| "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" Reports and Pictures, June, July, August, 2017 |
CR Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School
August 14, to 18, 2017
August, 14, 2017: My friend George Maybee from Colorado arrived this morning, packed his stuff and shared a couple of meals with me. At 3:00 Captain James Smith with mates Berto and Roberto had the vessel "Dragin Fly" ready to head out to anothMarlin Fly Fishing School". They fished till dark but got no bites today, after dinner George fell asleep at 8:00 PM.
August 15, 2018; At 5:00 am the coffee was ready and Roberto was cooking breakfast, teasers were out and the fly fishing started at 5:10 am. Fly Fishing was good here at BM-X- #6 (Blue Marlin destination X-#6) today weather the was good and the marlin were eating. Total Score for today, Raised 14 Blue Marlin, and 2 Striped Marlin, George Maybee caught and released 2 Striped Marlin, and 2 Blue Marlin, all on 20 pound test IGFA Class Tippet.
August 16, 2017: Started at 5:00 am after breakfast George was ready, fishing was a little slow today, the final score today was 6 Blue Marlin Raised, 2 Blue Marlin bites, and 2 Blue Marlin caught on fly for my friend George Maybee.
August 17, 2017: Today the fishing was a litter better, Dragin Fly raised 15 Blue Marlin and 2 Sailfish, 5 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish bites, and George caught and released 1 Blue Marlin and one Sailfish on fly.
This was my last scheduled "Blue Marlin Fly-Fishing School" during my 2017 season, George Maybee my student, had an awesome score. The final score for this trip was 35 Blue Marlin, 2 Striped Marlin, and 2 Sailfish Raised, George caught and released 5 Blue Marlin, 2 Striped Marlin, and 1 Sailfish, all on IGFA 20 pound Class Tippet, on fly. Congratulations to James, Berto, Roberto, and George Maybee who caught 7 marlin and a sailfish all on IGFA rules on fly.
I will soon send out my schedule for my 2018 "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School", if you are interested please contact me now, I am 60% sold out for June, July, August, of 2018 already. I love my Job, see you soon in North Carolina.
Regards
Jake
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| George Maybee 5 Blue, 2 Striped, 1 Sailfish on Fly at my; Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School, August 2017 |
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CR Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School
August 6, to 12, 2017
August, 6, 2017: Today my friend David Taylor ( owner of Alaska, "Reel Wilderness Adventures" in the Bristol Bay region) arrived here in Los Suenos Costa Rica, after a safe trip from his home in Washington state. Gary is here to catch his first Blue Marlin on Fly, on 20 pound test IGFA class tippet. David and I have been friends since the 1990's and he has been planning this trip for many years. He is a fly fisherman but has never caught a Billfish on fly. Now I have been really sick with what started as a cold virus that turned into a sinus infection, then to a upper repertory infection and then to bronchitis. A couple days ago my blood pressure was very high and I needed rest and medical care which I received here in CR. I gave David a 4 hour course in everything I know about catching Billfish on Fly, and pre paired him for what was going to happen on his trip.
August 7, 2017, spent most of the day being treated at the medical facility then took David down to the marina, at about 3:00 PM. Captain James Smith with mates Berto and Roberto had the "Dragin Fly" running and ready to go, they headed out and I went home to bed. They ran through choppy weather and some rain, went to sleep at 8:00 pm to rest for first day of "The Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School".
August 8, 2017 After breakfast and coffee, the teasers were deployed at 5:15 AM, and the first Blue Marlin raised was at 6:28 am, it did not bite. After a couple of raise fish and one big fish fought for over 1 hour, then broke off, then at 8:00, a 250 + pound blue marlin pounced on my CS. pink and white tube fly, and was off to the races. David remembered his instruction and with my TFO Blue Water Heavy Duty Fly-Rod, and #9700 B Mako Fly-Reel, rigged with RIO Leviathan Fly Line, with 20 pound test IGFA class tippet, caught and released his first Blue Marlin, (first billfish) ever, it took 1 hour and five minutes. Congratulations to David and my awesome crew aboard "Dragin Fly". At 9:21 am David Taylor made a cast to another hot blue marlin, another big, (over 200 pound) marlin. This fish was tough and fought hard for close to an hour, "I wanted to quit but could not give up" "I was exhausted, every part of my body hurt" said David, "then I remembered your instructions; take a deep breath, then loosen your grip, totally relax" with his second wind David caught and released his second Blue Marlin on fly of his lifetime! After that they raised a bunch of fish several over 400 pounds, Dave missed a few and was really tired, he asked Berto if he would catch one to help him see what was happening while the fish was hooked up. The next Blue Marlin to come up looked to be about 200 pounds, Berto made the cast and hooked this awesome fish. Twenty minutes later Berto caught and released this magnificent Blue marlin on fly. The fish were hick but stopped biting around 3 pm, David broke off a hot blue at 5:10 pm, then they deployed the sea anchor and celebrated catching three blue Marlin on fly on the first day out. The score after a day of "The Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly-Fishing School" was 19 Blue Marlin raised, 8 Blue Marlin bites, with 3 Blue Marlin caught and released.
August 9, 2017: Team awoke at 5:00 am and pulled the sea anchor then while eating sausage with eggs and fresh Costa Rican coffee, the teasers were deployed. David's comment "I feel old" he said when describing this trip, raised several marlin before 7:30 but none stayed on the line. Then at 7:45 David Taylor (Fly Angler) made a good cast, then he hooked a 270 pound Blue Marlin. About 55 minutes later David caught the fourth blue marlin of the trip, "WOW" was his comment. At 8:55 am David hooked a 400 + pound blue marlin on 20 pound IGFA class tippet, that fish never stopped jumping and when it was 300 yards away the fish turned on the power and the tippet broke while the fish was in mid air, "Holy Sh**, did you see that?" "WOW"!!! The weather is beautiful and calm today, around 10:25 David hooked and fought a 300+ pound blue marlin, and within 40 minutes he wound the leader through the tip top, and caught the fifth Blue Marlin of the trip. several more raised fish then at 5:40 pm David was fighting a 400 pound Blue Marlin when the hook came out, Dave said " Enough for today, I am done". They quit fishing and deployed the sea anchor, had a great dinner and went to sleep. The score fro today was 20 Blue Marlin Raised, 5 Blue Marlin bites, 2 Blue Marlin caught and released on 20 pound IGFA class tippet, "Lots of big Marlin around!
August 10, 2017: Woke up at 5:00 am, started fishing at 5:30 am but fishing was slow, pretty choppy at the FAD. Raised a couple of marlin but they were shy and would not tease in for a bite, David said he wanted to catch his first Sailfish in fly so after a couple of hours James headed inshore to look for a sailfish for David. At about noon, David hooked his first ever Sailfish on fly, and 20 minutes later he released that 90 pound sailfish. Now James was looking for Striped or Black Marlin for Dave, after raising a couple of finicky marlin which would not bite, they chose to try to get back to Los Suenos marina close to dark. At 6:00 the Dragin Fly arrived back at the marina at Los Suenos, I was at the dock to congratulate David and the crew for another awesome "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" . Today's score was 5 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish Raised, 1 Sailfish Bite, and 1 Sailfish caught and released on 20 pound test IGFA class tippet on the fly.
August 11, 2017: Typing this report, still at 80 percent health wise, blood pressure 120 over 80, breathing good, still have nagging cough, great medical care her at Los Suenos resort in Costa Rica. The final score for this (short 2 1/2 day) "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" was; 44 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish raised, 13 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish bites, 5 Blue Marlin and 1 Sailfish caught and released, all on 20 pound test IGFA class tippet on the fly. Stay tuned for more reports from my Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing Schools. I Love my job, wish you were here. #tforods #makoreels #BFF.
Regards
Jake
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Hi Jake,
I want to thank you so much for putting together what was the Best Fly Fishing Trip Ever for me, during August of 2017! Your Pacific Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School was a truly eye opening experience for me. From being picked up at the San Jose airport to the great accommodations at Los Suenos, the great charter boat we fished from for three great days of world class blue water fly fishing, the fabulous, friendly, highly skilled boat crew and captain, to your incredibly in-depth knowledge of the fishery, gear and tactics. I learned so much about true big game fly fishing.
