Tag: Explorer

November 15, 2011

After a week serving as the spotter mate on the Wanderer, Captain David was back on the barroom brawler on November 15. FishingNosara Hall of Fame alums Chuck Darner, Bill Wilderotter, Ronnie Dorsett and Jerry Newman were back in Nosara with aspirations of more legendary fishing.

They joined Captain David on the Explorer for a great half-day of action along with newly-minted FishingNosara team member Carlos.

Our newest mate has a lifetime of experience on these waters, is an excellent boatman, and to quote US Representative Craig Sutton, “has the best eyes I have ever seen!”

There have been so many great performances from Jacksonville, FL fishermen down here in Costa Rica that the fish let out a groan when they see anglers wearing the logos of the Jacksonville Offshore Sportfishing Club and Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament…the fish know that it’s about to be a long day.

Bill Wilderotter released a nice Sailfish and just missed on another one. For the dinner table Chuck Darner boated a big green 40lbs. Dorado; excellent catch considering that the boys were just at the beginning of their week in Costa Rica…no need to hit the fish market!

November 5, 2011

Tom Cavin and his posse from Jacksonville, FL had fantastic day on the Super Panga Explorer this morning. They started with 2 white tunas and then wanted to see what was lurking on the bottom. Guest what?

Nice 60lbs. Rooster fish. Of course this fish was safely released after a few minutes later.  Great work by Mr. Cavin who won this fishing trip in  a raffle at the Ancient City Kingfish Tournament last year in St. Augustine (see below).


November 4, 2011

Teacher’s day on the Explorer!

For the final day of the off-season Captain David and Javier welcomed two of the most respected English teachers in the area for a relaxing afternoon on the water.

Senior Marcos serves as a personal English tutor for the FishingNosara / Nosara Paradise Rentals staff and is also a much-sought after private tutor. This nice Amberjack he caught with Javier is tasty in any language!


Senora Betsy Chavarria Castillo teaches the youth of Nosara and also joined the boys for this fishing trip. She also hooked up a fine Amberjack and her devoted boyfriend also grabbed a nice Cierro Mackerel.


Excellent trip and fine catches on the Explorer for the teachers and our staff.

November 3, 2011

The perfect way to kick off the season was with General Manager Javier Hernandez and his friends joining Captain David on the Explorer for a harvest of the fertile reefs just outside of Garza Bay. In just two hours they boated a handful of Yellowfin Tunas, Jack Crevalles, Cerro Mackerals, and Amberjacks.


Nice warm up lap! The fish are biting and we are fired up for a great year of fishing.

November 1, 2011

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.

September 27, 2011

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!

September 26, 2011

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!

September 19, 2011

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!

August 24, 2011

With the rains coming and the season almost over, Captain David welcomed client Marc Carson for North Carolina for a five-hour fishing trip and he came away with some excellent Yellowfin Tuna and a nice Sailfish release.


Great work by Captain David to squeeze every drop out of the Explorer‘s maiden season.  Look our for this legendary boat to raise the bar even higher in 2012.


August 17, 2011

It’s been raining for the last few days but yesterday the weather finally lifted and client Mark Carson took to the Explorer for a half-day fishing with Captain David. They got a few Bonitas for use as strip bait then headed offshore to where the swarms of Sailfish were before the rains (see August 8-12).


Though not as thick as before, Mr. Carson still caught and released a nice Sailfish. It’s good to see that the rain didn’t impact the fishing too much and we think that the next few days may provide one of the last weather windows for a few months. Good perseverance by the Explorer.