Costa Rica Fishing Report from FishingNosara
Costa Rica Fishing Report Archive | FishingNosara
Amazing Striped Marlin release today on the Wanderer! Mississippi’s own Josh Luke and Emily booked a half-day on the mighty blue bomber and Captain William delivered the goods for these client.
This guy put on a show as Josh brought him alongside for the release. Excellent teamwork by First Mate Alex and Josh to ensure the safe handling and release of this majestic Marlin.
After four Striped Marlin releases yesterday, it’s clear that the Wanderer has the Stripeys on the run!
Our great friend Wayne Estes from Jacksonville has made multiple runs offshore with us over the years, but today’s “Valentine’s Day Massacre” will live on forever in FishingNosara history as the most productive day of Marlin fishing to date. Mr. Estes caught and released an unheard-of number of Striped Marlin.
The good-looking blue water was far away by our standards (30 miles) but Captain William’s gambit to go this far out paid dividends early and often. Things started off well with an early Sailfish release by Mr. Estes.
After the Sail was safely released the Wanderer was ambushed by wave after wave of Striped Marlin. The first one hit around 8:30 am and the Estes’ released one an hour for the next four hours.
That’s right, FOUR Striped Marlin release on a five-hour trip. Throw the early Sailfish in the mix and you have a exemplary day of Hall of Fame-caliber fishing.
Most importantly, all five billfish were safely and quickly released. We look forward to catching them another day.
What an amazing trip for the crew and clients! Great job by Captain William and First Mate Alex to deliver the trip of a lifetime to old friend Wayne Estes.
What a great trip for Colorado angler John Betz! He and the wife put in the hours necessary for bill fishing success and their temporal investments paid huge dividends.
The highlight of the trip with this incredible Striped Marlin (safe released as always), but Mrs. Betz backed up that monster with a beastie of her own: this beautiful Pacific Sailfish.
Another fantastic trip from Captain William and the world-famous Wanderer!
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 theย 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.
Bruce Sabine, John Harbord,ย Joe Ronnlof…Welcome to the FishingNosara Hall of Fame!
You know it’s a good trip when it starts with a Striped Marlin release. This was the second Stripey of the season and is a Hall of Fame fish all by itself.
Then the boys added six Sailfish releases to the scorecard including the unheard-of TRIPLE HEADER SAILFISH RELEASE!
Maybe it was the blue water moving close to shore. Maybe it was the years of fishing experience that John and Bruce bring to the water. Maybe it was First Mate Alex’ lucky white sunglasses. Whatever happened out there today, all the tumblers fell into place and unlocked the perfect day of fishing for these clients.
Of course all 7 billfish were released alive and well and ready to be caught again. Excellent teamwork by Captain William and First Mate Alex to maintain the safety of the billfish, anglers, and equipement.
Great work gentlemen…you have earned your enshrinement to the Hall of Fame!
Client Dave Eisner and his posse had a magnificent Marlin release on the Wanderer today! This 200lbs. behemoth nailed the starboard side outrigger bait and the fight was on for the Philadelphia-based angler.
Captain William kept the big blue beauty perfectly angled for the fight and First Mate Alex backed it up with a textbook billfish release.
Mark Shaw enlisted Captian David and the Explorer for a fishing trip today that took them all around the Garza area and brought great fish for the table and the trophy room.ย In the morning they stayed inshore and around 9:30 bent the rod with this nice White Tuna.
With dinner in the box, Captain David headed offshore to blue water where Mr. Shaw had chances at lots of fish. Around noon they lost a big Dorado and soon afterย a sailfish. A hour of near-misses passed, then the fish of a lifetime came barrel-rolling through the spread.
Mate Pipio saw him first and alertly pitched a rigged ballyhoo down the exhaust alley. The Black Marlin showed his bill as he snatched the bait, and Mark buckled in for a wild ride.
After 20 minutes of combat this 200lbs. Black Marlin gave up the fight; Perfect bill and release by Pipio to ensure the safety of the fish and angler.
The Explorer proves once again that big billfish don’t care how big the boat is, so long as the right Captain, angler, and tackle are on the scene to take care of the job. Great fish, great release, great trip for Mark Shaw!
Frank Keres returned to shore with a big smile today. He booked the Wanderer for a offshore billfish hunt and his persistence was rewarded with not one but two fish of a lifetime.
Around 1:30pm the first big fish came calling and it was a gigantic Sailfish. A great short fight and perfect release ensued; little did Frank and his group know that this monster was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Not 15 minutes after releasing the sailfish, ‘El Cachudo Grande’ (Big Marlin in gringo) came barreling through the spread. The fight was intense but Mr. Keres managed to keep the fish calm and motivated toward the Wanderer.
Captain William expertly kept the angler in a position of strength while in the cockpit First Mate Alex billed and released the fish with his trademark fearlessness.
Excellent work by the Keres group and the mighty Wanderer!
Craig is back in the billfishing swing of things, with report of two more Black marlin today on the Wanderer. The first big Black broke the hook just alongside the boat, but the second Marlin was a clean leader release.
No release shot this time…we will trade a safe release for a photograph any day, and this Marlin was too big to be messing around with.
Also our great friend Jeff Grosshandler made swift work of this nice 25lbs. Dorado for the dinner table. Great offshore action from the FishingNosara flagship Wanderer!
Craig Sutton has notched the scorecard with the season’s first Marlin release, a 300lbs. Black beauty. This ends a 15 month dry spell for the US Representative for FishingNosara and also represents the largest fish caught to date on the 26′ Explorer.
The water was deep green and Craig was up on the forward platform when he spotted four jumping dolphin dead ahead. “It was like it was telekinetic,” Craig later recalled. “I could feel that there was something big down there.”
That same moment the 300lbs. Black Marlin swooped in and annihilated the port side teaser. Alertly mate Pipio let spool the outrigger line, creating an irresistible target for the monster.
Once hooked an efficient 20 minute fight was all Mr. Sutton needed to bring her along side for a nice safe release. Great work by Captain David, Mate Pipio, and angler Craig Sutton on the unstoppable Super Panga.
