Dragin Fly Costa Rica • Sport Fishing in Comfort for Sailfish, Marlin, and More/Fishing Reports

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Super consistent sailfishing.......

The sailfishing remains super consistent to the point that guys are getting "bored". After several sailfish releases per person, they're looking for dinner, taking advantage of the great bottom fishing that we're having this year. Tomorrow, they're heading out for a marlin. No telling what they'll run into, hopefully some tuna. I'm ready for sushi.

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 8:14 PM

Friday, January 25, 2013

yesterday

On the Dragin Fly, no double digit day yesterday, after plenty of sails, these guys went looking for a marlin. They found it and were not disappointed by the show, even though they jumped him off as he finished it's circle, most of it in the air, crossing all other lines in the water and looping back towards the boat, narrowly missing the transom.......then they joined the sailfish fleet and chalked up a release for all 6 guys before heading in. It's that good.

How is the weather where you are?

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 11:42 AM

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Double digit days continue

Here are some pics from the tourney and practice days....

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 3:25 PM

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Los Suenos Press Release

The first leg of the 2013 Los Sueños Signature Billfish Series, presented jointly by Smith Merritt Insurance, Travelers Insurance and International Special Risks, held from January 16‐19 at Los Sueños Resort and Marina, Costa Rica, welcomed 38 participating teams and 147 individual anglers. It was a record breaking tournament.

The tournament radio never went silent with boats reporting an incredible average of one billfish per minute. Over the course of the three fishing days 1,406 sailfish and 6 marlin were released, breaking the standing record, set during the first leg ofthe 2006 Series, of 1,282 billfish releases by 46 boats.

DAY 1
Rumor had it that the fishing was fantastic leading up to the tournament. Eight sailfish releases by 8:10 am was apromising sign of things to come. By 9:45 am, Rebel had taken an early lead with 800 points, followed by Boo Loo and Tijereta with 700 points each. Two hours after lines in a whopping 97 sailfish had already been released. The bitecontinued to heat up and just past noon the tally was up to 206 releases. By the end of Day 1, 415 sailfish were released and HT Hook had won first place, on time, over Dragin Fly, each with 2,200 points. Family & Friends placed third for the day with 1,900 points. With no marlin yet in play and the incredible bite, teams were anxious to get out again and see what Day 2 would bring.

DAY 2
Day 2 started where Day 1 left off. The radio was running hot, as teams called in doubles and triples galore, with some even reporting quadruples. Within the first 120 minutes of the day, 120 billfish were called in to Tournament Control. The first marlin of the tournament was released by Da Bait at 9:29 am. By 10:00 am Dragin Fly already had 7 sailfish releases for the day and had moved into the lead with 2,900 points. A second marlin was released by Tijereta at 12:52 pm. Fishing was off the charts with boats seeing 40 fish or more! Dragin Fly was able to maintain their lead with 4,400 points by day’s end, followed by HT Hook in second and High Hook in third. The total fish tally for Day 2 added up to an incredible 523 sailfish and 2 marlin, bringing the two‐day total to 940 billfish. Seafix took the day though, after releasing 27 sailfish, the most out of all the boats in Day 2. Seventy percent of the participating boats reported catches in the double digits on day 2.

DAY 3
Going into Day 3, everyone was wondering if the bite would cooperate for yet another day. Conditions could not have been better. The skies were gorgeous, temperature warm (not too hot), seas were calm and clear. Shortly after lines in was called out over the tournament radio, it was clear that the third and final day would be a busy one indeed. Just after 9:00 am the 1,000th fish was released by Miss Behavin. By 2:05 pm it was official! A new tournament record was set with a double by Uno Mas. What a way to celebrate the first leg of the 10th Anniversary Series! At 3:03 pm Dragin Fly released the third of the four marlin reported during Day 3, giving them a very comfortable lead. They secured their first place finish with 1,000 points more than their closest runner up‐ Rebel. Rebel quietly worked their way into second place overall with an astounding 27 sailfish releases on Day 3, ending the tournament with a total of 5,700 points. HT Hook followed in third place and showed amazing stamina over the three fishing days, ending with 5,200 points.
All told, a total of 1,412 billfish were reported, including 6 marlin.

Art Mc Donald, one of the IGFTO certified observes, made a quick calculation; 1,412 fish released, divided by 1,440 minutes of fishing equals a fish a minute.

