Chris Jessen from Fish Tank Sportfishing gives us the low down on Sailfish mecca Los Sueños resort in Costa Rica
If you've followed Invincible on Instagram over the past few months you'll have no doubt seen Fish Tank Sport Fishing pop up.
Husband and wife Team Chris & Laura Jessen spend their days trolling for Sailfish in the paradise of Los Sueños Resort, Costa Rica.
They run a sportfish boat "Fish Tank" and an 36' Invincible Open Fisherman "Bait Tank"
Chris was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk to me about some of their amazing achievements Sportfishing the Costa Rican Waters
Lets get into it.....
I picked up on your journey when I saw that you were shipping your boats through the Panama Canal to Los Sueños in Costa Rica and that you're serious about Sportfishing - that must have been one epic journey?
Getting boats here is not the easiest thing to do logistically and this time we were sending two including our 2015 Invincible, “Bait Tank”. COVID-19 did not make anything any easier.
Can you tell me a little bit about the History of Fishtank Sportfishing for anyone who isn't familiar with your story?
My wife Laura and I went to Tropic Star Lodge in 2008 with a group of friends and had an incredible time and incredible fishing. We knew then that we were hooked and had to get a bigger boat to chase billfish. In 2010 we ordered our first sport fish boat and took delivery in November 2011. We first took it to Montaulk New York to catch Tuna then down to the keys for the winter. From the keys we went to the Dominican Republic, back to Miami and again to The DR for one more season before bringing it on its own bottom through the canal ultimately ending up in Costa Rica. We have also taken the boat from Costa to Cabo and Nicaragua and back.
We are now halfway through our 7th season in Costa Rica - I can't believe it - and have caught more than 9000 billfish since 2015!
Can you tell me a bit about the fishing out there? All I seem to see on your feed are a constant stream of Sailfish and Marlin!!
On the big boat it’s mainly trolling ballyhoo and fishing teasers.
On the Invincible, we do a lot of Rooster Fishing, bottom fishing, Black Marlin live bait fishing (we have caught a bunch on that boat), corvina fishing etc. Bringing that boat here in 2018 was one of the best things we ever did. We have had countless people aboard and had countless adventures. We can just do things on it that you simply can not do on a sport fish.
"We can just do things on the Invincible you simply can not do on a sport fish."
We currently have 14 top 3 finishes and 9 other top 10 finishes in the last 6 years and won the Triple Crown in Los Suenos in 2019. We are currently about to fish Leg 3 of the 2021 Triple Crown which counts for 2020 as well because of COVID. It’s a huge tournament for us.
She one of the best anglers male or female most of us have ever seen. Clearly, I taught her everything she knows...
We finally sold the boat but that’s a story for another day. Yes, we are rapidly approaching 10,000 total.
We absolutely love that boat. Fresh paint, new motors, new upholstery and updated stereo. The boat could not be more perfect for what we do with it here. I doubt many people have caught a Black Marlin and a Roosterfish on an Invincible in the same day.
What's on the horizon for the rest of 2021?
There are a couple more Tournaments and then we get ready to send the big boat to Cabo for the Tournaments there and the Striped Marlin season in Mag Bay.
Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
Sure, are you a psychologist?
My cue to play that's a story for another day card! Chris, it's been great speaking with you about your journey - like all of our readers - I'd love to catch up with you again later in the season to see how it has been going?
It's been a Crazy season here so far. It'd be great to catch up again!
Massive thanks to Laura for volunteering Chris' time to talk to me!
And of course for all of the amazing images they continue to share on social media, go give them a follow:-
instagram.com/fishtanksportfishing/
facebook.com/FishTankSportfishing
Till next time!
All the Best
Olly