Sails, Marlin Plentiful on Pacific

PLAYA Carrillois the hot spot formarlin on thePacific, with virtuallyall of the boatshooking marlindaily and at leastone Grand Slamreported, with a blueand striped marlinand a couple of sailstaken on the KittyKat, skipper Rob Gordon reported.On the White Magic, Mario Chávezhad two marlin in the air, releasing a 350-pound blue after an hour-long battle on 30-pound line, jumped a second marlin, a fewsails and some dorado.Another group on that boat last weekwent five releases for 13 sails for a full dayof fishing, going two for six on sailfish inthe air along with two marlin to the boatand a few dorado. Another day, they wentfive for 13 sails and raised two marlin butdidn’t get the latter to the boat, reporting alot of baitfish in the water.On the central coast, Jeanette Pérez ofJ.P. Fishing Tours said sails are plentiful,with boats running about 90 minutes out ofQuepos going six or seven releases a day,and seeing a few marlin, with ideal weatherand water conditions.All the way south, Todd Staley reportsfrom Crocodile Bay that sails have shownas normal for this time of year, with mostboats showing double-digit shots at themevery day, with schools of squid on the surfaceand the sails and dorado “munchingthem like popcorn at a B movie.”He adds that marlin usually thin out abit this month, returning in larger numbersin March, but last week every boat out ofthe lodge had a marlin in the spread, with afew in the 300-pound range landed.He also reports that rooster and Africanpompano action has kept inshore anglersbusy, and a few snapper have filled dinnerplates and snapped a rod or two.On the northern Caribbean coast, rainwas intermittent at Barra Colorado earlythis week, and the ocean rough on the outside,but the handful of anglers therejumped two tarpon at the river mouth onSunday and had another in the air Mondaymorning.For more info on fishing or assistancein planning a trip to Costa Rica, contactJerry at [email protected] visit www.costaricaoutdoors.com.Skippers, operators and anglers areinvited to contact Jerry with fishing reportsby Sunday of each week. Call or fax 282-6743 within Costa Rica or write to the emailaddress above.