Planning a fishing trip to Asia is a daunting task, not only because there seems to be less information available about Asian fisheries, but also because of the time, distance and expense in getting to them. We’re simply more aware of the bucket list options closer to home and more able to take advantage of them. Here are four that I want to try when I retire.

I’ve been fortunate to land fish in 25 states, and Hanna and I have traveled to numerous countries and multiple continents in pursuit of finned glory. That leaves a lot of water and species left to cover. Of course, it also leaves us with a bit of a conundrum – do we return to proven venues or seek out new options, with the possibility that they won’t be quite as good. I hope that we’ll be able to find that balance going forward.

This year due to an unlikely series of coincidences we ended up on Casa Vieja’s newest boat, a 48-footer named The Hooker. They’d just purchased it a few weeks earlier from Captain Skip Smith and driven it up the coast from Costa Rica.

Casa Vieja Lodge can’t control the weather or the fishing — although both have been exceptional each time we’ve visited — but they’re very conscious to knock it out of the park when it comes to variables they can control.