The complete report

Blue Marlin Fly Fishing, School Report
July 27, 28, 29, 30, 2014

Greetings from Los Suenos Costa Rica:

July 27, 2014: Roy Cronacher, and I, met up with mates Marcos and Alberto, along with Captain James, at the Los Suenos marina, at about 12:30 PM. We boarded "Dragin Fly", and headed out of the marina at about 1:00 PM, the plan was to run for an hour at twenty four knots and then slow down to 7 1/2 knots and troll to "Destination Blue Marlin-X" (BM-X), which we should reach just before daylight the next day. As we put out our teasers shortly after 2:30, we raised a sailfish, Roy made a good cast  (pink and white Cam Sigler popper fly) and ten minutes later we released a 70 pound sailfish on fly to get the skunk out of the boat.  Later, We raised a small Blue Marlin, it teased to the boat, however it refused to bite on the fly which Roy presented. At 7:00 PM we had homemade Lasagna for dinner along with Ice Cream for our desert, and then went to sleep.

Roy Cronacher releasing firstSailfish of the trip
July 28, 2014: We awoke at 4:30 AM to the smell of sausage, eggs and freshly brewed Costa Rican coffee. At six AM we put out our teasers, Roy hooked his first Blue Marlin at 7:00 AM, fought it for 5 minutes then broke it off. Next  at 7:45, Roy asked me to show him how it's done, I made a good cast and right away that 250 pound Blue Marlin came out of the water and gobbled my pink and white Cam Sigler fly,  23 minutes later I caught and released that awesome fish. On the 9th fish that we raised, Roy got a good bite from a 150 pounder, it ran way out, went deep, and stayed there for about 6 minutes. Then the marlin charged to the surface, jumped and broke the 20 pound class tippet. after a couple more raise with no bites, a red hot 200 pound Blue Marlin charged in and ate a great cast which Roy made, unbelievable but the class tippet got cut by the gill plate of  marlin on the eleventh jump, it was gone. We continued to raise marlin however, they were spooky and hard to get a bite from, then at 2:30 PM I caught and released a 125 pound Blue. The total score for today when we quit fishing was 24 Blue Marlin raised, five of them bit our flies, and we caught and released two awesome Blue Marlin on fly. We got a hot shower, ate fresh yellow fin tuna, shrimp scampi, along with fresh green vegetables for dinner, went to sleep at 8:00 PM.
 
July 29, 2014:  After breakfast at 4:30 AM, we pulled the sea anchor, we had drifted six miles over night, so we had to run back to (BM-X) and we deployed the teasers at 6:00 AM. Today it was Roy's turn to achieve his goal, to catch a Blue Marlin on fly during this trip, we raised 5 blue marlin before 7:30, then Roy hooked, fought and released his first Blue Marlin on fly before 8:00 AM. At 8:40, Roy caught and released his second Blue marlin of the trip, and of his life. Then by 9:40 AM we had raised 16 Blue Marlin, and I released a 140 pound Blue on fly, my third of the trip from three bites. We  kept raising marlin but they were finicky, hard to get them to bite, at 1:30 I raised, cast to and caught a red hot sailfish on fly. Next after a couple of misses, Roy caught a nice 200 pound Blue Marlin on fly, his third of the day and third of our trip. Later we raised another sailfish, I made the cast and caught my second sailfish of the day. Today the final score was 37 fish raised, Roy caught 3 Blue Marlin from 7 bites, while I caught one Blue Marlin and two Sailfish on fly from 3 bites. After a great meal and hot shower we went to bed at 8:05 PM.
 
July 30, 2014: We headed in early in the morning, it is a long trip but we had enough fuel to run at cruising speed for close to four hours, which got us back to the dock here in Los Suenos Marina by 3:00 PM. Our trip was awesome, James is an awesome captain, while Alberto and Marcos not only are very good fly fishing mates, this crew loves their job. George and Anna Beckwith run a first class operation and we have developed a world class team here to operate my Blue Marlin fly fishing schools.  The Blue Marlin were finicky at destination BM-X, however, we fished two full days, with two travel days spent heading out and getting back in to the marina,. During our two days of fly fishing for Blue Marlin, we raised 61 Blue Marlin, and 3 Sailfish, We managed to get bites from 12 Blue Marlin, Roy caught and released three Blue Marlin on fly from 9 bites, and one Sailfish from one bites, I got 3 bites from Blue Marlin, and caught all three, also I got 2 Sailfish bites and caught them all. Total trip Score 6 for 12 on Blue Marlin on fly, and 3 for 3 on Sailfish all on 20 pound test tippet on fly. Now Roy and I are going to hit one of the great restaurants here at the Los Suenos Resort, and then get a good night sleep. I love my Job, wish you were here, stay tuned for more fly fishing reports and pictures from this trip. This fishing should remain good for at least one more month, if you have dreamed about catching a Blue Marlin on fly, this is the best opportunity ever, give me a call I have a few days still available.
Regards:
Jake

