Report: 2024-10 Silver King Lodge fishing trip

October 16, 2024"Puck" Leave a comment

We travelled to the Silver King Lodge, in Limon, Costa Rica with the intent of catching triple digit tarpon on the fly. We made it there late afternoon on Thursday and left early Monday .. We met up with old friends. We ate well. We caught fish. And we are already planning our 2025 return trip. If you want the details, keep reading.

The 4 of us, Clark, Don Mc, Kurt, and Puck met up at the terminal in Houston for just a few minutes before boarding the flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. This flight was uneventful.

The weather in San Jose was perfect when we landed, but that would quickly change. Glenda had warned us that San Jose had been having rain in the afternoons for about a week, while the lodge hadn’t seen rain in a week, or more.

We made it through immigration and customs quickly, with no trouble. There wasn’t much of a crowd this time, and we slipped right through.

The duty-free shop had changed from last year, and some of the items that I wanted to buy were no longer offered. I was a bit disappointed, but now I had something else to add to next year’s packing list.

We missed out on our regular Sansa flight by adding people late, past the published deadline, to the group. To be able to get to the lodge we had to pay a bit out of pocket for an air charter. We were informed that the charter plane leaving San Jose into the fishing grounds was so small that it had a max load of 850 pounds. Puck was the only one with real luggage, the others just had carry-ons. A quick tally and we decided we were withing the weight limits. When we first arrived at the small airport, after travelling across town, in the heavy rain, we had a surprise waiting for us. The airport was closed due to weather. They have a safety rule in place for these small aircraft that involves storms, lightning, and rain. After a short wait the airport opened back up, our paperwork was processed, and we were loaded, carefully, onto the plane. All 4 of us, plus the 2 pilots, along with our bags, were a bit of a challenge, but it got done, and we took off after putting on some noise cancelling earmuffs. A bit of wind and rain as we approached the mountains had our small craft swimming in the sky. It wasn’t too bad, but it was memorable. Once we crossed the mountains, the sky cleared, and the flight was smooth.

The pilots circled the runway once to get a visual. They explained later that sometime a cow, or a dog, will wander onto the landing strip and it has to be removed before they could land. These 2 guys are skilled. Our landing was as smooth as silk.

Our guides, Clifford, and Marvin, along with Glenda, greeted us at the runway, and we made our way, in the light rain, to the SKL shuttle boat. A quick trip upriver and we were at the lodge’s boat slip. Evonne, our bartender, was waiting for us with a big smile. Our guides showed us to our rooms and talked with us for a bit.

Since we arrived too late to do any fishing, our small group sat around the bar, going over fishing ideas, and sharing stories. This is about the time when Susan and Tim came off the water. They had been fishing with Manuel, and had a great day. New stories were swapped, and laughter filled the bar, as Evonne kept our glasses full.

The dinner bell rings, (yes, a real bell,) and everybody moves into the dining hall. I have a fascination for food, so I took pictures of everything I could. The kitchen staff are an efficient bunch that know exactly what they are doing. These pleasant ladies kept us fed well the entire time, with smiling faces. Some of the dishes served were new to us, and these chefs happily described what we were being served. I had to try everything that was offered, and never left the table hungry.

I offered to make a pineapple upside down cake in the huge cast iron pan they have. The cake looked more like a pudding than a cake. This was my error, and not our chef’s. I didn’t use enough cake batter for the amount of fruit and brown sugar topping. The taste was great, but the presentation suffered.

Don Mc. and Clark fished with Clifford. I didn’t get a detailed breakdown of their success.

Curt and Puck fished with Marvin. Stories from Marvin’s boat below.

On Marvin’s boat, we fished Friday morning. The rain came and went, but the seas were calm, and the temperature was just right, so we were comfortable enough to continue fishing all morning, even though we were soaked to the skin. This is where Marvin educated us on proper techniques and tactics. Our plan was to keep one fly in the water and one jigging rod constantly working. Our drift on each pass was mostly in a southerly direction. I’m used to the drift being almost due east, but with the change in the weather, each drift was much longer in the productive waters. We landed one tarpon and hooked up on another, with the 80 pound test leader snapping at the bite tippet knot, losing the first of the red/white size 8/0 tarpon toads as the 100+ pound fish jumped.

