I talked to Captain Mike and his wife several times before booking my trip to try to catch a Roosterfish. The pickup at my hotel was on time, the boat was clean and well maintained. As far as fishing equipment all the poles was Penn and reels where Penn and Shimano. Spoke with Capt. Franklin when I got on the boat, he said we would first troll for some baitfish and maybe get lucky and catch a mahi mahi. We were lucky enough to be one of the few boats to catch baitfish, most of the other boats in the area were still trying to catch baitfish when my trip was ending. We trolled the baitfish around the rocks and small islands in the area we were fishing, I had several hookups but was unable the land a Roosterfish. One of my hookups must have been a cuda or a wahoo as it cut right through the leader. My other hookups were definitely Roosterfish, they completely broke our 100 pound leaders. Captain Franklin said that there have been some very big Roosterfish in the area that no one has been able to land. Before you knew it it was time to head back to shore and be dropped off at my hotel. Have to add a few other things, this was my 4th trip trying for a Roosterfish, this was the closest I came to catching one. Captain Franklin kept trying to apologize to me for us not being able to land my bucket list fish, I told me not to worry and that’s all part of fishing. He knew the area we were fishing in and knew the best way to catch the fish I was after, he should have not worried so much. One bit of advice for Captain Mike and his wife who set up the trip for me. If you are going to use a different Captain for one of your boats you should let your customer know ahead of time. I am from the USA and when you charter a trip when the captain is also the owner/operator we don’t usually tip them. Put when we use a boat that someone is being paid to Captain we usually tip. As I was expecting Captain Mike I did not bring any extra cash to tip Franklin. Moving forward please let your customers know!! With that said I will definitely book with them again next time I’m in Costa Rica.

The crew was actually interested in us catching fish. They did put out a great effort to guide us to the right spots. One of the best trips we ever had.

Wonderful experience, my sons will never forget it

The price for the trip was good. The communication between the owner and myself before I booked was quick and they communicated to is who our captain was going to be. Our captain, Capt Franklin was outstanding, I make trips to Costa Rica about every 6 to 12 months. Captain Franklin has been one of the better captains I’ve been out with in CR. Now to the bad, I asked the owner, know that we were only doing a 6 hour trip, about bottom fishing for snapper most of the day. The owner did not give the captain any gear for bottom fishing only trolling. The boat itself was in good shape, however the motor not so good. Withing 100 meters from shore the motor shut off and we spent the rest of the day, fighting with the motor, shutting off about every 5 minutes especially at trolling speed, which the only gear we had was for trolling. I kept having to steer the boat and crank the motor while the captain kept running to the fuel bulb to pressurize it. Even Capt Franklin was frustrated with the motor situation stating the owners should have cancelled due to the motor. Being a boat owner I know how things can go with boats and i stated that to Capt Franklin and he was appreciative that i wasn’t taking it out on him like other people might have. The only reason i gave 2 stars was because of Capt Franklin, he is independent so if anyone else books with this charter, you might not end up with him. We were lucky to end up with him, ended up catching a few bonita for bait, caught 1 mahi mahi and hooked a large black marlin. Aside from the issues with the motor the trip would have perfect, but considering I have my 12 y/o son with me. I was not happy with the engine cutting out about every 5-15 all day especially around the rocks when we are scrambling to get the boat started before the waves push us on the rocks with my son on board. Once again the owner, knowing what was going on with the boat, should’ve cancelled the trip especially with a kid on board. The only saving grace was Capt Franklin. For these reasons I do not reccomend this charter, if there would have been no issues with the boat and we had the proper gear to bottom fish I wouldve given them a way better rating and recommendation.