Lady anglers at Quepos prove that they sure can catch billfish

History was made last week at the Pescadora (female angler) Billfish Championshp at Pez Vela Marina at Quepos on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast, as lady anglers from 18 countries racked up their releases in the run to be Female Angler of the Year.

A total of 515 billfish were released over two days by 81 women anglers on 22 boats. It was the most billfish released at any ladies-only tournament anywhere. This was an average of 23 fish per boat!

Day 1 ended with a total of 241 sailfish releases, along with two marlin. Day two was even better. A total of 42 billfish were released in just the first hour! Team Thunder Ladies on the CaribSea released a Grand Slam with a sailfish, a blue marlin and a black marlin. In all, 274 billfish were released during the day, making a total of 515 for the tournament.

The Thunder Ladies caught a blue marlin, a black marlin, 14 sailfish and a dorado on the CatibSea

Team Uno Mas was the overall winner with 49 billfish, followed by second-place winners Big Oh with 44 billfish. The Cinderella story goes to the ladies of Team Game Plan, three of whom had NEVER fished before – they released 40 billfish!

The winners! Team Uno Mas

Team Good Day Girls were on the smallest boat in the fleet, and managed to win the honors for the biggest yellowfin tuna, with a combined weight of 80lbs. Team Tipsea on the King and I won the Dorado Division with a huge 53lb dorado.

Maria Magalhaes and Lacy Ivancevic are the Pescadora Billfish Championship Female Anglers of the Year. Ivancevic, fishing on the Pelagic Magic, had 1500 points in the Hook & Hand Division.

Magalhaes, fishing on the Uno Mas, held her lead throughout the tournament, releasing 25 billfish. Fourteen of them were by IGFA release, making her the Female Angler of the Year in the IGFA Release Division. Congratulations to both.

The Pescadora Billfish Championship was also proud to announce that the ‘Pescadoras’ tagged the most billfish in two days anywhere in the world using the Gray FishTag model, with almost 200 tags being deployed.

So ladies (and guys too!), contact us now! FishCostaRica will hook you with Costa Rica’s finest charter captains. Enjoy amazing saltwater sportfishing, and emulate your sisters at the Pescadora.