Fish Reports...
Cape Cod & Costa Rica Sportfishing
January 27 2012-Offshore picking up again
Headed out with Avid fisherman Woody Platt and his wife Shanon to chase some sailfish. Tossed the line off the mooring at 710 AM and made our way South West for the Furuno Bank. An hour and fifteen minute run. We went to making bait, trolling for small Bonito. They were pretty cooperative today. We had the Tuna tubes filled within minutes. I went right to rigging baits and setting out the spread. I had 2 baits out and was getting ready to rig a 3rd and one of the Shimano 30's started singing. I imediately dropped it back and waited. A long 10 seconds goes by and I push the drag to strike and set the hook. Fish on..! A 15-20 minute battle unsued with Woody on one end of the rod and an upset 125 pound sailfish on the other. A great way to start any trip..
Out went the baits again. This time I got all 3 out. About 45 minutes goes by and we hear the click of the reel. Then another reel clicks then another. Tripled up...! Thankfully we only 1 of the fish stayed tight. It would have been very diffucult if not impossible to get 3 in at once. Shanon jumped on the rod and with perserverance she landed her first Pacific Sailfish.
I started re-rigging and fishing for more baits. All went well and we were fishing again within 20 minutes. A little bit of a lull ensues, about an hour. Then the click again....Drop-back and fish on... Nice 30+ pound Mahi Mahi starts jumping at the end of the line. Woody is on rod and makes quick work of the future dinner...
Our baits were not doing well and again. We proceeded to make bait again. It was now 1130 in the morning and Woody wanted to do some Inshore Flyfishng to finish the day. We decided this was to be our last set of baits for the day. Out went the baits again. We slowed trolled for about 45 minutes then again the reel started singing. Shanon was again on the rod and doing battle with another 100+ pound Sailfish. A half hour tug of war and we had the fish to the boat.
We picked up and ran in early, dropping Shanon off to do some beach time. Woody and I went to one of the many rocks and tried to spook up a Rooster fish. Woody is a avid Flyfisherman and the Rooster fish is a prized catch. Unfortunately for the 2 hours of throwing the fly we did not get one. We did however raise 5 and had 2 bites.
January 20 2012
Did a half day trip inshore. Again we only fished for 4 hours. Suprisingly the Mackeral seem to have disappeared, but were replaced by lots of Jack Crevalle. Large schools of these hard fighting fish are present now. We got a few Jacks and a needle fish in the first area. After bending some rods we decided to try a new spot for some "fishes for the dishes" . We ran down to a little spot about 15 minutes South. Working the area we hooked up a monster of a fish. A serious tug a war was ensued on a light 20-40 Local Hooker Acid Wrap rod. A half hour later over the gunnel came a 50+ pound Cubera.
January 15 2012
Inshore fishing Red Hot. Took out returning guest Del C. and guests for a half day of inshore fishing. Lots of Pacific Sierra Mackeral around. 4 hours of fishing we ended up with 8 Mackeral, 2 Pacific Needle fish and a small Bluefin Trevally.
YouTube Links for sailfish videos.
December 28 2011 - January 7 2012
Had returning guest, friend and avid fisherman Scott Carpenter, down here in Costa Rica for some fishing for the week. We did many days offshore with lots of sailfish and some Marlin bites as well. One day of inshore fishing was rewarded with a great Sierra Mackeral bite.
December 26 2011 All I want for Christmas is a sailfish
Took out returning guest Adam Hite insearch of a Sailfish. Adam was lucky and got what he wanted for Christmas. A beautiful Pacific Sail.
December 24 Merry Christmas
Our Costa Rica season has started. The Mahi Mahi have returned after a taking last year off , thankfully. Also the sailfish and Marlin are starting to show up too. The Inshore bite has begun to pick up with Sierra Mackeral and Jack Crevalle.Tha boat is in the water and ready to go.
(Randy Stahmius with a nice sierra Mackeral)
November 12, 2011 Cape Cod Season Over-Costa Rica season to start soon.
