As expected this time of year, the major bite on the Pacific has moved north, with the best action to be had from Carrillo to Tamarindo.
Roy Ventura reports from his Zancudo lodge, on the southern Pacific coast, that a weather front slowed fishing a bit more than normal, but “nobody is getting skunked,” and anglers are still getting a few sails, the occasional marlin and plenty of roosterfish and snapper inshore.
The only report out of the central Pacific coast in the past week was from J.P. Sportfishing in Quepos, which had 11 sailfish releases May 1 and six on May 2 on the Sea Lady, but none after that.
Rick Ruhlow, fishing his boat the Kingfisher out of Carrillo, said the bite there isn’t real hot, but they had three marlin up and four sailfish releases last Saturday.
Farther north, Capullo skipper Steve Curtis was busy releasing a marlin when we first called him around noon on Sunday. He was fishing about 17 miles off Tamarindo, with blue water running about 85 degrees. He said boats working that area are seeing five to 10 marlin each day, and some sails, dorado and small tuna.
On the northern Caribbean coast, the Río Colorado Lodge reports the tarpon bite continues strong in the afternoons, with clear water at the river mouth and offshore. John Kubiak Sr. and Jr. of Albuquerque, New Mexico, got several nice tarpon to the boat.
Cynthia Fredrick and buddy Belinda Melton had their hands full boating nice fish every day of their trip. On their last day, the bite got off to a slow start but Fredrick got three of seven tarpon hooked between 3 and 5 p.m. to the boat.
Howard Varinsky, David Bluhm and Tom Revelli, of Oakland, California, got all the fish they could handle, jumping more than 25 and boating several in the 150-pound range, and had a triple hookup fishing three in the boat. They went five releases for six hooked one afternoon.