|
Date: January 17, 2018 Body of Water: Golfito Dulce and Pacific Ocean, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica Boat: Reel Hard With: Russo from @tropicfins, Tropic Fins Adventures, http://tropicfins.com Target: Roosterfish, Yellowfin Tuna and whatever else we came across Time: 7 AM to 4 PM Conditions: Tropical; sunny and hot; water temps around 84-85 degrees F; a big swell coming in from the Pacific, with very confused seas during the morning's outgoing tide Bait already secured, Russo and I sped down the Gulf towards the open water near Matapalo Rock. Conditions were already clear and hot; the inner Gulf was calm, but the Pacific Swell made its presence known as we neared the mouth. With an outgoing tide and a much smaller boat (this 21-foot bay boat had virtually no freeboard on the casting decks), the confused seas presented difficult fishing conditions. Casting was not possible, so we started with a slow-trolling spread of free-lined and weighted sardines. After just a few minutes and a couple of tangles, Russo decided to troll a pair of Yozuri swimming plugs. At higher speed, we'd have more control over the positioning of the baits. It took only a few minutes for a rod to double over, and I landed a small bonito tuna. We retained this for possible use as bait, later in the day. Knowing my desire for mahi-mahi, Russo replaced one plug with a skipping squid lure. This was fun to watch, and a strike would have been amazing, but nothing happened for the next half hour. Perhaps my concentration on the baits was a little too intense, though, because at about 9 AM, I realized that I was going to be sea-sick. ![]() Fortunately, I got that over with quickly, and Russo kindly switched over to bottom fishing with live sardines. We were in depths of about 100 feet, but concentrated on ridges and humps associated with the main point of Matapalo. This bite was pretty slow (we were plagued by nipping bites from triggerfish or small snappers), but I did miss a good chance on a heavy, hooked fish. I never saw the fish, and it could have been just about anything; it simple pulled the hook several minutes into the fight, and represented a simple, lost chance. Oh well, I knew there would be others! We spent the late morning slow-trolling baits along the same stretch of tropical beach as the previous trip. The swell wasn't quite as bad, but it was still too rough to cast from the bow. We executed well on rooster fish; I caught three beautiful, hard-pulling specimens. They really resisted coming close to the boat, and they also provided some nice acrobatics and surface strikes. Once again, I had to respect M and her fish from the previous trip; she'd bested a fish at least 4-to-6 times the mass as these on the same tackle. As the bite slowed and it became obvious that other boats in the fleet were struggling, we tried a few drops at specific spots in intermediate depths (35 - 50 feet). I converted my single "real" bite into a new-to-me species, a beautiful yellowtail (Pacific-style) snapper. After lunch, we returned to the vicinity of Matapalo Rock. With the tide turned, it was quite a bit more fishable. I was able to cast from the bow, although nothing rose to the popper this day. Meanwhile, we slow-trolled flat-lined and weighted sardines from the stern. This bite was strangely slow to non-existent. Perhaps the tides associated with the day's New Moon were messing with the fish? Russo made a bucket of chum from our dead and injured sardines and the morning's bonito. Positioned at the end of Matapalo point in about 75 feet of water, he dumped this into the sea. For the first time all day (and almost instantly), the ocean lit up with activity. Surgeonfish, blue and yellow rainbow runners, jacks and a large, reddish brown grouper or snapper raced into the chum-line. While Russo free-lined sardines, I concentrated on presenting live sardines on the bottom. I immediately caught a small rock snapper, but the next drop produced a solid bite from the bottom. After a very nice, dogged fight, an electrified Blue Trevally came aboard. This was another new-to-me-species. What a beautiful fish! We endured a variety of cut-offs thereafter. The Spanish Mackerel had arrived. The catching was over. I enjoyed my Cerveza Imperial on the surprisingly smooth ride back to Puerto Jimenez. What do I have to say about this? We had tried to do an awful lot with a small boat in big seas, and we had largely succeeded. I'd really left only one good fish on the table during a rather difficult day of fishing. I'd certainly caught some beautiful fish; I'd enjoyed the day's effort. Russo had worked tirelessly (again) on my behalf. I was somewhat flummoxed by the sudden disappearance of yellowfins and mahi, but this served as a reminder that "Fishing is Fishing", and one never knows. Having to work for any success only makes it that much sweeter. With two days of fishing left (both aboard the larger HepCat), Russo and I had decided that we would target offshore fishing for sailfish, mahi and/or tuna the next day, but only if the fleet's report was a bit more positive for that style of fishing. Regardless, I knew I'd be in the warm waters of the Pacific with my daughter, K, the next day; and I suspected that something knew and interesting might happen. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Steve LachanceRI --> NH --> MI-->MA-->ME Archives
June 2024
Categories
All
|
Proudly powered by Weebly