Thats a wrap. Our Cape Cod season has come to a close. The season was a good one. 
The Inshore fishing was again great from Mid May up till Mid September. First the Sea Bass, then the Stripers and Blues and on to the Bonito and False Albacore, it 
was a very productive inshore season.
The offshore season was a little more trying this year. For most of the season the "good water" and fishing was way to the East. The canyons past Hydroagraphers was where most of the bite was happening. Welker, Oceanagrapher, Gilbert, Lyndonia and Munson canyons held most of the fish this season. They happen to all be over 130+ Nautical Miles away. We did have some decent water come through the closer canyons of Atlantis and Fishtails. Although close is a relative term 95 Nautical Miles. Unfortunately the weather was not the greatest when this happen. We did make it out way East a few times and did well. Also we did chase the water when it did get a little closer. More than once we had to turn around or leave early due to bad weather.
As one chapter ends another one starts, On to the tranquil waters of the Pacific of Costa Rica.
August-September Striped Bass fishing
Mid August always seems to be the lull for the Striper fishing. There still there, you just have to work a little harder for them. Luckly that lull seems to only last around a week. All in all the Striper fishing has been pretty cosistent. Here is a link from our last trips.
Striped Bass Fishing Cape Cod.
August 18-19 2011 Welker Canyon
Rule number 1 in fishing. Fish where the fish are. Sounds simple enough. We wanted Pelagic species though, for this trip. That meant a canyon run. Just happen to be the close Canyons (95 miles from the dock) were dead and all the fish were way to the East. Welker Canyon was our destination. It is the canyon after Hydrographers. A 135 mile Jaunt from the safety of Kingman Yacht Center. Loaded to the gills we departed Kingman's around 6 am and made our way to Falmouth Harbor to fuel up and B line South and East from there. Two 55 gallon drums with extra diesel fuel filled the cockpit area and weighed the boat down tremedously.
A long slow steam (22 knots) across Nantucket shoals was eventless. The seas grew calmer the further away from land we got, and eventually became greasy calm. The weather was perfect we just needed to find the edge of the Gulf stream water that was pushing in. After 5 hours we had found the edge of the eddy. 15 miles North of the Canyon. We put out our spread and started to do the work. Lots of weeds in the area, made it very tough to fish. We managed a few Mahi Mahi from the area. With the whole area covered in weeds we decided to keep trolling South towards the Canyon.
We got into the canyon about 3 pm along with a few fellow offshore enthusists. We trolled aound the breaks and the high flyers buy were not find anything. We got a call from a buddy boat of ours who said it looked good where he was at. We were only about a half a mile from him so we trolled in his direction. We found large flocks of birds feeding and rafting, we knew we were in the right spot. Then like a light switch the Yellowfin Tuna starting busting around us. Fish On!!! Doubled Up!! A couple of 30 pound Yellows found there way into our box. We worked the area as the fish were up and down. Scoring a few more YFT.
The radio crakeled "Diablo, Diablo come back" . I responded "Yeah go ahead". "Watch out there is a partially sumerged log in front of you." "Ok Thanks" "Oh and it is holding tons of fish".. .. Always on the lookout for flotsam. Anything out there kind hold life as did this log. We made a few passes on it. First pass we picked up another YFT. The second pass we had a double knock down. Only one stayed stuck. Friend and first mate Tim Folan made short work of the fish. A nice Wahoo joined us for some sushi..!!
The troll bite quickly died after the Wahoo and the sun started to set. Time to set up for the night. It was a long un-productive evening. We had one run off with a Swordfish bait around 2 am, no love.
Back up on the troll in the AM. A slow start with only a couple of Mahi Mahi to show for our efforts till about 10AM. Up on the spreader bar came a Skillie attack. We hooked up with the White Marlin for about a minute, he came unstuck. 1 more YFT joined us before we called it quits at 11AM. We pointed the Bow North West and made the 5 hour run back in across the shoals and eventually back to Kingman Yacht Center.
