| Los Suenos Signature Series Leg ll
By J Godwin
• IGFA rules,
• 4 anglers max,
• max #50 line,
• 6 rods,
• 4 teasers,
• 30' leaders,
• all circle hooks except J hooks are permitted with lures,
• no live bait,
• 50 miles max fishing range,
• 3 days of fishing Thursday- Saturday.
• 43 boats, all release,
• marlin 500 points,
• sailfish 100 points
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The water was as rough as I have seen it in this tournament--8 boats were disqualified for the first day because they could not get back to the dock within the time allowed in the rules.
The bite was much slower than in the past, 318 sailfish and 8 marlin (all blues, I think). Contrast that with Leg ll of 2009--571 billfish of which 391 were marlin (mostly striped marlin). And you may recall, we caught 688 fish in Leg l in January.
I fished on the SPANISH FLY, a 42' Maverick boat built there just outside of Jaco (the nearest city to Los Suenos). The two owners of the company that builds the boats (one owns the SPANISH FLY) were scheduled to fish but one could not come. I was therefore again forced to stay in his condo on the bay by myself (pix # 26) and use his golf cart to get around.
We caught 12 sails and one marlin during the tournament. I was 10 for 13 overall, 9 sails and 1 Marlin (8 for 11 during the tournament--7 sails and 1 marlin). We came in third, and just to prove once again that a blind squirrel can find an acorn now and then, I was top angler for the tournament.
LONGER COURSE--more detail.
Our tactics were the same as leg l with the exception that on several days we tried a small dredge for several hours. But just to recap our equipment and stuff: med hoos waxed thread X'd over mouth w/1oz chin weights, 7/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks w/no skirt(9/0 on marlin pitch baits w/short skirt--2 always ready), teasers were chuggers and wide range of every color at some point, squid chains followed by a baited chugger, #50 test line, Cape Fear # 15-25 rods, Tyrnos 30 single speed reels, # 100 leaders. We ran 2 flats and 2 long and when the wind allowed we ran a center.
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Practice day--We went west past Cabo Blanco near the fence (50 miles) and got our ass kicked because it was so rough. Some of the other boats in and out of the tournament were fishing other areas and we were sure to get some G2 [ed. note:Army Intelegence] from them. We caught 2 sails early and then the captain saw a large flock of birds on the radar about 8 miles distant and decided to investigate for the possibility of yellow fin tuna. He was right, we caught 6-7 in the 30-35 pound range and pulled off another half dozen trolling/jigging natural cedar plugs. I believe we could have filled the boat with this size fish but we hooked a large yellow fin tuna using a blue/white Ilander w/med hoo. It took almost an hour to get it in using stand up gear. We estimated it 200# plus--see pix 7-19. We caught 2 sails. I was 2 for 2.
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Day 1--We went 30 miles east in 400-500 fathoms. Calm seas, clear blue 87-88 degrees. We saw 10-12 sails and caught all that bit. We caught 6, two singles in the morning and two doubles in the afternoon. I was 3 for 3. Ended the day in 7th place.
Day 2--8 boats were disqualified day 1 because they could not get back in time due to rough seas and they went to the area we fished the practice day. So where do we go? Back to the rough house. Greenish/blue water early until we moved several miles farther south. I was snake bit this day. I was 0 for 2 until about noon when I finally got a sail to commit suicide on my hook. I still missed the next fish. We ended the day with 5 sails. I'm 3 for 6. Ended the day in 4th place.
Day 3---We returned to the same general area as day 2 but the seas had calmed down, turned clear blue and was the gentle fishing seas we have all come to love in Cost Rica. We caught 2 fish, 1 sail and 1 marlin. I'm 2 for 2. We finished the tournament in third place.
I'm going back to Costa Rica 4-9 March, Dominican Republic 19-24 May and back to Dominican Republic 1-7 June.
Buena suerte,
J
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