Once the pandemic finally loosened its grip on our lives, there was a collective impatience to break those chains, escape that endless solitary confinement, and explore.
Some people decided to let their sense of adventure take them beyond the backyard, the nearby river, or the closest state park.
Phil Longacre took that notion and stretched it a bit further. He recently boarded a plane in Detroit, flew to Atlanta, stepped on board another commercial jet, and after a much longer flight, walked down the jetway in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The journey continued with a long drive through the rainforest to this town on the Pacific coast of the Central American nation.
It was a trip with a purpose for the 90-year-old Toledoan and his wife Lois – Longacre had a few entries on his fishing bucket list that needed immediate attention. Longacre had been to Costa Rica before, fishing on the boat “Pacific Fly” owned by his son-in-law Scott Kozak and Scott's wife, Longacre's daughter Alix.
“I had caught just about everything they have down there, but I never got a tuna,” Longacre said. “So that was my deal – I wanted to get a tuna.”
Kozak's crew took Phil about 40 miles offshore, where the Pacific plunges to about 8,000 to 9,000 feet deep. The tuna were chasing baitfish in that area and feeding near the surface. Jigging a plastic squid about 12 inches long and rigged on a No. 8 hook tied to an 80-pound test fluorocarbon leader, Longacre was ready to close the deal on his tuna.
“I guess the structure of the bottom of the ocean there pushes water up toward the surface and a lot of times that's where they find the baitfish,” the retired Owens-Illinois executive said. “And when you find the baitfish, you usually find the tuna.”
Within about a half an hour span, Longacre caught two tuna, ranging in weight from 25 to 40 pounds.
“For a fish that size, they fight like hell,” Longacre said.
The Pacific Fly crew filleted the tuna onboard and treated Longacre to the freshest sashimi you can find for lunch. Alix prepared tuna steaks for that evening's meal.
“That was a big deal for me, because I had heard all of the stories about how exciting it was to hook a tuna, and about the fight they put up, so I really wanted to catch a tuna,” Longacre said. “But I'm 90 years old, so I guess anything I can do like that is going to be exciting.”
There was more excitement in store for the angling nonagenarian. Although it was a lesser priority, Longacre had not yet caught his first red snapper – a denizen of irregular ocean floor structure and a prize for anglers since it ranks as a prime culinary treat.
So on another day during his Costa Rica stay, the crew took Longacre about 26 miles out into the Pacific where the ocean bottom rises from a depth of 500 feet up to about 100 feet and is very rocky — ideal red snapper habitat. This was vertical fishing with a lot of weight and a chunk of squid for bait.
“That fish was really hard to get to the surface,” Longacre said about his giant red snapper, which was in the 40-pound range. “That might be the longest I've ever fought a fish. It was a relief to get it in the boat.”
Longacre also caught some mahi-mahi on the trip, but the excitement might have peaked a second time when he tied into a sailfish. After about 10 minutes of battling the fish while standing in the back of the boat, Longacre moved into the fighting chair and the wrestling match continued for another 20 or 30 minutes.
“The captain is higher up and he saw the fish first and started hollering, so everyone raced into action,” he said. “The fish made some strong runs and jumped a lot. It was thrilling.” After a quick picture, the sailfish was released.
Kozak, the owner of Manchester Roofing in Toledo, also operates a charter fishing service here. His fishing clients come from all over the globe, but taking his father-in-law fishing was a special time for Kozak and his Costa Rican crew.
“Alix and we’re we’re very excited to get Phil and Lois down to visit with us this year,” Kozak said. “Due to the pandemic, they had not traveled for two years and with them being 90 years old now, we had to do it. It was great getting him on the boat since Phil loves to fish and he really wanted that tuna.”
Longacre, a native of California who in 1954 went to work for O-I right out of college as an industrial engineer, was transferred to Toledo in 1972 and retired in 1990 after 36 years. During that time, he also did a 10-year stint in Japan, heading up the O-I operations in the Far East. Now Costa Rica is at the top of his travel destinations.
“It's the people, the scenery, the country – Costa Rica is such a nice place. I enjoy it even when I'm not fishing,” he said. “I wish I would have stayed another month.”
First Published March 19, 2022, 12:00 p.m.