Jake Jordan
Jake Jordan's Fishing Adventures
PO Box 309
Havelock, NC 28532
252-444-3308 Office
305-872-6060 Cell
www.jakejordan.com

More blue marlin on the fly

The Dragin Fly just returned from another 3-night FAD trip.   In two days of fishing, they raised 61 blue marlin, fly fishing only, they caught 6 blues on the fly and 3 sails.    You ready to sign up?

no silver and giant flounder

I thought that I fished long days in NC, but it seems a lot harder up here.   I was determined to fish my first day in Alaska from daylight til dark, but it seemed like it took forever.   Went looking for silver salmon, they must be a lot like tarpon.  The water looked like my last 3 days on the Pamlico, slick calm, glassy and no silver, silver salmon that is.   We got tired of looking and dropped down a little deeper and caught some of the prettiest flounder that I've ever seen.   My guide said they were small ones, but the one I caught today.....I could not afford the crab meat that it would take to stuff that sucker.  

Tarpon win local tarpon tournament

After 3 days of hard looking and some hard fishing, I have still yet to see a tarpon.   Yes, there have been several seen and even a couple of reported hook ups, but none were landing in yesterday's 3rd Annual Pamlico Tarpon Tournament.    I guess that tarpon won this time.   I'm going to give them a break and will be sending reports from Alaska.  

Snappa Season

This is the last weekend of it this weekend, but the season is always open in Costa Rica.  Here are some pics from yesterday on the Dragin Fly 

More harassment from the military near bombing ranges

Just heard that another fishing guide has been harassed by PEDRO military helicopter, although he was OUTSIDE the restricted/danger areas near Turnigan/Rattan Bay.  

As a result of opposition to further expansion of these ranges, the military has closed areas that were previously accessible by recreational and food-fishers and they have stepped up enforcement of these areas.    Although they installed additional navigation aids to mark the ranges, the military has made a habit of harassing anyone legally utilizing public trust waters near these areas.

 When inquiring with the military regarding this harassment, this was the official response:

"Without getting into a senseless debate regarding the accuracy of GPS and other navigational aids, I would only suggest that it would be prudent to give yourself a sufficient buffer around the restricted areas to eliminate potential hazards to those on your boat, and to avoid possible penalties for penetrating the restricted areas."

I encourage any fishermen who are legally fishing outside of the restricted areas to document your location and report any harassment by the military.   What goes on in those ranges is criminal in itself, unfortunately there is not the public or political will to question what the military does in Eastern North Carolina......take water contamination at Camp Lejuene as an example.

All this said, I thank the military for giving me the freedom to question their authority and poor decisions.

George and Anna, Thank you all for lining us up on Argentina!  It was truly the trip of a lifetime. The hunts, guides, and staff at the facilities were outstanding along with the meals. You all also put a great group together. Many thanks!  I have been on a number of hunting and fishing trips out of the country, and I can truly say this was top shelf. I hope I can do it again in the future!  ---Andy

Holding Back

The hard core wingshooters could easily have shot 3 or more cases/day, that's 1500 shells.  Believe it or not, we were holding back.   More doves this year than I have ever seen in Cordoba.

Way to go Lance!!!!

"George
I hope your travels are going well. We had a good trip over the weekend. It was pretty rough on Friday and Saturday morning, but fishable on Saturday......We hit the banks around XXXXX...without any success.....and the water was too rough for us rookies to see Tarpon so we sat up for big drum and got lucky. Ended up off of XXXX  and caught 8, all in one spot."

That's what you call applying what you have learned and duplicating success.   Congrats on a great weekend of fishing!

Tarpon waiting

Tom Cat says the tarpon are waiting for me when I get back, he was 2 for 3 the last time he checked in with me.....including the one that jumped in the boat. 

Dove total and Costa Rica

Grand total for the day was 4355 doves between 8 hunters......we took it easy on them. 

Yesterday they got the tunas, but not much on the billfish, today was a different day . 

"Much better today  four for seven on blue marlin two for two on sailfish & two mahi mahi great day for the  green season" ----Capt. James

 

Despite extremely high water, our bird boys(men) in San Javier pulled off some great hunts, many mornings, hunters averaged 2 ducks/minute which made for some quick hunts, reaching their limit of 50 ducks before the sun rose.  Some hunts were slower than average, but after 3 days, everyone shot pretty close to 300 ducks/person. 

 

 LUNCH

 PERDIZ......appetizers

This morning we got our first dove hunt in Cordoba, between 8 hunters, over 1600 doves

Don't cry for me Argentina

You need to be crying for the ducks, which are having a bad time of it with these bloodthirsty NC, Georgia and Texas hunters that are down here with me this week.   Also you might shed a tear for the perdiz (Argentina quail) which are going to have a tough time of it this afternoon and for the hundreds of doves that I'm going to personally take down this weekend.