August 6 2011Striper fishing
Took Ian Ackerman and his fiends out for some Striper fishing. Decent fishing and a great way to start off a bacthelor party weekend. I hope they did well at the tables too, as they were heading to Foxwoods in the afternoon.
August 4-5 Joe Cronin Memeriol fishing tournament
We fished the Joe Cronin fishing tourney to raise money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana Farber cancer center. A world class tourney and for a great cause. This tourney raises over $100k for the charites. We donated our boat and time towards the charities. Then there is sponsors who get to go fishing with us.
54 boats were fishing this tourney, the competion was stiff. A Striped Bass and Bluefish tournament. Most boats opted to fish off to the East near Chatam. I opted to go where I know. My choice did us well. This is how we ended up.
Not to shabby. Plus we won the Calcutta for Bluefish too. Here is a link to a slide show from the tourney.
Joe Cronin Memorial Bass & Blue Tourney on the boat Diablo
July 30-31 Cayon Run
We headed out to West Atlantis Canyon on reports of epic fishing. There was a front and a pretty hard northeast blow the night before. The fishing was slow. A shadow of what had happened just 2 days before. We did manage a few small yellowfin tuna and 10 or so mahi. Also, we did raise quite a few white marlin and got 1 hooked up, briefly. There is some new water moving in from the east and should be in range soon, hopefully bringing a new wave of fish.
July 25-28 Repairs
Bad weather and Tournament fishing go hand and hand. Big confused seas wreak havoc on everything, Boats and fisherman. Took a few days to get back up and running.
July 21-24 Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament
The 20th annual OBMST was over this long weekend. I had returning crew of the regular characters that have fished this venue with me for the last 6 years. Tom "guns" Carpenter, Bill "wild Bill" Stella, Mike "bones" Carpenter, Kevin "the group" McGauphlin and Peter "the factor" Shultz. Not sure of all these nick names and how they became about, but it is what it is.
Friday day 1 of the tournament was as normal weather for this event, with a small craft advisory and 4-8 foot seas. Such sporty conditions made it uncomfortable but the fishing was decent. Lots of small makos were being caught. We had 1 in the chum slick before we good even get lines wet. Our tally for the day was 4 mako sharks and 7 blue sharks.
Day 2 of the tournament for us was plagued with mechanical problems and just bad luck. Fewer fish were being caught as there was no wind for a drift. We opted for trolling, we had a overheating engine and that was as fast as we could travel anyway. Shark trolling is a west coast technique. Catching less blue sharks and targeting makos on the troll. It has worked for us before, and did on day 2 as well. We went 1 for 2 on makos trolling.
Some big sharks were caught during the tourney, and 2 state records were broken. The state record porbeagle shark was broken and also the state record thresher shark was shattered.
July 20 John Black Striper fishing
Got back out to the Striper grounds with returning guest John Black and his brother in law for some family Striper fishing. The fishing had slowed a little from the last few weeks. We did manage 7 Nice Stripers and a few large Bluefish (around 10 pounds).
July 16-17 2011 Canyon run
With a weather window decent enough to make a run offshore, we took advantage and made a run to the North East Canyons. Pointing the bow at a decent temperature break just west of West Atlantis canyon we left the dock at 6;30 am. Got to our intended spot at 1030 am and put lines in immediately. Within 10 minutes we had 2 Mahi Mahi to the boat. 10 more minutes and we had our first Yellowfin Tuna in the boat. From there on out it was pretty consistent with triple, quadruple and quintuple, headers of small Yellowfin tuna. The Tuna were small 15-30 pounds average with our biggest being 50 pounds. Many of the Tuna and Mahi Mahi were returned to the sea to grow bigger. We also had a Skille (White Marlin) up in the spread briefly, but did not get a hook set.
July 10 2011 Back at the Stripers
Back at the Stripers. A very competive crew, holding their own Striper cup tournament. Great crew and decent fihing too..!!
