Caribbean Fish Jumping, Pacific Coast Not as Lucky

BLUE skies and flat seas on the northern Caribbean coast have kept anglers happy, with fish jumping and most everyone getting a hookup at the mouth of the river, according to reports Monday from the Rio Colorado Lodge.

But news has not been as good on the Pacific, where billfish action should be in full-swing by now.

FISHING has been in the doldrums, with high water temperatures bringing action to a virtual standstill.

Wetass II skipper Sonny Kocsis fished out of Carrillo on the west cost of the nicoyaPeninsula, last week with the Phil Glasgow party. They did not see a fish in three days, so Kocsis gave them a fourth day free and they got lucky, with eight sails, a 175-pound blue marlin and a tuna to the boat. But that was the exception and Kocsis said it turned off again the next day.

Rick Ruhlow echoed a similar report on a cellular call from his boat the Kingfisher Monday, but said the Permit II went two for five on sails Sunday.

Fishing not been better for the boats out of Flamingo farther north off the coast of Guanacaste and Kocsis is getting a bit nervous since 160 fishermen are coming for his annual Michigan Boys tournament at the end of April into early May.

REPORTS are not better from the boats off the central Pacific region where anglers have been taking some hard licks this year, first with that several weeks of green water that slowed things to a standstill, as reported here previously, and now excessively warm water that has apparently sent the billfish offshore to cool off.

Bill Gannon, skipper on the Unique out of Quepos, said water temperature was at 90 degrees at the middle of last week, but was down to 86 degrees on Sunday.

“It has been very slow, with only a couple of small tuna and dorado on my boat last week,” Gannon said Monday. “There are four fly fishermen here scheduled to fish 14 days and after the first five days on the water, fishing different boats, they still haven’t seen a fish.”

The only good news heard from the west coast was a telephone call from Dave Shear from Florida to say he returned home after a day of the most incredible surf fishing he had ever seen.

“THOUSANDS of pelicans were working a huge sardine school around the river mouth at Playa Langosta (in Guanacaste), where I have a condo,” he said. “Jack Crevalle were beaching themselves as they came in on the sardines, and in addition to the jacks, I caught jack crevalle to 30 pounds, 15 red snapper to five pounds, a small snook and even a shark, all in 90 minutes.”

Shear said even the local residents were loading up using handlines. Action was right in front of the Los Pinillas Golf Course, he added.