Greetings!

This is Craig Sutton with FishingNosara.com and here is the November report. The new Wanderer is in the water and the first day we christened her with a nice Black Marlin in the 350lbs. to 400lbs. range with lots of big Dorado and plump Yellowfin. The second day we lost another big Black while catching a 200lbs. Blue Marlin on the third day and losing a monster 700lbs. to 800lbs. Black today. Every trip is non-stop action trolling and top-water casting for 20lbs. to 40lbs.Yellowfin, and we are mixing in some 20lbs. to 40lbs. Dorado. Check out this months' new videos of our Wanderer fun: Black Narlin Released, Dolphin frenzy 

The Wanderer crew and the rest of the FishingNosara.com team are looking to raise the level of fishing in Costa Rica. Captain William and co-captains Carlos, Alex, and David are looking to have a great year. I am extremely glad to have his experience at the helm of the Wanderer;
having Captain William means that the Wanderer will always be in top shape and ready to do battle.

Captain Carlos put the Reel Deal in the water last week and immediately started satisfying his clients. Carlos did a super job on the Reel Deal this off-season adding new Tuna Tubes, some clear plastic protection, paint, and upholstery.

Captain Vibert finished the year strong as usual and pulled the Cabo last week to paint the bottom and perform routine maintenance. Look for Vibert to repeat as top boat this year. Captain Vibert's big boat the Aimee Marie is due back in the water in December after a complete refit. The Aimee Marie has been the top boat in the area for a long time and looks to be the big battle wagon again.

Captain Eduardo and the Nice n Tight are also back in the water after some refinishing. Eduardo has picked where he left off last year and is making some happy clients: simply stated, Captain Eduardo and the Nice n Tight always catch fish. Captain Eduardo's big boat the Sportsman is due back this month from the annual haul-out and maintenance. I am quite sure that Eduardo will be slaying the big ones again in 2010.

It looks like the year will be strong, especially with all the new boats. Already lots of fishing groups have been booked. Please, if you are interested in partaking of some world-class fishing book early; we want to guarantee your choice of boat, captain, and type of fishing but we can only do that if we plan ahead.

Finally we have added the Explorer, a two-man inflatable for the remote rivers here, to our line up of fishing choices. Captain David is at the helm and ready to take on some of the giant Costa Rican Snook. Captain David will be taking his clients to some areas not too many anglers have fished  and the results should be very interesting. Also our new rental house Casa Bonita in the Nature Preserve complex is right on schedule and looks to be another Tico masterpiece.

Can't wait to fish tomorrow!

 Tight lines and Pura Vida!
   -Craig 




While the other boats are on the hill getting cleaned-up and refitted for the new season, Captain Vibert Blanche is still in the water and going strong! Along with his son and the rest of the crew, the old master is delivering great charters and full fishboxes for all his clients.

On October 27th Captain Vibert took some clients from the area out on the Cabo for a full-day of fishing, and boy was it a FULL day! How about fourteen 10lbs. macarelas and twelve black tunas over 12lbs? That was all before the 40lbs. cubera snapper they caught on the way back in.

Captain Vibert then welcomed a very esteemed client, Mr. Sigurd Michelsen, to the shores of Nosara for a two-day fishing excursion. On November 5th they cruised the offshore depths and brought in two cubera snappers in the 15-30lbs. range. They also had two more on the line, but they were too massive to pull in this time.

On November 6th Sig was back onboard the Cabo for another day with Captain Vibert. They had a blast and swooped up some nice fish. He caught a pair of yellowfin tunas each weighing 15lbs. and a pair of black tunas weighing 10lbs. They also reeled in a big 65lbs. amberjack.

Finally Captain Vibert put Mr. Michelsen on a bubbling patch of water and dropped all the lines right into the middle. They found out what was causing all the fuss when the line popped off and shot straight down. One good hour of fighting later and Sig pulled in a Sleeper Shark (called a Whale shark in some places) weighing over 450lbs.

