Guanacaste Resident Lands Big Snapper

THE weather isbeautiful at BarraColorado, on thenorthern Caribbeancoast, with flat seasoutside the rivermouth, sunny skiesand temperatures inthe 90s, and the fishcooperating.We had a last-minutecall fromColorado fishermanMatthew Seering, who flew in to the RíoColorado Lodge early Monday morningand had two tarpon releases by lunchtimeon conventional tackle, and plans to givethe silver rockets a shot on his fly rod inthe afternoon.It is the first day of the three-day PresidentialChallenge tournament at Playa Carrillo,on the northern Pacific coast, as this iswritten, and with all the boats on the water,there are still no reports. I did talk to KittyCat skipper Bob Robb, who is not fishingthe tournament. He reported a good marlinbite to the north of there, so here’s hoping.Further south, on the central coast,Costa Rica Dreams reported that fromApril 21 to 30, their fleet released 224 sailfish,four marlin and a few dorado and tunaon the 20 boats they book out of LosSueños Marina.I had an emailfrom VernGoakes, who isinterested in buyinga boat inCosta Rica, askingabout a 38-foot Bertram. Ifanyone has such aboat on the block,send an e-mail togoakes@comcast.net.Guanacasteresident DaveShear sent us aphoto of an 18-kilogram (nearly40-pound) snapperhe caught fishing from shore at PlayaLangosta on April 22 (shown above). Ittook a live mullet, and Shear battled for anhour before he got it to the beach. He wasfishing 25-pound test line.He didn’t say just where it was caught,and I wouldn’t either… fishermen like tokeep those hotspots to themselves! Mysuggestion is to look for rocky structure,particularly around the river mouths, witha fast drop-off.Stu Apte, legendary fly and light-tackleangler, will host the First Annual StuApte Fly-fishing Sailfish Tournament Feb.1-3, 2006, out of Sailfish Rancho inGolfito, on the southern Pacific coast.Anglers will fish two-person teams,one team per boat, using 20-pound tippet.All fish will be released, and the tournamentis limited to 20 teams. The event is aqualifying tournament for the Rolex/IGFAOffshore Championship. Private boats areinvited. For more information, contactJoan Vernon at pezvelajv@aol.com.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.