.....and another tarpon hits the air

Sounds like things are starting to fire off, just as I head to another hemisphere.   I was hoping to be celebrating Argentina's victory in the World Cup, but I guess I'm going to be helping my friends down there take their frustrations out on the doves and ducks.

Congrats Big Dipper for YOUR first tarpon of the year......just not THE first tarpon of the year.

Fishing with Capt. Chris, another tarpon report

Hey George had a great time on the water sunday with Capt. Chris thanks for your help.  

Got another report of a tarpon caught in the Pungo, when they show up, it all seems to happen at once.   

Super Moon helps Tom Cat get on the board

The first one is the hard one and it looks like Tom Cat got that one out of the way yesterday with finally a small show of silver and the rise of the super moon.

From Capt. Greg

Plenty of trout and blues with a couple of flounder and pups. We saw a grand total of NO, tarpon!
  Greg

missing fish

From Tom Cat:
"What have you done with all the tarpon?
Where are they?
Let the Tarpon go!!!
Where have you put them?
I have been scouring the Sound in search of the Tarpon, but I can not find the Tarpon!!!!
Where have they gone?  Why aren't they here?
I need answers!!!!!!!"

I have no answers, it's tarpon fishing.

What tarpon?

Looks like Capt. Greg got back on the trout.   Really, really good light tackle action going on in the Neuse and Pamlico Sound

More post storm report

Got the groupers, bass and jacks even better on Monday before the SW blow which blew Capt. Chris Kimrey all the way from the Crystal Coast to the Neuse.   He hooked up with Capt. Greg and took advantage of that awesome drum and trout fishing that only gets better when the wind blows.  

Right where I left them.

The amberjacks and groupers were right where I left them 2 weeks ago before my Costa Rica trip and the storm.

Capt. Greg says that the blow did nothing but fire off an already red hot red drum bite.   Little ones and yes the big ones.

The big ones that have NOT been seen, other than an occasional silver flash or single fish roll.   Before the storm there was a big school of tarpon that went past Cape Lookout in the ocean, they may be popping up off Brant Island Shoal anytime.....if they aren't already there, but just not showing.

No problem, no damage, just got power

Everyone I've checked with is doing just fine.  Just got power back.

from storm central

Picking up the lawn furniture

No big deal, picking up the lawn furniture.  Boats are already in the yard and we don’t have any big trees around the house that could fall on it
Fast moving glancing blow, no big deal, Jim Cantore is a regular in these parts.   Supposed to be a pretty weekend after the blow.

Coolest bed and breakfast in the world

http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/25881762/frying-pan-lighthouse-a-unique-bed-and-breakfast-for-the-true-adventurer

Fishing Options and Rates

Below is a detailed response to a couple of recent e mail questions.......

"Every guide has his own specialties, preferences and personality.   When I am not available, we try to match you up with the right guide for you and what you want to do.   We keep the calendar of about a dozen different guides.  Whenever you want to get out on the water, let me know and we’ll try and make it happen.

For the ocean flounder fishing, Capt. Chris Kimrey is the man.  It can be done in a half day out of MHC/Atlantic Beach.  Max of 3 anglers.  $500 for half, $600 for ¾, $700 for full or $800 for an “extended day” which usually involves bottom/wreck fishing for groupers, etc. out near the bluewater instead of green water flounder fishing.

A fishery that is worth traveling for is the Pamlico Sound red drum fishing, especially the giant/trophy red drum fishing which is extremely consistent.

The most consistent fishing is on the larger center consoles on afternoon bait trips that involve a few hours of puppy drum/trout/flounder fishing, then setting up for the big ones…..unless the preference is to target only the big ones all afternoon.   These afternoon drum trips leave about 2ish and fish until just after sunset, usually about 5-6 hours and are $650, max of 4 people.   The smaller bay boats are $550, max of 3 people.

Full 8-10 hour drum/tarpon days leaving at 6-7 am or 10-11 am  are $800 on the large center consoles or the bay boats.

Extended full days on the larger center consoles (10+hours)  or split-day trips that fish in the morning and the afternoon are $900.

The guides who are offering  “corking” trips on bay boats with trolling motors are consistently catching the big drum on popping corks, topwater and flies early in the morning.  These “corking” trips are available on the bay boats for  $400 for 3 hour sunrise trips or $550 for longer half days.

Corking trips are also available from the guides running both bay boats and larger center consoles, using the bay boat in the morning, but opting to fish out of their  larger center consoles for the often windier afternoon bait trips.

We got a storm a brew'n

But it looks like it's going to clear out of here by the weekend, maybe it will shove those tarpon on up the coast and fill up the sound.

Here's a report from Capt. Joe Ward:

George,
The fishing has been pretty good…lots of small trout, nice pups and a few keeper flounder. Top water striper bite is excellent around n/b but I'd rather fish for trout, the mortality rate in warm water can be bad on the stripers.
Tight lines,

joe