The Bite
By Bubba Naquin
A friend asked me to share a story about fishing with Maverick Sportfishing Costa Rica and my overall thoughts about the experience. As I pondered the many fishing trips with Maverick, every year since 2014, I decided on the one trip that impacted me the most…my very first one….September 2014.
Just a quick background of myself - I am 58 years old and I’ve been Blue Marlin fishing the Gulf of Mexico (Louisiana coast) since I was 18. Our basic routine is pulling plastics, and we normally fish for only one or two bites over a weekend in the Gulf.
Around 2013, a good friend was telling me about the incredible billfishing in Costa Rican waters, especially where he had been fishing, out of the amazing Los Sueños Resort. He told me about the incredible Seamount fishing with an unfathomable number of daily bites and the insane “Bait and Switch” technique. Although this was nothing new for regular visitors to this area, it was all but new to me, as I had only read about these types of numbers in magazines, not to mention all I was used to doing was dropping a plastic lure in the water and dragging it all day. In 2014, I just had to see it for myself. It wasn’t very hard to persuade four others to tag along with me as we planned a Blue Marlin Seamount trip aboard Maverick’s “Sea Fly."
As our flight from Houston, TX, started our descent into the Juan Santamaria International Airport (San Jose), the feeling I had was that of a young kid on Christmas Day, full of anticipation of what I was in store for and I would never forget that feeling. Even at the age of 47, my heart was racing, and my emotions were running wild, knowing I was about to witness everything I had previously heard about the Marlin fishing in CR. Our driver picked us up at the airport, and on the somewhat short drive to Los Sueños Resort, I was in total awe at the breathtaking biodiversity Costa Rica had to offer. I’m a nature lover, and seeing wild Macaws, Toucans, Monkeys, etc.…. not to mention the abundant flora, it was like a dream. We finally arrived at the resort and immediately loaded up on the “Sea Fly” (SF) at about 5:00 pm, and we were introduced to our SF crew: Captain David Messen, First Mate Carlos Pollo Espinoza Jimenez, and Second Mates Jose Francisco Brenes Zuniga (Pancho) and Eduardo Espinoza Mata. Little did I know this trip was the beginning of an amazing, long-lasting friendship between us all. Even in the early years of the Maverick fleet, I was impressed with the professionalism of everyone on board.
The plan was like our regular Gulf of Mexico trips...We would chug out all night and arrive at one of the Seamounts the next morning. Although similar to our GOM trips, the fascination of being in the “wildness” of the Pacific Ocean had my mind spinning. Something I immediately noticed was that even though there was a pretty good breeze as we headed out, the ocean horizon was that of giant, tranquil swells instead of the bullying chop of the GOM. Night fell upon us and what a different spectacle, complete darkness, unlike the horizon of oil rig lights on our GOM trips. Although I‘ve been many times since, that first night standing at the transom staring at the incredible display of stars, the sound of the slow humming diesel engines, and the vibrant display of the bioluminescent plankton in the propwash, was such an incredible experience. Full of excitement and anticipation, we were all finally able to settle in for the chug ahead.
As early dawn approached, I was awakened by the mates getting ready for the day’s fishing. You could barely see outside so I was enjoying a cup of coffee in the salon with some of my group. Never did I imagine what would happen next. Again, it's very early dawn, my group is in the salon enjoying some java, thinking about hooking into some Marlin later that morning when Carlos and Pancho come into the salon screaming “we’re hooked up!!!” I was like, seriously? We were hooked up to our first Blue Marlin and the sun wasn’t even up yet. To this day, I still find it hard to express my feelings at that particular time. Even though I had dreams of catching many more Blue Marlin that day (which we did), at that moment, I was beyond content.
“The Bite.” All I can say is it’s either in your blood or it’s not. The adrenaline rush of seeing a brightly lit up Blue Marlin rush in behind a teaser, mad as a rabid dog, to me, is one of the most exciting things about Marlin fishing. The number of bites we get to see in the GOM is pale in comparison to what I’ve witnessed in Costa Rican waters. To me, there is no feeling in the world like seeing a hot blue come up on the teaser, tossing a rigged pitch bait in the water, directing it to the area where the Blue was hunting, with eyes glued to the bait skipping across the water, the anticipation of “the bite” is one of the most thrilling moments. And then out of nowhere, a Blue Marlin comes up and eats the pitch bait. I’m going to say it again, it’s either in your blood or it’s not. Being able to see so many of these bites in CR left me “giddy.” On this particular trip, every time we witnessed a pitch bait bite, I would turn to one of my GOM fishing friends, and we would just laugh with excitement. The day progressed with the release of several more Blue Marlin and some Sailfish as well. That night we chugged to another Seamount to do it all over again the next day.
So many things I witnessed on this first trip with Maverick are forever etched in my memory. The site of acres and acres of Yellowfin Tuna foraging on bait schools of Mackerel, small Dorado, Squid, etc., usually sharing the chase with pods of Spinner Dolphins… is truly an epic site to see. Not to mention getting to see up close and personal my favorite avian species, the Magnificent Frigatebird, doing what they do best offshore…hovering over schools of baitfish, usually housing an apex Blue Marlin or Sailfish.
I have fished with Maverick since 2014, and to this day, I still get as excited as I was on my first trip. So many of our CR trips aboard Maverick boats, I got to witness friends of mine and/or their wives catching their first Blue Marlin/Sailfish. Seeing the look on those faces that caught their “first” is unforgettable. I can testify to Maverick’s courtesy and professionalism and their desire to provide a customer experience they will never forget.
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