As our plane descended through the tropical, mountainous valley, towards the capitol city of San Jose, I began to get antsy. This Costa Rican city of over 4 million people is fast-pace, growing, and spread out. Our drive through the city to the highway was, at times, sketchy and culturally eye opening. This is my and my father's first visit to Costa Rica, but we have been invited to go along with a seasoned veteran, my Uncle Pat. This is his 8th year in a row to this part of the World where adventure is king. Opportunities for adventure appear in many forms in Costa Rica. Surfing, zip lining through the rain forest, white water rafting, horseback riding, rain forest tours, and more. We came to this fresh, flourishing, tropic rain forest coastline to explore one of Costa Rica's gems; the art of sport fishing.
The town of Quepos is a sport fishing paradise. Just two and a half hours drive from San Jose, on the new highway, through rain forest covered mountains, and huge canyons with fast flowing rivers that look like something out of a whitewater rafter's dream. We passed through small towns with roadside market vendors selling fresh fruits, veggies, and souvenirs. There was a beach community with sky rise condos along the beautiful valley coastline, surrounded by high, tree covered cliffs, and mountain sides. The final stretch of this bumpy car ride, was filled with agriculture and beachfront surfing communities. Our destination, the small village of Quepos, would be our home for the next few days. First impressions are, a busy little town that provides that third world feel without the worry of crime or danger. 
We checked into our octagon shaped bungalow at the Tulemar. The tree-top canopy hides the bungalow in it's tropical flora, tucked along a mountainside. This provides breathtaking views of the Pacific. Combine that with a sunset that is like none that I have witnessed, and you soon realize it doesn't get much better. After a long day of travel we decided it was cocktail time and made dinner plans at the infamous, El Avion.
El Avion is a restaurant up on the mountain side, not far from our bungalow. It's Fairchild C-123 airplane has been turned into the bar section of the restaurant, and it can be seen from the road. This turns curious passersby's heads. This plane (the twin sister) was involved in the Iran-Contra Affair during the Reagan Administration, where NSA official, Oliver North, took profits from inflated arms sales to Iran, and supported the Nicaraguan counter-revolutionary guerrilla fighters. This plane was shot down over Southern Nicaragua, and it's survivor, C.I.A. operative Eugene Hasenfus parachuted safely into the hands of the Cuban allied Sandinista army and was lead out of the jungle at gun point. This scandal was full of cover-ups, in which the US denied any involvement. This plane is some of the evidence left behind by the scandal.
The cocktails did their job. The outstanding service and food made for a perfect end to our first evening in Costa Rica. El Avion is a great open air eatery with a fantastic view of the Pacific Ocean. It's little piece of history adds character, which provides a unique dinning experience.
This area of the vast Pacific Ocean can only be described in one way, "Pura Vida." Pura Vida is how the locals describe life in Costa Rica. It means pure life, and this part of the Pacific is thriving with life. This is evident as we cruise out to the fishing grounds some 30 to 40 miles offshore. Sea turtle after sea turtle appear rustling to get away from the wake of the boat. If the turtles do not move the captain aims to avoid each sea turtle that crosses our course. Schools of spinner dolphins can be seen surfacing and showing off their acrobatic skills in the masses. We see sailfish jump at random as if to say catch me if you can. Why are the fish jumping? Is a question I hear all the time in my line of work. My reply to that is the same every time. Fish jump because they do not have a middle finger. This certainly gets a laugh or two from my audiences. I felt like in this instance, the timing was good to bring this joke to the surface, so I shared it and it certainly was a hit.
As we head further offshore, the hazy, mountainous-covered coastline, slowly meanders out of sight. Setting the stage for a memorable trip. The fishing action starts off quick as one chases the teaser (large, hook less squid-like lures) and then hits the farewell trailer (the bait or lure furthest from the boat) within 10 minutes of fishing. We have two strikes early but this was not a sign of things to come. We would see a dozen or so sailfish jump and a few cruising the surface with their sail sticking out of the water. At the end of the day we had missed 5 sailfish, and the score card read. Sailfish 5. Silvernails 0. The evening turned out to be a new cultural experience for us. We attended the local Saturday evening Catholic Mass. It was entirely in Spanish, of course. None of us understand conversational Spanish, or what I refer to as, machine gun Spanish because it is spoken so fast. We however, were still able to follow along because the Mass and it's rituals are basically the same. The music was a very latin, caribbean style, mixed with drums, guitars, and bongos. For those of you who are Catholic, the sign of the peace was the most interesting part of the Mass. The entire church walks around to everyone they know, shakes hands, hugs, and wishes them peace. This was truly an intimate moment of the Mass that I will always remember. Here in the States, us Catholics only shake hands with those around us and hug our relatives. What a faithfully awe-inspiring moment for someone who has been raised Catholic and spent 12 years in Catholic schools.
