We just finished a week long family trip to Costa Rica.  Despite concerns about keeping non-anglers and new anglers entertained, the trip was a huge success.

From Pacific 2010-04-01

From Pacific 2010-04-01

Never has the drink box on De Mako contained so much apple juice at the expense of beer!  Chowie started referring to the juice as ceveza para los ninos!

From Pacific 2010-04-01

From Pacific 2010-04-01

Captain Mike and his wife Daphne really pulled together a great trip for us.  We fished four and a half days.  We saw one (!) dorado.  All the rest were Sailfish…and, were there ever a lot of them.  We are pretty poor at keeping score but we had at least 125 behind the boat and at least 100 bites.  We decided to have the mates stand down and do our own hook setting and our hookup ratio showed it!  Given the less experienced anglers (and the crappy performance of the experienced ones) it was to be expected, but it was certainly entertaining and great fun!  Scott got his groove back on the last day going six for eight – pretty good ratio for a guy who has been stuck in Manhattan over the past ten years.

The kids did really well too.  The senior member, at 9, caught three, the 7 year old caught 5, the other seven year old caught a sail and the four year old “caught” a ballyhoo to the cheers of the cockpit audience.

Granny Radke was pretty sharp, teaching the boys how it was done.  Grandpa Radke managed to do some damage to the Sails and the rum supply.  One of his fish produced three amazing pics – shown below.  Pic 1 the fish is hooked and all is well.  Pic 2 the hook comes out and you see the mono starting to spring back.  Pic 3 looks like one of the kids was scribbling on the picture – the mono is a squiggle and the Sail a distant memory.

Non fishing activities included a trip to Tortuga Island on the De Mako.  The island has a great beach with no waves or surge.  The kids predictably loved the sand, banana boats, jet skis, kayaks, etc.  The adults found a shady spot and with the help of the cooler Chowie packed, spent the afternoon sipping beer in the shade.  A special thank you to Arturo who was kind enough to oversee the banana boating operation.  Doesn’t he look fetching in his helmet?  No wonder the female staff of Los Suenos are fighting in the street over him.

From Pacific 2010-04-01

We also spent a day at Manuel Antonio National Park in Quepos.  It is a bit of a ride, but well worth it.  The park and its animals are really cool to see.

Good three days of fishing.  Strange weather on day 2, 30 knot winds and 8 to 10 foot seas.  Not unlike a brisk day in Bermuda, but totally freaky for CR.  If we had been signed up for the tournament, we would have had second place overall and in the daily Calcutta. Clearly we were having fishing as good as it could be. Got a nice 225# marlin on 30#  and one BIG sail that they said went 150 – 180#.  I think we had 13 sails overall and held a respectable hook up ratio.  Three of four nice Dorados, too.  Oh yeah, we also  caught a turtle and a bird, both safely released.

- Bruce Dilke

Last week I had the opportunity to fish four days of a wonderful six day vacation with Black and Blue Fishing, in their Los Suenos location. Invited by club member Rich Allen and club owner Jason Doyle. I flew into San Jose with Capt Sean O’Neil, Yacht broker J.T. Welker and Jamie Naven.
Our all star fishing team was picked up at the airport by ‘Carlos’, Black and Blue’s competent and friendly Tico driver. He had ice cold drinks and AC awaiting us in the van and made the beautiful hour and half drive over the mountains to Jaco both comfortable and exciting. “Ask to stop and view Costa’s enormous Crocodiles along the way”. This was my first time fishing with the Black and Blue clubs Los Suenos operation. The entire week was made so pleasurable by this first class, smoothly run operation.
Our first day of fishing we met up with Capt Mike Springer, his Mate’s Chowie and Arturo at 7 Am. The weather was beautiful and the hour ride to the fishing grounds was so comfortable aboard the 57 Sonny Briggs that I actually slept on the way out! The day was a great introduction to the Pacific Sailfish and Marlin with our crew going 11 for 21 on the huge pacific sails. Capt Sean managed to catch an acrobatic Striped Marlin after a frantic teaser bite! Unfortunately we missed a Blue Marlin on a aggressive teaser bite. Capt Mike and his crew were superb ship mates and the fishing, breakfast and lunch were truly excellent on the DeMako.
After fishing a “cool down” Imperial beer was ready in the cockpit drink box and up at Los Suenos Marinas Hook Up bar. Then back to the ice cold air conditioning at the Black and Blues well equipped condo. Staying inside the Los Suenos compound was safe and luxurious. The condo’s covered veranda overlooks the golf course and part of the harbor and is surrounded by Costa Rica’s picturesque mountains.
Day two fishing was once again accented by calm seas and highlighted by a couple of sailfish double headers. Our team tightened up after our practice on day one and combined for 16 for 19 sails and some more big mahi! It was a great day of fishing and the beer again was ice cold at the Hookup! After showering up at the condo, we took the short cab ride into Jaco for dinner, each night a different venue and never a bad meal!
Day three started with Capt. Mikes egg & sausage burritos and after the ride to the fishing grounds the sail bites started quickly. We caught a few doubles and missed a few other opportunities. The fishing was pretty constant and when the diesel smoke cleared we were 14 for 28 on the sails. Another great day with lots of sail bites. Although a few too many misses on our part. Mike and his crew as always did their part and out fished the fleet considerably!
Day four Capt. Sean and I wanted to experience Costa on Land. While the others were busy catching 11 for 18 Sails and missing 2 shots a Marlin. Ole Cappy and I were Zip –Lining thru the forest canopy in the mountains with Los Suenos canopy tours. Local gringo friends recommended this particular outfitter as being one of the better Zip tours in Costa Rica, and it was also the closest. It was a blast whipping thru the treetops in a harness connected to a stainless. A couple of friendly guides accompany you along the hour and a half tour ensuring your safety. The steep tractor ride to the upper starting point added to the experience. The humid sweet greenery of the mountain was defiantly a diversion worth trying.
The next morning we were all tired enough to leave Los Suenos but no one really wanted too! While we waited for Carlos to pick us up we all lingered around the condo area. A last view from the porch, a quick dip in the beautiful pool, a laugh from the past week, it was a trip to be remembered, and made extremely memorable by all those involved with the Black and Blue fishing club. The people and the amenities made it a wonderful experience.

