Once again blown away by life on the Osa Peninsula, as seen from El Tumbo de Las Olas.
It took almost a year but the memory of our last visit had apparently faded enough for my Sister/Brother-in-law Kira & Jeremy Wiggins to slip us another invite. After month’s of planning the dates & crew were set. Dec. 1st-10th with a day in San Jose on each end. Meeting at LAX were: Capt. Ron Atwood, Mike Ramirez, Karl Erbacher, uncle Doug Davis, our father Steve Dunlap & I. Our Brother, Mike was supposed to be on the trip but broke his femur, hip & back @ the Gorman MX track a week before we left. Missing the trip was the real tragedy not the injury.

Once again met at the airport in San Jose by K&J’s very influential Tico friend Gerardo who took care of everything including our hotel reservations which was no easy chore with the holiday parade going on. Their culture is very serious about X-mas, the city looked amazing at night. After sampling a bit of the food & casinos it was time to prepare for an early “Nature Air” flight down to the Osa Peninsula:

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The twin-engine plane was a nice departure from the Sansa single engine bonsai run last time. Being able to accommodate an 8’ Rod Tube was a nice touch as well.

It’s always a great feeling to see “my little sister” & “my bro” especially when it’s through the front window of a puddle jumper:

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Here is the alternate view:

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It didn’t take long for the party to begin:

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A little lunch in downtown Puerto Jimenez:

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& it was time for the 45 min., 12 mi. journey into the jungles of the Osa. Everything was bright green; growing thick due to the fact it had been raining for about 3 months straight, right up until about 2 days before we got there. The weather was awesome, hanging in the mid 80’s during the day dropping into the low 70’s at night. Usually raining most or at least some part of the night, mixing with the frogs & crickets to make ideal sleeping conditions. Although not as “grouped up” this time of year it was nice to wake up to the howler monkeys again.
Spider Monkey:

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This time it didn’t take any time for most of us to settle in to our home for the week.
View from the driveway:

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View from the opposite direction looking down the driveway standing on the balcony:

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The clear space in the trees is the ocean. This is an awesome vantage point as wildlife would constantly pass or feed in the trees right in front of your eyes:

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Toucan’s seemed to be everywhere this time, constantly feeding in the tree above the pool:

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The food in general but Kira’s cooking made it especially easy to sink into the lifestyle, but once we started throwing fresh exotic fish into the mix each day everyone was quickly spoiled.
The inshore fishing:

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was outstanding for a huge variety of “tasty” known as well as a few unknown species but was dominated by serious humblings on a huge variety of tackle sizes. Many of these fish just weren’t going to be stopped including an exciting battle by Capt. Ron on 60 lb. I’m hoping to get the pic from my Uncle’s camera of a Lg. Amberjack that didn’t make it back to the rocks.
These gorgeous fish listed as Giant Hawkfish were eating everything we dragged or cast near a shallow rock:

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Mike, Karl & Jeremy got into a school of the beautiful, feisty yet tasty Blue Crevelle:

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Although we caught some, the sierra weren’t thick like last time allowing us to break out the Big Hammer’s with great success:

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I also caught some ladyfish in the surf right in front of the house using the 3” Hammer, including a major break off that we guessed was a snook?

Mike had his hands full with this African Pompano on the 10 lb. spinning gear:

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The learning curve was greatly shortened by every minute spent with K&J’s neighbor Capt. Mike Hennessy:

http://www.cabo-matapalo.com

Mike is an ex SoCal boy who spent years running the Western Pride as well as a couple others I recognized before moving to Hawaii then Costa Rica for the last 13 yrs. He’s one of the best fisherman I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the water with, happily showing us the intricacies of making bait as well as putting it to work:

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Snook fishing his way is enough pucker up the most experienced of calico fisherman.
Ron:

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& I:

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both really got into this type of fishing but it’s touchy, we each missed 5 or so in order to both get our 1st snook.

25 lb. Class Jacks are about as much as you want on the calico sticks:

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Yellowtail Snapper:

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Offshore was mainly dominated by Dorado:

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As well as inshore:

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We spotted some Dorado chasing a huge school of flying fish just outside the surf so we we chased ‘em down & nailed this bull in 37’ of water about 100yds off the beach.

We did have a couple sail hook-ups making sure Karl got his first billfish:

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The slower offshore fishing combined with the close proximity & fast action of the inshore fishing created a more relaxed well rounded experience. Allowing time for lots of exploring:

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& late night poker games.

Karl spotted, and we continued to see this knarly lizard & his 2 chicks enjoying the balcony of his hi-rise-cave above the beach each day after fishing:

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We would ALL like to extend the most heart felt THANK YOU to Kira:

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& Jeremy (Tarzan):

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Who literally worked their skin to the bone trying to ensure us an unbelievable vacation/experience:

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Early in our stay, while helping us get our gear aboard the boats:

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Jeremy cut his big toe deep. A couple days later he really layed open the same spot.
Never slowing down the “Running Gringo with No Shoes”.

The experience on a whole was very different, not better or worse just different.
Leaving a MAJOR longing to see her during each of the seasons.

Although it’s sad to see Kira & Jeremy preparing to leave this paradise we can’t wait to have them back in our everyday lives again.

Pura Vida,
Josh

great report and pics, can't beat the variety in tropical zones
thanks for sharing
richard

Josh,
Awesome report & pics. Quality time with friends and family.
That's a trip of a life time.

Thanks for sharing.

Khanh.

Josh, just saw your report--killer! You coulda fished the Wallbanger instead--ya really missed it--the usual wet, cold, slow fishing it always is, lol!

Big Hammer Swimbaits-Hammerhead Jigheads
www.swimbait.com
Pro-Cure Scents
www.pro-cure.com

Posts like that make the time at work go by, thankyou :) Those hawkfish are extraordinarily cool.

God Rob! Posts like that make my work day drag into eternity. I'm still trying to get my work to send my fat butt down there.

Josh, that really was a great report. And I agree with Rob on the Hawkfish, look like they'd be fun. How do they compare to our saltwater bass? Also, I noticed no mention of Roosters. Did you guys not go for them? That's why I want to go down there. That and those Dorado.

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Thanks Guys, the place is magical!

Ed,
I don't know much about what runs during which times of year but we were there last time at the end of Jan. & caught quite a few roosters (to 40 lbs) without much effort. Sierra & little jacks were almost a problem, a good problem. We never caught any snapper or hawkfish? Offshore it was hard to keep a lure in the water without schools of sailfish swarming them?

The rainy season ran a little long this year, ending just a few days before we got there in early Dec. It constantly rains for months then shuts off like a light switch usually sometime in Nov. Which is why the offshore fishing hadn't quite turned on yet but it seemed each day we saw more life offshore, spotting more & more sails each day. They were just reluctant to bite unless you hit 'em on the head with a live bait. Although dorado were on every current line that seemed to get closer each day. In fact it was the last day we got that dodo out of the surf.

This time the inshore was completely sick, with a whole different array of species but no roosters? Lots of sm. to med. snappers with plenty of larger ones lost on light gear as well as a few on heavy gear. The hawkfish is similar is size & shape to a spotty with the attitude / teeth of a snapper. We could catch them at will near any rock on this one particular point & as we fought each one you would swear was going to be much bigger than the last, until you saw it.

We did hit one spot specificaly for big roosters but only caught the big jacks, great fun as well but I'm with you on the roosters. One of my favorite fish to catch.

Josh

Sounds like quite a country. One of these days I'll get there and from your reports it should be fun no matter when I make it down.

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!