August Sportfishing Report Costa Rica
Those who have been receiving this newsletter for the past while have all heard this song over and over again: if you want to fish with the top captains during the great December-March sailfish bite off Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast, book NOW!
Never more true than for the 2007 season; as I write this, two of our most popular larger boats out of Los Sueños Marina in the 38 to 42-foot range are completely unavailable for January and February. Ditto for one of Golfito’s top captains – Bobby McGuinness has only 3-4 scattered days.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, fishing here has been solid, if not spectacular. Sam Gray, his son and daughter-in-law fished a full day on the 30-foot Hoo’s Up out of Los Sueños. Sam phoned in to tell me that his catch amounted to two sails – a 90-pounder brought to the boat after some acrobatic jumps five minutes after the lines were baited; a 100-pounder (a bit of a wuss) caught an hour later – a small dorado, and the highlight of the day: a 60-pound rooster that gave Sam’s son a great fight before being released, both hunter and prey completely exhausted.
Aaron Spak writes: “Our two days fishing were FANTASTIC! We can’t wait to go back for a ‘serious’ fishing trip! (On Day 1 offshore on the 32-foot Blue Water II out of Quepos) we caught some dorado quickly after setting out the spread – nothing huge but perfect dinner size. We were trolling when I got my first glimpse of a sailfish… the black sail slicing through the wake was downright electrifying. He didn’t take but it sure got my interest.
“A while later we got a repeat performance, but this time a moment later one of the inside lines went tight and the mate (Danny) was right on it. The sail did everything they are ‘supposed’ to do and it was amazing to see it finally in person! I fought him for about 15 min before we got him in for the photo op.
“They said that we were the only boat to see two sails that day – only one other boat got even one – so we were pretty happy. (Of course, maybe they just said that to make us feel good)…
“We had a blast on the 30-foot Tranquilo II (half day inshore). The captain (Francisco Barrantes) and mate were both class acts and we were fishing about 20 minutes from the pier. It wasn’t long before both of our rods were bent and the roosters were on. Mine broke off (must have found the rocks) but Mary landed a whopper! In all we landed five fish out of eight or nine, the largest estimated at 60 lbs (I’ll trust the captain on that). They fought great, and honestly, were a much better battle than the sail. What a great fish.
“The boats we were on were A+. Thank you very much for your help in booking!”.
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Always nice to hear from satisfied clients, and to be constantly reassured that the captains we book know how to catch fish.
FISHING PICKED UP ALONG COSTARICA’S PACIFIC COAST
Having said that, it wasn’t all gloom and doom either. Things picked up pretty well everywhere along the Pacific coast as of early March, and are going strong. Alex Johnson, who fished with seven of his buddies at the beginning of March out of Los Sueños Marina on the 38-foot Tres Amigos with Captain Willy Hatch, and the 36-foot Hoo’s Your Daddy with Kevin Cowles, waxed enthusiastic: “Here are some of the pics from our trip”, he writes. “DAMN did we have a great time, and I can’t think of a better way for me to have a bachelor party. Absolute chaos!
“Anyway, our final tally was five sailfish, one about 150lbs, two nice wahoo, several small yellowfin, several bonitas, and a couple of snapper off the bottom late in the day… but all it took was my sailfish to make it worth every penny”.
Kent Mason and his lady fished out of Carillo/Samara with Captain Luis Ruiz on the 40-foot Plautus which came down from Flamingo for three days. “Had a great trip”, Kent reported. “On (February) 8 we caught one sail and one striped marlin. On the 9th, it was slow – we saw 10 sails and two marlin, but landed only one sail. The 10th was great: we caught two sails and one small blue marlin. We saw a 400-500lb blue marlin but couldn’t get it to bite”.
Fred Voegeli and his wife Nancy came down from Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada for a day’s fishing on the 26-foot Predator out of Los Sueños with Captain Dave Mothershead. “Thanks for arranging our day aboard the Predator. Nancy and I had a really good day on the water. Skipper Dave and mate RJ were great hosts and certainly know their business. It took about an hour to reach the fishing grounds and we put lines in the water at about 8:30 AM. At 9:00 AM we had our first strike. As you know we had not fished for billfish before, but Nancy and I both landed our first sailfish. We had about ten strikes, hooked up four times and caught three sailfish”.
Don Fink and his friend spent three days fishing in Costa Rica on the 38-foot Barbarrosa out of Los Sueños. His comments were right to the point: “Day 1: seven sails, one wahoo, one dorado and one tuna. Day 2: seven sails and three dorado. Day 3: inshore disaster (shut out). Captain and mates were great”.