Congratulations to all of the participating teams on an outstanding job well done!
CASH PRIZES & AWARDS
The awards ceremony was held under the stars on the white sand in front of the Los Sueños Beach Club. The weather was perfect, and about 500 anglers, captains, observers and sponsors were treated to a delicious buffet dinner, a marvelous fire show by Cirko Vivo and incredible fireworks. Tournament winners took to the stage to receive a total of $95,000 in cash, as well as other prizes provided by tournament sponsors.
1st $47,500‐ Dragin Fly, 6,700 points: 62 sails, 1 marlin
2nd $28,500‐ Rebel, 5,700 points: 57 sails
3rd $19,000‐ HT Hook, 5,200 points: 52 sails

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 7:45 PM

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Good fishing continues through the full moon

The boys did fish like they were in a tournament on Sunday. The sailfish have pushed in really close, up on the bank and in less than 400 feet of water. James and the boys had a "double digit" day and while trolling around, they marked some great grouper rocks, dropping down to check some of them out and ending up with "double digits" of groupers.

Did the same thing yesterday. Really, really good sailfishing and bottom fishing. I have noticed a lot of smaller sails.....is this an indication of new fish joining the adult population? There are still those 100+ pound bruisers out there, but it's good to see some little guys.

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 5:21 PM

Saturday, January 19, 2013

On the way to the awards banquet.......

......to pick up the trophy for first place. Detailed report to follow, but we've got a lot of work to do with a charter tomorrow. I cannot express enough my thanks for the dedication of the crew of the Dragin Fly. They're going to fish for our customers tomorrow like it was a tournament......except the food is going to be better. (Not really, we ate pretty good this tourney, ribs, shrimps, crab cakes, Marco's guac, etc.)

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 8:21 PM

The Dragin Fly won the tournament today. I am so proud of the boat and crew. The anglers did an awesome job! Thank you for all those who have been following along!

posted by Anna Beckwith at 5:21 PM

Day 2

James has made all the right moves, hope that we can make him proud tomorrow. We again started with one of the first fish of the day and took the lead, adding 10 sailfish to our Day 1 total by lunch. Then our bite died and the radio fired off as other boats continuously started reporting fish. Over 100 fish were caught in less than an hour.......except us. Although James prefers to fish alone, he had no choice but to pick up and run to the bite. Soon after putting them out, we caught 1 out of a double header, then 1 out of a triple header. Very frustrating not to have a better average, but the dozen sailfish releases that we racked up in the last couple hours of the tournament have put us out in front on the end of Day 2. With that crazy sailfish bite, anything can happen today. I'm heading out the door and hope to have a good report for you this afternoon.

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 5:44 AM

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Day 1 Report

The top 5 boats all ended up in a shoot out at the end of the day and we came up short on time, in 2nd place with 22 sailfish, 2 minutes behind the leader. A double header at 3:59 pushed us ahead of 3rd place.

It's going to be a real shootout tomorrow now that our "secret spot" is public......hopefully James can find another one.

To stay in the action, check out the below link:
www.LStournaments.com

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 10:10 PM

Saturday, January 12, 2013

some shots

These are some shots from the one day that I have been able to go fishing since I got here.......other than with the crocs.

The above was almost a great shot.......

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 4:39 PM

another blue marlin day

Those guys wanted to try for another marlin yesterday.......and they got her, this time a solid 400 pounder.....plus double digit bites on the sails and dorado for dinner.

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 3:25 PM

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Really excellent fishing

As with the fishing reports in North Carolina, when the fishing is really good, I don't like to get into the numbers. It's not a competition and a good day on the water should not be defined by the numbers. With an average of 4 people on the boat, a "double digit day" means that everyone caught a couple of fish. Good enough, but sometimes it gets better. When it does, it's even better for those who fish enough to appreciate a great day.

Right now we're having some great days........good enough that today we had one customer on the boat and he wanted a marlin. Instead of opting for the steady sailfish bite, Capt. James and crew of the Dragin Fly gave our single angler a double digit day on sails, dorado for dinner and his first blue marlin. We didn't fly as many flags (we don't fly flags....again, it's not a competition....until next week), but we gave our guy a trip of a lifetime.

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 5:44 PM

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Red Wine and Computers......

Do Not Mix. Found this out the hard way.

Fishing has been red hot with up to 30- 50 sailfish bites/day. With customers hooking their own, we're steadily catching double digits. Hope the good fishing holds......

posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 8:41 PM