So there I am sitting at my favorite Sidewalk cafe' Saturday night in Jaco Beach, Cafe' Del Mar, typing away at the keyboard on my lap top and sipping on a cup of the best coffee in town, when my phone rings. I answer only to hear the distinguishable voice of Capt. Glen of our X-Treme Billfish team boat , the Bethina, on the other end. "Hey MO...wadda ya doin' tomorrow?" he asks. I have a few guests going out on the Zip Line Canopy tour in the morning , but other than that, no major plans..why do you ask?
His reply was an invite to go fishing for the day with a few mutual friends of ours. Getting invited to fish aboard Bethina for a fun trip is like getting an offer that you can't refuse from the Godfather of the Pelagic Family. After all, I am used to having to watch Bethina leave the docks with many of our guests on board, and wave goodbye as they head out for what I know is always an intense day of hardcore fishing aboard this Billfish weapon! Even worse, I am always at the dock when our guests return and end up green with envy after hearing about the fish they caught, and what a great time they had with these guys....Fishing aboard Bethina is always intense as Capt. Glen is a serious fish hunter, whose passion for the sport and producing good numbers is displayed to our guests every time he leaves the dock. Ha ha ha , now it was MY TURN to get on board.
Glen always likes to leave early to get a jump on the hunt for the fish. He heard there were a few Marlin caught over the last few days, about 35-40 miles out and wanted to go see if he could find a few. The stage was set and the departure time was to be at 7:00am this morning.
Of course the excitement and anticipation of fishing aboard Bethina kept me from getting any real sleep last night, and I was fully caffinated and out the door by 6:30am. The 10 minute ride from my house to the Marina at Los Suenos felt like a half hour. I was sooooo ready to catch a Sailfish or Marlin, as it has been a while since I had a chance to wet and tighten a line. I arrived at the same time as the other anglers for the day , who were Howie and Capt. Whitey(Owner&Captain of the Grand Slam) and Dick Tanner and we were off and running!
The ride out felt like an eternity as we were all excited to see what awaited us. The sound of Capt. Glen backing off the throttles was the signal that it was time to start collecting some Bills. Bethina's 2 mates, Min & Russ had a nice spread out within seconds, and the hunt was on. The day started slowly, and we covered quite a bit of territory for the 1st hour and a half. Suddenly the lull was broken and the battle cry from the tower we were waiting for was heard from the tower. FISH ON, Right Long!
With Ninja like precision and speed, Min & Russ had the fish hooked, the teasers and other lines cleared, and Howie had the rod in hand and was reeling like a champ! Watching Min & Russ work the deck is worth the trip alone, as these guys are 2 of the top mates in this region, and run the deck like a fine tuned, well oiled,synchronized machine.
Min- Rigs and works a deck with Ninja like precision- famous for his deadly 2 handed "Fish Call"
Russ- Silent but Violent- Feared by every swimming specie worldwide- Can get even a dead fish to bite!
After 3 Spectacular leaps, this huge Sailfish got the jump on Howie and jumped off! Even so, it was a great show and everyone was excited. Within moments, Min & Russ had the spread back in the water, freshly baited, and awaiting the next candidate. The next bite happened about 20 minutes later and it was Tanners Turn at the stick. Tanner hooked his Sailfish, and it went nuts! This was one of the longest tail-walks I have ever seen, as this giant sailfish danced across the top of the water for what I counted to be 10 seconds! WOW! After a few minutes of serious cranking, Tanner had the Sailfish boat side and Russ quickly clipped the leader for a perfect release. 20 minutes later, it was Fish in again, and Howie took another turn. This time, making quick work of another nice big Sailfish. Min executed the release and we continued on.
Ok, so now it's my turn. Shortly after the spread was back in the water, Capt. Glen calls me up to the tower. When I arrive topside, he says "Take a look at this" and points off the bow of the boat about 100 yards out. It was a massive explosion on the surface of about 500 Spinner dolphins and the biggest multi-Flock of Frigate birds and Gulls crashing the water. No kidding, it looked like 2 Apache Helicopters were laying down fire from a Vulcan Electric Machine gun. The water was exploding everywhere.
The rigs were quickly changed by Min & Russ to target Yellowfin Tuna! I grabbed one of the Spinning rods, rigged with a Thunnus reel and had Russ tie me on a big popper. As we approached the explosive mayhem, Tanner grabbed the spinning rigged and pitched it into the missile of the melee. SEAGULL ON! as one of these pesky critters decided to try the Popper appetizer. After safely releasing the Gull, it was decided that the Popper idea wasn't a good one. We trolled around and through this massive gathering of feeding madness for about 30 minutes, landing one nice Yellowfin Tuna, and losing 3 to gulls getting snagged in the line, and 1 to a spit hook. Oh well, one nice tuna is better than none! Plenty of Sashimi and seared tuna steaks to go around for sure.
Shortly after another boat showed up to try their luck in this frenzy, we headed back out to pursue more billfish. Over the next hour we had 2 more Sailfish come up in the spread and get away with a free Bally Hoo Snack. It was getting time to start trolling our way home as we were a ways out and the afternoon rain clouds were heavy and thick on the horizon over the Marina area.
We had just crossed over the Blue Water line and were in the Green water for about 15 minutes when BAM! Left short was heard screaming from the tower.....MY TURN. Before I could even get off the cushion and on the Stern, Min had the Sailfish hooked and handed me the rod. There was no time to scramble for a belt, and I just started reeling while Capt. Glen started backing down on the fish. I fought the fish for about 10 minutes, using my 'Extra Padding" a.k.a my "Natural Gimball Seat" as a rod holder. What a great site it was to see that leader right in front of my face! 10 seconds later I was holding a nice fat Sailfish!
The day was done, and although we did not raise a Marlin, we ended up going 3 for 6 on Sails and taking a nice Yellowfin Tuna to the dinner table. Not a bad day at all considering we are in the middle of the slowest Billfish time of the year. Once again, the Bethina X-Treme team gets it done!
I just had a group from Alaska here with us last week, who fished aboard Bethina for a day and went 4-8 on Sails, and had a nice Mahi in the 30lb range!, making them the "High Hook" boat again for that day. We are certainly proud to have Bethina as part of the Hooked On Costa Rica fleet, and our official Los Suenos X-Treme Billfish Team boat.
Thanks again to Capt. Glen, Min, and Russ for offering me the privilege of fishing with you again. As usual I had a blast!
Bethina is our Los Suenos X-Treme Billfish Team boat. Contact us to day for the opportunity to be one of the lucky anglers abaord this top producing Fishing Machine, with her legendary Captain & Crew!
