Costa Rica Fishing Links

Feb 25, 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: It's hard to believe it's been so long since the last update! Fishing has been excellent this year! Since the last update we've hosted 3 great regular groups: Capt Cal and group, Freddy Hernandez and group and Chris Parody and friends. We've had a smattering of day charters in between and all trips have seen decent offshore action and a really diverse catch. Chris Parody's group caught 3 species of Snapper in 1 day!

We are on a break at the moment, working on the property. Fishing has remained consistent. The only thing we haven't seen yet is a really strong Marlin bite. Last year around this time, we had an exceptional Wahoo bite, so we are all hoping for that again!

There was a very interesting catch at the mouth of the river about 1 mile up the beach from us. A local tico caught a 500lb jewfish on a hand line. It was so massive, he had to tie the line to the mangrove and wait for the tide to go out! He fed the town!

Jan 20, 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: May and Jamie from Miami are down celebrating May's birthday out at Encanta La Vida

The fished a great day offshore going 3 for 3 on the Sailfish and boating 3 Dorado up to 45 lbs. On the way in they snagged a Jack at the rock.

The good fishing has stayed consistent since the Marlin bite - we had a challenging season last year as most who fished anywhere in the country found out! So this hot Marlin and Dorado fishing has been great. The water temp has been 2 degrees colder than normal. Last year we experienced record highs water temp wise.

Jan 18, 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: Frank & Tom from Ohio wound up there 6 day trip with an excellent day of fishing offshore despite a late start due to a presidential visit and a swarm of Secret Service.

They ran out to La Chancha and the water turned green and they headed out to 21 miles 34 degrees and found the Sailfish going 7 for 12. They also released 8 Dorado.

Scherrie - can Frank come back in March? He needs to celebrate what we've calculated to be 54 days and over 400 hours aboard the Mar Huron. Must be something good going on down here!

Jan 16, 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: Boated 10 of 12 Dorado, missed a Marlin and Sailfish bite, but went inshore and caught Roosters and Jacks.

Jan 15, 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: The Mar Huron had an excellent day offshore yesterday - action all day and a little fun with a greedy Sailfish and a Bonita about 4 inches too long for him to bite. 1 for 3 on Sails, 103 lb yellowfin tuna caught on 30 lb test...with another double hook-up on Tuna (the other being 35 lbs), 2 Dorado, 1 Grouper and a Snapper.

Jan 14, 2008: Costa Rica Fish: The Mar Huron headed to Burrica today and boated a Horseeye Jack, Roosterfish on light tackle 15 lb test on a 40 yr old Fin-nore #4 reel. Then offshore about 20 miles off the rock California casted to a wolfpack of finning Sailfish led to a double hook-up.

Jan 13 2008: Costa Rica Fishing: The Marlin bite has died down somewhat. Mar Huron was one of the luckier boats yesterday with 1 Sailfish and 3 Dorado. Some did better, most not. One Marlin was caught out of the fleet.

Jan 12 2008: Costa Rica Fishing The Marlin bite has continued consistently the last week with boats averaging about 6 raised a day. They are running about 20 miles for this bite. We are in the new moon phase at the moment, so the Ballyhoo bait catcher has had a hard time finding the Ballyhoo. Hope the bite stays consistent through the new moon!

The Marlin bite is still really hot at the moment. Boats are running 12 miles and some have raised up to 6 in a day.

We brought in the New Year down here in paradise taking advantage of the Marlin bite! Two trips went out Jan 2 & 3 with 1 Marlin, 1 Sailfish, 3 of 6 Dorado to the boat.

The season as started off with a bang for the Mar Huron. Today Clayton Adams, from Alabama, would up his 3 day fishing trip with an incredible day offshore boating 5 Snapper, 1 Marlin, 3 Dorado, 1 Sailfish, 1 Pompano, 1 Amberjack. All this for a sophomore from the U of Alabama! HIs first day was also a huge success with 2 Marlins being landed as well as a nice Dorado.

Boats are running about 18 miles from the rock, and fishing has been consistent over the past week. The Marlin bite had passed, but looks like it's back on!

Jacob and I arrived in Costa Rica earlier this week, and were very pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the Fishack property was maintained by Cristina. We are really excited for this upcoming season. At the moment we are doing maintenance things...setting up the wireless internet, setting up satellite TV throughout the property, painting, decoration, etc.

Fishing wise, at the moment there are few boats going out, but those that are are taking advantage of an excellent Blue Marlin bite. The blue water is at 18 miles from the rock. That's about all I know at the moment. Not many boats out - still raining cats and dogs.

Michael is set arrive Nov 23, and our first trip is Dec 26. Boat will likely go in the water around Dec 10, so that leaves a few weeks open before the season gets busy.

Michael and Kurt have a lot of work on land here with the new property next door, but I'm sure they'd love to break it up with a few days of fishing!

Looks like the season is slowing winding down up here. Michael's out on his last day of fishing and is bringing the F/V Bad Dog back to Ptown tonite. Jacob and I are headed south and are really looking forward to getting started on all the work on the new house!

Well we are bunking in at the house at the moment as Hurrican Noel makes is way up the coast. They are calling for 80 mile an hour winds tomorrow, so it'll be another day before Michael can get back out.

In their last trip to Chatham, Josiah and Michael caught 2 tuna - another 700 lber and a 650 lber. Michael also swung the gaf over at a Mako swimming by and brought that in as well. Tonite we had Mako for dinner!

It's certainly been a great season up here this year. I love to hear Michael say "...anything here on in is gravy."

Some friends just arrived back on the Osa and report it is still raining! I'll be heading back Nov 12 and Michael will likely fish until the end of Nov or until the quota is met up here.

We start our charters in December, and our first guests of the season are Clayton Adams and his college roommate over Christmas. Clayton and his dad Jimmy were down in May fishing with Donald McGuinness (Michael had left already to start his lobster diving) and staying with us at the Fishack.

Ok - looks like I've recovered about all I can manage to recover. If anyone out there is looking for a website guy, send me a line and I'll tell you who not to hire!

Michael's down under in Chatham today. Winds are registering high on the buoy, and he's the only one out fishing (what else is new!), but he's marking some big fish and hopefully he brings home some tuna steaks tonite!

Sounds like the rains are very consistent and very heavy down in Costa Rica. I was going to head down in a couple of weeks to start work on the new property, but I think I'll wait until I get a report of some sunshine!

For anyone thinking of heading down, we've been flying with http://www.spiritair.com and they are a great carrier with fantastic rates if your dates are flexible. We've all got round trips for November at $280 a piece out of Boston!

ADDENDUM: tuna steaks for dinner!! Michael hooked a 700 lber, seas were rough and it was blowing 25 on the buoy, but he boated a nice one. Should get $10/lb in Japan as it's the first Boston Bluefin going over for auction in 5 days! Nice! He's got a good story about trying to pull this one into the boat - it involves tying a rope to a gaff, then tying the rope/gaff to the Tuna's tail so he could hold the gaf and rope the head at the same time, all while trying to stay aboard in rough seas. Anyways, he had a blond moment and let the gaf go once he had the head tied and of course the tuna starting wacking his tail around with 700 lbs of force and a gaff tied to his tail! Needless to say Michael took a bad hit to the side of the head and was pretty close to being knocked out.

Michael also wanted me to update his total Lobster during his dive season at 10,000 lbs. It's been an very very very good year on the Cape!

Cape Cod July 2007

We are really excited for the 2oo7/2008 season - it’s our 7th season it’s quite likely going to be the best yet! We recently purchased the property next door to the Fishack and are planning some wonderful improvements to the Fishack Compound!

Capt Michael has broken in his new boat, fv Bad Dog. Looks like she’s going to provide Michael with years of fruitful commercial fishing up here on Cape Cod. Michael has had an exceptional lobster diving season so far - the best yet.

