Yellowfin Tuna Sportfishing in Costa Rica

Fish for Yellow Fin Tuna while in Costa Rica

YELLOWFIN TUNA

Yellow Fin Tuna caught off the Costa Rican coastYellowfin Tuna are another candidate vying for ‘tastiest fish in the sea’. Yellowfin Tuna are caught all year off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. Anglers who fish Costa Rica will enjoy targeting this beautiful offshore species, colored with metallic, dark blue on the back and upper sides, changing to yellow and silver on the belly. The dorsal and anal fins, and the finlets on top, are bright yellow.

See Which Charters Target Yellowfin Tuna in Costa Rica

Like other tuna, this highly migratory species prefers to swim in deep, oceanic waters in search of food. However, especially off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, Yellowfin Tuna will run closer to shore.

Fish Costa Rica to catch 200lb Yellowfin

Yellowfin Tuna are usually the size of an American football, but can reach up to 300lbs. Yellowfin Tuna from football size to over 40lbs come and go all year long, but the giants between 100 and 200 pounds are found in the South Pacific May-July; June through September are normally the best months for 200 pounders in the Central Pacific; while in the North Pacific, the big guys come in a month or two later.

Once the fish is hooked, anglers who are sportfishing in Costa Rica are in for a spectacular fight. A Yellowfin has to constantly swim, and is one big muscle.

When hooked, Yellowfin will fight hard by diving deep. After hooking, hauling up and boating a few larger Tuna, anglers will know they have been royally tested. The reward for stiff arms, however, is often a plate of tasty, super fresh sashimi; most Costa Rican sport fishing captains carry soya sauce and wasabi just in case.

Bright lures for Costa Rica fishing

Huge yellow fin tuna and other tuna species are being caught in Costa RicaAnglers who go after Yellowfin Tuna on Costa Rica fishing trips usually catch them by trolling brightly-colored lures. Hunt for Yellowfin as you would for other gamefish; Yellowfin will bite on the same lures and ballyhoo rigs that are used to catch Sailfish and Marlin.

A yellow and red plastic skirt trolled at the surface at 10 to 12 knots is an effective method, but it is often best to mix up the lures to see what they bite on a given day. Perhaps big and purple, perhaps small and green. Chrome jet heads are also effective.

Look for the Porpoises, find the Tuna

When you go offshore with your Costa Rican sportfishing captain, make sure you look for birds such as Shearwaters that are active and organized. Yellowfin Tuna are usually found feeding with Dolphins/Porpoises, especially Spinner Porpoises. If you can find feeding Porpoises, you can target Yellowfin Tuna with cedar plugs and deeper running trolling lures like the green machine.

For the really big guys, live bait such as Sardines and Skipjack is best. Get in front of the feeding pack and drop your live bait down, hold on, and enjoy an epic battle.

Other things to look for while fishing for Yellow fin tuna fish from Costa Rica.

Costa Rica Charters for Yellowfin Tuna

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