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Costa Rica

We had a trip planned for Costa Rica this January and I put two Roosterfish charters on the books to try again for one of my bucket list species. I decided on two because last time one day wasn't enough and I wanted the extra in case the first day didn't work out.

I won't go into great detail here about the remainder of the trip, but Costa Rice wildlife and jungles are amazing.

Our yard was filled with Agoutis.

Three different species of monkeys regularly came by the house as well.

Some cool crabs from Manuel Antonio.

Almost as if it was destined to happen, the first day charter I took out for Roosterfish was a total bust. Not a single fish was caught the entire day. I honestly think this is the first charter I have ever been on where nothing at all was captured. Usually, I will get something or help with catching bait. I was now down to my last charter and last chance again to get the Roosterfish. This would be my 3rd charter specifically booked for this species.

Unlike the day before, we started off catching bait and I hooked several Pacific Thread Herring (Opisthonema libertate) and added them to the live well. If nothing else, at least I had caught one new species.

Species #316 - Pacific Thread Herring (Opisthonema libertate)

After trolling the beach for a few hours we finally got a hit and I pulled in species #317 - the Pacific Tripletail (Lobotes pacifica).

Not long afterwards I got a good solid hit and, after a couple jumps and a very nice fight, I finally pulled in species #318 and bucket list species #2 off my list - the Roosterfish (Nematistius pectoralis)!

It felt great to finally knock this one off the list and I told the captain mission accomplished and anything could happen now.

Over the course of the next few hours I landed the following species:

#319 - Longjaw Leatherjack (Oligoplites altus)

Pacific Crevalle Jack (Caranx caninus)

#320 - Pacific Sierra (Scomberomorus sierra)

Pacific Sierra was one of the species I lost at the boat in Acapulco back in 2017, so it was nice to finally get another chance at one.

To end the day we went trolling back at the spot with the sardine bait ball and just as the day was ending I hooked into a heavy bite and reeled in what on any other day would have been the catch of the day.

Species #321 - the Whitefin Weakfish or Whitefin Corvina (Cynoscion albus).

I caught 7 species on the day and 6 of them were new. I also got my target of Roosterfish and a bunch of awesome species. It was a great day out and a great trip. 2024 is off to a good start.

#saltwater

2023 Year in Review

This will be my 10th year in review. You can review the other ones here: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, & 2022. I have kept track of every fish caught by day and location. I have compiled and crunched the numbers are here are the results for 2023!

41 total fish caught 10 different species 1 new species 8 saltwater species 2 freshwater species Month with most fish - March (24) Month with least fish - January, February, May, June, July, August, November, & December (0) Fished 7 different locations Caught fish on 6 different days Total days fishing - somewhere around 7 Fished off personal boat - 0 Fished off pier – 2 Fished off party boats – 0 Fished off private charter – 0 Countries fished - 1 (United States) States fished - 1 (Florida)

2023. Somehow worse for fishing than 2022.

This year was full of changes including our second kid and moving to a new house and selling our old house. We did lots of little things locally, but didn't leave the country and didn't go fishing that much. There was no brothers weekend. I did manage one new species this year, but there is only room to get better next year.

Highlights of the year, not necessarily in any order.

1 - Fishing with Steve once again for Gulf Flounder. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time. I am starting to feel like bad guide because he still doesn't have one and, once again, I caught a species of flounder in front of him.

I also got my first IGFA World Record while fishing with Steve and pulling in a giant Scrawled Cowfish. It was kind of a fun process honestly going through the steps to get certified. Steve tied my record the next day with his own, but at least I got one first.

2 - My article on research I have been doing in the state with the Chanchita (C. dimerus) was finally published in The Explorers Journal. Super proud of that achievement.

What will 2024 bring? Stayed tuned - some exciting stuff is planned for January.

Fish Counts

Pinfish 14 Scrawled Cowfish 3 Leopard Searobin 1 White Grunt 1 Southern Puffer 1 Sand Perch 1 Ocellated Flounder 1 Blue Runner 2 Warmouth 5 Bluegill 12

#yearinreview

My article "Chasing the Chanchita" was published in the Summer 2023 edition of The Explorers Journal. Check it out if you get a chance!

#writing

Quick trip out to the Green Swamp in April 2023 to get some pictures for an upcoming publication and to check for C. dimerus. Only found a bunch of warmouth all over.

#freshwater

From March of this year fishing with Steve again - 3rd time looking for a flounder. I managed to snag a new species - #315 - Ocellated flounder (Ancylopsetta ommata)

#saltwater

2022 Year in Review

Here. We. Go. Again I am continuing my year in review series from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, & 2021. I have kept track of every fish caught by day and location. I have compiled and crunched the numbers are here are the results for 2022!

