Staleys follow dream to Costa Rica
from the Captain’s Vault
By TERRY TOMALIN
Published Aug. 23, 1991
Tampa Bay Times
Have you ever dreamed of walking into your boss’ office some Monday morning and dropping a resignation letter on the desk? “See you later,” you say with a confident smile. “I’m going fishing.”
The thought may have crossed your mind once or twice, but if you’re like most people, your mortgage, car payment and stack of credit card bills quickly brought you back to reality.
“What am I nuts?” you might have said to yourself. “Give up everything that I’ve worked for to follow some dream? I must be crazy!”
But being called crazy never bothered Todd Staley.
“I’ve always been crazy about fishing,” Staley said. “Find something you love to do, then try to make a living at it. That’s the key to life.”
And that is what Staley plans to do. Next month, the 37-year-old former telephone technician and his wife Jennifer will embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
They’ve sold their cars, furniture and television sets, and stocked up on all those little amenities that are hard to find in the jungle: shampoo, razors and dental floss. In three weeks, they’ll pack up their fishing rods and Hawaiian shirts, then take off for tropical Costa Rica.
There, Staley will assume the helm of the Rio Colorado Lodge, a 36-guest fishing resort, nestled in the rain forest at the mouth of a tarpon-filled river. Jennifer, who until recently operated a local guide referral service, will oversee the lodge’s kitchen and housekeeping services.
“Part of my duties will be to experiment with new fishing methods,” Staley said. “Occasionally, I’ll have to go out and fish with some of the guides to evaluate the way they interact with the customers.”
In a roundabout way, Staley’s job as a telephone repairman started him on the path to the Rio Colorado. In 1985, he was fixing the phones at a beach resort where a motivational speaker was talking.
Staley doesn’t remember the speaker’s name, but he does remember the message _ follow your dream.
His dream was to build a career in the sportfishing industry. So Staley developed “Toad Fish Salt Water Scent,” a fish-oil-based fish attractor.
“It worked great,” he said. “But financially it was a failure.”
His next venture was an artificial lure designed to catch tarpon in the world-renowned Boca Grande Pass. In his garage, Staley and his partner made 3,000 jigs, named after the depth of the pass _ 12 Fathom _ and distributed them to tackle shops in the Boca Grande area.
“We had to beg them to carry them on consignment,” he said. “They sold out in three weeks.”
The business flourished and eventually somebody from this area took a few jigs to the Rio Colorado Lodge. The jig performed well, and the lodge’s owner, Archie Fields, began stocking them in his tackle shop.
Staley visited the lodge in 1989 and it was love at first sight. “I knew that one way or another I would find a way to live there,” he said. “There were 12 of us fishing, two to a boat, and at one point we all had fish on.”
In 1990, Staley returned and hunted for tarpon in the lagoons, deep in the jungle. “It was like fishing in a freshwater lake,” he said, “but instead of catching bass, you’re jumping 30- to 80-pound tarpon.”
Staley told Fields that if a job ever opened up at the lodge, he’d be interested. And this summer his dream came true.
“Half of (my friends) are jealous, the other half think I’m crazy,” he said. “But I didn’t want to be an old man in some nursing home thinking . . . I should have done this.”
Staley hopes to introduce the Costa Ricans to new fishing techniques. The guides, natives of Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, currently use floating plugs in the river, sinking lures in the lagoons and jigs in the ocean.
“They don’t use any live bait,” Staley said. “I plan to bring two cast nets down with me. They’ll be the first those guides have ever seen.”
Staley said the lodge has all the comforts of home, including electricity, a satellite dish and ceiling fans in every room. There are no roads in the area, so locals access the lodge by river. But with an air strip, he’s only a 70-mile plane ride from the capital, San Jose, when it comes time to buy a special anniversary present for his wife.
As a fishing columnist for Boaters Monthly and the Beacon-Leader-Bee weekly newspapers, Todd Staley’s humorous and informative columns earned him a following in the fishing community.
Active members of the Florida Conservation Association, Florida League of Anglers and the Old Salt Fishing Club, the Staley’s will be missed. But can you blame them for following a dream?
