This blog is about fishing boats costa rica

Friday March 28th, 2008 I was fortunate enough to go out with one of our clients fishing. My friend and I left the town we live in at 5:30AM to make it down the mountain to Los Suenos by 6:30AM. The cool mountain temperatures soon dwindled and the hot tropical weather even of the early morning took over. The sky was clear and there was no wind down at the docks, which is very typical actually. There was a lot of activity with everyone boarding their boats and you could feel the excitement mounting. Actually a good cup of coffee would have fit well into things for me.

Fandango, the most used privately owned boat in Los Suenos Marina Within in minutes the other two in the party showed up and after introductions we headed out to open water aboard the Fandango. Our group of four included Mr. Nolan and his son, Bill (my neighbor), and myself. I manage the website in which you are currently on, www.costa-rica-fishing.info. Boat after boat was leaving the marina and Playa Herradura (the home of Los Suenos Resort and Marina) behind for a day of Costa Rica deep sea fishing and those wonderful billfish. We were on the Fandango, a 31′ Custom Sportfisher built here in Costa Rica and is privately owned by Eduardo Lizano who is the dockmaster at Los Suenos. With a single 350hp cat engine she’s not the fastest boat on the water, but she gets the job done. As many of you know, it’s not the speed that makes the difference. What you want is a boat that raises fish. In other words how the hull, engine, and prop work together in relation to how it effects the fish. Each boat is very different and all have there own traits making some much better than the others.

(Note: you should ask about how the boat is for raising fish. Specifically ask is it rated as one of the best in this area, because if it’s not, you might end a day disappointed)

All the boats headed out to the fishing grounds at slightly different angles. I was speaking with captain (who actually was the first mate because the captain had the day off) and he said the previous day was very good fishing and so everyone would be going to the same area to fish. Sure enough, he was right. Even the the long liners were there which you don’t like to see, but they follow the sport fishing boats when the bite is on. We went out about 21 miles taking just over an hour on very smooth seas. The second mate was preparing bate most of the trip. On our arrival you could no longer see land in any direction.

These teasers were almost a foot longThe outriggers were dropped, then two teasers which look like monster size lures were hung out about 15 to 20 yards behind the boat suspended out and away from the boat by the outriggers themselves. That was followed by the two main rods located directly on the deck trailing their lines directly behind the boat with Ballyhoo (sometimes called Balao) on circle hooks. Marlin, Dorado, and Sailfish bait, pre-tied and ready to go.The bait was trolled about 20 yards back which I thought was very close. Then two more lines went out off the outriggers and one more off the tower which was the long line out about 50 to 60 yards. Most of the day we ran 5 lines and sometimes six with a combination of baited lures, and just simple hook bait combinations.

Father and son catching two Dorado at the same time while deep sea fishing in Costa RicaWithin about 15 or 20 minutes of dropping the lines both father and son hooked into two Dorado (mahi-mahi or dolphin fish) at the same time. What more could Dad want for the vacation just before his son goes off to college? Within a few minutes Dad had his dorado up to the boat, gaffed, and what I would call “hog tied” fish on the deck. The crew does everything for you with a smile while remaining focused.

Dads first fish of the morning.

Coming in around 12lbs or so left one to wonder how big was the fish that his son had on. In the very warm sun, junior was sweating while reeling the fish in, just to see it run again and again. About a half hour later he got the fish up and into the boat. Congrats for the young man with his 45lb. dorado. Not bad for the first hour fishing of the morning.

First round, son in first place.

Things slowed down for a bit after that and we were all kind of dazed by the intense sun. I personally was enjoying my first trip out deep sea fishing thinking about all the people and the thousands of emails I had written about sport fishing in Costa Rica. Finally now, though not a seasoned salt water angler, I had seen two fish actually caught. Then someone started spitting out some Spanish in which I didn’t understand and then a rod came out of the holder by the mate and was handed to me with a smile. Me being a fresh water fisherman I didn’t really know what to do. The reel was singing along and I decided that the use of the thumb might be the right thing to do to slow things down. You can imagine, that nice cool green mono-filament line can burn you like a hot piece of steel. Ok, let the fish run I decided. Trying to keep tension on the line it finally slowed just to behold a sailfish going air borne about 200 yards out. My first thought was “is that my fish”? Well, it was, but now it was gone. One leap and it had succeeded in beating me as if just say “wise up guy”.

Ok, I can take a hint, but it got under my skin a little. Then things slowed for close to two hours. I had been visiting with the captain for a while talking to him about how fishing conditions had been recently, and what were the best times of day and seasonal fishing patterns. To sum it all up he said, “Marlin have no season west of Los Suenos marnina, you hit them some days and others you don’t. Sailfish are abundant throughout the year. Fishing can be good in the morning or afternoon and many times it’s good all the time.” Now I was happy. I thought we still have time.

I had counted 24 boats within 3 miles of where we were at just to give you an idea. They ranged in size from 25′ up to around 52′. I was counting on the bite starting up again. Soon we were seeing flocks of different types of sea birds and some water action, then a bump here and bump there. I walked back to the back of the boat and then snap went a line release, and for no other reason than I was the closest, the mate handed me the rod again. Another sailfish I could see in the distance doing his acrobatic dance far above the surface. This one I got to fight for around 10 minutes getting it close to the boat, and then lost it. No pictures of this, though I will remember it forever.

Our sailfish of the day, well we got it in the boat anyways.Probably now close to 1PM or so, another hard bite and Bill started cranking away. After a few minutes in the hot sun and fighting a healthy sailfish, he handed off the gear to the young man again. Let’s put the fight with the muscle and stamina needed for one of these fish. In a few minutes he had the sailfish up to the boat and with a little wrestling the mate pulled him up in the boat for a picture. You might think the fish just sit there and pose for getting their big bill on web site, but it just doesn’t work that way. These fish are healthy and still fighting. With just a little man handling from the mate the fish calmed down enough for a moment to be shot with his captor. Then the fish was set softly back into the water and swam off. That was the first sailfish he had ever seen caught and the same went for me.

Shortly after that we had a couple hits and then the big Blue Marlin. The captain started yelling that we had a marlin at about the same time the reel was handed over to the guy with plan. Dad was right next to him coaching him on, while I was hanging off the bridge trying to get pics. Reeling and reeling while the captain was trying to follow the billfish’s every move so that not to loose to much line. Forward, backwards, around and around we went. Every five to 10 minutes or so this big Marlin would skip across the surface of the water or jump consecutively time after time. What a show for us anyways. 45 minutes into this we realized the fun was just beginning. Every time this fish got within a 100 yards or so of the boat, off he would go again. Sometimes he ran really deep while others he was just under the surface. Probably what amazed me the most was his ability to constantly be moving at high rates of speed. Watching the line was no indication at all hardly where he was. Many times we saw him fly out of the water in front of the boat while the line was tight tagging the water behind the boat. For close to an hour and forty-five minutes the battle continued. With one close pass to the boat the mate tried to assist with the line and from all the damage to the leader it was more than it could handle. We did get to see the fish as he passed by within a few feet and the captain said he was around 250lbs.

It had been a good day for all of us and now time to head back to the marina. Trips like this give a little more than what you expect when you have a few minutes to relax and think about it. Also, they tax the body for sure as you see here.

Just a few notes. The lunch was a combination cold cut sub with all the fixings, fruits, sweet corn muffins, and all the bottled water, beer, and sodas (inc. diet) you could drink.

My thanks go out to the Nolan family for the invitation, the crew on the Fandango, and my neighbor Bill for going along and the use of his car.

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