80 total fish caught 33 different species 11 new species 22 saltwater species 11 freshwater species Month with most fish - May (29) Month with least fish - January, April, June, July, August, & December (0) Fished 14 different locations Caught fish on 12 different days Total days fishing - somewhere around 16 Fished off personal boat - 1 Fished off pier – 0 Fished off party boats – 1 Fished off private charter – 0 Countries fished - 2 (United States, Norway) States fished - 2 (Florida, Alabama)

2022. What can I say. I have certainly been busy, just not so much with fishing. This year we went caving, exploring across Florida, visited Sweden & Norway, attended my first Explorers Club Annual Dinner, pulled off our 5th continuous year of our brother weekend (EDIT: This isn't true, I don't know why I said this. We did not meet in 2020) and I spent some time in Texas at the SpaceX Starship facility. Shockingly, I still managed more new species than last year and 33% of every species I caught this year was a new species. A huge part of this was thanks to Dom, but probably also honestly focused on the fact that I would not fish much unless I had a chance at a new species. I am really close to my goal of 334 species caught on hook and line (or 1% of all fish species known) and I will be working harder this year to finish it out.

Number of new species per year continues to tick up from a low in 2020.

Highlights of the year, not necessarily in any order.

1. As always, I enjoy meeting and fishing with people throughout the year. This year I fished with Steve again on his epic quest to catch a Gulf Flounder, fished with Dom, Ben, and Ally during our Memorial Day outing, and fished with family .

Still hunting that Gulf Flounder.

2. Already mentioned above, but my outing on Dom's boat during Memorial Day weekend off Pompano Beach. I got 8 new species very easily and it was a great day fishing. Owe a lot to Dom for this one.

Dom, Ben, & me. Photo credit - Ally.

3. Continuing my Cichlasoma research in Florida. I am still trying to find the full range of the chanchita.

Specimens from the Green Swamp delivered to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

4. And, of course, Brother Weekend 2022. Another success and another fish fry. The plans have already begun for next year.

Hmmmmmm, bass.

What will 2023 bring? Well, hopefully more than 80 fish. I am starting the planning now!

Fish Counts

Sheepshead 1 Southern Puffer 2 Striped Mojarra 1 Pigfish 4 Pinfish 10 Southern Kingfish 2 Sand Perch 2 Inshore Lizardfish 1 Bonnethead 1 Warmouth 3 Bluegill 5 Spotted Sunfish 1 Dimerus Cichlid 11 Brown Hoplo 1 Sand Tilefish 2 White Grunt 4 Striped Grunt 1 Tobaccofish 1 Yellowcheek Wrasse 1 Mahi 1 Blackline Tilefish 1 Grey Tilefish 2 Graysby 4 Live Sharksucker 4 Spanish Hogfish 1 Snakefish 1 Speckled Darter 1 Tallapoosa Shiner 1 Leopard Toadfish 1 Rough Shiner 4 Spotted Bass 4 Redear Sunfish 1

#yearinreview

Species #314

Surprise random catch from a Gulf party boat out of Clearwater. This is species #314 the Leopard Toadfish (Opsanus pardus). Didn't really take a good picture because at the time just figured it was another gulf toad.

#saltwater

Species #312 the Tallapoosa Shiner (Cyprinella gibbsi) and & #313 the Speckled Darter (Etheostoma stigmaeum) from Cornhouse Creek in Alabama on the way back from Brothers Weekend 2022.

#freshwater

Brothers Weekend 2022

Adam got a new lake house so we put the waters to the test and ended up catching a bunch of spotted bass. We took Cam out to keep his fishing skills growing. Another successful Brothers Weekend fish fry.

#brothersweekend #freshwater

Memorial Weekend Fishing - Part 2

Go here to read part 1. I can only do 10 images per post now which is another reason to switch off this platform. Maybe sometime soon.

Afterward, we made a run in closer to shore off of a 70 ft deep reef where I caught a number of species including many Graysby and Sharksucker but only managed to pull in one new species. However, it was really one of my favorite of the day. Species #310 was the Spanish Hogfish (Bodianus rufus).

Spanish Hogfish!

Graysby - lots of these!

Lots of these as well!

The final species, and species #311, of the day was a Snakefish (Trachinocephalus myops). A real cool fish that Dom told me I would catch in 30 seconds and this turned out to be true.

Snakefish (Trachinocephalus myops)

It was a fantastic day and I really appreciate the opportunity Dom gave me. It is not often I can put 8 new species on the board in a single day anymore.

Photo credit - Ally

#saltwater

Memorial Weekend Fishing - Part 1

I got an invitation from Dom to go out on his boat off of Pompano Beach on a species hunting tour. Ben and Ally would be joining as well. The weather looked sketchy at first, but it ended up being a very nice day.

Heading out!

