Tarpon action on the northern Caribbean coast continues wide open, with warm weather, clear skies and a continuing late-afternoon and early-morning bite at the river mouth and on the rip line.
Phil Hoover from Naples, Florida, on the fifth day of a seven-day trip Monday morning had jumped 30 tarpon and boated six, two of those on fly. He also took a break and went trolling one afternoon, nailing a 31- pound yellowfin tuna.
This was Hoover’s 50th visit to Río Colorado Lodge, as he comes twice a year to fish for seven to 10 days, in May and September, according to lodge owner Dan Wise.
Wise also reported that Don Kohn and wife Donna Beaird, along with his sisters Karen Kohen and Lisa Brunetti, all from Arkansas, caught a ton of fish, but lost count.
The girls all boated multiple tarpon, several more than 150 pounds. Don uses a wheelchair, but did not let that slow him down, spicing the tarpon action with several jacks and a barracuda or two over a two-day trip.
On the Pacific coast, we had no word at all from Golfito, in the south, so we assume fishing still continues on the slow side there as reported last week. Quepos Sailfish Charters sent the only report we have had from the central coast for early May, and that was through May 9, when Tim Grey on the Reel Deal released a 500-pound marlin, five sails and three tuna.
Earlier in the month, fishing two days on the same boat, Guid Reitdyk nailed four sails, six dorado and 13 tuna, Jack Key went for three sails, 15 tuna and 20 dorado, and Bill Answorth caught a 600-pound marlin, 10 sails, seven tuna and five dorado.
As expected this time of year, the major bite on the Pacific has moved north, with the best action from Carrillo to Tamarindo, although Pete Scott, a resident of the western San José neighborhood of Rohrmoser, said he and fishing buddy Gene Pella fished two half-days at Drake Bay, on the southern Pacific coast, with Fred Maschmeier, catching wahoo, tuna, jacks, bonito and mackerel.
They stayed at Maschmeier’s Ojalá Hotel, budget-priced and with home-cooked meals included, and give the accommodations, boat and fishing rave reviews. For more information on this little-known fishing opportunity, call 380-4763.
On the northern Pacific coast, Capullo skipper Steve Curtis reported Monday that fishing isn’t red hot, but steady, with sails andsome marlin being found everywhere, from two to 20 miles out, and everyone up there is catching fish.He reports a lot of trash lines in recent days, attracting clouds of dorado, small tuna and the occasional wahoo.
We heard back from Larry Silverstein with more information on that 250-pound marlin caught only 200 yards from the beach off Playa Guacamaya, just north of Flamingo, as reported here last week.
Silverstein is a real estate developer from Maryland who has some acreage between Potrero and Ocotal, and chartered the boat Griffin to take him and his group from the Four Seasons to his property.
One of his guests trolled on the way, setting the teasers and three lines.
“Within a minute or two the marlin was hooked and the rod was handed to me and… we saw the marlin leaping behind the boat,” Silverstein reported. “I had the fish to the boat within 20 minutes and then it ran back out. About one hour later we finally got the fish to the side and released it (at a point) you could have swum to shore, as we had directed the boat to cruise along the shoreline for a tour for my guests.”
Silverstein added that the next day they chartered a boat out of Los Sueños, on the central Pacific coast, went out about 20 miles and caught only two small dorado.
Skippers, lodge operators and anglers are invited to contact Jerry with fishing reports by noon Monday of each week; call 282-6743 or e-mail jruhlow@racsa.co.cr.