Sincerely,

Capt. Chris Dudzek

This is why you should not wait to do a fishing report. Hmmmmm, what did happen? Well, we made a boys’ trip down to Costa Rica to see Capt. Mike, Chowie and Arturo. Capt. Allen decided to come fishing for a vacation, Super Dave and Fletch (Bermuda’s favorite bartender) and I had a great time.

The sails were not super thick but how can you complain about double digits every day? The weather was beautiful and we had a great time. The most notable catch was Super Dave’s Blue Marlin. This fish obviously did not know about the “Pacific fish stay on top and jump around”. Poor Dave had to reel in 71/72 nds of a spool of line to get that fish in, but he did it. Great job Dave!

The next best show was put on by yours truly, emptying (virtually single handedly) the drink box on De Mako. This is why it is not a good idea to start the day with a rum. Ah well, live and learn. (I would like to point out that while walking was hard, I did go 2 for 2 on sails.)

I promise to do better on the report when I return at the end of March.

- Jeff Radke

Well, that sure was a successful trip.  We ended up catching 5 marlin, 42 (ish) sails and innumerable dolphin for the 6 days of fishing.  Not bad at all!

The weather was predictably great with flat seas and sunny hot days which moderated at night.  Except for the last day, that is.  It blew in the morning!  We all thought we were in the Atlantic.  By the end of the morning, things had settled back down and we started seeing fish, especially after we ran a little to get a change of scenery.  It turned out to be a great call.

One interesting note – Chowie and his understudy, Arturo, managed to both hook the same fish twice in a day!  The first time is was a Dolphin that was apparently starving and the second was a Sail that decided he couldn’t eat just one.  Both circle hooks were right next to each other in the Sail’s jaw.  It was a pretty easy release.

Hope you like the pictures, more reports coming soon as De Mako is fishing pretty steadily for the next couple months.

This is Chowie’s Ceviche recipe. He makes it on the boat on the way out and then it is ready for lunch. Yum!

Ingredients:
• one ziplock of fillet (usually Dolphin)
• One green pepper
• One medium onion
• One bunch of cilantro
• One can Ginger Ale
• Six limes

Preparation:
• Mix water and a lot of salt in a bowl
• Cut the fillets into 1/4 inch cubes
• Put the fish into the salt water
• Stir fish, allow to stay in salt water for about 5 minutes
• Drain the fish and rinse with fresh water
• Squeeze the limes into a bowl.
• Put fish (only) in lime juice, stir and
• Allow to sit while you chop vegetables
• Chop onion, pepper and cilantro very finely
• Add chopped veggies to fish and lime juice
• Add about 1/2 can of Ginger Ale. Stir.
• Add two splashes of the Luzano Salsa
• Add Tabasco if you like it hot

Put the bowl in the Freezer for 30 minutes and then refrigerator for another hour and serve.

Ending the Year on 97

We set out from the Los Suenos Marina on another beautiful Costa Rican day.  The last day of the year, and Capt. Mike jokingly said that we had to catch six marlin to get he and Chowie to 100 for the year.

Well, we didn’t quite make it but we sure gave it a try.

For most of this season there have been so many Dolphin around that it was hard to fish for anything else.  We had a similar experience shortly after we put our lines in.  After catching enough for Chowie’s mom’s New Years party that night, we just dragged teasers for a while and watched scores of 20 pound Dolphin try to rip the teasers off the boat.

We managed to leave the pack of Dolphin in our wake (finally) and made it into some really pretty blue water and started looking for those marlin.