Normally, Bass fever sets in about now, then Tuna, but it looks like Tuna Fever is going to set in a little earlier this year…Michael’s gone out a couple of times a caught some nice football sized ones, but they’ve caught a couple of big ones (700-800 lbs) in the past week, so the rods are loaded on the boat ready to go!

Jacob seems to be drawn to following in his fathers footsteps. He’s a little firecracker and loves to be on the boat with daddy.

We’ve been on the Cape now 2 months, Cristina (the Fishack housekeeper) is caretaking the property and doing some wonderful work in the gardens. The fishing has been quite slow down there. The rains are starting to pick up and the season has definitely wound down!

We are starting our next season November 1, 2007 and will be extending the following special offers:

Trips November 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007 - 15% discount

Trips January 1, 2007 to May 31, 2007 - 15% discount (secure dates with deposit by Sept 1)

We are also pleased to be able to accommodate groups up to 6 anglers at The Fishack (we’ve remodeled the main floor of the villa). For groups of 3 or more, we will be using a 2nd boat guided by Capt Cory Craig. It’s a brand new Oceanrunner and Capt Cory is the man to guide inshore trips…not to say he can’t put you on a Marlin if one jumps!

Lyra

October 28, 2007 - No it really hasn't been 9 mths since our last fish report. It's honestly been 9 mths of hell since we hired a new website optimizer guy.

So the short of it is, after forking over $4000 to have a 'professional' take over the website and leave me time to run the business, and Michael time to fish, we watched as our website slowly dropped in the rankings, sat by and watched as email links and links through the site repeatedly failed, and dealt with an all round hassle.

The blog he set up has been a pain in the a**, and now all our entries from Jan to Oct are gone. Vanished.

January 22, 2007 - Phone service has been restored! OK, a few days of fishing to report on, but I can't report that the fishing has picked up all that much as yet.

We fished Gar, Casey and Ryan last week to the 19th. They had action everyday, but not quite like their trip last year.

They raised at least 3 Sails everyday out and boated more than 50%. They also brought in Dorado, Tuna and Blue Jack. They had fun out on the town and left happy guys! We then fished with the Hernandez Brothers and Gary from Miami. They fished 2 days and had a great day the first day going 2 for 3 on Sails and boating a Blue Marlin. They had another tie off episode with that Marlin...the line broke, but Capt Michael tied it off to another rod and in she came.

Joe, Gary and Tim from Miami are currently on day 2 of their 4 day trip and went 2 for 3 on Sails and brought in a nice Dorado. Seems the restaurant of choice this year to bring your own fish to is commonly known as Agua Luna Dos - it's a small little beachfront cafe located at the Hotel Agua Luna! I know these 2 last groups brought their fish in multiple times.

They did however have alot of excitement in town last night when Gary made Puerto Jimenez a safer place for all when he took down the local thief (everytown has one!). Gary almost sacrificied today's fishing day to go over to Golfito to give a statement to the Judge to ensure he stays in a long time...but Capt Michael wasn't having any of that. So off they went after making bait. I made a call and Pata de Oso as he's commonly known as and learned he'll be gone for 5 years.

January 10, 2007 - Frank Rybarcyk and Ronald Kotch are ba down fishing with us. They are in the middle of a 6 day trip which started off a little slow - Ohio got slammed by Florida, and they had 2 slow days after starting off going 3 for 3 on Sails and nailing 2 Dorgado and a Tuna. Today however the tables turned and they got into a floating tarp catching about 10 20-40 lb Dorado on poppers using 12 lb test light spinning rods. At one they had four on. Next they got into a group of 20 lb Wahoo and boated 4. They capped off the day with a 20 lb Barracuda.

January 6, 2007 - We've had a late start to our season down here in Costa Rica. Capt Michael bought a new boat up on the Cape and we spent most of the early winter up there getting her ready for next seasons cod, bass, lobster and tuna seasons.

We arrived in Costa Rica Dec 15 and have been busy getting the Fishack and Mar Huron ready for the season.

Michael and Kurt kicked off the season Jan 2 with a trip with a local resident, Alex. They fished the day offshore and had an excellent 'meat trip'! They brought in a 30 lb Dorado, went 1 for 3 on Sailfish and nailed a 200 lb Tuna. Alex and his buddy Tommy were stoked, as were Michael and Kurt!

Yesterday Gavin and Lea from Minnesota fished a full day offshore and ended their 10 day travels with 2 nice Dorado and a Sailfish. Lea surprised the guys by hooking, and boating a 40 lber! Nice job Lea!

All in all fishing has been pretty decent. There were Marlin like arroz about a week ago, but it seems at the moment the hot bite is Dorado and Tuna.

March 12, 2006 - Over the past 2 weeks we've had 2 excellent trips. There's been solid Marlin bite and Don LaRuffa and his buddy Eric, along with Paul Ruggles and son Brad both got to experience it. Don and Eric kicked off their trip with a Marlin landed by 10:45 their first day of fishing. That set the tone for a fantastic 3 days of fishing! Thrown into the mix some Dorado, Tuna, Sailfish of course and Snapper. This was one of Eric's first experiences deep sea fishing, and he landed himself a Sail on a spinning rod on day 2.

Brad and Paul were down from Canada for a 7 day trip, with 4 days of fishing. It was an excellent trip and they got some great video footage of a nice 40 lb Dorado, as well as Sailfish and Marlin.

February 26, 2006 - We are coming off of 3 days off after an excellent trip with Tim Braun and his group of 8 anglers. This was their 2nd trip down here and it was a blast! They fished aboard the Mar Huron and also with Capt Carlos Mata Gato for 4 days and saw consistent Sailfish action. They also brought in a good number of football sized Tuna. Their last day out they slammed the Red Snapper bringing home 7 of them. They were here for the re-opening of Iguana Iguana which is being run by Evelyn and Kyle - they've given it a little face lift and added a pool table and foosball table. We were in need of a new spot to share fishing stories at in the evening and now we have it!

This season we are so happy to have fished with about 80% repeat anglers so far. It's been excellent seeing you all again!

February 15, 2006 - We have had a very busy couple of weeks. At the end of January we wound up a trip with Tarkenton Thompson with a little blues on the beach in Playa Zancudo. Every year Taj Mahal comes down for a tournament and has a free concert on the last night. It was a blast! A great trip with Tarkenton and his buddy Sandy Birdsey.

Richard Boyes and his family as well as a few friends rented the Fishack for a couple of nights the first week of February and fished a day with Michael and Kurt. They all landed Sailfish which was their main goal!

Arden Siegendorf and Evan Ringquist came down for their 3rd and 2nd trip respectively. They brought down John Balch and fished 4 excellent days offshore. They landed Sailfish, Pargo, a 60 lb Wahoo, Roosterfish and 30 lb Jack, Bluerunners and alot of Dorado! Arden has put a deposit on a condo in the new marina in Bahia Escondida in Golfito. We can't wait to be neighbors!

Chris Parody came down with a group of 5 buddies for their 2nd trip fishing with Mar Huron. The guys fished 2 boats - the Mar Huron, and the Lurhs run by Capt Carlos "Mata Gato". The guys had a great trip and saw alot of action each day. There were a couple close Marlin calls. They brought fish home every night - I don't think they ate out once! It was a really great trip and we look forward to seeing you guys again next season!

January 28, 2006 - It's been awhile since the last fish report - fishing has been fantastic! Alot to report about, but quite honestly we've been a little preoccupied with an injury Kurt sustained while leadering a Sailfish on Frank & Ron's first day of fishing Jan 22. Leading up to the injury, Seth Horne of Full Throttle Fishing was down for his 4th trip with us and brought with him Vinnie, Rick & Laura. They had 4 great days of fishing with a Marlin taking the icing on the cake their 2nd to last day. Seth's working on a fishing documentary and has been down in the past taking great video footage for the documentary.

So, about the accident. Kurt and Michael were out on day one with Frank and Ron and were having a great day having landed 5 Sailfish in about 3 hours. Kurt was leadering a Sailfish and as it gave a strong push, Kurt turned his head away to avoid a wack to the face. The bill of the fish entered into his neck, just below his jaw and came out the front of his cheek.