Captain Vibert is staying in the water for the time being, so hurry up and book your trip with FishingNosara's most experianced captain.

You can visit the FishingNosara.com or call Craig at (904)591-2161 USA or 011-506-682-0606 CR to get the best fishing trip of your life started.

 


Captain Carlos got his boat back in the water just last week, and he is already catching tons of fish. On November 14th client Jack was on board Reel Deel for a half day fishing, when they opened up with three 15lbs. white tunas. They stayed on that bite for another hour and caught two nice 17lbs. yellowfin tunas. After that they moved out to the deeper water and reeled in a feisty 35lbs. rooster fish, which they live released at the boat.
 
On November 17th client Julia Jimmerson was aboard for a banner day of Costa Rican fishing. In only a few hours time she caught sixteen Blackfin tunas! The largest catch weighed 14lbs., and they were literally jumping on the hooks.
 
As usual Carlos has a busy calendar now that the Reel Deel is back in action. We look forward to many awesome trips next month!
 
 
 
 

Captain Eduardo is also freshly back on the water after annual maintenance. In just two quick trips he got Tim and Sarah Duncan on a 10lbs. Yellowfin, a 15lbs. dorado, and a 10lbs. rainbow runners. He also took Stephen Bactolacci out to catch fifteen Blue runners. 
The Wanderer Story
or, How a couple of car guys took this:

and turned it into this:
 


It started as a very simple dream: find a old sturdy boat, clean 'er up, bolt some nice motors on it, and go fishing. I bought in in March of 2009, figuring I had what I needed in the form of my auto shops in Jacksonville, Florida and Captain Jack Weinnman (an experienced angler in his own right and an ASE Master Mechanic). We also enlisted Matty from the car lot, who despite knowing absolutely nothing about boats seemed willing to perform the manual labor, keep the shop clean, and run out for parts/food.



The Wanderer herself was for sale in nearby Mayport, FL by the widow of the late Captain Jack Woodruff, a local legend in the Northeast Florida fishing community. The Wanderer was a 1983 T-Craft Cabin Model with inboard diesal power and had been rigged for light fishing and heavy relaxation: Full interior lighting, shower, heating, air conditioning, five-speaker surround sound...you get the idea.


With the team assembled and the boat at our shops in Florida, we began the first task of stripping the Wanderer of all major systems and components...basically all the way down to the stringers and the hull.  It was during this process that our respect for Captain Woodruff and his boat began to take shape. EVERY bolt, nut, washer, and screw was tight and properly serviced. He had poured so much time and energy into the Wanderer that I knew we were going revive this boat to perfection.


We quickly learned that things don't come out of boats quite as easily as they look...if you don't believe me try to pull a 300lbs. Markon AC Generator through an opening the size of a doggie door. Calling on Captian Chris Savitz and his father for an assist, Jack and Matty gutted the boat over a two week period, finally pulling the diesal inboard at the end of May.
 
 




At this point, the guys in the shop got back to cars and the Wanderer was in South Florida. At Whitewater Boat Corp. in Miami, FL she received a fresh coat of blue bottom paint, new deck panels, and a sturdy transom for the forthcoming Yamahas. Then it was over to Blue Water Towers in Boyton Beach, FL for the canopy tower.

 

She was back at home base in July, when we enlisted yet another car guy to make this boat happen. Martin Rodriguez is a freelance paint and body specialist who I keep around mainly because he is a Tico (by way of New York City) and he does really nice work. He'd never done a boat this size, but figured it was worth a shot.

Along with his assistant Dave, Martin did a fantastic job with this boat. The blue puts even the Costa Rican waters to shame.

We devised a slick way to install the live well using exsiting structures in the hull, and turned to Oasis Boatyards in St. Augustine, FL to do the fiberglass fabrication. These guys did an outstanding job and even drove the 90 mile roundtrip to come help us with the final details. They could've made us bring the boat to them, but I feel showed a lot of class by going out of their way for us.



