Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Monster Tarpon Hunt in Costa Rica II

The 3rd morning - before the wind blew strongly, we already set off to the open sea looking for the school of Tarpons.......

After we located the group of Tarpon, still the Jack Cravelle took the bait first. I think the Jacks are opportunist and they are the faster swimmer........Another strike........Again - a Jack Cravelle..........A bigger Jack for me too.......Hee Hee Hee........Finally, I hooked-up a biggie........TARPON! After about a 20 minute fight, luckily the lure was still intact........ Look at what the monster Tarpon did to my lure............ YES! YES! Finally, I caught my trophy fish with my Saltiga SG Dogfight 76 Rod couple with Catalina 4500H Daiwa Reel and Rapala Super Shad Rap lure after a few unsuccessful hooked-ups......

This fish was estimated to weigh 80 - 90kg, claimed the guide.......After that, we were successful to hook-up a few more Tarpons but unfortunately not able to land them....... Even though we could not land the fish, it provided us a lot of excitement and thrill..... You can find out from the lures below.......Today as usual, the wind started to blow strongly after 3pm and we could not locate any sight of Tarpons......... So, we called it a day early to get a better rest for the next day (To fish this monster fish, it really hurt my back a lot)..............


Sunset setting at the lodge.......

Enjoying my Imperial Beer of Costa Rica........

A traditional American style sumptuous dinner........ Emmmm! The dessert was fabulous......

The last day........

Today, we decided to go for freshwater fishing 30km up river to the lagoon in search of Rainbow Bass (Guapote) and Machaca..........



We go from one lagoon to another to search for a better fishing spot........



Some locals fishing group.......

After a few tries, in various freshwater lagoon, I finally managed to land a Machaca fish......
These Machacas are flashy acrobatic fish that can reach up to 9lbs, and are more prone to strike a faster moving lure..........

Look at its razor sharp teeth,....... Your shock leader must use at least 20lb......

YES! Another Machaca.......



Plenty of this Machaca when I fish along the main Rio Colorado.........Thanks to the boss - Mr. Dan for his superb hospitality and services at the Rio Colorado Lodge (www.riocoloradolodge.com/ or www.fishinginternational.com/)......... It has been a wonderful trip for us all indeed.......

Fly back to San Jose,...... Look at the newly built Stadium down there. It was a gift from the China Government. I wonder what unique friendship lies between the Costa Rica and China???

It was Easter Week around the corner and the Costa Ricans celebrate in a big way by gathering at the seaside and beach........ The streets are almost deserted and feels like a Ghost Town.......





The best part was there were no traffic snarls........

The final day in Costa Rica, we decided to take a day trip to visit the local volcano and coffee farms.......

Some beautiful scenes along the way............

Stopped for lunch...........

A beautiful waitress in the local restaurant....... What a lovely smile.


Paths to the volcano on top of the mountain......

BOTOS LAGOON - A logoon form on an extinct volcano filled by rainwater many many eons ago.......



This is the main Crater called POAS VOLCANO. It claims to be the biggest crater in Central America. The altitude is 2,574M but the water temperature averages 40 degree Celsius.....

Chao! My story ends here....for now.