He had a pretty bad infection, and has just returned today after a 7 day stay in the CIMA Hospital in San Jose.

Tarkenton Thompson has just arrived for his 3rd trip - this one timed perfectly for the Taj Mahal tournament in Zancudo Beach on Feb 2.

January 17, 2006 - Captain Cal and his crew of 6 from Texas enjoyed 7 days down here on the Osa Peninsula. They fished a total of 7 days and had a blast. Michael and Kurt built a greenstick out of bamboo and they broke it in their last couple of days. Aside from a good number of Sailfish, and quite a few Tuna, they got into the Wahoo on one of their fishing days.

Peter and Colin from New York and Texas respectively, fished 2 days during their stay at Bosque del Cabo. Their fishing days were going into the full moon, so the 'wide open' fishing that Capt Cal experienced started to slow a bit. Each day they boated Sailfish, and their first day they got into the Tuna with the greenstick and the second day came in a with nice Snapper which went back to their lodge for the other guests to enjoy at dinner.

January 4, 2006 - We having been chomping at the bit to get this report up! After a month waiting for our phone line to be reinstalled, we are finally able to update all that's been happening down here.

A few days after our return we hosted a wonderful trip of 13 California Highway Patrol officers. These guys were on a 'meat' trip and the final numbers floating around were 350 lb of filets taken back to the states. I'm not exactly sure, and quite honestly with 13 fishermen fishing on 4 different boats it was difficult to keep it all straight! The guys were split up between Michael and Kurt aboard the Mar Huron, Capt Carlos 'Mata Gato' running Donald McGuiness' newly aquired boat, Capt Jon Olsen from Zancudo, Capt Bobby McGuiness of Golfito and Capt Chuck Tilden of Golfito.

Capt Mata Gato ran the boat to beat - he highlined the week and showed a couple of CHP's a day to go down in history when he boated 7 out of 8 Wahoo raised.

The guys were great and brought down about 5 coolers full of school supplies for the new school in town, Nueva Hoja. There is even talk of one officer's church group sponsoring the school for a year.

Michael and Kurt have since been busy painting the boat, gutting the 4Runner and building a large addition to the Fishack.

Michael donated a trip to the Nueva Hoja School fund raiser - the trip was won by Sara and she brought her husband and a few friends out to enjoy the day with her.

Capt Cal and his crew from Texas have just arrived for another fishing trip - as Michael and Kurt have been saying "It's b@lls to the walls come Jan 5." The phone line couldn't have been installed at a better time.

September 31, 2005 Cape Cod - After a dry spell of almost 2 weeks, Michael and his mate nailed a nice 500 lb Bluefin Tuna. They brought it in and hit the waters in time for the afternoon bite! She was a relatively easy catch - about 45 minutes of fighting her. The fish went over to Japan for auction and brought in a modest $7.50 per lb. It was very interesting to read the spec sheet for that week at auction. Seems most of the 'wild' tuna being caught are Boston Bluefins and those from Canada. There were alot of farmed fish coming from as far away as Australia, Malta, Mexico and Spain...hmmm....I wonder if I can persuade Michael to farm Bluefin in some exotic Meditteranean location. Costa Rica winter, Ibiza in the summer...

September 13, 2005 Cape Cod - After a few days downtime to work on an outdrive, Michael and his new mate Lucas were at it again bringing in a 792 lb Tuna that they hooked into around 11 a.m. This Tuna made them work for it, but she was worth it. She broke the line early on in the fight, so they had to fight the fish on the harpoon line by hand. Took about an hour and a half. She was a great looking fish. Looks like it may blow over the next few days, so this bite may pass after Ophelia moves by.

September 7, 2005 Cape Cod - The ice has been broken with a nice 671 lb Tuna brought in this evedning! Michael fished solo and had 3 bites today with the 3rd one landed. The first was a suck-off and the 2nd a heartbreaker. Wayne McCabe jumped aboard to help fight the 2nd. She was a big one and Michael had her hooked and to the side of the boat when the line wrapped around his outdrives. Like the fishing fool he is, he jumped aboard (boots'n'all) tp try and untangle her line, but it had chaffed and she broke off.

He was anchored letting out some line when he spotted some birds working a feedline 200 mts from the boat. He was surrounded by seaweed, and decided to let his anchor go rather than take too much time pulling it and cleaning off the line. He made his way to the feedline and within minutes was on to a tuna. He had her within 1/2 hour.

I'm pretty sure this is the earliest fish in the last few years. Last years bite was really late. Hopefully this is an indication that this tuna season will be plentiful.

September 1, 2005 Cape Cod - It's been a great summer for us here on the Cape! Michael spent most of May, June and July diving for Lobster. He took in over 6000 lbs of lobster, and is now into Bluefin Tuna mode! There was one taken about 10 days ago off Wood End that weighed in around 750 lbs. A couple of 500 lbers taken in since then.

Michael finished our house here in Truro, and we've been busy adapting to parenthood, settling in the house and preparing for our next season in Costa Rica.

We are so happy to have our season more than half booked up and really thankful to those of you who are fishing again with us! Should be another excellent year! No updates on Kurt lately - I'm sure he's busy working up in Alaska counting the days before returning to Pura Vida land.

Jacob's now 20 lbs just shy of his 4 mth birthday, and is totally delightful! He's certainly not a typical infant - he's very spirited, very strong and very social. We love watching him grow and can't wait to introduce you all to him. Being born in the jungle has made this child one tough cookie.

March 29 Costa Rica - Gary Buckles and his cousin John Talley have just wound up a 4 day trip with Michael and Kurt aboard the Mar Huron. The first 2 days proved to be challenging, but the 2nd two were excellent. They landed a good variety of inshore and offshore species - Tuna, Sailfish, Dorado, Roosterfish, Jack, Bonita. Their 2nd two days of fishing were chalked full of Sailfish action - yesterday they went 5 for 7, and today they went 6 for 9. Today they also got into a nice school of Dorado boating 3 before heading inshore.

This trip marks an early end to the season - earlier this year as we are having a baby in early May. Thanks Frank and Tom for all the baby stuff you brought down your last trip - Bandito has developed a bad habit of dragging the Gund Teddy Bear out of the stroller and attacking it. We realized that encouraging him to "hale" (his 'attack' command) the teddy bear wasn't such a good idea as in a few weeks we'll have our son in there.

Kurt's going to stick around another few months getting Anya and the kids (Hunter and Wendy) settled into a new house while they get the papers in order to start building a house on some family land. From here Michael will head back to Cape Cod to put the finishing touches on our new house hopefully in time for the baby, and get the MV Alison Way all ready for her summer fisheries.

Michael and Kurt will be pulling the boat in the next few days to paint her, recushion her and put her to sleep until we kick it all off again in December. We are looking forward to our first trip - a group of 12 California HIghway Patrol officers...I'm sure Jimenez will never be the same.

The trips we have booked for next year were secured about a year in advance - so keep that in mind if there are specific dates you want.

We will try and update the fish report with details on what the other local captains are catching - seems if we go more than a week or so without reporting anything, we get a flood of emails from the addicts.

March 20 Costa Rica - Seth Horne, Alden Huddleson and Arthur Mariano are in the middle of a 7 day fishing trip. So far they've seen some good Tuna and Dorado action, which has provided for a few good meals! The Sailfish haven't been biting that much, but they managed to find them yesterday and went 2 for 3 - excellent odds.

Seth is down on his 2nd trip this season finishing up the final touches of a fishing video his company is producing. Arthur, an oceanographer, is accompanying the group this trip to provide some expert technical information.

March 10 Costa Rica - Brother wrapped up a great trip to Puerto Jimenez. Alfie landed his first Sailfish on the fly which was by far the highlight of the trip! A nice 150 lber.