Fly fishing for Pacific Blue Marlin proved to be the most challenging / demanding fly fishing I have ever experienced. The Marlin is smashing the fly just thirty feet or less from where I was standing at the back of the boat. The Marlin strike is the most jaw dropping experience I have ever witnessed in fly fishing, it is very exciting. The power of these magnificent fish is really something to behold, up close and personal. In the three day trip we had 48 Blue Marlin come in to the teaser pattern. We hooked-up to 13 of those Marlin and landed and released 5 of those Marlin. We also landed and released the one Sailfish that came around, it can be done. You too can catch a Pacific Blue Marlin on fly and 20 lb class tippet. I would definitely call this a trip of a life time except that now that I have done it once, I and really need to do it again. It was a very exciting and very challenging trip. Thank you Jake it was the best fly fishing trip ever!
David Taylor
Owner / Reel Wilderness Adventures
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| Blue Marlin on Fly by David Taylor, August 9, 2017 aboard vessel Dragin Fly, at The Costa Rica Blue Marlin fly-fishing School, |
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| David Taylor at "The Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" aboard the vessel "Dragin Fly August 8, 2017 Jake Jordan photo" |
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| Wanda Hair Taylor's 280 pound Blue Marlin on Fly, Jake Jordan's "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" August 3 2017, Vessel Dragin Fly |
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CR Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School
July 30 to August 5, 2017
July 30, 2017: Yesterday my friend Gary Caputi arrived her in Los Suenos Costa Rica, after a safe trip from his home in New Jersey. Gary is here to catch his first Blue Marlin on Fly on 20 pound test IGFA class tippet. While here he is doing photography for an article he is writing for a major angling magazine about the latest techniques for catching Blue Marlin on fly. After an in depth interview, we had a great dinner at the in “Marina Village” then after I soaked my back in my Jacuzzi (Hot Tub) I went to bed.
Today, July 30 my friend and fellow TFO National Advisory Board member Wanda Hair Taylor arrived for her first attempt at catching a Blue Marlin on fly. We had a great lunch, hung around the pool, and planned out strategy for the up-coming Costa Rica Blue Marlin School. We had dinner delivered to the condo drank some wine and Rum, and had a restful evening,
July 31, 2016: Took a swim and sat in Jacuzzi early in the morning, then cooked breakfast and packed for the trip, After lunch we got ready and at 2:30 headed down to the marina where Captain James Smith with Mates Berto and Roberto had “The Dragin Fly” provisioned, running and ready to head offshore. At 3:00 we left the dock at Los Suenos and headed out and at 3:30 we slowed to a troll and deployed our teasers, while I got my TFO Fly Rods, Mako Fly Reels, with RIO fly lines, and Cam Sigler tube flies ready to cast. Partly cloudy with 2 to 3 foot chop relatively calm seas greeted us. We raised no fish and at 6:15 it got too dark to see so we quit for the day. Dinner was prepared by James’ wife and it was home-made meat sauce and Roberto cooked the linguini, then he served us ice cream for dessert, we were asleep at 8:00 at night.
August 1, 2017: We awoke before 5:00 AM to the smell of fresh brewed Costa Rican coffee along with eggs and bacon cooking. We arrived at Blue Marlin Destination X #6 (BM-X-#6) at 5:15 am with teasers deployed. At 7:10 am we raised our first blue marlin, a lit up 125 pound fish which came up on the long rigger. Wanda was ready, she picked up the TFO Blue-Water HD fly rod, made a perfect cast with the JJ pink and white popper fly, and hooked that marlin. Now you know, that this is Wanda’s first marlin ever, now she is fighting it like a pro, while using 20 pound IGFA class tippet. After a 26 minute battle where that marlin jumped at least 30 times, Wanda wound the leader inside of the rod tip and caught her first of many to come Blue Marlin on fly. Berto got the fly back out of that marlins mouth and released the awesome fish at 7:45 to grow and be caught again. Congratulations to Wanda “Blue Marlin on fly” Taylor. We raised 2 more fish that did not eat and then at 8:20 I hooked a big blue marlin of over 250 pounds, which was a really tough fish. This marlin ran and jumped a lot, before sounding and giving me a 30 minute tug of war, just guessing this fish may have jumped several dozen times before we backed down to within 3 foot of getting the leader for a release. As I stretched out to get the leader the big blue marlin, jumped and broke the 20 pound class tippet, we got the fly back and then that awesome fish was gone. At 10:28 Gary decided to go down below to use the head, just then a 300 + pound blue marlin ate my well placed fly, was still hurting from that last fish, but this fish was much bigger. After a 25 minute battle and my exhaustion I made a mistake, that marlin jumped and at 11:01 the class tippet broke when the fish was 10 foot from the boat. Awesome marlin, I am really weak and tired. 11:05 AM when Gary hooked a 150 pound blue marlin which ran around jumped a lot then spit the fly and hook back at us at 11:12 AM. Then at 11:15 Wanda hooked another blue marlin that ran out 200 yards and broke the tippet. At 12:40 Gary hooked a hot 175 pound blue marlin, after several shots at that fish, it went deep and stayed down for 45 minutes and then at 1:50 the hooks pulled and we got the fly back. At 2:15 we raised a hot marlin, Wanda made a good cast but that marlin would not eat her fly. Since 9:30 am the seas and wind laid down to dead calm, with sun shine and very hot weather, what a beautiful day with lots of marlin around. Between 2:30 and 4:00 pm we raised 5 more marlin; they would come close but not eat the fly. As it gets dark today at 6:30 we pulled in our teasers and deployed the sea anchor. Dinner was served at 7:00 PM which was Salad, Beans and rice along with a coconut chicken which was really good. Everyone is tired and ready for a night sleep as we discussed the awesome day of fly fishing for blue marlin which we just had. Today we raised 19 blue marlin; got 7 to bite our flies and Wanda Hair Taylor caught and released her first Blue Marlin on Fly. 8:00 PM everyone on boat is asleep except lookout.
August 2, 2017: 5:00 AM we pulled the sea anchor and deployed the teasers. While we were eating breakfast a 150 pound red hot Blue Marlin came charging in on the flat line, I ran outside made the cast, and that marlin gobbled my fly. So as the sun came up at 5:26 I was fighting the first fish of the day, at 5:41 we released that marlin and recovered the fly from my awesome marlin, (my 55th lifetime blue marlin on fly). At 5:54 am TFOs Wanda Hair Taylor cast to a hot Blue Marlin, the fish jumped all over her fly and then ran out 200 yards, shook its head, and broke the 20 pound tippet. Two Blue marlin bites before 6:00 AM, sunny, calm, and hot. Next Gary Caputi pulled the hooks on a 130 pound Blue marlin at 6:25. Wanda fought a sailfish and broke it off with the line around the handle, and then at 7:20 Gary hooked and fought another nice blue which went deep and broke the tippet. At 7:30 Wanda missed a sailfish, and then during the next half hour we raised 4 more marlin which didn’t eat. At 8:15 am my fluffy blond friend Wanda Hair Taylor, our TFO super star, made a perfect cast to a big Blue Marlin (250 to 300 pounds). That big fish ate Wanda’s pink and white tube fly and the battle was on. The smooth drag on the Mako reel fed off a couple hundred yards of backing as that great fish jumped several dozen times, Wanda leaned hard on that TFO Blue-Water HD Fly Rod and turned that fish that weighted twice what Wanda weighs. After a 22 minute battle where both the fish and the angler were tired, Wanda wound the leader through the tip top of the fly reel and caught a Pacific Blue Marlin which was almost three times the size of the 90 pound current ladies world record IGFA 20pound tippet class. During the next 40 minutes we raised a bunch more marlin, Gary Caputi having some bad luck hooked and fought 3 in a row, broke 2 off on the jump and pulled the hook on one. At 9:30 we raised five at one time, but none ate the fly. Then a 9:45 Gary broke off another one, a fish of over 300 pounds. Next at 10:01 I hooked a big blue that ran out several hundred yards then after 9 consecutive jumps the 20 pound tippet broke. So between 5:15 am and 10:00 AM we have raised 17 blue marlin, nine of them ate the fly, of which we caught two Blue Marlin on fly in the first 5 hours of our 13 hour day. At 10:15 Gary hooked a 250 pound blue marlin, he had it on for 7 minutes that fish went really deep and broke off. At 10:25 we raised a blue marlin that did not eat. 20 blue marlin and 2 sailfish raised in 5 hours. I lost track but we missed a few more, I fought a fish for ½ hour that broke off with 300 yards of backing going straight down. As of 1:30 today we have raised 26 awesome Blue marlin and 3 sailfish, we have had 11 bites and we caught 2 Blue Marlin on fly. These big blue marlin today are very aggressive and eat the fly really good that said they may be the toughest and meanest marlin that I have ever fly fished for. Only 5 hours of fly fishing for blue marlin left today. At 2:04 Gary Caputi made a great cast and hooked a nice 150 pound Blue Marlin, this was an awesome fighting fish that never jumped until 2:41, and then five minutes later Gary caught that (his first) Blue Marlin on fly. Fishing has slowed down late in the afternoon on this sunny calm day, as of 6:00 pm right at sunset, we have raised 29 blue marlin and 3 sailfish today, we had 13 Blue Marlin and 3 sailfish eat our flies, and caught 3 Blue Marlin on 20 pound IGFA class tippet on the fly. This was one of the most exciting days of fly fishing for these awesome fish which I have had in my career. Dinner is cooking while we are showering, WOW! Sound asleep by 7:30 tonight.
