(Long Report....with a Lot of Pics)
Since moving to Costa Rica permanently, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy the phenomenal Bill fishery here. For the last few years I have adapted quite well to catching monster Sailfish, Marlin, Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, and Roosterfish.
My dilemma is that I am a Bottom Fishing junkie at heart and I have really missed dropping a nasty bait down on the bottom and that incredible feeling of waiting for that bump, right before a Big Ol' Grouper or Snapper SLAMS the hook and the all out brawl begins as you duke it out knuckles to reel, and thighs to the gunnel, with a hard fighting, head shaking, back stretching beast from the Bottom. That's my favorite type of fishing and I've missed it badly!
I have known there is an incredible, untapped bottom fishery here, and not many Captains have taken the time or made the effort to really dial it in. Of course, there is not a great demand for it by the many anglers that travel here throughout the year,from all over the world, who are here primarily to catch Billfish and Roosterfish. I have longed to find a Captain or two in this area that has figured out the Bottom fishery, whereas they could easily put a smile on the face of an addicted Bottom Fishing transplant from West Florida and his future guests.
This past Wednesday I found one, after several conversations with a few of our top near shore Captains. about opening up the Bottom fishery here enough to consistently slam good numbers of Grouper & Snapper. One of these Captains, Capt. Brandon Keene, had stated to me several times that he too loved to Bottom Fish, and had discovered several spots that were always loaded! Capt. Brandon had extended invitations to me several times over the last 2 months to Join him aboard his 29' Carolina Classic,the "Fish Whistle, for a "fun" trip so that he could prove to me that he could produce some serious Grouper & Snapper. I had to pass the last 3 times he invited me as we had clients in town to take care of.
Stock photo of boat- taken by E. Wickstrom 
Last Monday evening I get the phone call again. "Hey Josh, It's Capt. Brandon. You want to go beat up some Grouper & Snapper Wednesday?" My adrenaline started pumping as I was FREE Wednesday and good to go. Hell Yes!! I replied, I'll see you at the boat Wednesday morning at 6:30 am!Tuesday night dragged on forever as I could barely sleep. FINALLY, I was going to get a chance at engaging in combat with some serious Grouper & Snapper! I had no idea that by the end of this day, I would return back to my bunk a very beat up, sore, and wounded soldier.
We left Los Suenos Resort & Marina at 6:45am. The wrecking crew for the day was his 1st mate Carlos, Capt. Simon from the Marlin Mujer, myself and Capt. Brandon. In the live well were 3 Blue-Runners. On deck were a 25lb Block of whole large Squid, and a 25lb block of frozen mackerel. I asked Bandon if he planned on stopping to catch more live bait on the way out, to which he replied
"No..we don't need anymore. Those three are enough and the Squid and Macks will be just fine"
OK...wait a minute. I am a bottom fishing expert from Florida, and there is no way we are going to get it done without more live bait! I insisted that we at least try and catch a dozen more livies, to which Brandon gladly obliged. We hit a few spots near shore, only to produce 2 more blue runners. Finally Brandon insisted that we just get to where he wanted to go. I respectfully agreed (not happily) and off we went with 4 Live baits, a bunch of Squid and some frozen Macks. I could not help mumbling to myself for the next 10 minutes" I can't believe we are heading out there with only 4 live baits. Sorry, but I wouldn't even dream about heading out to fish back in Florida without at least a few dozen Live baits. Yeah Yeah I know, Shut up Josh..You're not in Florida!
The next eyebrow raising event took place when I saw what we were going to be fishing with. Penn International 30's spooled with red Power-Pro! Are you kidding me? What the hec kind of bottom fishing set up is that? Ok, I'll be quiet as when in Rome, act like a Roman. Also in the arsenal were a few Tiagra 30's spooled with Ande 80lb Mono. Ok, I felt a little better! Then...I see what Carlos is making up for rigs and I about fell over! A 4 hook chicken rig with 100lb test line, and 10/0 Circle hooks! What the hec is this???? Really, these guys can't be serious?
Even more baffling was the Same style chicken rig that Simon was setting up to use with the Krystal electric reel he brought, but with Nylon leaders so thick, you could have built a ski-lift with them. Total tourist rig I thought. Ha ha ha, I was soon about to find our who the tourist was....ME
As we approached the first stop where Capt. Brandon planned to fish, Carlos insisted on baiting my Christmas Tree rig with some whole squid on 2 hooks and big chunks of squid on the other 2. Okay then, here we go. The motors soon idled back, and Capt. Brandon made a few circles before coming to a stop. "Okay guys..give it a try". How deep are we I asked? I almost wish I didn't ask. "405 feet" he replied. Uhhhhh.. this is going to hurt I thought.