March 8 Costa Rica - Tarkenton "Brother" Thompson is back down for a 2nd trip with Mar Huron, this time fishing with Alfie Means and Evans Howell. Seems the southern boys have charmed the fish back into biting. There first day out they targeted billfish offshore and went 2 for 6 on Sailfish and Evans brought in a nice 250 lb Blue Marlin.

Evans was about 1/2 and hour into his fight when the handle busted off of one of the new Penn reels - Kurt and Michael saved the catch with Kurt holding the line while Michael cut and spliced it onto another rod. The rod was handed back to Evans who brought it in within another 1/2 hour. Good job!

Most boats are back up to the numbers they are used to as fishing this past few days has really picked up. Fish reports will be regular again as there is once again good fishing to report!

March 7 Costa Rica - The past few weeks have proven to be challenging as far as fishing is concerned. The fish have been out there, but they've been making the area captains really work for a bite.

We hosted Frank Rybarcyk and Tim Gross for 6 days of fishing - it was Frank's 6th year with Michael (is it 6 now Frank? We try to figure this out every time you are down!) and Tim's first year. The Billfishing action was steady, as were the Roosterfish inshore. Tim landed a couple of nice Tuna's on the fly. All in all a good variety of inshore/offshore species were caught, providing us all with another delicious display of Frank's culinary abilities at Chez Frank!

Frank's other fishing buddy, Tom Sharpnack, sat out this trip and spent the week in frigid Ohio - we missed you buddy!

For those who have noticed, the Marlin photo on our main page is of Frank and Michael back during the first trip they fished together down here.

February 19 Costa Rica - Dr Phil Bruner and the fishing obgyn's are down for a 2nd trip with Mar Huron.Their last trip here, Michael was speared through the arm by the bill of a Sailfish a few hours into the trip. But the doctors came equipped - a little Gatorade, some antibiotics and duct tape and they were good to go for the rest of the day after Michael came out of shock.

This trip proved to be uneventful medically speaking, but provided the doctor's with a couple of days of steady billfishing action offshore.

February 16 Costa Rica - Seems the full moon scare was just that! Fishing is back up to what we are used to numbers wise and Chris Parody and his group got in on some excellent fishing action yesterday. Aside from good billfishing action, they got into some good eatin fish and brought home some meat which they enjoyed on BBQ - Yellowfin Tuna and a Blue Jack.

Today they came with a 100% average on Sails to the boat - they went 6 for 6 and then headed inshore and boated 5 Mullet Snapper, 2 Yellow Snapper and 1 Silver Snapper. They also boated 2 nice Blue Jack which are currently on the BBQ.

All in all it's been an excellent trip! We look forward to seeing you guys again soon.

February 14 Costa Rica - Mike and Kurt enjoyed a few days off last week and took in the blues concert over in Zancudo that wrapped up a tournament benefitting the MusicMaker Foundation (http://www.musicmaker.org). Taj Mahal and Mudcat were among the players in this tournament along with a number of other very talented musicians. A great time was had by all!

As we approach the full moon, it seems the fish have gone from one extreme to the other. For the last few weeks we've had fish literally jumping in the boat. The past few days have provided a challenge to the Captains down here, testing their skills!

The billfish are out there, and they are providing plenty of action, but they are all talk and few bites. Those that are being caught are caught after some serious hard work - good job.

Yesterday the Mar Huron hit the waters with Chris Parody and his buddies from New Jersey. They raised 8 Sailfish and boated 6. Excellent odds and numbers. They also brought in a nice Amberjack on the way in after fishing. The action was good on those Sailfish - they had a triple on at one point.

February 6 Costa Rica - Freddy et al ended their trip with another great day with 6 sailfish landed, another 2 tuna, 5 Dorado in the 30 lb range with one weighing in at 50 lb, and a 20 lb Blue Runner. Great trip guys! Good to see you all again - see you next year.

Davis Kope is down with his buddies for a few days of fishing and week of r&r on the Osa Peninsula. Today they went 5 for 8 on Sailfish and raised one nice Blue Marlin that didn't seem to want to bite.

Super Bowl in Costa Rica is about as big as it is up their. Julio's new bar the Taverna had a great party tonite, as did Juanita's. Go Patriots!

February 4 Costa Rica - Tom and Frank wrapped up their trip with 3 more days of excellent Billfishing before heading home to the snow in Ohio. Thanks for the great BBQ you guys - nothing beats that sampling of Wahoo, Dorado and Tuna on the grill! See you next month Frank! Michael's been working on that "Pocket Fisherman" so you can land a Billfish on it.

Freddy Hernandez et al are down for their 4th annual fishing trip with Mar Huron. They had a late start today, hitting the waters at around 10 a.m. But that certainly didn't effect the fishing - they pulled in two nice size Dorado, 2 Tuna, 5 Sailfish and Freddy landed a 120 lb Blue Marlin on a spinning rod with 15 lb test. The boys hit Juanita's Bar & Grill where they enjoyed their catch of the day.

It was Marlin Madness in general out their today with most boats raising them, and a few raising 2 and 3.

January 25 Costa Rica - Tom Sharpnack and Frank Rybarcyk are down for their annual fishing trip with Mar Huron. Their first 3 days have offered some of the best fishing they've seen since they've begun fishing this area with the Mar Huron 5 years ago.

Day one proved to be exciting with Sailfish literally jumping in the boat. Mate Kurt ended up with a pretty big war wound, and the imprint the Sail left on deck was impressive. It jumped in just as Kurt was getting ready to leader it. One of Tom's missions was finally met on Day 2 when they got into a school of Dorado and he boated a nice 50 lber. That was one of 4 that day - they were trying to avoid the Sailfish and were trolling Tuna, Wahoo and Dorado rigs, but ended up with a handful of hungry ones trying to get some action. They also got into a school of tuna and boated a modest sized WAHOO on Day 2. Day 3 was split inshore/offshore. The morning was spent down at Barica, but they were headed for another trash can slam, aside from the Snapper they brought in. So they headed offshore and ended up with 6 sailfish to the boat, 5 Dorado (all released) and a very nice 40 lb WAHOO. It's definitely been a WAHOO week for the Mar Huron.

Considering the impending full moon, the fishing has been exceptionally good. Frank and Tom have 3 more days of fishing - check back for the report on the rest of their trip.

January 20 Costa Rica - Well it's been a very busy and very fishy week in Costa Rica for the Mar Huron. We've been fishing with Tim Braun, Karl Braun, Gar Rummel, and Brian Watkinson - the fishing has been outstanding.

They've gone about 20 for 38 on Sailfish with Karl pulling in one of the biggest Kurt and Michael have seen - about 140 lbs. They also had a great day with the Dorado on day two boating 5 dorado and stocking many fridges in Puerto Jimenez with fish. Their day inshore was a little slow today, they boated one nice Rooster before heading back offshore and going 3 for 8 on Sailfish and boating a smaller Dorado. Kurt saved the day with one of the Dorado spitting the hook just as the gaf was being brought out. For a few seconds the Dorado was off the hook at the side of the boat and Kurt swung the gaf just in time to bring it in.

There seem to have been many highlights to the trip...the WAHOO they boated on day 2 - a nice 40 lber that was about 6 ft in height, the two doubles they had on Sailfish, and how quickly they learned to get serious and stop setting the circle hooks!

We hope this is the first of many annual trips for you guys and look forward to fishing with you again soon! Thanks!!

January 14 Costa Rica - Debbie took the day off today and relaxed at the Fishack and enjoyed a massage while husband Brad slammed the waters of the Gulfo Dulce. This man can fish! Today there were a few little snags in the morning...they got into a school of Roosterfish and poor fishing etiquette followed with another boat ripping through it.

No problem though. All the boats hit the same spot as yesterday and the Mar Huron decided to go in the opposite direction to fish on their own. What a great decision that was - they got into the Sailfish big time. 20 Sailfish were raised with 9 to the boat. Brad boated 8 on his own, Kurt brought one in. Then the got into the Dorado and boated 4 in the 40 lb range to filet and bring back to the orphanage. The icing on the cake was the 25 lb Wahoo Brad brought in.

