Angler Blair Baldwin became addicted to blue-water fly-fishing and Costa Rica after an awesome trip to Quepos several years back. On a return trip this March, fishing out of Puerto Carrillo, he went looking for billfish on fly and marlin in particular.
After landing three big sails on his second day, Baldwin broke his 12-weight, leaving only a 9-weight with which to finish the trip. After several conventionally caught fish, including a 350-pound blue marlin on the third day, Baldwin figured he had nothing to lose by giving the 9-weight a try. “While I am not an advocate for chasing blue-water fish with 9-weight rods, I had no problem deciding that another broken rod wouldn’t really matter, and heck you never know,” said Baldwin. On the last day of his trip, the first fish into the spread was a small blue, less than 200 pounds, and Baldwin immediately put the fly in front of the fish. Twenty-five minutes later, the fish was safely released at the boat. The rest of the day brought three big sails up to 125 pounds and a shot at a small striped marlin and a billfish slam, although the striped marlin didn’t cooperate. Quite a day’s fishing with a 9-weight.
