Linda Goes Deep Sea Fishing.

I’ve been into fishing since I was a little kid. One of my earliest memories is of my brother and I walking to the local pond with our poles and tackle box.

We didn’t have any bait so we picked blueberries and put them on the fishhooks. The poor fish must have been desperate because within an hour we had caught 24 little sunfish, each about the size of a silver dollar. Proudly carrying the bucket of fish between us, we announced to the family that we had caught tonight’s dinner! My dad, bless his heart, cleaned every one of those silly little fish for us, and my mom cooked us a “real fish” dinner (which consisted of about two bites each).

In 1984 I moved from western Massachusetts to Gloucester, the oldest continuous fishing port in America. Gloucester is a blue-collar, down-and-dirty fishing town that prides itself on the fact that tourism has not taken over the “working waterfront.” It has also been written up in the Washington Post as “A quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem.” Quite true, I’m afraid.

I had a home on the Annisquam River, near the Cut Bridge, where boats would line up on a busy summer day waiting for the drawbridge to open. The current backing up behind the bridge created a natural whirlpool just behind my house — home to some of the biggest striped bass you ever saw. I used to go down to the wharf and buy a bucket of mackerel for bait, and then set myself up in the backyard with my fishing pole, content to spend the afternoon angling for lunkers.

At the end of the day, the “head boats” (deep sea fishing tours) would pass by on their way back from a day of paid fishing. Inevitably some big guy would yell out “Any luck, little lady?” to which I would hold up a couple of 36-inch striped bass, yelling “How about these?”

As much as I love striper fishing, it cannot compare to deep sea fishing in Costa Rica. I recently went on a fishing trip with some friends. We hired the boat FastTrak from Tropical Waters Sport Fishing company in Quepos. (www.quepostropicalwaterssportfishing.com) The very comfortable boat (with air conditioned cabin!) easily accommodated all eight of us. The company owner, John, was on our trip and filled us in on what to expect: BIG fish, no whining allowed, if you hook up a fish you HAVE to bring it in yourself….oh oh. This could get serious.

We set off from Quepos on a gorgeous sunny morning. As we made our way offshore to the fishing area, Rudy the mate industriously rigged all the poles with the biggest lures I’d ever seen — some were the size of my hand. Oh my. Using outriggers (big “arms” that extend off each side of the boat) the lines from eight different fishing poles were organized and kept separated, so we could troll for fish as the boat moved through the water. There wasn’t much for us to do except drink beer and wait for a fish to bite one of the lines.

Which didn’t take long to happen. Shwwiiiiiiinnnnnngggg !! As the line screamed out of the reel, everyone on board leaped into action: grabbing the pole, reeling in all the other lines so they wouldn’t be in the way, getting someone in the chair to haul in the fish. First up: Tracy who had broken her leg just 15 days prior to the trip to Costa Rica. She was such a good sport about vacationing with a big pink cast on her leg, we wanted her to at least catch a good fish. And she did, hauling in a lovely sailfish, smiling all the way. In all we caught three sailfish that day, each one a good size, all of them released back to the ocean.

We decided that the next hook up would be my turn. I eagerly awaited that telltale “shwiingg” of the reel. When it came, Rudy literally flew to the back of the boat, shouting “MAR-LEEN!!” Oh oh…marlin? Can I do this? Guess we’ll find out….
Up I hop into the chair, bracing my feet, grabbing the pole and….woah….are you kidding me? This is one helluva fish on here! In about 5 minutes I realized that I didn’t have the strength to pull in this fish by myself, but I had to follow the rules: no whining, finish your fish, and all that. Yikes. Luckily John, the owner, stepped in to coach me.

“YOU CAN DO THIS!” he yelled “Don’t you give up! Reel reel reel reel reel reel reel!”

Whew, panting, dying here. After about 10 minutes, John held the pole so I could reel with both hands. For 45 minutes we fought this fish, John screaming in my ear the whole way “Reel reel reel reel reel….good…now rest, good job baby…..do it again reel reel reel reel reel!!!!”
At one point the fish surfaced and I freaked out. This fish is HUGE! It looked to be the size of a porpoise or a shark! Easily 5 feet long, right? There is no way I can do this…..”YOU CANNOT GIVE UP! Reel reel reel reel reel reel!!!!” screamed my coach again. Oh cripes, OK.

Finally, finally, with my arms like jello and my back shreeking a chorus of pulled muscles, we got the fish to the boat. I say “we” because without John’s help, I never could have done this. But I sure do love taking credit for catching this monster, which turned out to be a 375-pound marlin. It was so big, the beefy big guys could not even pull it on board for a picture. Thanks for a great day to John and the crew at Tropical Waters!

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.