Debbie and I chatted this afternoon about the type of food they are able to provide for the kids on Roatan. Even though it's an island in the Caribbean, they rarely are able to provide the kids with fresh fish. So this is going to be a real treat

January 13 Costa Rica - One of the best aspects of owing and operating a charter business in this tropical paradise, are the great anglers we have the opportunity to host and fish with. The trip we are currently running is a perfect example of that!

Debbie and Brad Warren of Child Sponsorship International are down from their mission in Honduras for a few days of fishing with Mar Huron. They run an orphanage and outreach center in Roatan, and are down for some well deserved r&r.

There mission here is to have some fun and to catch some good eating fish and ship it back to the orphanage in Honduras and today's fishing didn't disappoint. They caught 3 Dorado in the 20-30 lb range, but had a bunch tugging at the Sailfish teasers when they switched to billfishing. They went 4 for 10 on the Billfish, and Debbie not only caught her first billfish, but the first of the day. Nice job!

For those who have fished with us before, the Ballyhoo connection, Chilo, is fileting, vacuum packing and freezing the fish for the kids of Honduras. Thank you Chilo!

January 11 Costa Rica - Mark and Tim enjoyed a WAHOO kind of day yesterday fishing aboard the Mar Huron. They went 6 for 14 on Sailfish and boated 3 Dorado before boating a nice Wahoo. The blue water is out at about 10-15 miles.

January 9 Costa Rica - Mike and Kurt fished a half day today with Dave and Tim from Chicago. Since the blue water has been so close to the Rock (about 4 miles today) they were able to fish this half day offshore. They boated 3 Dorados in the 30 lb range and went 4 for 10 on Sailfish.

January 5 Costa Rica - Ralph, his wife and daughter, from Chicago, were down also staying at Matapalo and had a great day offshore. Okay Ralph...it's so hard to report on these types of days. We raised 8 Sailfish and released 1. Okay...Ralph...don't set the circle hook. Get the bait in the water in a timely manner and the average will undoubetly increase.

Despite the brain freeze on the Sailfish, Ralph and the family did land a nice 50 lb Dorado and 7 additionals caught. 3 went home, the rest released.

The highlight of the day for all by far was the pod of about 8 30 ft Pilot Whales which followed the boat for over 15 minutes, jumping, slapping their tales on the water. At one point Ralph's daughter almost got slapped by the tail of a pilot whale while hanging over the bow trying to touch him.

We had planned to take a few days to do some fun fishing up in Nicaragua the next few days, but there are alot of projects underway at The Fishack. Those heading down who have been before will appreciate the great wall that's being erected between The Fishack and Miguel's boat yard. The beachfront of the property is also getting some TLC with a smaller wall and a new sign. Jan 13 update on the wall - the police came by and put a temporary hold on the project.

January 4 Costa Rica - Jeremiah Clinton and his wife fished a day offshore with Mar Huron during their stay at Encanta La Vida Lodge at Matapalo. The blue water was nice and close at 5 miles from the rock. They raised 10 Sailfish and released 4. And the Dorado were also thick with 3 boated and 4 released. The Dorado were in the 20-30 lb range. They headed back to the lodge with a cooler of about 20 kilos of Dorado filets to feed the whole lodge...for days...and days!

December 31 Costa Rica - The Hill Famliy fished their last day inshore and got a nice surprise about an 1/8 of a mile from the Rock when Marvin hooked and landed a nice Sailfish! From their they had a good assortment of Jacks, Roosterfish and Needlefish to compliment the day!

December 30 Costa Rica - Christmas in the jungle has come and gone and all pier fishing.

They hit the waters the day after the full moon and within a few hours had their first Sailfish on. By the end of the day they had 3 Dorado under their belt and saw many of the beautiful sights of the wates surrounding the Osa Peninsula including Dolphins and Sea Turtles.

They spent the next day exploring the area. Up at the crack of dawn, they headed into the jungle with Fernando for a horseback ride at 5 a.m. (a very adventurous family!). During their ride they saw among other things 2 sloths and congo monkeys. They returned for breakfast, a dip in the pool and hit the beach at Playa Preciosa.

The water temps are at around 85 degrees and true to the season, the Dorado are what's hot at the moment. Seems it doesn't matter what you are trolling for, the Dorado are hot on your teasers. The Sailfishing still has yet to really get into full swing...they are out there, but certainly not the numbers we see during the peak. Boats the past few days have been raising anywhere from a couple to 6 a day. Captain Steve from Crocodile was out celebrating the other night - 2 for 6 on the fly. And that was on a day that the next top boat raised 2!! Nice!

December 26 Costa Rica - The past few days have been heating up fishing wise in Costa Rica. The Sailfish have been consistent and in abundance. On December 24 Mar Huron fished Don LaRuffa for an excellent day offshore. Don boated 6 nice Dorado which were fileted and sent back with him to his lodge, Encanta La Vida in Cabo Matapalo. He also went 6 for 8 on Sailfish. All at about 8-10 miles from the Rock.

Just today Michael and Kurt took Michael's brother in law, Art Dawley out for his first trip offshore. Art has just recently purchased Paradise Air Charters, a private executive air charter service based in Pavas, Costa Rica. They hit the waters for just a half day of fishing and hooked into a Sailfish at 6 miles from the Rock - Art's first! There were quite a few swimmers and jumpers, but no takers so they headed back inshore for some action. At the Rock they had a triple on of what was likely Snapper, but all three broke off - what are the chances? They got into a few huge schools of nice sized Baracuda that knew just where to bit the bait leaving them with a little Bluerunner head after a little excitement. They made there way along the shore towards Jimenez and boated 3 nice Roosterfish before calling it a day!

December 21 Costa Rica - As I sit here ready to write this report, Captain Michael, Mate Kurt and Seth are tallying up the catch for the trip and finishing off the rest of the beer.

Their words exactly are "today was the icing on the cake". As if this trip could've gotten any better, today Seth fished a fun day without the camera and went 8 for 11 on Sailfish, 5 nice 40 lb Dorado and a Barracuda that also bit his ankle. The first fish they caught was before they even finished their breakfast burritos...a nice Dorado right at the Rock. The Dorado today were starving. At one point Michael had a rod all baited up, and placed it in the rod holder. Within a few moments a Dorado took the bait and Seth boated number 5. The furthest they fished today was 13 miles from the Rock, and to top it off Margarita made the best sandwiches today!

Their tally for the week was 25 Sailfish, 40 Dorado ranging from 20-40 lbs with a nice 60 lber caught by Alden.

We are looking forward to fishing with Seth again in March when he completes his video footage with the host of the show, Samara.

Michael and Kurt are taking a couple days off before hitting the waters again on the 24th.

December 19 Costa Rica - Seth and Alden are about half way through their fishing trip and have locked in some excellent footage for the videos. Today the went 3 for 6 on Sailfish and released 8 of the 10 Dorado they caught...as the saying goes "Dorado como arroz".

Yesterday they headed north towards Drake Bay in search of some Tuna, but none were found. Seems the Sailfish, Dorado and Marlin are what's out there at the moment and the blue water has been nice and close.

For those who have been emailing me for sizes, the Blue Marlin being caught is in the 300-400 lb range, the Sails are 100-150 and the Dorado are in the 30-40 lb range.

After fishing, while we sat by the pool, Seth shed a little more light on the video he is producing. A fishing video that captures not just the catch, but the hunt, methodology, etc. Most fishing tv shows present you with half an hour of marlin after marlin after marlin....leaving some wondering 'what type of lures were they using'; 'live bait or dead'; 'what brought that captain down to the jungle'. So it'll be interesting to see how these segments turn out after editing. So far they've caught a nice variety of fish using a good variety of methods.

