Sailfish Bite Building, Fat Tuna Landed

THE sailfish bitecontinues to buildalong the Pacificcoast each day, butthe most impressivecatch reported lastweek was a 350-pound bluefin tuna,taken south of CaboVela aboard theWhite Magic byManos Mathioudkis(see photo).Skipper Forrest Zielke said it took theangler more than an hour to bring the bigbluefin to the boat, and the following daythey hooked an even larger tuna that brokeoff just below the surface after a long battle,leaving the despondent angler with only thebroken rod tip to take home as a souvenir.Forrest said they also released 10 sailfish intwo days along with a lot of small tuna.FISHING continues hot all along thecoast, as evidenced by a report from LosSueños Marina, where North Carolinaanglers Kenny Love, Jay Cheseldine, JeffStanton, Bill Wess and Robert Peeler, intwo days aboard the boat Sailfish withCapt. Bill Kieldsen, scored 23 sailfishreleases and landed three dorado in the 30-pound range.According to Bill, the highlight of thetrip was a triple sailfish hookup, and just asthe third was being released, the doradomoved in behind the boat.Received an e-mail from Tico Timessubscriber Charles Heiser, who said, “agroup of us (guys) will be in San José thesecond week of January and want to gofishing Jan. 13-19. Where do you suggestwe go for the best sail and marlin action?Also considering some snook fishing fromshore and wondering where is the best spotfor fishing? HELP!!!”CHARLIE adds that he fished on theHigh-Tec out of Quepos last January andwent nine for 14 sails, with one well over160 pounds, and that he can’t understandwhy the skipper doesn’t give me reports, as“it seems pretty silly not to.”Fishing should be good most any placealong the coast in January, from Golfito toPlaya Carrillo, and I couldn’t agree morewith Charlie’s assessment of the lack offishing reports. The same can be said for thevast majority of boat and lodge operators inCosta Rica. The Tico Times has a vast readership,the fishing reports also appear ontheir Web site and it doesn’t cost them anickel, only the time it takes to call me orsend an e-mail. My deadline is Sunday noonof each week.NO reports from anyone on theCaribbean coast as this is written, so assumevery few fishermen there, although I suspectthe snook are still hot and there may be tarponon the outside if weather permits boatsto get through the river mouth.For more information on fishing orassistance in planning a trip to Costa Rica,contact Jerry at jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com or visit www.costaricaoutdoors.com. You can also call 1-800-308-3394 toll-free from the U.S. and Canada.Skippers, lodge operators and anglersare invited to contact Jerry with fishingreports by Sunday of each week. Call or fax282-6743 if calling from Costa Rica, or emailthe address above.