Friday afternoon rained out for Curt and Puck who didn’t want to brave the heavy rain, and decided to sit out the storm. Dunking bait at the boat slip was entertaining, landing gar, machaca, and catfish. Not exactly what we had planned, but any fishing is better than being at work.

Clark and Don Mc. braved the storm and Clifford took them up into the canals. The storm was just too much for a visit offshore. Neither of these guys brought raingear, so wore large plastic trash bags as protection from the elements. While they were int the backwaters they were stopped by the Costa Rican Coast Guard and had an interview. A few questions were asked, and according to the anglers the officials were professional and polite. Sadly, no fish were caught.

Saturday was our best day, with occasional rain and mild seas. We had the highest numbers on this day. I’ll roll all of the number I have into the final total. What I will say about this day is that we lost the last 4 red/white tarpon toads this day. https://texasflyfishers.org/2022/12/26/tarpon-toad-tying-videos/

Sunday the ocean started out great, but got rough in late morning. That afternoon we decided that we could handle it and went out again, this time in 5-8 foot seas. Not our best call. We had some bites with another tampon coming in on the fly, one that Marvin had tied, but missed all the other strikes. The water was too rough at the end of the day for a fly rod, so resorted to jigging the last hour or so. A lot of hits, but no hook-ups.

Tarpon fishing totals on Marvin’s boat:

Hooked 18
Landed 5, three of those on the fly rod, 2 of these on RWTT, size 8/0

Red/white size 8 tarpon toads were the fly of choice. I lost 5 of them to fish and that was all that I brought of that color. I had tied 6, but gave one away to somebody before our trip.

Monday morning was once again travel day. We woke at the same time and had a leisurely breakfast with plenty of coffee. A trip done the river to the airfield and it was time to say our good-byes.

The charter plane going back to San Jose didn’t have a copilot as we needed that seat to get the 4 of us back to San Jose. This aircraft was even smaller than the first one. Puck’s suitcase had to take one of the seats on the way back. Puck had to sit in the copilot’s seat for the flight.

The people supporting the SKL are the backbone of the adventure, as the food and facilities are top notch, and kept in good repair, but the guides are the lifeblood. As anglers we spend most of our time on the boats with our guides, and after a few trips develop friendships. At the end of the day the SKL support staff has made everything so comfortable that all we need to think about is “fishing tomorrow.” This well-run team has made our adventure memorable enough that all 4 of us want to make the trip again.

Some lessons learned:

Rain gear, bring the good stuff, this is the rain forest and it will rain
Airplane snacks, as no airline will provide enough food
Replace your store bought fly leader with fresh 80# test fluorocarbon before fishing
Also, if you bring lures, or big flies, they can be taken from you by Costa Rica security. Put these in checked baggage
Use motion sickness medication even if you normally don’t use it. The seas can change quickly
Start planning, and packing, early
Follow the recommended packing list provided by SKL
Be aware of any construction at the airport
Allow plenty of time for customs and immigration when returning
Allow plenty of time for security at all of the airports
Hand carry all medicines
Fly rods can be carried for free, but not fly reels, from Costa Rica. Put reels and flies in your checked luggage.
3 sets of fishing clothes, complete, to include gloves and buffs, as you may need to change mid-day
2 pairs of boat shoes/sandals, again because you may need to change mid-day
2 good sun protection hats

REPORT: Silver King Lodge, Costa Rica, 2023-10

October 27, 2023"Puck" 4 Comments

4 club members made this adventure. Our small group travelled from Houston and arrived early enough to get on the water for an hour or so on the very first day. Eduardo D., Jerry B., “Puck” and Raymond L. joined Bob and Tim on the charter planes out to the lodge where a much larger group was wrapping up their very successful trip.

Here is the report. Pictures and videos below the write-up.

Once we landed and were ferried upriver to the lodge, we had some time, so we went out for about an hour or so on the first day here, Thursday. The water was very choppy because of the storm they’ve had. After about an hour of rolling and tumbling and nausea from seasickness we came in.