So away goes my weights and bait on what seemed like an endless trip to the bottom. As soon as I felt my lead touch the floor of the Abyss, I locked into gear and lifted my rod tip slightly. I felt a few small taps instantly, and thought OK, here come the trash fish attacking my Wal-Mart chicken rig. :nilly: I let out a little slack to allow whatever was nibbling,eat my "Circle Hooked" squid for a second, and all of a sudden BAM!!! After my first 2 cranks, I felt that distinguishable Head Shaking and Hard pumping explosion that only a Big fat Red Snapper offers.
My rod was quickly bowed up and the tip touching the water, when I started cranking like there was no tomorrow! Oh my goodness, I still have about 380 feet of reeling to do! After what seemed like an eternity, I see color. Carlos grabs the Gaff and over the side comes this fine Specimen. They call them Silk Snapper or Silkies here! Absolutely beautiful! Ok, I am psyched at this point, as well as in shock that I caught this fish on this rig. Ok.. again I stand respectfully humbled.
First Stop-First Drop- Big Red Pig-Many more to come! 
Before I had a chance to re-bait my rig, I hear Carlos start grunting and groaning! I look over and he is totally bowed up and bent backwards! Although a skinny fellow, he is one tough Tico! 
After a few minutes of watching Carlos suffer, I look over the side and see color. Oh YES..that's what I was waiting to see! A Big Ol' bucket mouth, fat nasty GROUPER! 
A few minutes later, and I look over to see Simon bowed up with his Rod doing the Red Snapper Rod Tip Tap Dance. A few minutes later and I pass him the Gaff, allowing him to heave this beast over the side! 
So now I am back on the bottom, and low and behold, after only about 3 minutes of waiting, SLAM! I nail my first Grouper of the Day! Ahhhhhh what a feeling as it has been wayyy too long! 
The action continued on our first spot for the next hour and a half! Snapper after Snapper, and Grouper after Grouper, until the tide started to go slack. At that point the bite slowed a bit so we moved on.
Here's the 120qt Cooler with a 1/2 dozen of the 12 Grouper that will be caught this day! Second pic here is a few on deck before being iced 
Next stop, only 380 feet. At this point my muscles are already cramped, and Simon has gotten "The Claw" twice from reeling so much. He gave up on the Electric reel after losing 2 fish with it on the first stop. I decided to try one of the Live baits I insisted on having, even though everything we caught so far was on Squid. So down it goes, a Big old Blurunner full of life,. That poor guy sat down there for about 25 minutes before he finally drown and I realized these fish wanted nothing to do with live bait...Humbled again..No big deal. They wouldn't touch the frozen macks either! All day long and every fish....caught on Squid!
Within a few minutes after the second stop, Simon gets Slammed. My goodness he mutters with his distinctive English accent, as he bows up and bends over again! It's a double Grouper slam on deck! 2 at a time...soooo serious! 
The debauchery continued over the next hour and we crushed the fish in just 3 stops. The last stop offered a little reeling relief as it was only 320 feet deep.
: We had been hand cranking all day, so a 60-80 foot difference was a releif!
The day’s total bag was 20 Snapper with a 8-12 pound average(some bigger) and 12 Grouper with a 10-15lb average.(some bigger) I was sore and beat up by day’s end!
Pics of the catch for the day! 
Capt. Brandon -Capt. Simon-and Carlos holding up a few! 
Carlos with another one! 
We all walked off the boat with a huge amount of Grouper and Snapper Fillets. The next night, I called a few guests that we had in town , and invited them to Join me and my wife at, "Barco del Los Mariscos"
The Seafood Boat, One of the restaurants where I bring our clients when they have caught Mahi, Wahoo, or Snapper, as they do an incredible job at preparing the fish with several different Delicious sauces to pour over it and throw in fresh veggies, Salad, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Fries as well. ( Plus the BEST Ice cream parlor in town is located right next door)
Here's a few pics of the cooked fish. The rest of my take of the fish has filled my freezer, as well the freezers of a few "less fortunate" families in the area that I visited with a few fish filled goody bags. Grilled 
Blackened 
White Heart of Palm & Shrimp Sauce Built to smother over fillets! Second shot is my plate just the way I like it! 
I am pleased to know that we can know offer our many clients that travel and fish here with us to catch trophy Bill fish, the option to enjoy a great day of Bottom Fishing and know they will return to the dock quite pleased!
End of report.... Thanks for reading! :toast:
Los Suenos Costa Rica BOTTOM Fishing-Aug 6-2008 Crushed Em! 
