Tag: Sailfish

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 13, 2011

Unwilling to give the fish any mercy, Chris Landis and Chuck Powell booked and additional day on the Wanderer on Sunday and turned in a performance that tops both of their previous days.

Once again they had two Sailfish come up about 9am, then more in the afternoon. These anglers really have the Sailfish figured out as they added two more excellent releases to their scorecard.


Captain William found a school of dolphins and Chris started whacking them on a top water casted ‘El Popper’. Once the bite cooled off the boys deployed the trusty cedar plug to finish off the school of Yellowfin Tuna.



By the end of the day they had boated 15 Yella Fellas. Excellent haul by Chuck Powell, Chris Landis, and the mighty Wanderer.

November 8, 2011

Jennifer and Adam Mott got the season started right with a pair of Sailfish releases on November 5. However they really flexed their angling muscles on the local billfish population today.

Captain William didn’t have to take the Wanderer very far to find the clean blue water and the Sailfish with hungry like wolves when First Mate Alex and Captain David (on loan from the Explorer) put out the spread.

The first bill came shopping right down the exhaust alley and Mrs. Mott was all over this fish. With Captain William assisting on the stand-up fight, Jennifer released the first Sailfish of the day.



The Sailfish were thick as thieves and Adam Mott was ready to lay down the law. The next monster came barrel-rolling through the spread but was no match for Mr. Mott on the reel.


Adam and Jennifer weren’t stopping at two releases this time; they stayed on the fish and had two additional Sailfish releases.

This brought their scorecard for the week up to six successful Sailfish releases. Great work from the Bradenton, FL based husband and wife fishing team!

November 5, 2011

Adam and Jennifer Mott booked the Wanderer today for a hunting trip out to the blue water. The big blue beauty fared well on her first fishing trip of the new season, scoring on a beautiful 30lbs. Dorado for the dinner table.

The afternoon brought smoking billfish action with a pair of Sailfish releases for the husband and wife angling team. Great releases by First Mate Alex ensuring the safe survival of the Sailfish.

Captain William will be welcoming Adam and Jennifer on November 8 and we are anticipating more great fishing from FishingNosara flagship the Wanderer!




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.ย  Look our for this legendary boat to raise the bar even higher in 2012.


August 21, 2011

Craig Sutton and Danny “Shake and Bake” Baker were honored to welcome Lifetime FishingNosara Hall of Famer Seรฑorita Richmond Phipps to the Wanderer for an excellent trip that covered the entire fishery both offshore and inshore. Sra. Phipps got things going early and taught the boys exactly how Costa Rica billfishing is done.

They obviously learned a thing or two because Danny followed up Richmond’s catch with a beautiful Sailfish of his own.

As the day wore on the Wanderer proceeded inshore to see what tasty morsels they could pull off the reef. Craig and Danny bent a few rods and piled the fishbox with a Yellow Tail Snapper and a Gilguero Snapper.

Great work by a true FishingNosara legend, the one-and-only Richmond Phipps!

August 20, 2011

Our new friend Wade Boyken from Merritt Island, Florida began his first of multiple days of fishing on the Wanderer with a huge day of Sailfish strikes.ย  Captain William took them offshore where the Sailfish bite has been absolutely incredible the last few weeks.

Check out these great Sailfish releases:



By the end of this trip the Boyken bunch released 3 nice Sailfish. Wade has more trips coming this week. Stay tuned!

August 19, 2011

On August 19 US Representative for FishingNosara Craig Sutton was on the Wanderer for an afternoon billfish hunt with Captain William and First Mate Alex. Joined by Danny Baker of Virginia Beach, they started off with a nice-sized Dorado (about 30lbs.) and then started raising Sailfish left and right. Out of nine potential strikes the boys managed to catch and release three beautiful Sailfish.

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.