Bucket list fishing trip

[MITCHMO]

My wife wanted to do a trip for our 15 year wedding anniversary. We don’t really vacation together because our interests are very different. When she threw out Costa Rica as a suggestion, I said sure why not. Knowing that there would be a chance we could get out and do some fishing. As it turns out, one of the guys I work with is obsessed with following one of the charters down there on instagram and it happened to be an hour from where we were planning to stay. I quickly booked a day off inshore and offshore. These guys are about the smallest boats in the marina but obviously love fishing. I had no idea what I was in for.

The first fishing day came and we rolled out shortly after sunrise. There was a very nasty storm cloud on the horizon but we headed right at it for about an hour. The fish were biting right away. We got 4 mahi before the storm hit. Once the storm hit, we ended up hooking a sailfish and got it in right as things got really nasty. I told the captain to turn for port just as the lightning cracked over our heads. To say I was nervous was an understatement. Still a fun day.

 

[MITCHMO]

The second day of fishing we the highlight of the trip. We really wanted a rooster fish. We headed about 25 miles down the shoreline and proceeded to drift with live bait. My rod was the first to go off. I felt the line get ripped out of my fingers and I closed the bail and started to reel. Whatever was on the other end of the line was heavy and powerful. After 10-15 minutes, I could see color coming up from the depths.

As soon as I could see it was a rooster fish I was very nervous. That was the one fish I wanted to catch this trip and there it was, so close! After wrestling it in the boat, we snapped a couple pic and took a quick measurement before releasing. 52.5”. It was officially a “super rooster” his fins were beat up but I didn’t care. Such a cool fish.

We dropped lines back in and it wasn’t 20 minutes before I had the line ripped out of my fingers again. After hooking up, I handed the rod to my wife. She was super focused and ever told me to stop talking to here lol. After a good battle, we had hers on board. Another rooster! 49”

We fished for quite a while without any activity when all of a sudden, the line took off again through my fingers. I set the hook and this time the drag was screaming and I saw a fish jumping way back. I couldn’t believe he stayed on even after wrapping in a buoy. When it came up, I saw it was an even bigger rooster. This one was 53”!

 

[MITCHMO]

Fishing got really slow and I looked over and saw splashes coming our way. We realized it was a group of pilot whales. So cool to see them come right under the boat.


We headed back to where we found bait in the morning and started drifting with sardines. It was fast action but my wife kicked my ass on this one and she was pretty proud of herself. We got some snapper for dinner and a handful of big jacks.


We headed in and had the restaurant cook up the snapper and it was fantastic!

 

[MITCHMO]

We shared some Mahi with the lady we rented our house from and she invited us over for New Year’s Eve to meet some of her friends. It was a great evening and she suggested that we cancel a coffee tour we had planned and go fishing with a charter friend of hers. He has a small boat he launches off the beach. This seemed like a waaaay better idea than a coffee tour so we lined up a trip for our last day. She even came with us, which was great. I had to laugh because the boat was about 18’ with a 40hp outboard. The captain knew just enough English to tell us we were going 45 minutes out. Yikes! That’s a long way in a boat with two 5 gallon gas cans and no electronics! There wasn’t even rod holders. So here we are trolling for sailfish and who knows what, and just holding the rods in our laps. All of a sudden, mine starts hammering and the drag is almost smoking. I see a dandy sail fish start jumping. I got him right up to the boat before he took off again and after 4-5 more jumps, popped off.


We trolled around and kept catching Bonita which I loved, and they were irritated by, and we even had a big Sailfish follow one to the boat. It was also neat because there were sea turtles all over on the surface.

Right before we were about to call it quits, my rod took off again and it was another sailfish. This fish was like being hooked to a race car. We chased it all over and finally got him to the boat for a quick picture.

If anyone is thinking of going to Costa Rica for fishing, GO! I don’t have much offshore fishing to compare it to, but it was so much fun. I will definitely be back someday.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Looks like a great trip!

 

[Keep on]

Great trip.

 

[buckbull]

Thats awesome. Crocodile bay resort is on my bucket list.

 

[ashersdad]

That looks awesome!! We'll be down there for a couple weeks in April. Mind sending me a PM of who you went out with?

 

[CRJR45]

Sounds like a great trip !
Sailfish are a blast to catch . My wife caught nine in a six week period last year . Her biggest , we made a replica mount .
This is my best .

 

[Bugle 'Em In]

Bucket list trip for me! Heading to Cancun with the fam in June, will try a day on the water.
Congrats on your success. Thanks for sharing the experience.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Awesome man, looks fun!

 

[buckbull]

Sounds like a great trip !
Sailfish are a blast to catch . My wife caught nine in a six week period last year . Her biggest , we made a replica mount . View attachment 309439
This is my best .
View attachment 309434

How many inches is the mounted one?

 

[kansasdad]

Perhaps more joint vacations in the future for you and Mrs @MITCHMO


Amazing adventure

 

[CRJR45]

How many inches is the mounted one?

87" Here is a better picture , more recent . The wall from the corner to the door is just under ten feet .

 

[MITCHMO]

Thats awesome. Crocodile bay resort is on my bucket list.

I think we drove by that area and ate lunch there. Not sure if there’s more than one.

 

[CRJR45]

I think we drove by that area and ate lunch there. Not sure if there’s more than one.

What was the general area like ? Did you feel safe ? Would you consider living there , like as a retirement option ?

 

[Sytes]

Fantastic!

We gave a one day shot in the Sea of Cortez. An off day. A couple jacks and a lot of trolling for dorado. A couple boats we passed along our route hooked up though just on of those days. They cooked up a jack we kept for fried and grilled fish tacos.
The experience was enjoyable - however WOW! Hah! You had one heck of a great fishing trip!

She was super focused and ever told me to stop talking to here lol.

Wife hooked into a fun jack and I shared my verbal assistance. Same setting! Hahaha! Super focused!
She gave me the evil eye of STFU! And... I STFU.... We had a great time after she put me in check.

Main objective was scuba/snorkel and we had a blast!

Fun to follow along! Thanks for sharing!

 

[buckbull]

87" Here is a better picture , more recent . The wall from the corner to the door is just under ten feet .
View attachment 309477

Thats beautiful. My then wife and i charted a boat out of miami in 2010 and each caught 3 sailfish. Hands down best fishing experience ever. Once we got to deep water we had fish on the line the entire trip. Caught 6 total and took a minimum of 30 minutes to get them in the boat. They all did that dance they do across the water.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Blue water fishing is just too damned much fun. Nice trip!

 

[mutedblade]

Those are some cool fish with some special memories for you and your wife. Congratulations