December 16 Costa Rica - Captain Michael and Kurt kicked off the season with a bang today! They are fishing with Seth Horne of www.fullthrottlefishing.com and Alden Huddleson. Seth is down for the first of 2 trips in which he is filming a video on offshore fishing in Costa Rica. The video is mainly technical, focusing on fishing methods, lures and local tricks & tips.

With an arsenal of the best lures out available...all fresh out of the box, they hit the waters bright and early and got into a school of Dorado. They went 4 for 4, releasing 2 and bringing two nice ones home for dinner. They raised 2 sailfish and brought both to the boat.

The cherry on the pie was the 400 lb Blue Marlin they raised about 20 miles from the Rock! Alden got great video footage.

December 6 Costa Rica - Looks like our timing is perfect! It was a slow go fishing wise down here in the latter part of the slow season. Currently the dorado and tuna are plentiful and just about 20 miles from the Rock. The Sailfish action was slow yesterday. Kurt raised the only one out of the boats fishing from Puerto Jimenez. He brought 5 dorado to the boat and a tuna - all in half a day of fishing. The marlin have also been giving a good run.

November 9 Cape Cod - It's been an excellent few weeks here on the Cape with the Bluefin Tuna still in abundance and the price at auction topping off at $12/lb.

The homeport has been abandoned by the out of town boats - they think the seasons over, but there are a couple of great spots where they are marking and catching some nice big fish!

We are now in full swing Costa Rica prep mode. We are shipping down everything from new engines to laptops for the Fishack. Should be a great year!

For all you have been asking about airfare deals- it's so hard to keep up on the specials from all points stateside, but we've found that American Airlines is offering excellent rates for departures to March 7.

October 29, 2004 Cape Cod - When it rains it pours. It's been raining giant bluefin tuna, and Captain Michael and mate Bobby have been finally rewarded for proudly being the only boat out there fishing through this past nor'easter.

Well, they were the only ones out there up until the 26th when they boated a 750 lb Bluefin. Word spread down the Cape and within hours all the salty dogs had wiped their sleepy eyes, hopped aboard their boats and hit the hot spot.

October 26th saw only two tuna taken - Michael's and another 450 lber. So, naturally, luck would have it that the 27th proved to be a hot day for tuna as well. A 824 lber was brought to the boat. Good thing too, Bobby appears to be bit bad by the tuna bug - he threw up earlier that day when the lost a fish after 1/2 hour of fighting.

The 28th was quiet...but Bobby and Michael were still riding on the high of the past two days. Sure enough today around 10 a.m. the boated another 750 lber. Too bad the limits down to 1 a day!

Despite the 3 tuna in the past 4 days, they still had the same drama early in their days with fish chaffing leaders and sucking off bait. The fish on the 27th drew a curious basking shark as close as about 2 ft to the boat. Thank god it didn't entangle itself in the line or I'm sure either Michael or Bobby would 've jumped overboard with frustration.

The game is ON! I've hit the pier everyday and my camera seems to have bit it since our fishing trip to Maine. I hope to scan some prints soon...

October 24, 2004 Cape Cod- It's been 13 days without a Bluefin, but action has certainly been seen in those days! Seems most of it is in the bay. Although the winds have been blowing and keeping most at the dock, there have been 3 or 4 die hards that are out there regardless if the noreaster is blowing 30 mph plus.

Michael's had two break off - the last was a BIG one. It chaffed the leader after about 1/2 hour of fighting. The boats braving it are marking them consistently, it seems though the tuna are slow to be chummed up.

We here from a few captains in Costa Rica that the fishing has been pretty decent offshore for Sails - the rainy season is still in full force, but it is soon on it's way out. We here there is very little in the way of tuna - which is not uncoming this time of year.

October 11, 2004 Cape Cod - "Nine Hundred and Sixty Pounds?????!!!!!!" This was all I could say over and over again when Michael came home last night after hooking a big Bluefin Tuna in the bay at about 4:30 p.m. The bay has been a hotspot the past couple of days - lots of fish being marked, but they've been smart about which chum they've chosen to feed on. Yesterday Michael did a unique cut on the chum and nailed a big one!

There was quite a crowd at the dock - it's been a slow start, so few fish have been brought in, and most have been in the 500-700 lb range. To see this 9 ft long gigantic football being hoisted on the pier has renewed the vigor in the salty dogs who've gone weeks without marking anything.

Thanks Frank for the tuna vibe you sent - seems to have worked again! Looking forward to fishing with you and Tom again in January.

October 8, 2004 - 60 miles of Nantucket on the evening of October 7, Captain Michael Packard and his mate Bobby had a 'religious' experience. They were tucked into the bunk after a delicious dinner - they'd been nearly 2 days 60 miles offshore and were ready for SOMETHING. ANYTHING. There were about 100 boats out there in the floating tuna city, but only about 20 tunas were being taken a day.

The lights went out and they hit the bunks for a little shut-eye, when they heard a large thud on deck. They peaked their heads out and their eyes were drawn up - a large vulture like bird was perched on the radar looking down at them. They watched in amazement at this huge bird which they estimated must've had a wingspan of about 5 ft. The moon was bright and the bird seemed to be enjoying them as much as they enjoyed it. Bobby mentioned, at the most opportune time, that this must be an omen -

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" the reel went OFF! They were on!! It was a tough fight considering it was the middle of the night, but when all was said and done, they boated a nice 650 lb Blue Fin Tuna. She was an impressive one, nice and round and with great clouding.

October 3, 2004 - The winds are blowing here on the Cape so we've taken this opportunity to finally update our site! Thanks to the Siegendorf's, Tracy & Mike and Captain Ed & Clark for the great photos we've finally added! There is a bit of tweaking here and there that'll be done in the next little while. If any of our past guests have photos we can add we'd be happy to have them!!

September 29, 2004 - Well...5 months later, here's the latest on what Capt Michael Packard has been up to: 2000lbs of Atlantic Cod, 10000lbs of Lobster, 8000 lbs of Striped Bass and 1300 lbs of Bluefin Tuna.

We are currently on the Cape and are in the height of the Bluefin Tuna season. It's been a slow start to this lucrative fishery...it's the one that all the salty dogs of the Cape wait for and the one the ultimately carries most through the cold Cape winter.

The first tuna Michael caught was proudly the first brought in to Provincetown. It weighed in at 680 lbs. The second fish caught weighed in at 580 lbs. Both fish were landed by Michael on his own, without a crew.

Frank Rybarcyk, a regular in Costa Rica and a great friend, stopped in last week to try a few days of tuna fishing. Unfortunately, the tuna aren't in quite as predictable as the sailfish - they are a little to the north, and a little to the south, but with the winds as they are, they are a little out of reach.

We are heading back to Costa Rica at the end of November and are looking forward to another excellent season! We will be shooting a instructional video in December with Seth Horne which we are looking forward to.

April 17, 2004 - Although the report hasn't been updated in quite some time, we've fished everyday since last update and the fishing has been quite good considering the time in the season. Tark and crew wrapped up an excellent trip - they actually extended it by a few days to get in another day of fishing. Dave and Beth were down from the Cape for a week for their first tropical fishing trip and had excellent success with the Sailfish both on the fly and conventional.

We are in the middle of a fly fishing trip with Capt Chris Bernstahl and the blue water is in nice and close. We've got about 11 more days of fishing to go before we head back up to the Cape. More detailed fishing updates to come...

April 9, 2004 - Tarkenton aka brother Thompson is down with the crew Matt and Seth for a 4 day fishing trip from Atlanta and Miami. Day 1 the sails were escondido out there - lots of skunked boats. The marlin bite stopped but they got into a nice school of tuna and boated 6. They did raise and land one sail.

Day 2 they hit the waters offshore and ran into blue water at about 6 miles from the rock where they hooked into their first sail. Brother Tarkenton broke his arm in a car wreck a few weeks back, but Capt Michael outfitted him with a great fighting belt harness and his total for the day was 3 for 6. Nice job Brother! The other two were boated at 12 miles from the rock.