July 8 2011 Tuna Fishing
Headed South of the Vineyard for an explatory trip. We had heard some rumors of School Bluefin Tuna south of the Island. Started out going through Muskegat channel and on to an area called the Owl. From there we worked our way west looking for signs of life. After a call on the radio from a friend with reports of bait and life about 15 miles from us we made a run. A slow 15-18 knot cruise just looking for life. After an hour we found what we were told about. Birds, Bait and Porosises. We put our BFT spread out and trolled through the playful porposises. Almost instantly we had a screaming reel. A nice BFT 50-60 pounds comes to gaff. Out goes the spread again and bam fish on again. A smaller fish, quick fight and a release. Our tally for the day was a total of 4 BFT. 3 released 1 landed
. 
July 6 2011 Dave Parkinson Striper fishing
Got back out to the Striper grounds on Wenesday with returning guest Dave Parkinson and family. Again we had multiple Stripers over the 36 inch range with th biggest at 27 pounds.
July 2 2011 Todd Staudmeier Striper Trip
The Striper bite is still on. Multiple fish over 36 inches. One fish 30 pounds.
June 25&26 Epic Striper Fishing
Epic Striped Bass fishing this last weekend along Martha's Vineyard & the Islands. We were out both Saturday & Sunday and had some real nice action on the "chunk bite". Saturday we 20+ Stripers around 33-37 inches, and around 16-22 pounds. We did have 4 fish worth mentioning on Saturday we caught and released a 27lb, 32lb, 37lb and kept a 39lb Striper (only because we could not revive her). Got right back out there on Sunday, it was a little slower but did manage 7 fish around 33-37 inches and 1 fish at 37lbs
June 19 2011 First Shark trip of the season
Headed out offshore for an exploratory trip. We got out to an area we call the "Fingers" and set up our chum slick. It took about a half hour for our first shark, a small 75 pound Blue Shark. After a clean release not 4 minutes goes by till we had another shark on the line. Final tally was 16 Blue sharks in 5 hours of fishing.
June 18 2011 Sean Curran Striper Charter
Got out with returning customer Sean Curran and crew for some Striper fishing, "chunking style". This was our first Chunking trip of the season. It was not a disappointment. We had our first fish within 10 minutes a nice 32" Bass in the 15lb range. In came some Bluefish after that and wrecked havoc on some tackle, we did get a few in the boat. Large Bluefish all around 8-10lbs. We saved some time at the end of the trip to do a little Sea Bassing too. The Sea Bass bite is still happening but starting to slow a little. Good trip overall, the chunk bite should start to heat up from here.
June 11 2011 KYC fishing Tornament
We fished the Kingman Yacht Center Sea Bass & Striper Tournament on
Saturday. The KYC tourney consisted of the heaviest Striped Bass and the
heaviest of 5 stringer of Black Sea Bass.
The Striper fishing is still a bit slow in Buzzards Bay and Vineyard
sound. A few fish were taken in around the Elizabeth Islands, Quickshole
and Woodshole. Live Scup have been the bait of choice but the winning
Striper came from a Diamond jig.
The Black Sea Bass bite in Buzzards Bay is still red hot. Lots of
Jumbos. All the big fish coming on Spro style Jigs tipped with squid. Diablo finished 2nd in both classes.
May 31 2011 Black Sea Bass
With the closure of the commercial Black Sea Bass season today, the Sea Bass finally showed up. Lock and load with lots of jumbos.
May 21-22 2011 Scup fishing
Teamed up with friend and charter Captain Phil Moore for a 2 day Scup fishing event. 12 guys make a annual pilgrimage from Canada to Cape Cod waters to harvest Scup. Two solid days and many full coolers later, the crews left happy.
May 20 2011 Bass Fishing
Headed out with returning guest Boris Shusterman and his crew for some Spring Striper fishing. Super thick fog first thing made for a little bit of a slow ride out. Luckly we did'nt have far to go. We found the birds and fish working almost right away. Had our first Keeper in the box within 10 minutes. The upside of not being able to see 20 feet in front of you because of the fog is that we had the place to ourselves. We continued to work the area and had many double and triple headers. Had our Limit of keeper Striped Bass by 10am. For the next 2 hours we continued to catch and release keeper size fish. Our total was 25 keeper size fish in 4 hours. There were a few Bluefish in the mix too.