August 3, 2017: We awoke before 5:00 am well rested and ready to catch some Blue Marlin on fly. The crew pulled the sea anchor and then deployed the teasers as I got the fly tackle ready for another day of catching Blue Marlin on fly. Roberto served breakfast and coffee as we trolled back toward BM-X-#6 to look for Blue Marlin. The sausage, eggs, and toast with fresh brewed coffee was great, however at 5:40 we raised our first blue marlin, did not eat Wanda’s fly. We raised two more at 6:05 and 6:31 am they lost interest and did not eat the fly. At 6:49 Wanda hooked a 200 pound blue marlin, she fought it for 7 minutes and after 13 humps she got to within 40 foot of that marlin. After that the marlin took off in high gear jumped and broke the 20 pound IGFA class tippet (Gone). Raised another blue at 6:58 did not eat. At 7:15 Gary Caputi hooked a 270 pound blue marlin, this fish put on an exciting jumping show, all on video, after 42 minutes we released our fifth Blue marlin of the trip and our first of the day and Gary’s second in his lifetime. At 8:21 I cast to a hot Blue Marlin that came in fast on the long teaser, the fish gobbled my Cam Sigler big marlin tube fly and was off to the races. We got some great video and photos of this 175 pound beauty, and then 17 minutes later I wound that fish on and got the leader. Roberto leadered the marlin for pictures and got 9 more jumps while holding the leader, after which he got the fly back and released our sixth Blue Marlin of the trip at 8:46 am. Fishing slowed and by 10:00 am we had not raised a marlin in over an hour, Gary was not feeling well, while I am recovering from a bad cold, We are 130 miles from the marina so I suggested to James that we should cut the trip short, check out several other areas where there are sea mounts and FADS on the way in to Los Suenos. So we trolled slowly toward some inshore locations where there may be some marlin looking for flies. At 12:44 after eating a couple of Yellow-Fin tuna tacos, we raised a 90 pound sailfish, I made a decent cast and then three minutes later I caught and released that awesome sailfish. Shortly later Captain James put the boat on a plane and headed to the dock, we arrived at Los Suenos at 6:00 PM this evening. Today we raised 12 Blue Marlin and 3 sailfish during the first 5 hours of fly-fishing, we got 3 Blue Marlin and 2 sailfish to bite the fly, our total for the short day we caught and released 2 Blue Marlin and a sailfish.
During this short two and a half day Blue Marlin Fly-Fishing School trip aboard the vessel “Dragin Fly” our total score was 58 Blue Marlin and six Sailfish raised, 23 Blue Marlin and four Sailfish bit our flies, as a team we caught and released six Blue Marlin and a Sailfish in 2 ½ days of fly fishing while using 20 pound test IGFA class tippet. Our percentage was that we caught and released was 25 percent of the blue marlin that ate our flies. Thanks to George and Anna Beckwith (owners of “Dragin Fly” and “Down East Guide Service”) and my awesome partners in this venture where we take anglers and teach them successfully how to catch the APEX predator (BLUE MARLIN) on IGFA Class fly fishing tackle by using 20 pound or lighter breaking strength line. Also my thanks to Captain James Smith, along with mates Berto and Roberto, are in my opinion one of the best fly fishing big game, charter fishing, crews in the world. Thanks to my pal Gary Caputi for making this trip to photograph and document this trip while also catching his first and second Blue Marlin on fly in his lifetime. My friend Wanda Hair Taylor, who had dreamed about catching one of these Awesome Blur Marlin on Fly using all IGFA rules and tackle, “You Did It Girl” Congratulations on catching two awesome Big Blue Marlin on Fly! Another Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing Schools is now over, I love my Job, wish you were here. Stay tuned as we head back out on Monday for another of my schools. #tforods, #Makoreels, #BFF.
Regards
Jake
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| Wanda Hair Taylor catching her first Blue Marlin on Fly, with Jake Jordan August 2017 aboard the vessel "Dragin Fly" |
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| Cary Caputi catching his second Blue Marlin on fly |
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CR Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School
July 23 through 28, 2017
July 23, 2017: Today my friend Roy Cronacher arrived her in Los Suenos Costa Rica, after a safe trip from his home in Jackson Hole Wyoming. We had a great dinner at the in “Marina Village” then after I soaked in my Jacuzzi (Hot Tub) went to bed to get rested so we are ready to catch a bunch of Blue Marlin on fly.
July 24, 2017: After breakfast and lunch while the crew provisioned and fueled up the vessel “Dragin Fly” we packed our stuff and locked up the condo to head down to the marina. Captain James Smith with mates Berto and Roberto had everything ready with the diesel engines and generator running, the new air conditioning system had the cabin nice and cool as we boarded at 3:00 pm and headed out to sea. After 30 minutes of running we slowed to trolling speed and deployed our teasers. We raised a sailfish at 4:25, it faded away and we never got a shot at that sailfish. Seas are choppy 2 to 4 foot, with clouds and rain. At 6:00 it got too dark to see and we quit fishing. We all had awesome Lasagna for dinner, discussed fly fishing strategy and went to sleep at 8:00 PM.
July 25, 2017: Woke up to the smell of fresh brewed Costa Rican coffee, with eggs and sausage cooking around 5:00 AM. Bert deployed our teasers at 5:15 as we trolled toward Blue Marlin Destination-X-#9 (BM-X-9) for 2 ½ hours and arrived at about 7:30 am. We raised our first Blue at 7:48, it did not bite, then at 7:59 we raised a 250 pound Blue Marlin. Roy made a good cast and that marlin cleared the water as he ate the fly, the fish took off really fast then jumped 13 times as he raced away from the boat. On the 14th jump as we backed up trying to stay with this fish, it chewed through the 100 pound test, bite tippet and was gone. At 8:13 we raised the third marlin of the day; it teased in and looked at Roy’s fly then swam away with no bite. Fishing slowed down after that, then we raised a blue marlin at 10:00, (no bite), another at 11:01 which did not bite. At 11:50 Roy took a break and I was up, at 12:02 a blue came in hot on the long rigger, ate the teaser and jumped as he faded away never got a cast. At 12:51 pm we raised a 200+ pound red hot Blue Marlin on the bridge teaser, I made the cast and that hot marlin climbed all over my pink and white Cam Sigler Fly. At 1:11 Berto retrieved the fly as we released our first Blue Marlin of the day. At 1:22 pm Roy cast to a hot 170 pound blue marlin that ate his JJ Marlin tube fly, after a 13 minute battle with lots of awesome jumps, Roy caught and released our second Blue Marlin of the day. We raised a blue marlin at 2:00, another one at 2:25, and another one (really big, maybe 400 pounds), at 2:38, they came close but would not eat the fly. At 5:55 we raised a blue marlin that looked like it was between 300 and 400 pounds, Roy made a good cast and then that big marlin slowly came out of the water and ate the fly. It ran out about 90 foot then went straight down. After a couple of minutes the marlin took off at blazing speed and the 20 pound test IGFA class tippet broke as the fish jumped way off of the bow of the boat. At 6:15 we quit fishing and deployed our sea anchor, after a hot shower and clean clothes we settled down in the salon to have our awesome dinner. Our final score today was: 11 blue marlin raised of which 4 ate the fly, Roy and I caught and released 2 Blue Marlin on fly today. At 8:00 we went to sleep.