April 6, 2004 - Traci and Mike hit the waters again yesterday. They spent half a day inshore where they had alot of bites - sancochos or suck offs was what the morning was about. They did boat a small snapper and a nice jack. They hit the offshore waters racing out to 12 miles where they hoped to get into some sail action again. It was pretty quiet out there so they headed back to the rock where the blue water was...it's actually in quite abit - about -2 miles from the rock. They threw out the teasers, cracked a few beers and Mike S. got into the story telling again. Mike was getting into a good long story when a 250 lb Black Marlin took the flat line. It gave the boat quite a show and kicked it up a few notches - but that didn't stop Mike - on the story went as Traci, Kurt and Capt Michael grabbed teasers, rods and basically got ready. On Mike's story went until Capt Michael finally hit his pause button - "just shut up and fish!". In the boat it came after about 20 minutes.

Nice job guys! It was great fishing with you - thanks for showing us all such a great time!

April 5, 2004 - Traci Hoggatt and Mike Swansey kicked off their first trip to Costa Rica with great enthusiasm and an even better day offshore! They hit the waters April 3 and boated their first Sailfish of the day one hour and a half into the day at about 6 miles from the rock. Total Sailfish raised 7 with 2 to the boat. Mike got head twice! He was fighting a nice sized tuna...talk of sashimi by the pool and tuna steaks at Iguana Iguana Bar started...WHAM! Line went loose and Mike pulled in the head what was a nice looking tuna. Figuring it was a shark, Capt Michael rigged him up again and within a half hour he was fighting another nice tuna...sushi dreams began again and WHAM!! He pulled in the head. Like clockwork, a few seconds later a couple of dolphins jumped out of the water, one of the holding the body of Mike's tuna like a dog bone.

They've been enjoying town and had a great jungle tour yesterday for their free day. It's Semana Santa (Holy Week) at the moment and there is alot of activity going on in town - perfect time to visit!

They are out again today for one more day of fishing. Update to come...

March 30, 2004 - It's been weeks since the fish report has been updated - we apologize! After Evan Rinquists crew wrapped up their trip back on March 16 (a great trip on the whole by the way - 3 days in as highliners) Capt Michael Packard hit Cuba for a well deserved pleasure fishing trip after a 3 months solid run of fishing in Costa Rica.

Cuba was great and highly recommended. They were hit by a cold front during our trip - water temps were low, so the fish weren't biting heavy, but the fishing opportunities are quite abundant - tarpon, marlin, snook, barracuda, tilapia, trout...it can all be done quite easily in a few days.

We checked out some really great hotels, villas and boats and are happy to pass on any info to interested anglers. Cubana Air flies daily from Costa Rica direct. No issues for U.S.residents entering from Costa Rica.

Our flight down from San Jose yesterday revealed blue water in real close on the pacific coast. We hit the waters on Thursday and fish consistently through to the end of April - check back for reports.

The report we got last night from Crocodile Bay captains over a few beers at Juanita's is that the inshore fishing has been pretty hot - Capt Carlos "Mata Gato" landed 5 snapper, 5 roosterfish and a blue jack in the Gulfo. Offshore has been good - blue water is in close at about 8 miles from the rock. The Sailfish have been spotty, but there have been alot of tuna being brought in.

Mar Huron's mate Kurt hit the water yesterday with his sister and her family visiting from the states. They headed offshore for half a day and raised one sail before hitting a school of tuna. They boated 11 yellowfin - the largest about 16 lbs.

March 13, 2004 - Evan and crew hit the waters today and rolled back in with a GREAT catch rate of 11 for 16 sails, tuna and a 30 lb Roosterfish. Good job...your rate is definitely climbing towards the goal! The waters were calm, blue water close and the fishing is definitely living up to it's reputation. Highest number of sails raised today was 32 with 4 landed (fly fishing trip).

The guys at this moment are eating Sashimi poolside at the Fishack, por supuesto!

March 12, 2004 - Evan, Arden, Jimmy and Karl are down for a 4 day fishing trip with Mar Huron and are showing the Fishack a good time! In between catered dinners at the house, margarita's at Juanita's and spending time with parrot "Douglas", they've hit the waters in search of challenging fishing and found it!

They've been bait fishin' in the morning with Capt Michael and Kurt and yesterday had a great first day on the water about 10 miles from the rock with a 50% catch average on 8 sails raised, tunas and jacks. They ended their day with tuna sashimi, tuna steaks with wasabi mayonaisse, rice, beans, patacones and salad - courtesy of Fishack cook Margarita.

The Fishack parrot - a baby parrot we've been getting ready for release, was released last night after a delicious pistaccio dinner by the pool.

March 8, 2004 - The last day of fishing with The Brits was certainly one of the best - not so much as far as variety, but sheer numbers. At 4 miles from the Rock we cast at floater and began about 2 hours of Sailfish fiesta - 7 to the boat by 9:30 and at 10 miles from the Rock. Blue water was at 10 miles but at 4 we were catching them. We had a blast with you guys - have a great time in Tambor and look forward to seeing you again next season!

We are off again for a much deserved break - we hit the water with Evan Rinquist and crew on March 12.

March 6, 2004 - The Brits have had a great time fishing the past two days out of Zancudo with Mar Huron. Day before yesterday they capped off a nice day of sailfishing with a 30 lb Wahoo boated towards Pavones area. Blue water is moving in - at about 10 miles from the rock. Today they had stellar day inshore with a great variety - Cubera Snapper, Roosterfish, Trevally, Amberjack, Blue Jack and Houndfish. The deal was made last night after a few pints, that any good eatin' fish are to be celebrated with a beach bbq at lunchtime - so the crew hit the beach at Cabo Matapalo, anchored and swam to shore and lunched on fresh snapper cook over the bonfire and accompanied with wine - what class guys! Their timing couldn't have been more perfect - a huge bash is planned for tonight at a private residence just up from the beach. The live band performing at the party was jamming during the bbq and providing GREAT tunes!

March 4, 2004 - Robin, Erin and crew from the UK are down in Zancudo and fishing with the Mar Huron for 6 days of fishing. Day 1 they had a great day combining inshore and offshore fishing. Offshore was good with 8 sails raised and 2 boated - Day 2 was very exciting (especially for my mate) with 9 raised, 2 landed and a 300 lb Blue Marlin landed on 20 lb test line. They raised another two Blue Marlin, but no bites. The Blue Marlin took about and hour and half to boat and was released strong and active. They plan to try to repeat Fred and Tom's stellar day inshore and target some good eating fish next!

February 29, 2004 - Fishing Reports - Costa Rica: Frank and Tom have wrapped up their fishing trip with a BANG! They spent their last day down in Punta Barica inshore bottom fishing and it the Cubera motherlode! A swarm of snappers breaking on the surface greeted them upon their arrival and their total catch for the day was 9 with one weighing in over 40 lbs. They complimented that catch with Mullet Snapper, 11 African Pompano, Roosterfish (one, a 25 lber, Tom snagged on the light tackle spinning outfit he grabbed during the chaos of rigging up the bigger rods! He also caught a 25 lb Amberjack about 5 minutes after boating the Rooster).Nice Tom!

They fed the town of Puerto Jimenez with all their fish - the police station, the clinic, the school, the hardward store, the Restaurant Carolina and, of course, Miguel the 'self appointed' Harbormaster and our neighbor.

February 25,2004 - Fishing Reports - Costa Rica: The fishing has been very kind to Tom and Frank that past few days down here on the beautiful Osa Peninsula. Sailfish in particular are hungry again and Day 3 they raised 20 and landed 10. Tom in particular was stoked this day - his last trip here he mainly focused inshore. This trip for him was about the billfish. Day 4 they hit Punta Barica just north of Panama for some bottom fishing. Capt Michael decided to try a little chumming to spice up their 6 day fishing trip and ended up with what Capt Will 'Magica' of Crocodile Bay Lodge called the 'Trash Can Slam'! Morray Eel, White tiped Shark, Blue Jacks, Jack Crevalles and a nice 40 lb Roosterfish to top it off.

