At least once or twice a year I extract my butt from my comfortable chair in my Americana Sportfishing/FishCostaRica office in San José and go fishing.

I hadn't been in Golfito for a dog's age, so I rounded up buddies Dan Corcoran (below left, first photo, with a big snapper), a retired Dade County firefighter on one of his four/five trips down here each year, primarily to golf; George Wright, a Phoenix trust lawyer who divides his time between there and San José trying to do as little as possible in both places; and Josh Moore (below left, second photo, with another but smaller snapper), the baby of the foursome, who is now building what he hopes will become the premier gringo watering hole in Santa Ana where I live, just outside San José, once it's completed by football season. You can see us all with our snapper catch bottom left.

We drove south to Golfito on a Friday to fish the next two days with one of Costa Rica's — and the world's — most respected captains: Bobby McGuinness, on his 37-foot Cazador. Bobby was named world's best captain of 2006 by the International Game Fish Association, and was among the IGFA's 10 top world record setters in 2008. Bobby has set more sportfishing world records than any captain currently fishing in Costa Rica.

On the way down along the coastal route, we stopped to check out (see me, below) my beautiful ocean and mountain view development at Lomas Coronado in the South Pacific, overlooking the coastal highway and Pacific Ocean between Dominical and Palmar Sur.

I have 29 large, spectacular lots ranging in size from one and a quarter to almost four acres, about half with wonderful ocean views. That area is one of the most beautiful in Costa Rica, it's eco-friendly, the nearby offshore and inshore fishing is great, and even though it's an unspoiled natural wonderland, you will find modern stores, services and supermarkets within 20 minutes of Lomas.

For more info about Lomas Coronado, call me toll-free — 1-800-634-0012, 1-800-399-8532, 1-866-978-5198 — or e-mail me. We can kill two birds with one stone: I'll book you a Costa Rica fishing vacation and make sure there is a free day to take you down to see Lomas Coronado. You'll be awe-struck by how stunning it is.

Anyhow, after a pleasant evening at Casa Roland, Golfito's newest sportfishing hotel (and I'd like to thank Alicia Castillo, Roland reservations manager, for her generosity in arranging our accommodation), we set out with Bobby early Saturday morning for some inshore action. Long gone are the days when I was entranced by billfish. 'Meat' was what I wanted, to fill up my freezer for the next couple of months. And we did ourselves proud: 12 roosters — you can’t eat 'em but they’re fabulous gamefish; a 35lb rooster will put up just as much or even more of a fight than a 100lb sail — eight snapper (four different varieties) and five grouper. Above (left to right) you can see George, Josh, me and Dan with some of the snapper. Not a bad haul.

Sunday was for my buddies. We went offshore. Can't recall exactly who caught what, but the guys managed to bring two nice sails, a handsome white-tipped shark and a really large blue runner to the boat.

We all had a great time. Even after these many years, I still love to fish (at right you see me with a rarer fish, called a rocky snapper, which I caught on Saturday). And because I fish myself, I know what my clients should expect from captains/owners, and over my many years in the business have selected a core group of people who both know how to catch fish and how to give FishCostaRica clients the service and attention they deserve.

A case in point happened just last week. Americana Sportfishing organized a Costa Rica fishing vacation for Ray Bleeker, his wife and son on the 26-foot Predator out of Los Sueños in the Central Pacific. They were to fish two full days.

Boats are capricious little devils, engines break down every so often at the last minute, or some unforeseen mishap occurs. Shit happens. If so, I expect my captains/owners to find an equal or better boat as a replacement.

The Predator is one of my favorite boats, obviously because of its excellent captain, RJ Lillie, but not least because of boat manager Sara Young, who is a classy professional. Sara is the kind of person who helps me continue as a leader in the Costa Rica fishing business and keep clients happy. Her e-mail to me shows how it should be done:

"Small problem on the Predator today with Ray Bleeker. The boat sucked up some plastic and messed up a pump. Thankfully this was after one dorado was caught. Boat had to be pulled in. People are fine. We set them up with the Straight Up and they are going out tomorrow for a full day to make up for the loss today. Same price so no difference in money. (Husband and captain of the 32-foot Miss-Behav'in) Dave (Mothershead) hung with them on the dock earlier today and we spoke to them on the phone tonight. No problems. They are happy and all is well".

Thanks to captains/owners/managers like Sara, you're in good hands when you book with FishCostaRica. Call me toll-free — 1-800-634-0012, 1-800-399-8532, 1-866-978-5198 — or e-mail me at any time of year. I guarantee it: book with me and you'll be on a boat with one of the top captains fishing in Costa Rica, and can look forward to a terrific Costa Rica fishing adventure.

P.S.: About a week after we got back, Bobby called. He set another 16 IGFA world records in just two days. Amazing!

P.P.S: Happy Canada Day and 4th of July to my Canadian and American readers respectively.