WE have beengetting the sort offishing you onlydream about.Temperatures onthe northern Caribbeancoast havebeen in the mid-90s,skies are blue andthe surf is down.According to reportsfrom the Río ColoradoLodge, the tarponare everywhere, with fish at the rivermouth, on the outside and back in the rivers.And not only tarpon are being caught.Veteran guide Eddie Brown last weekcaught a 140-pound big-eye tuna andhooked three sailfish off Tortuguero whilefishing for tarpon, and another sail washooked just outside Barra Colorado.According to Dan Wise at the RíoColorado Lodge, they are seeing free jumpingsails every day.“Fish are normally up the river this timeof year, and this is more like the fishing weget in September and October,” he said.On the Pacific coast, Costa RicaOutdoors clients from Tennessee PhilGlasgow and Joe Sullivan are back again,and last Saturday went 15 sailfish releasesfor 28 in the air, with Sonny Kocsis on theWetass II. When we talked to Sonny bycellular early Sunday, they had gone fourfor eight, fishing toward Cabo Blancoabout four miles out, he said.No reports from anyone in Quepos orJacó, on the central Pacific coast, and callsto a couple of operators there on Sundaywent unanswered, so I can only surmisethe fishing is not something they want totalk about.At Puerto Jiménez, on the southernPacific coast, Crocodile Bay fishing managerTodd Staley wrote that last month was“the weirdest March I’ve seen since weopened six years ago. The weather wasfunny, the fish were funny, and the wholething was not funny.“Folks really had to work for their billfish,and just when the bite picked up, itwould drop back off. The past five days, alloffshore boats have posted 10 or morereleases, so I think it is back to normal. Afew marlin are popping up and dorado to50 pounds have been taken, and inshorefishing is consistent with big roosters andsnapper from five to 40 pounds.”Just got word that a new fishing lodgewill open late this month on the SierpeRiver, fishing four anglers in four new,fully-rigged Apex boats, just a short run upthe river from Drake Bay, on the OsaPeninsula on the southern Pacific coast,with plans to fish up to 30 miles out fromthe river mouth.The Sierpe River itself is relativelyuntouched by fishermen, other than localsfishing with hand-lines for the dinner table,and I have heard reports of immensePacific black snook being caught there.This is one of the few areas I have notfished in my 20 years in Costa Rica, so Iwill be making an exploratory trip there assoon as they get in full operation. Staytuned for more information.For more info on fishing or assistance inplanning a trip to Costa Rica, contact Jerryat jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com orvisit 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.