In between the fishing, the boys have been showing Puerto Jimenez a good time - the disco, the magic show at Iguana Iguana, sushi night at the Italian Restaurant and late night rips around town on the ATV. These guys sure know how to relax, enjoy and have fun!

February 22, 2004 - Fishing Reports - Costa Rica: Tom Sharpnack and Frank Rybarcyk, are down from Ohio for their annual fishing trip with Mar Huron. They'll be fishing 6 days and today was Day 2. The fishing has still been challenging- we are running about 30 miles from the Rock, and although sails are everywhere, they are gorged with small bait so it's been tough raising them. Day 1 of fishing is not worth much of a mention with 1 sail released...what IS worth a mention is how good these guys are at drowning their sorrows away with a little Canadian Club whisky and Centenario rum - the tough day was quickly forgotten and celebrated with a little booty shakin' at the Puerto Jimenez disco with the Fishack masseuse.

Day 2 they came in with top honors boat with 12 sails raised and 5 landed. They fished 30 miles from the rock and they didn't need to wait long to get some good action! The day was packed with action for the Mar Huron and the consesus is that the fishing is going to start to get HOT HOT HOT! They celebrated last night over a cold six pack won from Capt Mike ('Jodari') for the most raised today.

February 20, 2004 - Fishing Report - Costa Rica: Tavares and sons wrapped up their fishing trip with a great variety of catches! The fishing has been tough the past few days, but they found them. The water temp's are pretty high and blue water still far out, but in total they caught an impressive variety including Sailfish, Roosterfish, Jack Crevalles, Bonito, Snapper and Bull Dorado.

February 18, 2004 - Fishing Report - Costa Rica: Tony Tavares and sons Kevin and Andrew, from Mass, are down fishing with Mar Huron and staying at the Fishack for their first Costa Rica fishing trip together. The action has been good - blue water is still far, but the key seems to be staying in close rather than chasing it. Day one the raised 6 sails and boated 4, along with a couple of nice snappers. Day two they targeted inshore species - at about 10 am they took the gamble to head offshore again for some more snapper and sails and of course, at 11 am the inshore rooster bite happened big! They saw some good action offshore with what dad Tony call the highlight of the father and sons trip - he and son Kevin on a sailfish double. Timed perfectly and boated simultaneously.

After viewing the video of their first 2 days of fishing on the big screen poolside at the Fishack they headed out to Iguana Iguana and had an amazing snapper dinner with Capt Michael. Day 3 and 4 of their trip will be updated on Feb 20.

Thank you Holly and Jeff for one of the most exciting catches I've had! Although the blue water is still out there, it's moving in a bit at about 15 miles. We got into the sails at about 8 miles and landed 4. Jeff was going for 5, Sailfish was on about 15 minutes, dancing, fighting. Jeff got him to the boat and of course, we were all leaning in to catch a glimpse of the beauty. One last burst of energy boatside and it jumped INTO the boat. That thing had some serious energy - 5 ft flops on the boat. My mate Kurt had to give it a minute or so before jumping on it to stabilize and try to avoid any injuries to it or us! We release the sail a few minutes later with no harm done.o

FEB 4 ADDENDUM: Sure - the fishing is outstanding in Costa Rica, but 40 for 40 on Feb 4 was an honest typo! Top boat day 1 of the Texas Tico Tournament was 10 for 14.

Another great day on the calm waters of the south pacific coast! Blue water was still out there - most boats started the day at about 15-20 miles from the Rock. Mar Huron began the day at about 8 miles from the Rock and saw some great sailfish action all day long. They've been scarce the past few weeks but yesterday the Mar Huron came in top boat with 20 raised and 10 landed. That really should have been more - Freddie, we love you buddy but DON'T SET THE CIRCLE HOOKS! The sails spotted seemed to be in pairs, and pretty close to the surface. Great trip Freddie, Gary and Joe! Look forward to seeing you again next year for Super Bowl!

Freddie finished off the day with a great massage at the Fishack by Jutta - Mar Huron's masseuse. After that - they hit the newest Italian restaurant and sushi bar in town Il Giardino, for some tuna steaks and maki. Yum...

Next week we kick off another 3 solid weeks of fishing so bookmark this page and check back for up to date fish reports!

The fishing season is definitely in full gear down here on the remote & exotic OsaPeninsula.

The Fishing down here in paradise is off to an amazing start! The blue water is close (12 miles), and considering how early it is in the season, the fishing is great. Yesterday, one boat raised 5 marlin landing one at 14 miles.

Last week was stellar for Sailfish with one boat raising 25 at 13 miles.Mar Huron's first mate, Carlos "Mata Gato" was fishing off the beach on the southern tip of the Osa Peninsula and caught a 110 lb Tarpon. Tarpon have never been known to inhabit the Pacific. But in the past few years miraculously they have started to show up in this area. It is believed they are coming through the Panama Canal and making there way north into our local waters.Seems like the abundance of fish hits as close to shore...this morning as I am updating this fish report, there are huge schools of Roosterfish in the bay...right in front of the Fishack.Pura Vida Costa Rica!

Nov 6, 2003Cape Cod: There's always hope! Yesterday afternoon 'round 1 p.m., Capt Michael decided to go out and do some fishing on his own off Race Point here at the tip of the Cape. It was mainly a day to do some tackle and equipment work and get off dry land for a few hours. There hasn't been a single tuna brought in from this area in quite a few days. He ran a few miles offshore, turned on the fish finder and immediatlely was plotting tuna. For about an hour he tried coaxing one of the giants with live mackerel - they weren't interested in the fish, but still remained under the boat. Michael decided to 'gourmet' up his bait a bit - he hauled in a livey, stomped the hell out of it, and threw it back over...the big blues weren't quite satisfied. About an hour more of waiting for their appetite to rise, and Michael cut up a nice little nibble of mackerel tail - threw it on the hook and WHAM! He got a nice bite followed by an immediate run - the fish headed under the boat and off the stern. That line was headed straight for a good chafing with the props - took a bit maneuvering of the rod, line but free it was and the fight began. This fish fought - it was an 875 lb-er and Michael was on his own out there. He got it to the boat, harpooned it twice and roped her tail in about an hour. There was no hauling this one aboard - after almost tipping the boat, he ended up dragging her back to the dock. She was a beauty. A real treat this late in the season.

Nov 2, 2003Cape Cod: The season has unofficially wound up. The Bluefin are putting on a dismal performance - but the Dogfish are out in huge numbers! The winds have been preventing our local fleet from getting in on any action both here (off the tip of the Cape) and south in Chatham. Limit is down to 1 tuna a day (from 3).

Oct 19, 2003 Cape Cod: Michael's winding up his season on the Cape and preparing to return to Costa Rica mid-November. The season has been great this summer - particularily for local Cod and Stripped Bass. Tuna 'season' began about a month ago...a little late. The 'bite' for the Cape area began around Sept 20, but it's been hot and cold - a slow season so far. High winds and weather have meant only about 20 fish days put in to date. Tuna to date - 6. The 'Allison Way' (Michael's stateside boat) has had some troubles this year, but she's now sporting two brand new Cummins Mercruiser D-Tronics. Oct 19 Michael and Dave headed down to Chatham and caught the begining of the 'bite' with 3 nice fish caught in one day. First fish caught was about 650 lbs and was landed in about an hour. The second fish was another 650 lber and gave Dave a little trouble - a whale snagged the line causing hearts to pound when the line went tight. A rush to slack the line resulted in the line freeing the Humpback and the fight resumed resulting in the 2nd 650 lber being caught. The third fish was the toughest fight - a 700 lber requiring about 2+ hours. Michael fought the fish to the boatt and threw the harpoon, just as the line broke. 3rd fish fought to the end on the harpoon line.