Marlin bite good on Pacific; calba action hot on Río San Juan

Marlin was the main attraction this week as the lady in the blue dress entertained anglers along the entire Pacific coast. Most were blue marlin in the 200-to-500-pound range, but Matty Jorn of Fishing Nosara checked in with a 300-pound black marlin and some very good inshore action. He reported that Roy and Cathy Cox from St. Augustine, Florida, fished off Garza, on the Nicoya Peninsula, for three days last weekend and had great action on cubera snapper, amberjack and yellowfin tuna; however their biggest moment was a catch and release of a gorgeous black marlin, estimated at over 300 pounds and taken fishing with Capt. William Mendoza on the Wanderer.

Reports of good marlin action also came out of the Quepos and Los Sueños areas on the central Pacific coast. Both Jesús Vallegas and Leanne Batten of Quepos Sailfishing Charters reported multiple hookups on marlin with just a fair sailfish bite.

Batten said there have been some marlin out there, but the numbers on sails have not been that stellar. She also reported that the 2011 Harry Gray Fly-Fishing Tournament was held in Quepos this week, and that client Cindi Nelson, who has waited 15 years for her chance at offshore fishing in Costa Rica, had her “Wheel of Fortune wish granted,” releasing two sailfish and catching a nice dorado.

Down south, Greg Mufson out of Zancudo Lodge and my boats out of Crocodile Bay Resort in Puerto Jiménez saw similar action. The marlin bite has continued and the sails have been hit-and-miss with some very good days and some not so good. It seems the fish have moved into the area with some boats reporting double-digit sailfish raises on Tuesday, but an unusual north wind temporarily stopped the action on Wednesday. Several boats in the area have had the rare pleasure of seeing orcas this week, and a couple even came into the spread and played with the teasers.

On the Caribbean side, Eddie Brown said the tarpon action is great between Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero. The snook bite has really slowed, but the tarpon action is keeping anglers happy.

Mike Lilla sent in a note to say the calba (fat snook) action has been spectacular up on the backwaters of the Río San Juan out of Río Indio Lodge. As the water level continues to drop, the guapote will move out of their hiding spots deep in the jungle and into areas accessible to anglers.

I will soon be giving a complete update of these Nicaraguan waters that many anglers have loved to fish for years, entering from the Río Colorado in Costa Rica.

Skippers, operators and anglers are invited to e-mail fishing reports by Wednesday of each week to todd@crocodilebay.com or info@costaricaoutdoors.com, or call in reports to Dan Wise at 8816-2882. To post reports and photos on The Tico Times’ online fishing forum, go to ticotimes.net/Weekend/Fishing/Fishing-Forum.