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Take it from me, it you ever get the chance to fish Costa Rica do not hesitate, GO! With that being said, the Fight N Lady crew just returned from a phenomenal trip to Costa Rica with the assistance of Down East Guide Service. The start to our trip was a little hairy as mother nature threw the worst snow storm of the year at us the night before departure. To say the least, the ride down was very interesting. Between the combination of black ice, 4-6” of snow in the Charlotte area, and a snow ball thrown from an 18 wheeler tire than managed to find its way through a cracked window because someone had a little gas. Despite those little mishaps, by the grace of god our flight was only delayed thirty minutes and we arrived in Costa Rica way over dressed. As if the ride to the airport wasn’t enough the 2hr ride to the resort was one of the wildest rides of my life. The narrow roads winding up and down the mountains and a driver that I think took pleasure out of scaring the shit out of us made it difficult to enjoy the complimentary beers provided for the ride.
I could go on and on about the scenery, resort, and the great people and they are all worthy of mention, but because this a fishing report I will stick to the fishing. We started our first day of fishing at the gentlemanly hour of 6:15 as we met to enjoy coffee and cinnamon rolls while over looking the Pacific. It was a short 10 minute drive to Los Suenos where we jumped on the Macushla and made the 90 min. run across the slick Pacific to sportfishing heaven. Our spread consisted of 4 teasers of either squid chains or Mold Craft Wide Ranges and five naked ballyhoo with circle hooks. The whole purpose of our trip was to get more experience with circle hooks so we made it very clear that we wanted to do everything. Our crew was excellent and allowed us to do all we wanted to from rigging baits to hooking and leadering our fish. It did not take long for the first fish to show on a teaser and set the tone for the rest of the trip. It is impossible to explain the rush of hearing “Right short teaser!” yelled from the bridge as the captain would jerk away the teaser and we would place a bait in its place. For those of us accustom to east coast sails, those pacific sails are a lot bigger with the average fish we saw being between 100-150lbs. After missing the first few shots of the day we finally caught on and ended the day going 7 for 12, not great but not bad either. After a great day of fishing we returned to the hotel bar to enjoy some great food and better drinks.
The second day found us on the Super Fly one of the new Maverick boats being built in C.R. Again, we could not have asked for a better crew, day, or fishing. While they ran the same spread as Macushla, they preferred that we try to hook all the fish on a pitch bait while leaving the other baits in position in order to pick up multiples. To be truthful, the pitch bait gave us a bit of trouble to start with and we missed more fish than I care to say in the first hour of fishing. This paved the way for a lot of trash talk and a few practical jokes. Once we finally got the hang of using the pitch bait our percentages increased, but we were still having a hard time hooking fish coming up on the left side of the spread, the boss man’s side. Maybe it was our hackling him but man those fish were wanting to pop up on that side and he just could not get those circle hooks to stick. After missing about three in a row we had a little lull in the action before the next fish appeared on the left short teaser. Somehow in that little lull the boss’s shoe somehow got tied to the ladder with out his knowing. With him out of harms way, I went to the rod hooked the fish and the mate pulled another one off the right side of the spread. With two sails hooked up and jumping and the boss still trying to figure how he got tied to the ladder we all laughed so hard we almost forgot about the fish. Between all the trash talk and practical jokes we managed to hook ten sails and missed more than our share, but it did not matter as it was one of the best days on the water that I have ever had.
Our final day started a little slower, but we ended up hooking eight sails and a 30lb dolphin that was later served to us that night for supper. While fishing each day was world class, it was far surpassed by the people that made it happen. Each day there were two mates, one whose job was to help out the first mate but he also made us lunch, cut fresh pineapple and watermelon, and made sure we had all the drinks and snacks we desired. Being a mate myself, I wanted to see and try my hand at everything that was involved in the rigging and each day the mates took the time to show me everything we pulled from the basic ballyhoo rig, the mullet or mackerel they rigged to pitch to a marlin, and the belly strips they sweetened the teasers with. Being a new mate myself, I learned a ton from these guys about not only circle hook fishing but about all aspects of being a professional mate.
Like I said in the beginning, if you ever get a chance to fish Costa Rica you have to go. This trip will go down as one of the best trips of my life. The combination of the unbelievable country, people, fishing, and company made it a truly unforgettable experience. I have to thank our boss Don, owner of the Fight N Lady for making the trip possible, Capt. George Beckwith of Down East Guide Service, and Capt. Jay Blount for making everything go off with out a hitch and putting us in contact with some of the best fishing and fishermen in our hemisphere.
Brad Burton
Fight N Lady mate
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. Great report Brad!