By the end of July we saw the Wanderer in her new colors, and we got our first glimpse of how awesome this thing could be. It was also around this time that pictures of this boat were first included in this fishing report, which in turn led to a flurry of calls, emails, and visits to the shop to see exactly what we were up to and exactly how crazy we were.




With tons of "advice" from these spectators we got down to installing the instruments, steering, fighting chair, tower, new rub rails and trim tabs, plus outfitting the interior to comfortably support twelve anglers. Jack busied himself with all the wiring while Matty and I prepped the bow rails, anchor assemblies, and teak trim.

We brought in Carl Schmidt (first mate on my boat Fishtastic and a master carpenter) to assist our refit of the cabin. Where once was a refrigerator, AC generator, and freshwater recycler is now a rack of custom tackle boxes.

September was a month of furious activity as the deadline for shipping loomed at the end of the month.

We finished rigging the bottom machine, bilge pumps, tuna tubes, and a half-dozen or so other systems with about a week to spare. The motors were waiting in Costa Rica, but everything else was ready to fish when we sent her off on September 22.







After eight months of sweat, stress, deliberation, frustration, aggravation, sleepless nights, seven-day work weeks, dozens of trips to boat/metal/woodworking/tool and die/machine shops, twelve tubes of 5200, six ruined drill bits, a few hundred pages of Customs paperwork, and a 1,500 mile boat ride
...the Wanderer arrived safe and sound in Nosara in early October.



I arrived in November to oversee the installation of the motors and the final rigging of all the tackle, bait, reels, and canopy tower.
 
 





 
 
We finally got her in the water on November 13th for a hour-long test drive. She passed with flying colors and the next day I caught a 20lbs. dorado and a 375lbs. Black Marlin.

Now we are into some serious fishing. On the 15th I pulled up a 45lbs. dorado and a nice sailfish. Also our first client Jimmy Dougherty caught his first ever yellowfin tuna. On November 16th I brought in five 40lbs. dorado and a 200lbs. Black Marlin along with my good buddy Chris Savitz. I've lost two other big Blacks, but don't worry friends...on this boat they don't stand much of a chance.
 
 
 
Then on November 17th we lost a HUGE 700lbs. Marlin right at the boat, but we cheered up by boating ten 30lbs.- 40lbs. dorado and ten 30lbs. Yellowfin tuna. We killed 'em again on the 18th; along with Javier Hernandez we caught a 300lbs. Black Marlin, six 20lbs. yellowfin and a pair of 30lbs. dorado. 
Finally on the 21st Matty was aboard the boat he poured so much sweat, blood, and energy into. I am happy to report that his first catch on the Wanderer was this beautiful 40lbs. dorado.

I'm loving life right now. You're welcome to come on down and join us. Trips on the Wanderer are being reserved left and right, so hurry up and book your trip today. Thanks again to everyone who was part of this project. It's been a heckofa trip.
Casa Bonita Update

Construction is virtually complete on our new 2 Bedroom/ 2 Bath rental home, Casa Bonita. We have moved on the interior design elements and final completion of the utilities.

Casa Bonita opens on December 15, 2009 and it already booked through Christmas and New Years. Hurry up and your booking in to Craig so you don't miss out on this awesome house.


Click on any image to begin your Virtual Tour!

    Casa Capitan                       Casa Caribe                       Casa Neptune

Casa Privada                      Casa Surfeando                    Olas Pequinos

 
     Casa Tranquilo                       La Oficina                Casa Bonita (coming soon)

More Fishing!!!

Look at the size of that Snook!
That's our buddy Marino and the
12 pounder he caught off of the beach while leading a Safari Tour.

Proof that down here you don't even need a boat to get a great fish!


 






Catch the fish of a lifetime in Costa Rica?
Let the rest of the world see it!
Email your photos to Matty the IT Director and you
may see yourself in next month's report.
�Pura Vida!

Craig Sutton
Nosara Paradise Rentals
904-591-2161