July 26, 2017: Five AM we awoke to the smell of fresh brewed Costa Rican coffee, frying bacon and eggs, while James and Berto retrieved the sea anchor. At 5:15 we were trolling our teasers as we headed back to #9 which was 3 miles away, while we ate breakfast. No fished raised yet, so we put out small cedar plug and caught enough yellow fin tuna to make sushi for lunch, then back to marlin fly fishing at 6:30. We raised our first marlin of the day at 9:02 it did not bite, the second blue marlin of the day came in hot, looked at the fly then swam away at 9:14 am. We raised another blue marlin at 10:24, it never tried to bite, just swam away slowly, so fat the marlin are very finicky, at 10:44 am another boat near us got the first bite of the day. At 11:01 Roy Cronacher hooked our first bite today, he fought it for 6 minutes as the big fish kept taking line and swimming deeper. After 6 minutes the 20 pound test class tippet broke and that marlin was gone. At 11:20 another blue marlin charged the flat line teaser, it came into where the fly was presented, however that blue marlin had a full stomach and would not bite the well placed fly. Today has had partly sunny skies with hot weather and 15 knot wind, the sea conditions are moderate chop on top of 3 foot swells 30 seconds apart, overall choppy but comfortable fishing. I hope as I write this at 12:30 pm, just after eating some awesome sashimi yellow fin tuna, that the marlin show up and become more aggressive. At 1:15 James decided to run over to FAD #7, we arrived there at 2:55 pm and started fishing. One of the boats here had raised 12 marlin here in the morning, how the fishing for us seems very slow. It is 5:30 pm and we have not seen any marlin since before noon, one boat caught a fish here about an hour ago, however none for us so far. At 6:05 without raising a marlin during the last 6 ½ hours we quit fishing and deployed the sea anchor. After a welcome hot shower, along with a beef loin dinner with beans and rice with strawberry ice cream we went to bed at 7:50 pm.
July 27, 2017: I woke up at 4:45 am, got cleaned up helped pull the sea anchor, and discussed with captain James what our strategy for today would be for today. We had drifted 10 miles from BM-X-#7 with the relatively strong current, as we headed back to the Sea Mount, it got light and we deployed our teasers. I got the TFO HD Fly-Rod with my Mako #9700 Fly-Reel rigged with a RIO Leviathan 550 gr fly-line ready to cast a pink and white JJ Tube Fly with popper, rigged with 20 pound mason hard class tippet and 100 pound bite tippet and Gamakatsu 8/0 Octopus hooks ready to feed a marlin. We drank some wonderful Costa Rican coffee and had our sausage with Bacon omelet for breakfast, at 6:20 AM we raised our first blue marlin of the day. The fish came in hot, swam around the fly but would not bite. Then at 7:59 am got to cast to the second marlin of the day, that fish faded off and never saw a fly. At 8:12 am we decided to catch our lunch, fresh yellow fin tuna for sashimi, 10 minutes later we had half a dozen 6 pound tuna to feed us and the crew. Now at 8:25 we are back to work trying to catch some blue marlin on fly. After no fish for a long time, we left at 10:15 and trolled over to FAD #6 arriving at 11:50 still no fish. At 12:15 we raised a double of blue marlin, these fish are really weird, they stay around for a few seconds but will not commit to eating the fly or even trying to eat the teaser. I sure hope they turn on and begin to at least try to eat our flies? At 12 45: a 150 pound blue marlin charged in after a teaser, Roy made a good cast and hooked that marlin, it stayed up and jumped a lot, then 14 minutes later Roy caught our first blue marlin of the day and the third of our trip so far. At 1:15 another fish came in hot and tried to eat the fly, he missed it and was gone. It is now 5:00 pm, the seas are flat, sunny skies, 83.5 degree water temperature, perfect conditions, we are marking bait and marlin with our electronics, just one hour left of fly fishing today. At 6:30 pm we pulled in the teasers and ended Roy’s forth year at my Costa Rica Blue Marlin fly-fishing school. We are just finished with a hot shower and the boys are grilling steaks for dinner. Today we raised six blue marlin, got one of them to bite, and my friend Roy Cronacher caught and released a 150 pound blue marlin on fly on 20 pound class IGFA tippet. Our total score for this trip aboard “Dragin Fly” out of Los Suenos Costa Rica was as follows: Raised 22 blue marlin, bites 6, caught and released 3 Blue Marlin all on 20 pound class IGFA tippet. After four trips here with me, Roy has caught 12 Pacific Blue Marlin on fly, (averaged 1 per day of fly fishing). Roy also caught and released his Atlantic Blue Marlin on fly on 20 pound IGFA tippet while fly fishing at my “Dominican Republic Blue and White Marlin School” while fishing with Captain Tim Richardson, aboard the vessel Chaser. As a long time fly-fisherman who has been chasing billfish on fly for over 40 years, it amazes me how we can fish for 3 days, 13 hours per day, see a total of 22 Blue Marlin, catch three Blue Marlin using full IGFA rules and 20 pound class breaking strength tippet, and now on the way in it feels like it was slow fishing. During my lifetime before 1991, I had fished hundreds of days with fly tackle trying to catch a Blue Marlin on fly. I had hooked 119 in my life, and had never caught one, and then in 1981 I caught a 90 pound Blue on fly in Venezuela. Six years later I caught #2, now on this trip I cast to one Blue Marlin and caught it, this was my 54th Blue Marlin on fly. I love my Job, wish you were here. Stay tuned for more fly fishing reports to follow shortly.
Regards
Jake
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| Roy fighting Blue Marlin on Fly July 2017 |
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| Roy Cronacher Blue Marlin on 20 pound class tippet on Fly, July 2017 |
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Blue Marlin Costa Rica Fly Report
July 10 to 23, 2017
July 10 to 14, 2017 while I was at the ICAST/IFTD Show in Orlando, My friend Lee Smith brought his friend to CR. They stayed in my Condo and went out to "Blue Marlin World" aboard Dragin Fly" with Captain James Smith along with mates Berto and Roberto, between July 10 and 14. The weather was really good and the bite was on, the boat raised 40 Blue Marlin, they got 19 bites, while the two anglers together caught and released 9 Blue Marlin on fly. Lee Smith has caught and released 13 Blue Marlin on fly during his lifetime! Congratulations to the anglers and crew on an awesome trip.
July 17, 18, 19, 2017 Hank Lane and his dad came back again this year to try and break their record from last year aboard "Dragin Fly" with Captain James Smith. This turned out to be a very special fishing trip, Dragin Fly raised 44 Blue Marlin, 8 Striped Marlin, and 4 Sailfish, The final score for this trip was an awesome 20 Blue Marlin, 6 Striped Marlin, and 3 Sailfish, including an amazing 3 Grand Slams in one trip to the FADs. Congratulations to anglers and crew!
July, 18, 19, 20, 2017:My friends Austin Hepburn and Ranney Moran fly fished for Blue Marlin with Captain Chris Sheeder out of Quepos CR where they had great fly fishing. The world class fly fishing team racked up 10 Blue Marlin on Fly all on 20 pound IGFA class tippet. Congratulations to this awesome fly fishing team!
July, 20, 21, 22, 2017: Just got off the phone with my friend Nick Smith who just fly fished for Blue Marlin for three days here in Costa Rica, aboard his world class vessel "Old Reliable" with Captain Chip Shafer. The report was that Nick got 14 Blue Marlin and one Striped Marlin to bite his fly, while Nick caught and released 12 Blue Marlin and 1 Striped Marlin on fly. All of these fish were caught on 20 pound IGFA class tippet. In my opinion Nick Smith, Chip Shafer, and their crew is the best Billfishing crew and angler that I have ever seen. Congratulations Team Old Reliable.
