Julie and Kayc joined us for a half day while on a weekend sisters trip to Costa Rica. We had a challenging start since they weren’t able to make the drive down to Quepos from San Jose the previous night due to weather. Once they arrive, the weather was still lingering and they opted for bloody Mary’s and a cold beer while we waited for it to pass. Well their patience paid off. We ran about 16 miles before putting in on an area that had some bird activity and it was the right spot. We had constant action from some nice Dorado and released one of the larger sails I’ve seen in a while. After only two hours I heard “well I’m satisfied” and we turned towards the marina while Flaco processed a few mahi we kept. We made it back in short order and they went up to the runaway for lunch with fresh fish in hand. Great attitudes considering the start to the day which lead to what I would have to consider a success. #manuelantonio #marinapezvela #fishingcostarica #travelcostarica #fishing #billfish #squidnation #quepostackleshop #bigluresmatter

Finally getting caught up after the honeymoon. The month started busy with hit or miss weather. Fortunately it looks like summer is arriving and conditions have improved, as well as the fishing. more mahi than anyone can count have shown up and the tuna are popping up nearly every day. The sails have began to show and we’re starting to see some bigger fish. Marlin will remain strong over the next few months, which is what I look forward to the most. Thanks to the best mate and co-captain Jose aka Flaco for holding it down and staying on the fish while I worked on family expansion.

Another epic day offshore! Allen and Christy were with us today from New York. They’re here fishing four days on a few different boats. Allen had a Black last year and caught a Stripe earlier in the week. He had one request for the day and that was to find a Blue and that’s exactly what we did. We raised one within the first hour that just seemed more interested in looking at the teaser than anything else before fading off. At that point I was hoping we didn’t just miss our shot. We trolled on for a couple hours circling what I believe were fish, but never raised one. Flaco went they his routine of switching out lures and found the right one. I don’t think it was in the water 30 seconds and it got piled on. About an hour later Allen released the Blue he was looking for. Not far from the release we found a school of spinner dolphin loaded with tuna. We Popeyes with them for a while keeping our limit of five and they were both smoked by this point. Allen was about ready to wrap it up, so I suggested we put a marlin spread out and just move back in the direction of the marina. Right about the time he finished talking about how wore out he was another marlin came to the teaser and Flaco made a perfect pitch with a Bonita and the gluten for punishment began. After another hour or so of rod passing and beer breaks, marlin number two was released and I was told “don’t put another damn thing in the water” … mission accomplished. Tally for the day 2/3 Blue Marlin 5 Tuna #quepossportfishing #manuelantonio #marinapezvela#fishingcostarica #travelcostarica #fishing #billfish #squidnation #quepostackleshop #bigluresmatter

Just wrapped up our second day with Patrick. For someone making his first venture into offshore fishing, he sure as hell made it look easy … it’s all down hill from here. Since we didn’t find any tuna day one, that was the mission for today to round out his pelagic grand slam. We quickly found a huge school of spinner dolphin about 25 miles out and that means only one thing around here … Tuna! First pass thru four rods go off for our solo angler. Pulled the hook on one and made pretty quick work of two 30#s, but the biggest just happened to eat the small rod with a ballyhoo in the event a sailfish was with them. That thing beat on Patrick for a while and introduced him to getting tuna bullied. We continued on putting a few more in the boat to join his load of mahi that’s will be going back to the US with him. Once he was worn out I gave him the mask and told him to jump in the school to have his mind blown. He did and he probably saw more tuna in 30 seconds than most anglers will see in their lifetime. Since he was whipped and ready for a break and we didn’t get a good pic of his marlin from yesterday, we switched gears to see if we could find another. We picked up one more mahi and shortly there after he got his butt beat by marlin number two. It was an amazing trip for sure and pretty phenomenal fishing. I think he has big now. Final tally for his introduction to offshore fishing 2 Blue Marlin 1 Sailfish Countless Mahi up to 40# 6 Tuna up to 50# #quepossportfishing #manuelantonio # #fishingcostarica #travelcostarica #fishing #billfish #squidnation #quepostackleshop #bigluresmatter

Had another great day of first with Patrick. He’s on a solo trip from Louisiana where he spends his time chasing reds and trout. He figured he would try his hand at some offshore stuff and I don’t think he could have had a much better day. He with us again tomorrow. It’s going to be tough to top today, but we’re going to give it hell. 1/2 Sails 1 Blue Marlin around #225 Kept 5 Mahi out of a LOT #quepossportfishing #manuelantonio #marinapezvela #fishingcostarica #travelcostarica #fishing #billfish #squidnation #quepostackleshop #bigluresmatter

Opening day was a success to say the least. We were joined by Brett and Kathryn from Texas while on their honeymoon and Kathryn had one fish on her mind. She was looking for her bucket list Marlin to hang on tue wall. It was pretty bumpy all day, but they weren’t giving up. We stopped at a current line 11 miles out and quickly put a couple nice mahi in the boat for dinner. It was clear we could have sat there all day with endless bites, but that wasn’t the mission. We headed off looking for cleaner water and found it around 27 miles. It wasn’t great water, but that’s tough to find right now. We live baited a floating platform we found for about an hour and ended up adding a couple yellowfin. The sharks got so bad we moved on. We picked thru some nice sized mahi and finally started seeing some bait. After shaking off several bonita we found what we wanted. Mr. Marlin showed up on the teaser. His bill was barely out of the water and we thought it was bonita picking at it. Once we realized what it was he faded off just to come back and explode on a lure. About an hour later, Kathryn released her dream fish and we turned it to the house. Final for the day 8 mahi, 2 tuna, and a 200+ lb blue. Nothing beats good fishing when you have folks on the boat that appreciate every aspect of it. It was a day I won’t soon forget and I don’t think either of them will either. This marlin will be living next to Brett’s elk at their new home … that has to be an impressive wall. #quepossportfishing #manuelantonio #marinapezvela#fishingcostarica #travelcostarica #fishing #billfish #squidnation #quepostackleshop #bigluresmatter