The sailfish showed up first and we managed to catch 4 of them by the end of the day.  With only one angler, things were busy in the cockpit.

Finally we saw that BIG splash we were hoping for.  We got the hook set and we were in business with a Blue Marlin around 200 pounds.  Perfect for the 30 pound gear.  The fish put on a show, tail walking and coming 10 feet out of the water.

After the release, we didn’t have to wait long and another marlin hit.  The jumps were far out and into the Sun we we had to wait to get it to the boat before being sure it was a Striped Marlin.  We were all pretty excited now.  Mike and Chowie needed four Marlin to hit the 100 mark for the year and we had just caught two in 50 minutes.

Well, the reason you are reading this here and not watching the made for TV movie on ESPN 87 is because we did not make it.  We caught one more Striped Marlin but that was it.

What a great way to end the year.  One Blue Marlin, two Striped Marlin, four Sailfish and enough Dorado to keep Chowie’s mom happy.

Hope you had a great one too!

- Jeff Radke

Here is a fishing report that I cannot wait to write!  Over four days ending December 17, Black & Blue member Mike Rehberg had a bunch of guys down for a little fishing.

Everything was proceeding as normal until they heard Captain Mike call out, “Killer Whale, right teaser!”.  What???  Check it out.  A Killer Whale came up and bit (and missed) the teaser.  Chowie said it was a sissy bite too.  Well, when that Whale jumped right afterwards everybody headed away from the transom and back towards the salon.

The other great story is that one of the guys on the trip (another Mike) caught, from his wheelchair, a Sail and a Striped Marlin.  That is a pretty cool story to go with those great shots.  Way to go Mike!

Things are off to a great start this season in Costa Rica.  De Mako and Captain Mike have been out a fair amount over the past few weeks and Black and Blue members have had great luck.

While Marling numbers aren’t huge, Capt. Mike is finding them here and there.

Yellowfin Tuna in the 40 to 60 pound range are being caught pretty frequently and on the light tackle used, they put up a great fight.

Sailfish are all over the place.  A couple of days we have seen bites in the thirties and releases in the twenties.  Now that is fishing!

As we head into the holidays, we are out pretty much every day so we should have plenty of stories and pictures to share.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Best wishes for a spectacular 2010.

- Jason Doyle and Jeff Radke

We just finished a six day trip to Costa Rica and were able to put together a great trip even though September is not known as the best of months in Costa Rica. What September often does see is a run of Marlin offshore from the town of Flamingo, about 150 miles NW of Los Suenos. This marlin run was our objective for the week. While things did not work out as planned, the trip really highlighted the benefits of Black & Blue over traditional chartering.

We began moving De Mako NW on Friday, fishing most of the way. We were able to catch seven sailfish out of about ten bites on the way. We made it into Flamingo Bay around nightfall the first night. The next day we fished off of Flamingo in the morning with no luck. No bites, no bait, no birds. It was a pretty ominous beginning. We ran into Flamingo Bay at lunch to pick up the rest of the members for the trip and headed back out for the afternoon. While the weather was great, the afternoon was more of the same – no signs of life at all. It was so bad that we all made a pretty quick decision when we got back to Flamingo Bay that night. With the water so empty off of Flamingo we decided to head SE in the morning and keep going until we saw signs of life. All of the anglers checked out of their hotel rooms and took a Pango out to De Mako at 6 am and we set out to the SE in the same green water. We ran quite a few miles in this unpromising water and then set out the baits as the water started to turn bluer. The fish we had caught on the way up were about half way, off the coast from the town of Correa and, sure enough, that is where we found them again. We caught three or four sails and and a 24 pound dolphin. By the end of the fishing day, we decided to run to Los Suenos and the condo to spend the night.

The next four days we fished out of Los Suenos. We continued to fish SE of the Elbow. We had a couple of double digit Sailfish days and ended up with about 32 Sailfish for the trip. The rain held off for us duing the day and we were able to fish in nice weather with the swell being significant on only one day. In addition to the Sailfish and assorted Dolphin, September is typically a good month for Yellowfin Tuna. We found this to be the case as we followed flocks of diving birds to find big schools of Tuna working in front of equally large schools of Spinner Dolphins. The Tuna would boil to the surface, eating small bait that looked like Krill and then go back down. There were several fish we saw that looked to be better than 100 pounds in the melee. We caught our share of Tuna out of these schools but we did not catch any of the big ones. I guess the big ones get big because they know what a bait or lure looks like! Even better than catching the Tuna was watching the show. Tuna jumping, Spinner dolphin chasing, birds diving….what a site.

October is maintenance month for us, De Mako is getting hauled and we have the usual bits and bobs to get done before the Costa Rica season begins in earnest. November through March is generally the best fishing and we are really looking forward to this year.
We will be back with an update when we get back to fishing.

- Capt. Mike Springer