July 23, 2017: My old friend and client Roy Cronacher just arrived here at my condo in Los Suenos Resort, we plan to head out aboard "Dragin Fly" tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the wonderful weather, relatively calm seas, and excellent fly fishing for Blue Marlin will continue, can't wait to get out there, stay tuned for more Marlin reports from here in Costa Rica, when we get in this coming Friday. I love my Job, #BFF, #tforods, #makoreels.
Regards
Jake
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"CR Blue Marlin School Forrest Young"
July, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 2017
July, 3, 2017: My old friend and client Forrest Young and his friend Johnny Schrier, came in to Costa Rica last night. We had a great dinner and went to bed early. We then woke up this morning, had an awesome breakfast, then packed our gear and got ready to head down to the marina to head out to one of the famous Costa Rica Sea Mounts. At 3:00 PM we left the condo and headed to the marina at Los Suenos, then boarded the vessel “Dragin Fly” where Captain James Smith with his two mates Berto and Roberto were waiting with the boat ready to head out. We left the dock and ran for about an hour then slowed down, and deployed our teasers. We hit cloudy weather and 2 to 4 foot seas by 5:00 and never saw a billfish on our way out. At 6:15 we put away our teasers and fly rods when it got dark. Tonight we had home made lasagna for dinner and went to bed while it rained and we could see a great light show inshore. Went to bed at 8:pm, ready to catch a marlin early tomorrow morning.
July 4, 2017: Happy Independence day, we woke up to awesome coffee and the wonderful smell of Bacon and eggs cooking. At 5:00 am we deployed the teasers, by 6:20 we reached BM-X-#1 and began trolling around looking for marlin. The sea conditions were a light chop with two-foot seas and partly cloudy sky; the water temperature was cooler than usual at 79 degrees. James marked some bait and a few fish however they were deep and did not come up to our teasers, so at 8:04 am we began to troll toward another seamount located about 30 miles away. At 9:50 am we raised a 150 pound blue marlin, Forrest made a good cast but the fly was fouled, he stripped it in and I fixed the fly and Forrest casted it again. This time the marlin ate the fly and slowly swam away from the boat, at about 130 foot the fish came to the surface and shook its head, trying to remove the fly. James backed up and Forrest gained line then the fish took off again, at 10:01 that marlin jumped twice about 80 foot from the boat, on the second jump the fly fell out of that marlins mouth and the battle was over. We arrived at BM-X-#2 at 10:50 and fished that bank until 12:45 when James suggested that the water was too cold and not many fish were showing. So we headed back toward the west, eventually we will arrive back at the #7, which is over 100 miles away, however there are 4 different FADs between here and the #7, hopefully we will find warmer water with fish at one of these locations. At 1:32 pm we raised a blue marlin, it teased into range for a cast, Forrest made a good cast, but that marlin swam around the fly but would not eat it, the marlin just swam away with no bite. At 2:40 we raised a sailfish that came in hot, tried to eat that marlin fly but missed, Forrest cast again but the fish was gone. At 3:40 we raised a double header of sailfish, one teased in and swam around the fly, but no bite. It rained the last three ours before dark; we never saw another fish today. The score is two-blue marlin, and three-sailfish raised one blue marlin bite, and pulled the hooks on our only bite today. We are only 80 miles from the next fishing spot, we will continue running until we get there. AT 7:00 we had pasta with chicken and mushroom cream sauce for dinner, then at 8:00 I was sound asleep. Happy Fourth of July!
July 5, 2017: Up this morning at 5:00 am to great cup of coffee, but before we could eat breakfast, I got Forrest’s TFO Blue Water HD fly rod, with his Mako #9700 fly reel, RIO Leviathan fly line, and Cam Sigler marlin fly, and Gamakatsu Octopus 8/0 hooks with 20 pound class tippet, ready to fish. James and Berto had two teasers in the water while Roberto cooked breakfast about 5:25 am, we raised a Blue Marlin on the short teaser, Forrest was getting ready so Johnny made the cast, and it was perfect. That 220 plus pound Blue Marlin pounced on that fly and headed away from the boat at high speed. Now remember this was Johnnies first billfish on fly, he did an awesome job, following everything that I had coached him on, and after half a dozen wild jumps we got within 25 foot from that fish. Then 20 minutes later the fish came up and jumped 4 more times, after which Johnny wound down fast and we got to within 5 foot from the catch before that fish took off toward china. Several times during the next hour we got close but that fish was really strong, now the runs were shorter and we had 7 pounds of pressure set on that smooth Mako reel, at 7:19 am Johnny wound the leader into the rod tip and pulled that marlin to the surface. At 7:22 Berto grabbed the leader got the fly back and released that fish. As Berto let Johnnies fish go that 220-pound Blue Marlin did one more jump to let us know he was happy to be free, next year I will catch that fish again when it is over 300 pounds. After breakfast we slowed down to catch some tuna for lunch, we quickly put several Yellowfin in the icebox. For lunch today we will have sashimi; then for dinner we plan to have grilled tuna steaks. At 8:45 am we put the teasers back out, and at 10:01 we raised a double of sailfish, Johnny cast and hooked a red-hot 70-pound sail. After 9 jumps and a great 10-minute battle we released Johnnies first Sailfish on fly. At 11:15 Roberto made a large plate of Yellowfin tuna sashimi for lunch, which turned out to be delicious. Fly-fishing was slow for the next couple of hours, the sun is shining with warm weather and a light chop on the ocean, the water temperature is 83.6 and at 2:55 we raised a 300 pound blue marlin. Forrest made a great cast while Roberto wound that teaser up beside the fly, bam, that marlin came out and pounced on the pink and white fly. The Blue Marlin took off at a speed faster than any other animal, and when it was one hundred yards out the fished kicked it into overdrive and ‘POW” the 20 pound test mason hard class tippet broke right in the middle, and that marlin was gone. Looks like the fishing is picking up. At 4:22 we raised another blue marlin, it faded off before we could get the fly in the water, then at 5:00 a big blue marlin attacked the long teaser, Forrest made a great cast but that marlin had lost interest and did not eat the fly. At 5:19 Forrest made a great cast to a 150 pound Blue Marlin, that marlin ate the pink and white fly, and took off fast while we tried to back down. As it reversed direction and jumped100 yards out from the starboard side of the cockpit, that marlin somehow bit through the 100-pound bite tippet and it was gone. At 5:31 we raised another blue marlin that did not eat, and at 5:45 Forrest hooked another three hundred pound male, this fish broke the 20-pound tippet as it jumped 200 yards out from the boat. It is now 6:30 PM and we are getting ready for dinner. Today our score was: we raised six Blue Marlin and two sailfish, we got four Blue Marlin and a sailfish to eat the fly, we caught one Sailfish and one 220-pound Blue Marlin on fly. After a hot shower, and a good dinner the crew set out the sea anchor and turned the engines off for the first time in 52 hours, then went to sleep at 8:15 pm.