May 14 2011 Spring Migration
The spring striper migration has started. Buzzards bay is on fire now. Epic fishing when these fish are intercepted. We were out on Saturday morrning and found a school of Stripers all up on top. Casting soft plastic we had many to the boat. Fish up to 34" . This fishing is truly great but time is limited. Email me if you want to intercept too....
April 10 2011 Back in the USA
Back to Cape Cod and getting ready for the season. There are already rumors of Schoolie Stripers around. The Diablo should be in the water by May 1. The sea bass and tautog should be showing up as well. The Stripers are just around the corner too. May is booking fast, but there are still some openings. Drop me an email if you want to get out.
April 2 2011 Costa Rica boat is out
Always an adventure here south of the border. That doesnt stop at taking your boat out of the water. After having to surf through the breakers and drive down the beach, then we got to get the boat up a very steep mountin side to the elavation of 1200 feet. Here is a couple of pics of the hired 4x4 truck hauling the boat up.
March 29 2011 Costa Rica
Sailfish, Sailfish, Sailfish..and Barracuda...
March 19 2011 Costa Rica
The billfishing is really heated up with 10 plus shots a day on sails. Although the offshore fishing is super good right now, we will be wrap it up for the season in a few weeks and heading back state side. Prepping for the Cape cod season and start fishing the beginning of May. Here is a little video of one of outings.
Marlin Fishing Dominical Costa Rica (Video 300 lb)
Dominical Black Marlin 600 pounder (Video 600 lb)
Febuary 14 2011 Costa Rica
Last 2 trips, 600 pound Black Marlin and a 300 pound Black Marlin. 85 degrees and flat calm seas. Pura Vida..!!
January 25 2011 Costa Rica Fishing
Sails & Marlin, Marlins & Sails, Blues or Blacks?? Doesn't matter cause they are here.!! The Costa Rica Billfish season has started..!!
Oh yeah and it is 85 degrees too...
January 14 2011 Offshore Bite is heating up.
Got back offshore again and found that the sails are showing up. Started out convential trolling in the morning and by 11:30 am hadn't had a sniff. So we switched over to live bait, trolling small bonitos. Didn't take long before our fisrt fish was on. Nice sailfish. A half hour battle on a 30 Shimano Tiagra matched with a Custom Local Hooker "acid wrap": rod. The fish was boat side. Got some photos and a quick healthy release. After that the action was pretty much nonstop. We stayed out only for another 1.5 hours and ended the day going 2/5 with the sails. This is just the start and should continue to get better.
January 4 2011 Offshore
Headed offshore for some scouting today. The offshore bite has been slow. But with reports coming from the North of things picking up, I was hopeful. We found lots of bait, birds and just life in general. We caught bonito and skipjack tunas. The smaller Bonito are the preffered bait for live bait trolling for Sailfish. Unfortunatley the Sailfish have not quite shown in numbers yet. We did see a few "free jumpers". After a couple of hours with out a bite except from a very smart Dolphin. We set out our convential trolling spread of lures and Ballyhoo.
We hooked and released a few more Skipjacks as we trolled along. Then Bam! Our long rigger pops, and the 50 Tiagra reel starts screaming. In a blink of an eye we were stripped in to the backing. Then we see the sight we were waiting for. A nice marlin greyhounding across the surface. First away from us then towards us. I have learned the hard way that when you first hook up with a marlin you have to hit the gas a steer away from it. The manuver worked perfect, and we kept the fish tight. After a half hour tug o war we had the marlin next to the boat. Our guess was 300 pounds for this Black Marlin. Got the hook out and a clean release.
January 1 2011 Happy New Year
Nothing like ringing in the new year with tight lines. Did another Inshore trip today. I am happy to report the fishing is still good and close by (10 minutes from the harbor). A mixed bag was todays catch. Multiple Jack Crevalles, Sierra Mackeral, Rooster fish and Needle fish.
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