Greetings from everybody here at Billfish Safaris. Just to give a quick update on what is going on down here is Costa Rica. We are happy to report that our windy season has finally come to a close and we are prepping to tackle our summer fishing season. With decreased winds we are watching the water temps creep above 80 degrees and that means one thing: billfish! Warmer water and less wind means the billfish are on the move and just a short 15 mile run from the docks here at Marina Papagayo. The pelagic life offshore is staging to explode with dolphins and birds working large baitballs of deep water, lanternfish. This influx of life has attracted good concentrations of marlin which has all of us very excited. Trips aboard the Fish Tale II, Plautus and Zara have produced upwards of 10 blue marlin releases in the last two weeks with many more hooked and lost. These fish range from 200-400 lbs. and put on one hell of a show when hooked on a pitch bait right behind the boat. In addition, we are seeing groups of 2-4 sails crashing the baits with the potential for multiple hookups. We have yet to see any tuna action but, with bait, dolphins and birds it is only a matter of time. Inshore, water temps continue to climb which should turn the roosterfish bite on in a hurry. This increase in temp also amps up our night fishing trips which are resulting in multiple shots at large nurse sharks and maybe even a large grouper if you are lucky.
Fishing Reports
Billfish Safaris angler takes top honors at IGFA World Record Achievement Awards
April 18th, 2012 by Sam Friederichs
This past Saturday, some of the world’s best anglers gathered in Dania Beach, Florida for the 9th annual International Gamefish Association World Record Achievement Awards. This annual banquet honors those individuals who have accrued the greatest number of world record catches over the past year in their respective categories (i.e. men, women, junior, freshwater, saltwater, etc.).
Amongst the veritable who’s who of the fishing world was Billfish Safaris’ angler, Sjon Harless. Sjon made the journey to southern Florida to accept the award for 1st Place Female Saltwater Angler. Over the course of the past year Sjon’s Costa Rica sport fishing has resulted in the most female world record catches in the world for 2011. She accrued an impressive 6 world records in Billfish Safaris’ home waters surrounding the Gulf of Papagayo in Northwestern Costa Rica.
Sjon graciously accepted the award, thanking her husband and local support team in Costa Rica for helping to achieve this impressive feat. Beyond the obvious impressive nature of Sjon’s accomplishment is that she did all of her fishing out of our location in a handful of fishing days. Normally, these award winners traverse the globe on an annual basis chasing various species in both fresh and saltwater, fishing up to 200 days a year to accrue enough records to qualify. Surprisingly, Sjon made all of her catches from Costa Rica fishing charters, aboard the Plautus, out of Marina Papagayo in just 15 days of fishing during 2011.
Wanna catch a marlin for National Geographic? National Geographic Crittercam and Billfish Safaris succeed in filming free-swimming marlin
February 6th, 2012 by Sam Friederichs
As of January 20th, the National Geographic Crittercam project and Billfish Safaris, a Costa Rica sport fishing company, has successfully attached camera systems to both black marlin (Makaira nigricans) and striped marlin (Tetrapturus audax) off the coast of northwestern Costa Rica. The two deployments have accrued approximately 1.5 hours of free-swimming footage as the marlin explored their world away from the prying eyes of humans.
The National Geographic Crittercam is a unique research tool developed to record video information on animal behavior in places and situations that it would be impossible for a human observer. The reason for its success is that the animals are the ones who film their own unique behaviors through the use of special micro-cameras. The cameras are attached in a manner that allows a harmless, first person view of marlin behavior as they go about their daily lives without any human influence. Since it’s inception in 1986, founder Greg Marshall and his Remote Imaging team have successfully deployed these cameras on sea turtles, sharks, whales, penguin and even African lions!
These first deployments were made aboard Billfish Safaris’ 40-foot Gamefisherman, the Plautus, with IGFA world record holder, Sjon Harless, being the lucky angler. Harless, who was recently named 2011 IGFA top female saltwater angler, performed flawlessly with both fish. She fought the estimated 400-pound black marlin on 30 pound stand-up tackle and brought it boat side in just under an hour and she fought the estimated 200-pound striped marlin on 50 pound stand-up tackle for approximately 30 minutes before it was subdued at the boat. Both fish were released in excellent condition with bright colors and swam the cameras away from the boat with no hesitation.
So what did the footage reveal? It revealed only a short glimpse into the lives of billfish but, as is to be expected billfish live in a very blue world. In addition, to the footage an on-board depth/temperature recorder register each fish making quick deep dive away from the boat followed by a series of undulating dives from 50-70 feet. As they made these dives they swam through as described by Crittercam creator, Greg Marshall, a “bouillabaisse” of planktonic life. Watching these fish swim away from the boat, one assumes that they swim through a clear world but, in reality they spend their lives in a pelagic soup. In addition, the camera placement on the black marlin allowed a view of the animal’s eye which is incredibly active. The eye is continually moving, presumably trying to pick up on the movement of their next meal or a potential predator. These initial deployments did not reveal feeding or social behaviors but, subsequent use of the cameras will be devoted to longer deployment times in an attempt to unlock further secrets of billfish behavior.
The Crittercam systems will remain with the Billfish Safaris team in the hope of further deployments and more footage of the prevalent Costa Rica billfish. This represents a very unique opportunity to charter anglers to participate in this very exciting work. Typically, work of this magnitude is reserved for biologists and individuals who graciously donate the use of their sportfishing vessels however; Billfish Safaris has decided to open this opportunity up to its charter anglers. They are the only Costa Rica fishing charters that will be participating in the Crittercam work and are actively seeking anglers who are willing to participate in this scientific work. The reality is there are a number of places on earth to catch a marlin however; at the moment northwestern Costa Rica (with Billfish Safaris) is the only place where you can release a marlin for National Geographic and contribute to the understanding of these amazing oceanic predators.
For further information on Billfish Safaris work with the National Geographic Crittercam project and inquiries about working with the billfish crittercams please visit www.billfishsafaris.com and follow the progress of the project on Billfish Safaris’ Facebook page and Twitter (@BillfishSafaris) for photos and video. Visit www.nationalgeographic.com/crittercam for further information on the Crittercam project in its entirety.