Caribbean Calba Bite Is Well Under Way

THERE are apparentlyvery fewvisiting fishermen onthe Caribbean Coast,and Río ColoradoLodge owner DanWise has takenadvantage of the doldrumsto take a busman’sholiday toBrazil, to go fishingfor peacock bass.Brian Saliba, a friend of Dan’s fromMississippi, is holding the fort at thelodge in his absence, and said the calbabite is well under way, with fishing goodin the early morning and late afternoon.BRIAN called Sunday to report hecaught 12 small snook that morning andwas planning another shot at them in theafternoon.The small snook migrate into this areain December and stick around intoJanuary. They are caught in the rivers andlagoons, run three to five pounds, and aredynamite on light tackle and mighty goodeating.Weather has been ideal in the area, butapparently nobody is going outside theriver mouth to look for tarpon.On the southern Pacific Coast, ToddStaley reports from Crocodile Bay Lodgethat fishing is slow on sailfish, but there’sa lot of marlin action.TODD said the blue marlin are cruising10 to 15 miles off the beach, whereHans Schmidt and his buddies landedtwo, ranging from 300 to 500 pounds lastweek, and Tim Fernández, from YamahaMotors, took another.“We have been seeing marlin everyday and San Francisco 49er’s Super Bowlwinning coach George Seifert was downwith former NFL and NBA players, GaryFilizetti, Bill Gate, George Reilly, andJohn Travis,” Todd said.THEY had a mixed bag of sails, dorado,tuna, and roosters, and inshore fishinghas been steady with up to 20-poundroosterfish and some jack crevalle.Bill Gannon, skipper of the Unique,out of Quepos, went out Saturday on thePrecedent, a 36-foot Hatteras, reportingtwo sailfish bites and one releaseSaturday, but the same boat went eight for10 on sails the day before, along with acouple of tuna.Reports from the northern Pacificcoast are hard to come by, as very fewboats are going out this time of year.RANDYWilson, skipper of theTalking Fish at Tamarindo, said Sundaythat the water has been pretty green up to20 miles out, but it moves in and out andif you can get to the blue water they aregetting sails and a few marlin, but not asmany dorado as in past weeks.Just south of there, Kingfisher CaptainRick Ruhlow fished out of CarrilloSunday with Pina Schulburg, fromVirginia, with Rick’s wife Jackie anddaughter Kerry, 9, aboard.They released three of the five sailsthey raised and Kerry nailed a 30-pounddorado. Rick said they had 20-mile run tofind blue water.For more information on fishing orassistance in planning a trip to Costa Rica,contact Jerry at jruhlow@costaricaoutdoors.com or visit www.costaricaoutdoors.comSkippers, operators and anglers areinvited to e-mail or call Jerry with fishingreports by Sunday of each week. Call or fax:282-6743 if calling from Costa Rica, orthrough the e-mail address above.