Second day out we went out right after breakfast, and the water was easier but not calm. We were able to fish till about 11 o’clock when the waves started picking up again and seasickness hit again. We came in 30 minutes before lunch or so to allow us to calm down and get our bearings back.

That afternoon we got three hits had one tarpon jump and lost a fly. Somehow the tarpon had cut through 100 pound test mono. From the rest of the group there was very slow fishing for everybody that went out Friday morning. Tim, who had not been fishing since he was 14 years old landed his first tarpon. I know he told me the size, but I’ve lost that part of my notes. The jump is captured on the featured photo. Tim also landed a barracuda that he invited to dinner.

Friday afternoon, nobody went out into the ocean. The waves were just too rough so everybody was fishing the canals off the river. The canals were off colored and high. Nobody caught anything on the fly. Some of the hardware folks pulled in some small snook. A lot of very good casting practice, and the rain wasn’t that bad, at first. The heavy rains in the late afternoon pulled us in 30 to 45 minutes earlier than expected.

The plan for Saturday morning is to load up the heavy gear and go look to see if we can’t get out into the ocean for Tarpon, if we cannot, we come back to the dock trade our gear and go fish a different section of the canals.

We made three drifts, about an hour and a half, before Marvin called it. I was getting sick, and the weather had turned. We would try the canals after lunch.

One boat with two anglers roughed it out through the rain, wearing black garbage bags under the life jackets as rain gear, into the rough waters with the improvised rain gear braving the driving wind and rain. They came back with one tarpon to the boat on bait.

We didn’t go to the canals but out to the big water for tarpon. 7 drifts and nothing hooked. Bob found some motion sickness pills for me, and I was able to dose up. We saw tarpon rolling all around us, along with the porpoises off in the distance. We kept watching the clouds, as we were surrounded. I lost the first of two flies, black a purple tarpon toads (8/0) when the tarpon cut through 100 pound bite tippet.

The fishing reports at dinner were very few tarpon, and one of the canals produced fish for Jerry and Raymond. I was able to get descriptions of the flies from Jerry, see below.

Eduardo landed a 160 pound tarpon on a jig. We were trying anything to get a fish to the boat by day 3. The release of this fish was picture perfect. See video below.

This is the day that Jerry and Raymond landed a 180+ tarpon on a purple/black fly. See photo below of what is left of that fly. The fight took hours.

I lost the second of two flies. Another black a purple tarpon toads (8/0) when another tarpon cut through 100 pound bite tippet. “Take it easy!” Seems to be Marvin’s favorite phrase for me.

“Puck” landed 130 pound tarpon on bait, on the last day. This was the roughest the water was on the entire trip, and when this fish was finally released, we called it a day, and went in for relaxing, packing, dinner, and rest.

5 hits on flies on Marvin’s boat.

I am still collecting the stories and pictures in an improved effort to generate interest for next year’s adventures. Right now we have some dates between 1-10 October of 2024 and can take up to 22 anglers. Details to follow soon.

2023-10 Tarpon release at SKL

2023-10 Marvin helps Eduardo land a 140 tarpon

The variety of fish willing to hit the fly is incredible.

Raymond and another fish found in the lagoon.

Never did we go hungry. There was always something different served.

Food was plentiful and delicious. If you went hungry, it was your own fault.

And here are some more interesting pictures:

Not our plane, but I was wondering how riding it would be

One of the successful flies in the canals.

Another fly for the canals

Report: Silver King Lodge, Costa Rica Outing 2022-10

November 12, 2022January 3, 2024"Puck" Leave a comment

15 club members made this adventure. Our scattered group travelled from Houston, New York, Colorado, Hawaii, and more. Jerry B. And Raymond L. had been there since Monday, getting some fishing in while waiting for the rest of us to show up. My persoanl plans were to be able to “boat hop” fishing with different anglers and guides during this event. It was a partial success, as we are creatures of habit, most of the group didn’t want to change. I was able to fish with 5 different guides on 8 sessions. For me this included a trip to the lagoons, with Jerry B.

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