Fishing is still very good in Quepos on the Central Pacific, but other areas turned on this week as well. Boats out of Los Sueños are getting into lots of sailfish and also some marlin. Many boats are reporting numbers in the double digits. The fish are hanging around 40 miles off the coast, but those willing to venture out are well rewarded.
The Papagayo winds are hampering boats up north in Guanacaste. A few marlin are being taken on good days, but the ocean is not the most pleasant this time of year. Inshore action also slowed in the region, but should pick up again after the moon.
Speaking of the moon, I have been chastised before for mentioning it in connection with billfishing and was told the moon has no effect on the fish. I don’t really agree, having seen the fish shut down on a full moon, and also bite like crazy on the full moon. The Southern Zone has been really slow the last two weeks, but apparently a new group of fish has moved into the area. Two days before the moon the bite was on, and my blood pressure dropped 20 points the same day.
The saving grace the last two weeks down south has been the inshore fishing. Lots of snapper, roosters and jacks have been hitting live bait and poppers.
The fishing over on the Caribbean continues to be good. Diann Sánchez checked in with the following report: “Tarpon fishing in Barra del Colorado continues to be good and steady. Last week brothers John and Don McCarthy visited Rio Colorado Lodge and fished three and a half days. They had one day that was really slow, but then things picked up, and they jumped 19 tarpon, two jacks, one barracuda and one snook. Next week we expect a nice crowd of people and are looking forward to some real good fishing. The weather continues to be mostly nice, with a shower or two intermittently to cool things down.”
Todd Staley is the fishing manager at Crocodile Bay Resort in Puerto Jiménez, on southwestern Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Skippers, operators and anglers are invited to email fishing reports by Wednesday of each week to todd@crocodilebay.com. To post reports and photos on The Tico Times’ online fishing forum, go to wordpress-257819-2837440.cloudwaysapps.com/Weekend/Fishing and click on Show Us Your Catch.