July 6, 2017: At 4:45 am James fired up the engines and the crew pulled in the sea anchor, we were eight miles away from BM-X #19 FAD. We deployed the teasers at 5:10 am and headed toward the FAD while eating the sausage with bacon and egg omelets and great Costa Rican coffee. 5:56 am we slowed down and caught some fresh Yellowfin tuna for sushi along with some Bonita to mane belly strips for teasers. Seas are three foot with a chop, 15-knot breeze, 83.1 water temperature with rain all around us but not where we are fishing. We raised our first blue marlin at 6:23 am, while fishing in the rain, Forrest made a great cast and that 200 plus pound blue marlin and the fish gobbled the pink and white fly. This awesome marlin ran off 200 yards of line while grey hounding away from the “Dragin Fly” with James chasing the fish as fast as possible, then the fish changed directions and raced while jumping right toward the boat. Forrest did a great job taking up slack line and after 8 minutes we got within 10 foot of the leader before that fish took off again. Three times during the battle we got within 20 feet from the catch only to have that marlin take off and jump some more. At 7:17 Forrest wound that fish up to the boat and caught his first ever Blue Marlin on fly. As Berto grabbed the leader for a release, Forest handed me the rod and jumped in the ocean to swim with that marlin. The score today so far is one fish raised, one bite, and one Blue Marlin caught on fly before 7:30 in he morning. At 8:30 am it is a steady rain with 2-foot seas, the weather improved and the seas became calm by nine o’clock in the morning. We had some fresh tuna sashimi at 9:30 am, then our next fish was a sailfish: which was raised at 10:00 am, it would not eat a fly. We are now headed back over toward BM-X-#7, at 11:30 no more fish raised yet today. The next Marlin was raised was a blue at 12:01, did not eat, then at 1:18 we raised another blue which didn’t eat, and another blue marlin came up at 1:35 but would not tease in for a cast. Beautiful sunny day today with calm seas for the first time in quite a while, at 3:18 pm we raised a blue marlin which teased halfway in but never saw the well presented fly. It is now 5:15 pm we haven’t seen a marlin in several hours, the wind is now blowing at 15 knots and the clouds are moving in on us. We fished until 6:15 pm and never raised another fish. Today our score was 5 blue marlin raised, one bite and one caught. Our total three day score was as follows: we raised 13 blue marlin and 2 sailfish, we got a total of six blue marlin bites and one sailfish bite, and we caught two blue marlin and one sailfish, all on 20 pound tippet and all on fly. Both Johnnie and Forrest caught their first ever Blue Marlin on fly and Johnnie also caught his first ever sailfish on fly. We had an awesome meal tonight after dark, we talked about reaching our goal of catching these guys both their first Blue Marlin on fly and how much fun it was. By 8:00 pm we turned out the lights and went to sleep.
July 7, 2017, this morning we woke up at 6:00 am had coffee and enjoyed the ride back to Los Suenos marina, arriving at 10:30 am. We thanked James; Roberto, and Berto, stopped at “The Hookup” for brunch, then came home to my condo at noon. Just finished this fishing report will send it out with pictures soon, then I will edit the video and send that home with Forrest and Johnnie. Great trip, I love my job and BFF, heading home tomorrow then on to Orlando to ICAST on Tuesday. More reports to follow.
Regards
Jake
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| Forrest Young fighting his first ever Blue Marlin on fly, aboard Dragin Fly, July 2017, The Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School |
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| View from my bedroom, Los Suenos, Costa Rica, 2017 |
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"Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School"
June 25 to July 1, 2017
Good Morning from Paradise:
Sitting here early this morning on my patio drinking the best Costa Rican coffee in the world. My awesome clients had to cancel their "Costa Rica,Blue Marlin Fly-Fishing School" this coming Monday through Friday, which gives me a full week off. Giving thanks to the lord for my wonderful family, friends, clients, sponsors, BFF, and for my awesome job, I am truly a blessed man! Wish you were here, have a great day:))
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"CR Blue Marlin School Cline"
June 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 2017
June 18, 2017: My old friend and client Danny Cline from West Virginia arrived here at my condo in the Los Suenos resort and Marina, today just after noon. We sat around the pool and had a 25 year old “Flor de Cana” cocktail and discussed our strategy for Danny to catch his eighth blue marlin on fly and hopefully a bunch more. Now this is Danny’s fourth trip here to my CR Blue Marlin School and he has caught 4 blue marlin and several sailfish here aboard the “Dragin Fly” with Captain James Smith and mates Berto and Roberto .Our goal for this trip is for Danny to get past 10 Blue Marlin in his career and possibly a grand slam on fly. We had a great Italian dinner at the Lantern Restaurant then went to sleep early.
June 19, 2017: Danny and I had a late breakfast, swam in the pool, and I soaked my back in the hot Jacuzzi, then we packed up our gear and headed down to the marina at 3:00 pm. The “Dragin Fly” was fueled up and provisioned for our Monday to Friday fly-fishing adventure; James had the engines running and air conditioner nice and cool. We boarded the boat, Berto and Roberto untied the vessel and we were under way at 3:30. At four o’clock we slowed to trolling speed, the boys put out the teasers while I got the TFO HD Blue Water fly rod, rigged with my Mako #9700 B fly reel, and a RIO Leviathan fly line, ready with a Cam Sigler sailfish fly rigged with 20 pound IGFA class tippet, 100 pound bite tippet, and Gamakatsu Octopus 7/0 hooks, ready for Danny to catch a sailfish on the way out. Well at 5:10 pm a fish came in hot on the long teaser, we cleared the other teasers, while Danny got ready to cast to this fish. As it got closer, coming in fast we saw that it was a big blue marlin, Danny calmly backed the drag on the Mako reel off from 6 pounds of pressure (Sailfish) setting to 1 pound (Blue Marlin) setting, and made the cast. That three hundred plus pound Blue Marlin attacked that sailfish fly, took off and then jumped three times within 100 foot from the boat then reversed directions and jumped 3 more times as the fish was passing the starboard side of the boat. Danny got within 50 foot of that marlin before the fish kicked it into overdrive and jumped for the seventh time, we saw the fly fall out of the fish’s mouth and it was over. WOW, I really love my job. It got dark at 6:15 and we retired to the cabin for some lasagna which James’s wife made for our first night at sea as we steam along for the next 11 hours at 10 knots We will be asleep by 8:00 PM then hopeful awake at 5:00 am to calm seas as it turns to dawn and we begin our first 13 hour day of fly fishing for Blue Marlin.
June 20, 2017: We awoke to the awesome smell of fresh brewed Costa Rican coffee, and sausage cooking. We were 8 miles from BM-X-11 (Blue Marlin Destination X - #11) at 5:00 AM, at 5:30 we put out the teasers and arrived at the Sea Mount at 6:05. Our first marlin raised was at 6:31, it was a small blue which attacked the bird teaser, the overcast skies and glare on the water made it difficult to see the fish after that, Danny made the cast however we never saw that fish again. At 7:30 there is sunshine with clouds and rain all around us, we have a four foot Pacific swell about thirty seconds apart, along with a light chop of about two foot on top of the swells, the wind is under ten knots from the south. There are three other boats herein this area, scattered over two FADs about three miles apart, one boat is my friend Nick Smith aboard his vessel “Old Reliable”, another boat is “Tijera” with Captain Bubba Carter, and the third boat is local charter boat from Los Suenos “Fire Fly”. Not many fish so far this morning, but at 7:58 we raised another blue marlin, it did not tease into the boat, just faded away. Now at 8:52 am it started raining, we have seen two marlin so far today, as I write this we raised another marlin at 8:55, but lost interest and did not bite. At 11:01 we raised a sailfish, which tried to eat the marlin fly, the hook got stuck on the bill then when the sailfish shook it’s head the fly fell off. At 11:50 we raised a sailfish, Danny made a perfect cast, and that sailfish ate the fly, five minutes later at 11:55 we released our first fish of the trip, a 90 pound sailfish. Fairly calm seas with overcast skies and 84-degree water temperature make for comfortable fly-fishing. Around 12:30 we caught half a dozen five-pound yellow fin tuna, and at 1:00 pm we enjoyed some fresh tuna burritos for lunch. It is now 2:20 pm and we have been fishing for the last hour and a half in a steady rain, slow fishing this afternoon so far. It is now 4:20 pm; it has been raining steady for close to four hours, as far as fishing the last fish seen by the fleet was the sailfish, which Danny caught at noon. Hopefully they turn and we have a late afternoon bite, I love my Job! At 6:00 pm it got dark, our score today was, raised 3 blue marlin and 2 sailfish, got two sailfish bites, and caught one sailfish on fly. We enjoyed a grilled steak dinner with fresh vegetables and a garden salad with blackened tuna. After a 25-year rum we went to bed before 8:30 while the mates were jigging squid, which we will have tomorrow for lunch.