The fight lasted about 12 minutes or so. This fish was tough, swimming in circles and diving deep. Which made it hard for the captain to back the boat down. A technique that aids the angler when reeling in large fish by backing the boat, under power, towards the fish as the angler reels up line. The deckhand finally got the leader in hand. He worked the fish to the side of the boat and grabbed its bill. The sailfish did not like this at all. It began trashing violently as the deckhand still held tight to the fish's bill, till finally, it was exhausted. He removed the hook and lifted the sailfish in front of me so we could pose for the camera. Click this link to watch the video from my first sailfish. I was put under a spell by the coloration and beauty of this fish. Its silk like sail felt alien to this planet. Then, as I was beginning to get high on the presence of this living being, we had to let it go. The release is one of my favorite moments in fishing. It is a feeling that if I could bottle it up and sell it, I would be rich. It is something that is difficult for me to put into words. I know that I will never again share such a moment with this exact animal, and if only this fish knew how grateful I was to share such a glimpse of it's life. At the same time, a flash of guilt comes over me, because my moment of great pleasure is met by a stressful moment for the fish. All I can say is thank you creature of the deep blue sea! 
My post fight, weakened state, was soon brought back to an acceptable level with the help of an ice cold Imperial cerveza, and the sight of my father reeling in a sailfish. This sailfish swam towards the boat. Dad had this fish whooped in less than five minutes. Click to see the release of my father's sailfish. I'm glad he had the easy one! I like the challenging ones. After my Uncle Pat fought and lost a sailfish at the boat, I soon got my wish, when a big bull mahi mahi hit the farewell trailer and took off like a rocket. He made some mad, leaping attempts at throwing the hook early on in the fight. This clash was shaping up to be a quick one. Soon I had him to the leader, close to the edge of the boat; but the deckhand knew better. This fish turned sharp, and with a burst, came airborne just behind the boat. This leap was met with ewes and ahs from all of us deck side. You can't help but love it when a fish does something that seems simple, but in fact, requires great ability and strength. It is a primitive reminder of the awe-inspiring powers of nature's underwater animals. However, with all of this fish's power, comes exhaustion. This beautiful creature's bright yellow figure was very visible as it crept closer and closer to it's end. We soon saw it pulled over the stern in the grasp of the gaff. Once on deck, the fish's array of colors became just another reminder of mother natures beauties. As the fish expired in front of us, it's colors changed by the minute, from bright yellows to greens, to browns, to blues, and back. I took some pictures and then watched as the deckhand cleaned the fish so that we could feast on it that night.
Dad and I celebrated our day with shots of locally made rum and cervazas on the ride back to shore. Our wonderful hostess, Milena, met us at the dock upon returning. She gladly took our fresh catch to the local restaurant for us, and made reservations for dinner at El Gran Escape. As we prepared our self for a feast, I reflected upon the days events and the lifelong memories created. I don't get to do things like this with people I love very often, but when I do, I sure do try to capture every little moment. This trip sure provided lots of moments.
The final day of fishing was again slow, yet my Uncle Pat managed to land a sailfish. My dad had one close, and with in a few seconds had the slack line rap around the tip of the rod. Thus, when the fish pulled the line taut it snapped the line. I had one shot at a sailfish on the fly rod. As it chased the teaser, the deckhand jumped up, tossed the fly over board as I grabbed the rod and threw a small sized cast towards the fish. Then I gave the fly some quick jerks to make it look like a squid swimming; and just like that fish was gone. I will have to wait until next time to catch a sail on the fly. Just as it began, our trip ended on a missed fish.
I can't say that the fishing was great, but what matters is time well spent with love ones, sharing life long memories. And because that is what I was fishing for, I caught plenty!
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