Overall inspiration for return trip came from Todd B(Family Affair).
Pics/video by James (Freejumper)
Report provided by Todd M (XTT)
We were joined by Capt. Steven T(Sailfishangler123)
It all began a few months ago when Todd B decided we were going on a return trip to Costa Rica and we would be bringing Steven along for this one.
We purchased our tickets and began counting the days. This time we were going to be set up with a four bedroom house with a pool in Jaco just outside Los Suenos. This made Todd B very happy since he would no longer have to share a room with me seeing that I have absolutely no respect for my friends when it comes to sleeping arrangements.
This time our plane departed Miami ON TIME. It seems that the first flight in the morning has much less of a chance to be delayed by 6 hours than the last flight of the day. It also allowed us to get into San Jose early enough to stop and enjoy a lunch while catching up with Captain Josh Foster and his wife before proceeding into Jaco. As soon as we got into town, we stepped onto some 4 wheelers and headed out into the rainforest for a 3 hour ride.
I chose one of the helmets without a plastic face shield and you can see from the pictures that I made a big mistake. The trails were dry and extremely dusty, but some of the views were priceless.
If you have a chance to do both the Canopy Tour and the 4 Wheelers, do it. If you must choose between the two, we all agreed that the Canopy Tour was our favorite.
The next morning, Josh was at our door at 6:15 to pick us up and take us over to Los Suenos Marina and drop us off at the Bethina. We were in heaven when Josh showed up with the glazed croissants for our breakfast. Upon arrival at the marina, we all purchased fishing licenses (good for one year) and stepped onboard. Min (mate), James, Todd and I got reacquainted and we introduced Steven. Min and Captain Glen remembered us and were glad we had returned. They introduced us to Russ (mate) who is the offspring of a very famous captain who was running another boat out of the same marina. It did not take long for us to realize that the Bethina X-Treme Billfish Team had actually become stronger with Russ added. He was a great guy and had a ton of experiences to share with us. Russ is also expecting his first child soon and he even had the sonogram pictures on the boat.
Capt. Glen headed out to the same area we had done so well last year at this time. We realized within an hour or so that the sailfish bite was not going off like it had been last year. Glen and crew explained how this season has had very good days and very bad days. We did not see anything like the 100+ tailers and freejumpers and only saw one sail with his sail raised out of the eater over the two days. We managed to release a few sails the first day. About an hour or so before we began heading back to the marina, Capt. Glen got a call that his buddy on another boat had gone out 60 miles to the Furuno Bank and had went 1 for 5 on Marlin. Glen was excited about this news and said he would like for us to head out to the Bank for day 2. BUT before we had pulled in the lines, a fish comes up and takes one of the trolled baits. Todd B was up on the rod and a Black Marlin began going ballistic. Todd had Min put the harness on him and he continued to fight the fish. Todd got the release and then the fish sounded. Just how we remembered from our last trip, Capt. Glen is all about the release and then getting back to fishing in order to continue being the top producing boat out of Suenos. He decided to bump the boat forward and get a different angle on the fish. A couple minutes later, the fish broke the hook and Todd B had his first Marlin release.
We headed in with a respectable number of Pacific Sailfish releases and 1 for 1 on Marlin.
None of us had heard of the Furuno Bank that Capt. Glen had planned to fish and we had no idea what tomorrow would be like other than an earlier wake up call and a long boat ride to the fishing grounds.
We left the house at 5:10 am and headed to the marina. Glen, Min, and Russ were all ready for some Marlin action. They brought out the 30 and 50 wide Alutecnos with big lures, teasers, and baits. The gear on the Bethina is all meticulously maintained and there is PLENTY of it. From the LP teaser reels to the Alutecnos conventionals to the Shimano Thunnus spinners. We were the first boat out to the Furuno Bank . The depth goes from 2000-3000 feet straight up to 400 for about 5 miles and also comes up to 120 and 200 feet in many areas. The bottom fishing is supposedly out of hand for those who try it. I know we saw some nice signs of fish on the bottom machine as we trolled the Bank. We were joined later on by about 8 other boats from Suenos and Quepos. By the time any of the other boats had arrived, we had already released one or two sails.
It was Steven's turn on the rod. He had Russ had just been talking about how all of our bites had been on the long baits which were all lures. There had not been a single hit on the teasers or the short baits.
Just a couple seconds later, steven happened to be looking over the gunnel when he saw a big fish out of the corner of his eye as it came screaming down the side of the boat and nailed the short bait no more than 20' off the corner of the transom. The fish went crazy and showed itself as it began running back and forth switching directions and getting acrobatic. A while later, steven had released his first Blue Marlin at boat side. The fish was revived and sent on it's way.
Steven made short work of it and proved that he knows how to use something bigger and stronger than his BUGGY WHIP to do the job.
It was my turn up again and Todd B, Steven and James had all decided that I was going to be up until I had my first Marlin release. Within a few minutes, I released another sailfish and I realized that everyone was actually disappointed that it was only a sail. I had just reeled in the entire spool of line as fast as I could possibly reel as the Bethina was backing down hard and these guys seemed let down in some way. I was still just as happy as I had been for my first Pacific Sail caught lat year.
The next bite turned into a plastic bag and the bag proved to be a sign for what the rest of my day would be like. Another Marlin came up and whacked back and forth at one of the lures for a good 30 seconds before shying away from the baits and disappearing into the deep blue sea.
A little while later, a nice Blue Marlin is on one of the rods and Min is on the rod while we cleared lines. Just before handing the rod to me, the fish made a run up the side of the boat and freed itself of the hook. I was starting to get discouraged and it was beginning to look like I would not be catching my marlin on this trip.
Continue below....
Los Suenos Fishing Trip! Round 2! 
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