June 21, 2017: Up at 5:00 am drinking coffee while waiting for eggs and bacon for breakfast, had a good night sleep, we are ready for some blue marlin on fly. The sky is cloudy, wind under 10 knots, 2-foot chop, with a water temperature of 82.3. At 6:00 we stopped for a few minutes to catch fresh tuna for sashimi, and to catch some Bonita for strip bait teasers. At 6:45 am there are three boats in the area, “Old Reliable", “Tijera”, and “Dragin Fly”, Tijera is fast trolling while Old Reliable and Dragin Fly are fly-fishing, we have not yet seen a marlin. We raised our first fish at 7:14 am, Danny made a great cast, and the 60-pound sailfish ate that big marlin fly. Danny got the leaser inside of 30 seconds, then the fish took off with made some awesome jumps, then about 6 minutes later Berto grabbed the bill and removed the hooks, and released our first fish of the day at 7:20 am. I just heard on the radio that Old Reliable raised a blue and Nick caught it on fly, this was the first marlin on fly caught here since yesterday morning. It is 8:00 am and we decided to fast troll toward another BM-X, which is #4, it is located more than 50 miles from here. Each of the last two mornings I noticed at least one different tuna seine boat in this area, last week we also saw several tuna seine boats near the FAD we were fishing near, (just saying)! I have also noticed that several of the local charter boats from Los Suenos have been live bait fishing for marlin on some of the FADs here in Costa Rica. In my opinion it seems that live bait fishing causes the trolling and fly fishing boats to raise less fish to the surface, and harder to get to bite. This is just an observation by me, as we are a full time fly fishing vessel. At 9:45 am we are trolling teasers at 10 knots about 130 miles from land, in the pouring rain. At 10:40 we raised a red-hot 150-pound blue marlin, which came in fast, it ate Danny’s well-presented pink and white popper fly just after he popped it to get the fishes attention. That marlin ran out 130 feet then made a U turn and jumped 3 or four times as he raced up the starboard side of the boat, at this time Danny was within 10 foot of having the leader. After that the fish ran away from the transom as James chased him at high speed in reverse while Danny wound in the running line as fast as he could turn the handle. Again we got within 30 feet from that fish before another powerful run, then on the 13th jump I filmed the fish leap and saw the fly fall out of it’s mouth, we just missed another awesome Blue Marlin on fly. Now at 11:15 am we are trolling teasers in the open ocean while the rain pours from the sky, visibility is less than a quarter mile, thank god for good radar. We arrived at this seamount at 2:10, there was one boat here fishing, and he had seen eight fish here so far today. At 2:40 pm we raised our second blue marlin of the day, this fish came up on the long teaser however did not follow it in for a cast, no bite. At 5:20 we have not seen a fish in the last two hours and forty minutes, rain has stopped, with a three-foot chop. James is marking lots of bait along with some marlin, down deep, we can't seem too get them up to the surface to feed. At 6:15 it got too dark to fish, we pulled in the teasers, and deployed the sea anchor. After a stiff Flor de Cana 25-year-old glass of rum, and a jumbo shrimp dinner we decided that tomorrow will be an excellent day of fly-fishing. Our total score for today was: Raised 2 blue marlin and a sailfish, one blue marlin ate the fly and came off, while the sailfish bit the fly and Danny caught and released that sailfish. Going into our last day, it has been slow, we raised six blue marlin, and three sailfish, we got two blue marlin bites pulled the hooks on both and Danny Cline caught two for three on sailfish.
June 22, 2017: Woke up ready to catch a bunch of blue marlin on fly, after breakfast and awesome coffee we deployed our teasers at 5:20 am. At 6:59 we raised a finicky blue marlin on the bridge teaser, before Danny made his cast that marlin faded away without ever seeing the fly. It is 9:30 am and there are four boats fishing over this seamount, no one has had a bite yet, figuring where to look next. James is in touch with 9 different boats that are fishing within 85 miles from where we are right now, no one has seen much action, hope they turn on soon? We left the #4 FAD and began to troll down this ridge to the end, then we will pick up and run 20 more miles to BM-X-6 which is 33 miles from here. At 10:02 we raised a small blue marlin but by the time Danny made a great cast that fish lost interest and was gone, “Blue Marlin Fly Fishing” not as easy as we sometime think. Twelve noon, after a great calamari lunch (caught fresh last night), we are fishing at FAD # 6, very light winds, calm seas, and sunshine for the first time this trip. It is about time for the marlin to turn on and begin eating flies we have this location to ourselves with no other vessels present, six hours left. After an hour with less than normal bait and no fish sighted James headed toward BM-X-7 which is seven miles away from here. We trolled over and arrived at 1:44 pm, there seems to be more bait here and there is one other boat here, both boats arrived here at the same time. The water got calm, the sky became blue, and we began to see more bait, but we never saw another fish until 4:44 pm. We raised a red hot blue marlin on the long teaser, the fish teased in really fast, Danny made a perfect cast with my pink and white marlin fly, that marlin ate it and took off jumping. James did a great job handling the boat while Danny Cline fought this marlin like a professional angler, meanwhile I was filming the whole thing on my Go Pro. At 4:52 after more than 20 great jumps, Danny wound the leader into the tip top making a technical catch, then that fish with six pounds of drag being applied to the 20 pound IGFA class tippet, took off and jumped another dozen or more times before coming to the boat where Berto wired the fish and got my fly back before releasing that marlin. This was the ninth marlin that we have seen during the last 41 hours of fly fishing, Danny had 3 marlin and 2 sailfish bites, and so far with another hour to go, Danny Cline caught two sailfish, pulled the hooks on two marlin and caught a beautiful 150 pound Blue Marlin on fly. All were fought on 20 pound IGFA class tippet, using a TFO Blue Water HD fly rod and my Mako #9700-B fly reel. At 6:00 we pulled in the lines in calm water and headed toward Los Suenos. Back home at my condo, we had a great trip, the marlin fly fishing was slow for this area however any other place or time catching a Blue Marlin and two sailfish on fly is like a hole in one. I love my Job, and wish you were here. Stay tuned for more fishing reports to follow. Lets go Fly Fishing for Blue Marlin. BFF
Regards
Jake
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| Danny Cline Blue Marlin on Fly vessel "Dragin Fly" , Jake Jordan photo, June 22, 2017 |
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| "Costa Rica Blue Marlin Fly Fishing School" Danny Cline fighting Blue Marlin, June 22, 2017, vessel "Dragin Fly" |
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Costa Rica Blue Marlin School Report,
June 12, 13, 14, 15,16, 2017
Craig and Cliff Machado
June, 12: Craig, Cliff, and I headed down to the “Dragin Fly” from my condo here in Los Suenos at 3:00 PM where Captain James Smith along with mates Roberto and Sidney, were aboard and ready to head out. We cleared the breakwater, and James put the boat on a plain and ran at cruising speed for 30 minutes, then slowed to trolling speed and put out the teasers. The skies are overcast, with a 12 knot wind, and 2 to 3 foot chop on the water. Cliff is the first angler today, I rigged up my TFO Blue Water HD fly rods, with my Mako #9700 Fly Reels, and put on some Cam Sigler sailfish flies, rigged with Gamakatsu 6/0 hooks and we were ready to fish. As I rite this report it is 6:00 PM and we have not raised any fish so far today. At 6:30 we pulled the lines in as it got dark, at 7:00 Roberto served us awesome cheeseburgers, for dinner and we were asleep by 8:30 in a thunderstorm with rough seas. Tomorrow morning we should arrive at Destination Blue Marlin X-9 (BM-X-9) at 7:00 AM.
June 13, 2017, I woke up at 5:00 AM to the smell of fresh Costa Rican coffee brewing , with eggs and sausage for breakfast. Still two hours to the FAD as we were running slower than normally due to choppy seas and heavy rain. Now the sun is out, with a 2 to 3 foot chop and we are trolling teasers ready to cast a fly to a Blue Marlin. We reached (BM-X-9) at 7:16, there is one other boat here, at 7:58 We raised a Blue Marlin which was about 150 pounds, (perfect size), Cliff made a great cast, the fish tried to eat the fly and missed it as Cliff popped the fly to get the marlin’s attention. We re-teased several times bud never got a bite. We raised another marlin at 8:43, but it did not tease in for a shot, there are two other boats here trolling lures, I saw several fish caught already on the other boats but we have not raised another fish yet at 9:30 AM. At 11:00 with only 2 marlin raised even though James was marking fish on his machine, they would not tease to the surface, so we left and ran to another sea mount about 9 miles away. Again fish marked but none raised, so we began to troll back to the original FAD hoping to catch the late afternoon bite. At 2:00 we were half way between these sea mounts when we raised a marlin, it came in and swam around the fly but faded away with ought a bite. At 3:04 we raised another blue marlin near #9, it fame hot to the bridge teaser, then just swam away, no chance. The weather has been unsettled, at times the wind would blow 20 knots with 3 to 5 foot white caps, then calm down show a little sun then another squall would pop up. it is now 3:30 and we are still waiting for a hot marlin. We fished until dark, at 6:00 we raised a striped marlin which would not eat, then at 6:24 we raised a double, cliff made a great cast and hooked his fish, we did not get another cast to the second fish. As luck would have it the fish which Cliff caught was his first sailfish ever, and the other fish raised was a blue marlin. Today we raised 5 blue marlin, one striped marlin, and one sailfish, We got one marlin bite and one sailfish bite, and Cliff caught one Sailfish on fly. At 6:45 we deployed our sea anchor, took showers, and had a great dinner with grilled pork chops, sauté vegetables and rice, with ice cream for desert. All were asleep by 8:30 PM.
