The Catch: Costa Rica

- Season 1

(2008)

The contestants touch down in beautiful Costa Rica, arriving at the Rio Colorado Lodge via a boat cruise down the Rio Colorado. We meet our 12 challengers, all vying for the prize of $50,000 and the title of Ultimate Fisherman: Ashley, Caroline, Cassie, Dante, Ed, George, Georgia, Jay, Leah, Marty, Mike and Yelena. They meet their hostess, Aurelia Riley, and their first local fishing expert, Rio Colorado Lodge Owner Dan Wise, who gives them their first fishing lesson. The contestants are then paired at random to fish for smaller river fish. Once the points are added ...

Beneath the murky flow of the Rio Colorado lies a giant. Having cut their teeth on the exotic species of the Rio Colorado back waters, twelve challengers go head to head with one of the legends of sport fishing, the tarpon. As frustrations mount and threaten the very core of these novices, find out who strikes first in round one of this exciting two-part episode

12 fishermen, all after the same elusive tarpon, and no one's gotten their hands on one yet. This streak has to end sometime and it finally does as the tarpon start hitting the lines and the points begin to rack up. But which team will catch the most? And which angler will have an emergency at home and ask the unthinkable from the other contestants? And it all ends here for two competitors, as the group goes into it's first dramatic vote off.

George and Yelena are gone so the remaining 10 anglers leave The Rio Colorado Lodge and head to their second location, all the way across the country to Playa Zancudo. It's a new house and a whole new set of fish they're pursuing. Their first target: the dorado. The teams find their newest prey much easier to come by than the tarpon, as they vie for position, getting closer to another elimination.

Ed shocks the other contestants by breaking a rule and leaving Mike to fish on his own. One team has a technical problem that knocks them way down the standings, and as the second elimination draws near, two more anglers must say goodbye.

Marty devises a new plan with fairness in mind, but not everyone is on board, creating a generational divide between the remaining anglers. And the sailfish continue to hit the lines as they surge ahead towards another elimination.

The new strategy continues to create a divide between the contestants. One team makes a monumental effort toward pulling themselves out of the bottom four. But will it be enough to keep them from elimination in the most shocking vote off ceremony yet?

The previous vote off breeds some bad blood within the group. And every fish counts, as the three remaining teams head back out on the water to battle it out for the one spot out of the bottom four.

With very few fish caught so far in this round, three teams savor every fish they catch. Leading up to the final vote off, one contestant breaks the trust of the entire group, causing the most emotional vote off yet.

The final four make the move to Corcovado, on the Osa Peninsula, now fishing in an every-man-for-himself battle to be the Ultimate Fisherman. When Ashley cuts her foot and misses an entire day of fishing, she has an uphill climb ahead of her. Can she pull out of the bottom spot or will she fall short and be the next to go home?

Now down to only three-one man and two women-the contestants go out for another round to see who stays and who goes. A personal record is set for sailfish caught, but a poor second day performance has more than one contestant asking, "will I be next?"

The head-to-head battle between Ashley and Georgia for the title of Ultimate Fisherman begins. They draw for new boats, The Sea Lady and The Wild Lady, as they head out on the open seas to begin the two round sprint to the finish line.

After one round, the head-to-head battle between Ashley and Georgia is neck and neck. Using all the angling skills they've learned along the way, the final two head out for their last days of fishing. Who will come out on top? Who will suffer the heartbreak of defeat? Who will be crowned Ultimate Fisherman and win $50,000? It all ends here.