Costa Rica Fishing Hitting High Stride Everywhere

FISHING is gettingbetter by the dayon the Pacific, snookare in solid at theBarra del Coloradoon the Caribbean andfishing is pretty fairon Lake Arenal innorth-central CostaRica, although thewater is still high atthe lake and most ofthe rainbow bass are running small and hittingsurface lures along the shoreline.White Magic skipper Forrest Zielke,out of the Sanctuary Resort and Spa on thenorthern Pacific coast, said the water is stillgreen up to 23 miles offshore, but on Nov.8 they raised five sailfish and brought inthree for release along with a blue marlinestimated at 220 pounds.Water conditions improved two dayslater when they raised five sails, scored abig dorado and then hit a big school oftuna, with three and four hookups going atthe same time, Zielke added.At Los Sueños Marina, Julie Kieldsenreports the central coastal action is alsogoing strong as evidenced by RogerGoodwin and Skip Quigley, who releaseda 200-pound blue marlin taken on 30-pound line along with five sails and sevendorado that ran 20-45 pounds.A report from Costa Rica Dreams,fishing that same area Nov. 11-13, documented16 sailfish, three marlin, 39 tuna,38 dorado, one wahoo and a lone roosterfish.That heavy rain on the northernCaribbean coast, as reported here lastweek, disappeared as fast as it came up butwas followed by off-and-on showers,according to Río Colorado Lodge ownerDan Wise, who reports great fishing andbright outlook for the special calba tripwe’ve been telling you about this Saturdayand Sunday.Wise said Tom Larkins, fromJackson, Mississippi, fished two days fortarpon, with seven releases last Friday.The next day, the two of them went calbafishing in the river and caught eight drum,a gar, 15 mojarra, three guapote and 15nice calba.“Then Tom decided to get out of theboat and fish the beach at Agua Dulce forbig snook and throwing a Bomber jighooked three in the 40 pound range, andgot on to get one to shore, fishing with amedium-heavy action rod and 12-poundtest line spooled on an Amabassador 5500reel,” Wise added.Another angler went tarpon fishing,and his wife decided she didn’t want tobounce around on a boat, so fished snookfrom shore at the river mouth, hookingfour and landing two that weighed in at 18and 12 pounds, the Río Colorado Lodgeowner added.For more info on fishing or assistance inplanning a trip to Costa Rica, contact Jerryat jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com orvisit www.costaricaoutdoors.comSkippers, operators and anglers areinvited to e-mail or call Jerry with fishingreports by Wednesday of each week. Call orfax: 282-6743 if calling from Costa Rica, orthrough the e-mail address above.