June 14, 2017: woke up to better conditions with some sun shine and storms on the horizon, 15 knot wind with 2 to 4 foot seas. After coffee, eggs, bacon and toast for breakfast at 5:30 AM we headed back to the FAD which we had drifted 10 miles from during the night. At 7:00 Craig hooked a sailfish, which ran way out and spit the hook during one of its awesome jumps. We then raised a blue marlin at 7:28 AM and another one a 7:35, neither teased in close enough to get a bite. the weather is closing in on 3 sides with cloudy skies and 15 knot winds steady 2 to 4 foot seas. Wind and rain all around us, we did not raise another fish so at 9:00 James decided to head off shore for 27 miles to a sea mount which I call Destination Blue Marlin-X- 11, (BM-X-11). We trolled teasers at 10 knots while we moved, the sun came out and the wind slowly calmed down. At 11:40 we arrived and decided to catch some yellow fin tuna for sushi which took 15 minutes for half a dozen 6 to 9 pound tuna. Then at 12:00 noon we raised a double of Blue Marlin, Craig made a great cast and the smaller of the two piled on and ate that pink and white fly. That marlin ran 100 feet and jumped while heading back toward the boat, the fly fell out go the fishes mouth and instantly the 200 plus pound marlin ate the fly and took off. the second fish jumped several times in a circle then came at us and we saw the fly fall out of that fishes mouth, unbelievable! During the next hour we raised four more Blue Marlin, these fish are acting weird, two went away before we got a shot at them another one swam past the boat and ignored the fly and the other one swam around the fly but never attempted to eat it. By 2:00 we hadn’t seen any more fish and the wind came up while the clouds and rain moved into the area. It is now 2:15, the seas are now 5 feet with whitecaps on top, hoping for more marlin, the sashimi is world class with a great avocado salad. Slow fishing in the rain for the rest of the day, in the rain. Today we raised a total of ten blue a striped very finicky marlin and 2 sailfish, Craig hooked two blues which came unhooked after several jumps, while Cliff hooked a sailfish which he broke off while trying to wind as the fish swam away. Great Linguine with chicken mushroom creamy garlic sauce for dinner, then off to sleep by 8:00 PM. The mates stayed up and caught two five gallon buckets full of squid with a spinning row and squid jig, fresh calamari for those of us who love the taste of it.
June 15, 2017: Day three we woke up to ham and egg omelet with toast and sausage on the side, along with awesome Costa Rican coffee at 5:00 AM. We had drifted 4 miles away from #11, so we trolled back to that sea mount, at 6:00 AM we raised the first blue marlin of the day, no bite, then during the next 25 minutes we raised five more blue marlin and a striped marlin, four would not bite, one ate the bridge teaser and jumped as he raced away, and the other one a fish just under 200 pounds, ate Craig’s well placed fly, an awesome attack bite. As Craig made his cast he did not check the line which was wrapped around the reel, that fish took off and broke the 20 pound IGFA class tippet. Fishing slowed down after that and we didn’t raise another marlin until 7:59 when a Striped Marlin teased in and Cliff made a good presentation, that fish would not eat the fly. Plenty of marlin and sailfish around but they are acting weird, hard to get the bites. There is tons of bait around these FADS, maybe the fish are full? The weather is still unsettled we are surrounded with rain and still are fishing in 2 to 5 foot seas, not bad but would like more sunshine and a little calmer seas. Hopefully they start biting better soon, only 10 hours left of fishing time today. At 10:01 AM a small Blue came in hot, hit the long teaser, didn’t like the taste, and swam quickly away. Then at 10:05 a 200 pound plus, Blue chased the teaser to the boat, then turned off and looked at the fly. After what seemed like s long period of time that marlin decided to fade away not to be seen again. We are fishing more than 140 miles from land in cloudy skies with 15 knot wind, the waves look to be about four foot. 11:00 AM and we just raised a striped marlin which came in but would not eat the fly then at 11:45 a hot double came up on two different teasers, both charged after the teasers. Cliff made a great cast and the smaller of the two blue marlin (150 pounds), ate the pink and white popper fly and raced away in a big circle to the left, then jumped four times while we gained line and got within fifty foot from that marlin before it took off again heading away from the transom. Cliff wound as fast as possible and that marlin started jumping as he charged the boat, after a 7 minute battle that marlin made a great lurching jump and landed on the leader which broke the 20 pound class tippet and the marlin was gone. Now it is 2:00 PM so far today we have raised eleven blue and two striped marlin, two hooked and both lost, we still have about four and a half hours and need a blue marlin to the boat, partly cloudy with 4 foot seas and a light chop. At 2:15 Captain James suggested that we move inshore to FAD #9 where he had just spoke to another captain on the sat phone. We ran 27 miles and then put our teasers back out at 3:30 PM. Between 4:00 and 4:20 we raised 3 blue marlin, Craig hooked one then after 10 minutes chasing that fish it came un hooked, and the other two would not eat a fly. Then at 5:01 we raised a 200 plus pound Blue Marlin, Cliff made a good cast, the marlin pied on that fly and headed south at high speed. After a long run and a great battle with that fish about 180 yards away and still racing away from the boat, the marlin made a spectacular jump and we saw the 20 pound class tippet break. We keep fishing for the apex predator using a thin 20 pound test piece of string, it is not easy however wen you score it is a great accomplishment. 50 minutes left of fishing this trip we will fish till dark. At six ten it got too dark to see the teasers and we quit fishing, pulled in the lines and began our 12 hour trip back to Los Suenos marina resort. Today we raised 14 blue marlin, and one striped marlin, we had four bites, of which we had two come unhooked and broke the IGFA 20 pound tippet on the other two. Tonight we had shrimp sauté with beans and rice before going to sleep at 8:30 pm, at 6:30 am we arrived at the marina and headed home to my condo where I jumped into the hot tub to loosen up my tight back muscles.
June 16, 2017: Putting together my report from the first of ten "CR Blue Marlin Fly Fishing Schools” from here in Los Suenos Costa Rica during the summer of 2017. My awesome clients Craig and Cliff Machado enjoyed the 42 hours of fly fishing way out in the pacific ocean as we raised 29 blue marlin, 3 striped marlin, and 3 sailfish, they had 7 blue marlin and 2 sailfish eat their flies, of which they pulled the hook on 3 marlin, and broke off 4 blue marlin and one sailfish, Cliff caught and released his first billfish ever and it was a sailfish on 20 pound test IGFA class tippet on the fly.
There are plenty of marlin out on these sea mounts, however there is more bait, especially squid, around the structure, it is for this reason that I think the marlin would come up but loose interest quickly. The cloudy, windy, rainy, weather was not too uncomfortable, and the fishing was awesome, Captain James along with mates Roberto and Sidney did a great job teasing and preparing outré wonderful meals, as usual the vessel "Dragin Fly” is one really great fly fishing boat. Craig and Cliff are out of here tomorrow, and my buddy Danny Cline arrives on Sunday. On Monday Danny and I along with James and his crew aboard “Dragin Fly” will be our home next week from Monday to Friday, hope they bite better, stay tuned for more reports to follow, I love my Job.
Regards
Jake
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| Clif Machado , Sailfish on Fly, Released June 2017 |
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| Craig and Clif Machado, waiting for marlin, June 2017 |
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| Craig Machado angler, Jumping Blue Marlin, June 2017, Blue Marlin School, vessel Dragin Fly, Jake Jordan Photo |
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