The first new species for me was a Sand Tilefish (Malacanthus plumieri) which is a fairly common catch in the area and I actually ended up catching a few.

Species #304 Sand Tilefish (Malacanthus plumieri) Photo credit - Dom

Next up was a fairly uncommon species - #305 Striped Grunt (Haemulon striatum). This was about 170 ft of water.

#305 - Striped Grunt (Haemulon striatum)

Almost immediately afterward I pulled in from the same location species #306 a Tobacco Basslet (Serranus tabacarius). This is a very pretty fish and one that was really cool to find.

#306 Tobacco Basslet (Serranus tabacarius)

Right after this happened as we were about to leave to go to another spot we spotted some Mahi zipping around the boat. Dom immediately threw out a goggle-eye and the bull Mahi took it. Dom handed off the rod to me as Ben started trying to get one of the other Mahi on. After a good, long fight I was finally able to get the fish to the boat where Dom netted it. Almost immediately after that happened Ben pulled in one of the females.

Teamwork! Photo credit - Ally

The next species I pulled up was the Yellowcheek Wrasse (Halichoeres cyanocephalus). I was exhausted from fighting the Mahi so I wasn't paying attention and actually didn't get a great photo. Will have to catch one more sometime.

Species #307 - Yellowcheek Wrasse (Halichoeres cyanocephalus)

We left the area and went to try a wreck for Amberjack. Ben was first up and within a very short time was hooked into something big.

Ben hooked into something strong. Photo credit - Ally

Turned out to be a nice Almaco Jack!

After striking out on any more hookups at this wreck we headed north to do some deep dropping for species. I managed to pull up two new species from around 500 feet - #308 the Blackline Tilefish (Caulolatilus cyanops) and #309 the Blueline Tilefish (Caulolatilus microps).

#308 the Blackline Tilefish (Caulolatilus cyanops)

#309 the Blueline Tilefish (Caulolatilus microps)

See Part 2 for the remainder of the pictures from the day!

#saltwater

Spent some time in the Green Swamp searching for evidence of the full range of Cichlasoma dimerus and managed to find them in every spot I checked. The next place to check will be the northern Withlacoochee near Dunnellon. Specimens were dropped off at the Florida Museum and as a bonus to the trip, I got to see Rob's snake farm!

#freshwater #expedition

Some scenes from Steve's first 2022 attempt to catch the elusive Gulf Flounder.

Here is Steve's report.

#saltwater

2021 Year in Review

Took a while to get this one out but here we go again - continuing my year in review series from 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 I have kept track of every fish caught by day and location. I have compiled and crunched the numbers are here are the results.

159 total fish caught 50 different species 7 new species 31 saltwater species 19 freshwater species Month with most fish - September (65) Month with least fish - April, July, August, & November (0) Fished 21 different locations Caught fish on 15 different days Total days fishing - somewhere around 15 Fished off personal boat - 0 Fished off pier – 1 Fished off party boats – 0 Fished off private charter – 2 Countries fished - 2 (United States, Bahamas) States fished - 5 (Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi)

2021 continued to be a weird year for travel and fishing and actually represents my lowest total count for fish caught since I started keeping track. Interestingly, I still managed more new species than last year and was able to fish in 5 states and 2 countries.

Highlights of the year, not necessarily in any order.

1. As always, I enjoy meeting and fishing with people throughout the year. This year saw an increase in outings with Zaine out on the Econ looking for shad, Gerry inviting me out on one of his charters, shark fishing (and snorkel fishing) with Ben and Ally, fishing with Steve as he caught his species #2000, fishing in Mississippi with Noah, and fishing with my family and brothers. EDIT - Also fished with Theo from the NL in December of this year.

2. Shark fishing - I caught 2 new species of shark this year - the Finetooth Shark and Bonnethead.

3. Our road trip across the south checking out pitcher plant bogs, fishing, and catching crayfish. It was a very fun trip.

4. Family trip to the Bahamas where we fished off the hotel docks for a while. It was our first international trip in some time and was good to get out.

#yearinreview

Quick family trip to Bimini by ferry in early December. Didn't spend much time fishing but did manage some squirrelfish, jacks, grunts, etc. - the usual bunch. Also added one more country to my list.

#saltwater

Brothers Weekend 2021 - this time in Blackshear, GA with a side trip to Jekyll Island for some Redfish action. I got species #303 - the Bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) which has been on my want list for a very long time. Adam got a giant redfish and Kyle managed to grab a nice little Atlantic Sharpnose.

#brothersweekend #saltwater #freshwater

Visited Ben in Sebastian in early September. Caught species #301 Irish Mojarra (Diapterus auratus) in some brackish water and while attempting to snorkel fish with Ben and Ally managed to capture species #302 the Orangespotted Filefish (Cantherhines pullus) from the wall.

#saltwater #freshwater

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