Costa Rica Fishing Report from FishingNosara
Costa Rica Fishing Report Archive | FishingNosara
Captain David kept the Explorer inshore today with client Brandon Perez and his wife. They enjoyed lots of rod-bendin’ action highlighted by a big Yellowtail Snapper and a nice Jack Crevalle.
They added a small White Tuna later on and had a big Rooster fish hooked to a topwater plug, but lost him. Excellent catches though from these South Florida anglers.
Another fantastic trip for Captain David on the Explorer. These clients are just the latest to go home with fat tasty Red Grouper filets. We’ve had lots of great reports on this species which is usually quite rare. Take a look at these monsters:
While passing time between trips, Mate Carlos chopped up some old ballyhoos and fed them to his pet Rooster fish. Carlos has been feeding this fella for years going back to his days as a mate on the Sportsman and has never set the hook into it.
It is a real treat to watch this majestic creature so close to the boat, so if you have a few minutes to spare before your next trip on the Explorer then make sure to ask to meet Carlos’ pet Rooster Fish.
John Winter Preiss returned to the Explorer for a full day of fishing and proved that with 8 hours to work with (and such close proximity to the blue water) it is possible to nab billfish and bottom fish on the same day.
Captain David set up on the reefs at Pincha Padre around 11 am and gathered the required bait for offshore hunting; meanwhile John and his group plucked a meaty pair of Groupers off of the reef.
In an abnormal development, the Red Grouper has been more prevalent than the Broomtail Grouper recently. Nice to see a true Broomtail again!
As the 1pm Sailfish bite neared, Captain William and Mate Carlos took the unbreakable Explorer out the blue water and put the billfish spread on display. A high-flying Sailfish came calling and charged one of the outrigger lures. The hook found its home and the fight was on with this acrobatic Sailfish.
Great bill and release by Mate Carlos to ensure the safety of boat, fish, and angler. Carlos is a local legend in Garza and his fishing prowess is unmatched; he has been a wonderful addition to the Explorer and has cemented her reputation as the best mid-sized boat in the bay.
The Explorer proves what can be done in this fertile fishery with the right combination of boat size, motor power, and tackle; this boat has no equal!
Captain David welcomed client John Winter Preiss for the first of four scheduled days of fishing on the powerful Explorer. He has full days planned later this week and decided to ease into his adventure via a 2.5 hour Sunset cruise to get acclimated.
It didn’t take John long to fill up his cooler though, because in this short amount of time he hooked up a 15 lbs. Red Grouper and the very yummy Congrio.
We’ll see what John has in store for these fish over the next few days, but at least we know he’ll have some good nourishing meals to get him through the trips. Good luck Mr. Preiss!
Shepard McKenney followed up his inshore assault with another foray into reef battle with Captain David. This time he pulled up more fish than before, albeit without a true ‘highlight fish’.
In the end he caught 15 assorted Jacks a 15lbs. Yellowfin Tuna. Excellent work by the Super Panga Explorer!
Our new friendย Shepard McKenney booked Captain David for a morning half day trip on the Explorer and the Super Panga delivered the goods for this Maryland-based angler.
The Yellowfin Tuna were swarming the bait spread and throughout the day Mr. McKenney boated eight football-sized Yella Fellas.
The big fish of the morning was this Amberjack estimated to weigh 45lbs. Shepard has enough filets to keep his family fed and makes some new friends around Nosara.
Great work by a client who really knows a good boat (check out Shepard’s normal ride over at Hinckley Yachts).
John Michael Burling and the boys finished off their fishing odyssey with Captain David on the 27 foot Super Panga Explorer. After fishing for a few day on the bigger boats, one could imagine that the fishing on the barroom brawler would be a let down…turns out they saved the best for last
First up on the hook was another nice Red Grouper weighing in at a good 15 lbs.
With dinner taken care of, this group set out for the deeper water and tried to best their wonderful Blue Marlin release from the previous day. The first curious billfish that came knocking was this awesome Sailfish, which when released was estimated to weigh over 120lbs.
The final victory lap came for these guys in the form of this massive Striped Marlin. Usually the Stripeys are the smallest of our Marlins, but this guy is a behemoth…it looks like it’s got shoulders!
All in all it was a great week of fishing for the Burling group with lots of good fishing stories to take back home.
Captain David and Mate Carlos of the magnificent Explorer took another huge stride to cementing this Super panga’s reputation as the best pound-for-poung boat in Garza with client Greg Raab on February 21. The blue water break was a quick 5 mile ride off of the beach and Captain David put out the billfish spread.
This behemoth took hold around 2pm and screamed off about a hundred yards of line in a flash. Mate Carlos saw her a split-second before the strike, thus giving Captain David the advantage when it came to backtracking towards the torpedoing Marlin.
Upon release this fish was estimated to weigh a bit upwards of 300lbs. Most importantly she was released unharmed and unstressed, ready to do battle again.
Greg Raab also added a nice Red Grouper for the dinner table, but we know the fishing story he’ll be telling the boys back on Long Island Sound. Great work besting a real sea monster and true fish of a lifetime!
John Higgins and his fellow Vermonters returned to the shores of Garza for another adventure with Captain David of the Explorer.ย
The highlight of the feast was a pair of Groupers estimated to weigh 30lbs. The also had a big Marlin coming calling but the monster spit out the hook before it could be set. Still, plenty of filets in the cooler and lots of fun for this great group of Green Mountaineers.
Dennis Seltsam joined Captain David on the Explorer, and after a fantastic Marlin release on the Wanderer Mr. Seltsam was ready to stay inshore and hunt reef monsters. The highlight of the excursion was this gorgeous Rooster fish:
These Kentucky anglers backed up the Rooster release with an assortment of Congrios which have certainly been around in droves recently. Great all around fishing perfomance by Dennis Seltsam and the invincible Explorer!
