe releases!
Becky Hogan is famous in Jacksonville for running the legendary charter vessel The Mayport Princess, but her performance on the Wanderer stands out as one of the great fishing feats our team has ever witnessed. Along with her family and the crew, Ms. Hogan laid the smack down on a whole mess of Pacific billfish.
Topping the scorecard is two massive Marlin releases, both Stripeys and both bad to the bone.
Between Marlin bouts Becky also suplexed four Pacific Sailfish including a awe-inspiring Double Sailfish Release.
Amazing work by First Mate Alex to safely handle and release all of these wonderful billfish.
Now don’t go thinking that these anglers went away hungry…Becky and the boys backed up the trophy releases with seven Dorados ranging between 20lbs. – 30lbs.
That’s a legendary performance from a legendary Jacksonville angler!
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!
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).
For 30 years he has published Tradtional Bowhunter Magazine which is the leading voice in the field.
Mr. Conrads is also the author of the “Traditional Bowhunter’s Handbook” (left).
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:
Our new friend Ross Boyce is a world beating angler who comes to us from Brisbane, Australia. His email to us was so good that we’ve decided to reproduce it verbatim:
Great day yesterday, although nearly didn’t get to go. Overnight Wednesday we had the obligatory thunderstorm but with the loudest and most continuous thunder I have heard in my life and the most intense rain here for quite a number of years in such a short time; so much so the bridge on the road to Playa Garza had water over the top of the railings. (In actual fact it was to the top, approximately 4 feet over the road.)
Left at 7.30 but because of the rain, the foreshore water was brown and full of debris for about a mile out or more which precluded us from any bottom fishing. So headed for about the 12-14 mile mark out to sea where the swell was varying from 6 to 10 feet. Absolutely no action for trolling from 8.30 to 11.00; by this time we were about 18 –20 mile out then Wham!
Absolutely full of action for the next 2 .5 hours – a total of 6 sailfish caught and released including two double hook ups!!! Huge adrenaline rush.
Carlos (deck hand) and Captain David were brilliant and professional in the execution of boat work, gear rigging and handling of the fish during the capture and release. GREAT JOB….
During the past 2 years I have charter fished on the Great Barrier Reef, other parts of Australia, King fish at Tairua East Coast of New Zealand, Yellow Fin Tuna at Key West Florida, and on this vacation Salmon at Quadra Island, British Columbia before coming to Nosara and can I assure you the operation here is First Class!
Further heavy rain and thunder are expected in the next 24 hours..so will have to wait on the weather for the next charter.
The last picture indicates 5 fingers of the number of fish; but my camera battery ran out..bugger.
Ross Boyce
Manly, Brisbane Australia
currently in Nosara..August 31st
Our new friends Dan and Darlene Houser turned in a fantastic performance today on the Wanderer, posting three total Sailfish releases including the very challenging Double Header Sailfish release!
The solo Sailfish came tearing through the flagship’s spread around 11am and Dan brought him home like an old pro. Check out the colors on this behemoth:
When not working over big billfish, Dan works in the upper ranks of the world of auto racing. Still I’ll bet he’s never seen a photo finish like this one.
These twin racers took the checker at 1:20pm and clearly Team Houser was stoked…I wouldn’t be surprised if Captain William burnt a few doughnuts on the way back to Garza.
Nice safe billfish handling by First Mate Alex to ensure the safe release of all three fish as usual.
Great work by Dan and Darlene on the unbeatable Wanderer!
Craig Sutton, Jr. came to Nosara to celebrate his birthday with his new fiancee Erica and found some time to get on the water with Captain David on the Explorer. With Carlos serving over on the Wanderer, it was up to Craig to function as angler and first mate for the unstoppable Super panga.
After missing on an early strike, the team recovered with a Double Header Sailfish release around 10:30am. Craig had to fight the first fish from a stationary boat as Captain David cleared the lines with one hand and hooked the second fish with his other hand.
“I’ve caught a lot a Sailfish, but this was the first one that talked to me,” Craig later commented. “He covered 25 feet in a single jump and it was all I could do to keep the line from falling into the water.”
After a quick release shot Craig billed the second fish; though not the behemoth of the first one, you can tell from the strain on Craig’s face that this fish was also a serious beast.
Like any good future husband, Craig also stopped to pick up dinner on the way home in the form of this nice 15lbs. Bluefin Tuna.
After racking the biggest Cubera Snapper of the season over on the Explorer, Steve Creasey turned in another Hall of Fame – worthy performance on the mighty Wanderer. This Clearwater, FL based angler had five Sailfish in the spread and ended up releasing four of the mighty beasts.
The first three fish came calling all at once, and it took careful coordination between First Mate Alex in the cockpit and Captain William on the wheel to keep the three billfish from tangling.
Steve kept his cool and all three fish were no match for this crew. All billfish were safe released as always.
He ended up the day with an additional Sailfish release and a tasty Dorado for the dinner table.
Steve is fired up and that spells trouble for the local marine population…he is only half-way through his fishing adventure and already has claimed two spots in the FishingNosara Hall of Fame. God knows what he has in store for the rest of the week. Stay tuned!
John Barrineau and his family were back on the Wanderer looking to top their three-for-three Sailfish performance from earlier in the week, and we are stoked to report that these Jacksonville anglers achieved another remarkable feat: The Double Sailfish Release!
This was just the tip of the iceberg for the trip as the Barrineau’s added three more releases to the scorecard.
What fantastic results this week for these Jacksonville anglers as once again the mighty Wanderer delivers on the promise of high-end Costa Rica sportfishing!
FishingNosara has been working for years to dispel certain myths about fishing in Costa Rica, namely that the fishery is world-class yet the boats and tackle are the exact opposite. Our reputation for top-notch tackle and aggressive fishing proceeded us when we received a call from Derrell McCrary.
Mr. McCrary was fishing on another boat in the area back in December when he noticed that FishingNosara was catching monsters while he was catching minnows. He booked a full day on the Wanderer and this time we vowed that his fishing experience would be world class.
Captain William pointed the mighty Wanderer south and found the blue water break just 6 miles offshore. The spread was working early in the day, snaring a pair of nice Dorados (Mahi-Mahi) that weighed 30lbs. each. Here is one of the tasty green morsels:
After a brief spell of nothing biting, the 1pm Sailfish bite lit up and two hungry Pacific Sailfish came tearing through the spread. First Mate Alex coordinated the fights and the releases, notching the Wanderer‘s scorecard with three more excellent billfish releases including a double header Sailfish release.
This performance certainly exorcised the Costa Rica fishing demons for Derrell McCrary, but FishingNosara’s reputation wasn’t built on meeting expectations but on exceeding them. That is why after 7 great hours of fishing the mighty Wanderer still had a trick up her sleeve.
This 180lbs. Striped Marlin releases is the third of the month for Captain William and proves that the FishingNosara flagship Wanderer is indeed the top boat in the area; she is a vessel that flourishes where other fail.