Snook Hard to Find; World Records Reported

THE sun was out for the first time in weeks on the northwest coast, where anglers have been plagued by rain – no fishing reports from that region or farther south on the Pacific coast.On the Caribbean, however, the ocean has been flat, with only occasional showers of short duration this past week, according to Dan Wise of Río Colorado Lodge.He reported that Florida angler Peter Bowen, on a return visit after 15 years, jumped 25 tarpon in two and a half days on the water, and Dusan Uher and Dagmar Kalmarikova, from the Czech Republic, had similar action, with a lot of fish in the air, as well as a lot of jack crevalle and a few barracuda caught. Snook, which traditionally peak on the Caribbean coast in October, have been hard to find, as evidenced by the results of the annual National Fishing Club tournament the weekend before last.Only two were caught, one weighing in at 25 kilograms, battled to the beach by Alberto Gutiérrez, and the other a mere 1.52 kg, taken by Manrique Castro. Both were caught at the Parismina river mouth. I had an e-mail from Enrico Capozzi, the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) representative from Italy, who has based himself out of his 41-foot boat Spirit of Pilar in Costa Rica since 2001, fishing primarily for world records.With Capt. Scott Jones at the helm, mates Jimmy Brasher and José Moya, and Costa Rica skipper Bobby McGuiness aboard as guide, Capozzi and his friend Stacey Parkerson were at Golfito, on the southern Pacific coast, in July, where Parkerson established a new jack crevalle record of 13.2 pounds on 6-pound line, and Capozzi nailed a record 13 pound, 3 ounce jack crevalle for a new record on 6- pound line.Capozzi said they moved north to Carrillo in August and released about 50 sailfish offshore, then moved inshore on the Herradura Bank, where he established a new 8-pound-test sierra mackerel record of 11.04 pounds, and a 6-pound-test sierra mackerel record of 40 pounds, 4 ounces, besting a record for that species that had stood for 28 years.They fished Flamingo in September, and, during a three-day offshore bite, released seven marlin and 28 sailfish before green water moved in and shut down the offshore bite. Fishing inshore, Stacey set a new roosterfish record of 58 pounds, 12 ounces, on 130-pound test, and Capozzi, in an epic battle, scored a 44 pound, 4 ounce roosterfish for a new 8- pound-line class record.This brings the total number of records caught aboard the Spirit of Pilar to 56, with 46 of those caught in Costa Rica. Anglers on that boat also hold the men’s 2-, 4- and 6-pound-line test records on black marlin, the 4-pound record on striped marlin and the 6-pound record on Pacific blue marlin.For more info on fishing or assistance in planning a trip to Costa Rica, contact Jerry at jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com or visit www.costaricaoutdoors.com.Skippers, operators and anglers are invited to contact Jerry with fishing reports by Sunday of each week. Call or fax 282-6743 within Costa Rica or write to the e-mail address above.