Finally, this note from Rich Burns, who really enjoyed his day on the Tres Amigos with Captain Willy Hatch: “Although the fishing started out slowly, by 2:00 PM the action was fast and furious. We caught four sailfish in about an hour and a half, and had a couple more follow the teasers. The largest was 120 inches and weighed 160lbs. We also caught a 150, 130 and a 90lb sail. The boat, the crew and the equipment were first class. I would recommend this trip for anyone looking for a great billfishing experience”
GET DAILY COSTA RICA FISHING UPDATES ON TWITTER
Even though I’m not the youngest guy on the block, I can still come up with some nifty high-tech ideas to promote the captains we work with, fishing in Costa Rica in general — and naturally, my Fish Costa Rica and Americana Sportfishing companies. It’s happening on Twitter.
Click on costaricafishin. This will take you right to our Twitter site. You’ll get daily updates, three to five each day, on how our Costa Rica fishing captains are doing in fishing destinations throughout the country, and on the fishing situation in general.
Or even better, join Twitter yourself. It’s pretty easy; all you have to do is click here, and follow the simple directions to open your account. Once you’ve done that, go to the top right of your own Twitter page, click on ‘Find People’ and type in ‘costaricafishin’. Become a regular follower of costaricafishin and receive our updates on what’s happening with sportfishing in Costa Rica.
Tell your fishing friends to join and follow us on Twitter as well. And if you have questions, you can ask us via your Twitter account. Either I myself or my associate Mark Sydney will reply. Remember you only have 140 characters to work with on Twitter, and that’s all we have to answer with.
Making this even more incredible is that my erstwhile high-school buddy and current SEO Kip Ives in La Jolla CA, who keeps us right at the top of the Google search engine rankings for prime keywords such as ‘Costa Rica fishing’, ‘fishing in Costa Rica’, ‘Costa Rica sportfishing’, ‘sportfishing in Costa Rica’, etc., has written a script that automatically relays and posts my Twitter updates (with a few hours time lapse) at the bottom of this page. Click on any of the posts below, and you’re forwarded to Twitter!
So if you want the latest Costa Rica fishing news, go either to my Twitter page or to this page. And to charter the world-class captains featured in our updates, call me toll-free — 1-800-407-9438, 1-800-399-8532, 1-866-978-5198 — or e-mail me. The captains we charter are among the best fishing in Costa Rica. You won’t be disappointed. By the way, we have a new 800 number: 1-800-407-9438. That’s the best number to call me from the U.S. and Canada.
Repeat client Rick Scussell was here in-mid July to fish a half day inshore with Captain Oli Siquiera on the 27-foot Magalita and then a full day offshore with Captain Jerry on the 26-foot Predator, both boats out of Los Sueños Marina in the Central Pacific. Rick’s sail with Jerry (right) and some pretty nice jack with Oli (top left) were highlights of his trip.
He wrote me just before sending these photos: “Best yet, caught and released a big sail. Jerry is great, want to book for March.” Rick has pushed his Costa Rica fishing trip a bit forward since he wrote that: he’ll be fishing two days on the Predator in February when the world-class sail bite off the Central Pacific coast (Quepos and Los Sueños) should be at its peak.
Speaking of February, sails and the Central Pacific, I’m going to start my annual theme which I will repeat in every newsletter until the end of the year: if you, your family or your buddies are thinking of a fishing trip in January/February/March to take advantage of that Central Pacific sail bite, the time to start pinning your trip down is right now so that Fish Costa Rica can book you with the top captains fishing in Costa Rica on the days you want.
Off the top of my head I know that two very popular boats out of Los Sueños, the 42-foot Dragin Fly and the 38-foot Macushla, already have virtually no open days in February, and their January and March calendars are filling up quickly. If I take time to phone around, I’m certain to get similar scenarios from other captains/owners. Top boats do have open days, but to get the ones you want without having to juggle, call me toll-free — 1-800-407-9438, 1-800-399-8532, 1-866-978-5198 — or e-mail me as soon as you are ready with days, etc., and FishCostaRica/Americana Sportfishing will put together a great Costa Rica fishing adventure for you.
I look forward to hearing from you. And don’t forget that I have some gorgeous ocean and mountain view lots (the photo at left was taken right near my property), ranging from one and a quarter to just under four acres, for sale at my Lomas Coronado development on the lovely South Pacific coast. That area is one of the most beautiful in Costa Rica, it’s eco-friendly, and the fishing both offshore at the nearby Furuno Bank and inshore is great. Next time you travel to Costa Rica, we can plan a trip down for you to see the 29 lots at Lomas on a free day when you’re not fishing.
