Sailfish | Costa Rica Fishing Report from FishingNosara

March 23, 2011

As the Ship of Fools Tournament neared, the scrimmage match with the Explorer came at a perfect time. Basically the Wanderer was not about to let the litte brother eat all the food.

After Jack’s first sailfish catch on the Super Panga, Captain William came roaring up from behind and immediately put a nice Sailfish on the hook. A short fight and a quick release later and the score was nearly tied with the Explorer holding a slim lead in the form of a Bluefin tuna and a White tuna.

When Alex returned the teasers to the water he noticed that a curious Marlin had popped up about 50 yards behind the boat. He immediately pitched a rigged ballyhoo to the blue monster and set the hook.

So the Wanderer won the scrimmage, but the ability to share spots and tactics certainly helped FishingNosara find its way to the leaderboard come tournament time.

March 23, 2011

What better way to prepare for the Ship of Fools Tournament than a little intersquad scrimmage between the Wanderer and the Explorer.

On the Super Panga was Captain David, Craig, Matty, and Jack who had their sights set on Sailfish. Sure enough after the daily mopping of stray tunas on the ride out Captain David set the TLDs out in a classic Bait-and-switch high speed spread.

Around 10 am the first bill started shopping the baits, first the short line, then the long outrigger, and finally settling on a bonefish rigged on the shotgun line. The line screamed off and Jack locked in for the fight. In shockingly efficent fight, Jack brought the Sailfish home in 8 minutes. Great work by boat, angler, and Captain.

Meanwhile, the Wanderer was not about to let the litte brother eat all the food. They came roaring up behind the Explorer and immediately put a nice Sailfish on the hook. A short fight and a quick release later and the score was nearly tied with the Explorer holding a slim lead in the form of a Bluefin tuna and a White tuna.

So the Wanderer won the scrimmage, but the ability to share spots and tactics will no doubt help FishingNosara find its way to the top of the leaderboard this weekend.

March 19, 2011

The Explorer was on the hill getting its monthly upkeep today (and getting some slick new rod holders on the transom), so it fell the Wanderer to pick up the slack…and boy did they ever!

First up, Captain William found an awesome Dorado bite around 2 pm and stayed on it until the box was stuffed with three nice greenies. Alex pulled some incredible gaff shots on these monsters.

With the meat on ice the blue beauty tried to add a trophy fish to the trip to make it perfect. Around 5 pm the moon came up and right behind it was this massive Sailfish. Great work on the billshot and release as always.

With all the excitement surrounding the Explorer, the Safari Carts, the new shop, and all the other projects around here it is possible to forget that the big dog in this yard is the big blue billfish battlewagon….Wanderer!

March 14, 2011

Nice catches by the Wanderer today. Jim, Bryan, Katrina, and the rest of their posse were treated to a wide variety of smaller inshore fish.

Later on, they buried the hook in Mr. Sailfish. He was no match for us this time…Another great catch and release for the Wanderer.

March 5, 2011

We were predicting a good day and sure enough the big Sailfish came calling. Our on the Wanderer Catherine Chase had a magnificent day on the blue water. They raised several Marlin and Sailfish, with four successful releases added to the scorecard.

March 5 brought one of our favorite clients Catherine Chase out on the Wanderer. Last year she worked over the Dorados, but nothing could prepare her for this magnificent day on the blue water.

Why bother explaining how Catherine and the boys pulled off the now-legendary Double Double Sailfish…just let the pictures do the talking:

All Four Fish Live Released

Please note that our crews have decades of combined experience handling these fish. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS PHOTOGRAPH!!! While exciting, the double billshot can be very hazardous to fish, boat, and humans alike. Unless you also have a lifetime of experience on the water, don’t even think about it!

Meanwhile on the Explorer, Captain David and client David Mederos got a nice sailfish of their own.

As always, this billfish was safely released to fight another day.

After the Sailfish release, they experimented with fly fishing for Yellowfin tuna over the reefs…we are actively looking for fly fishing experts who want to try their hand on the Roosterfish, Cuberras, and even Billfish.

February 27, 2011

Fantastic weekend of fishing for client Elliot and his posse. On Saturday they kicked off the morning on the Wanderer and caught a MASSIVE Cuberra Snapper. In the afternoon they went offshore and raised a few billfish.

Then on Sunday they accompanied Captain David on the Explorer for an inshore tuna hunt up and down the reefline. They action was intense with many multiple hook-ups and lots of surface activity.

First they caught and released this excellent Sailfish …

then moved inshore where the fishing was on fire! The Yellowfin bite would not let up until the fishbox was literaly stuffed. Thank goodness we are so close to shore because there was no way to close the cooler.

They packed the fishbox of the Super Panga with 22 Yellowfin tunas by days end. Great work Elliot and crew!

February 20, 2011

Old fishing saying: When the bite gets soft, the tough get hard.

With the full moon still hanging like a noose over the blue water, David Dahl and the rest of his Northeast Florida fishing posse came to town looking to break the slump. Some of the best catches in the Fishing Nosara Hall of Fame come from Florida’s First Coast, and sure enough David Dahl from Duval had a great day fishing.

The bite was slow at first, but shortly after noon they raised up the first sailfish. Then a Marlin came tearing through the spread and began laying waste to the spread. Two more sailfish came calling throughout the day and by the end of the trip they had raised a total of four billfish and released one beautiful Pacific Sailfish.

February 14, 2011

Nice weather and great action today. Over on the Explorer client Rory Lavechia caught Black tunas and Jacks on a morning trip. Meanwhile over on the Wanderer client Joseph Accarino 15 Black tunas and several jacks in just 3.5 hours.

When the morning is this hot, you know the afternoon billfish feed is going to be crazy, and sure enough client Stephen nailed a fantastic Sailfish in the afternoon.

To finish off the evening, client Brian Jones was with Captain Vibert on the Cabo and caught 10 Black tunas on a 2.5 hour Sunset fishing trip. Busy day for the FishingNosara team, but some great catches and satisfied clients to show for it.

February 13, 2011

Great news from the Explorer! Client George Shipley had a banner day on the 26′ Super Panga with the boat’s first ever Double Billfish day. Captain David pointed the Explorer just a little more offshore than usual, and just like that this 200lbs.+ Striped Marlin came tearing through the spread.

A quick fight and a photograph later, then it was time to get the lines back out and go for number two. Before long they had nabbed this 100lbs. Sailfish to complete the day.

These are outstanding results for just a 5 hr. trip, and Captain David has shown that the Explorer can deliver great fishing action usually thought possible on boats twice her size.

February 6, 2011

It’s that time of year when the billfish are lighting it up! The Wanderer welcomed longtime Canadian charter Captain Rick Stanley and his bunch for an offshore billfish hunt and they had some incredible action.

The were raising marlins all day and got the hooks buried into two of the big blue ladies, but both managed to spit the hook and escape. However, the day was saved by a late-day 90lbs. Sailfish release.