Costa Rica Fishing Report With Bill Beard’s – This season Costa Rica saw some of the best billfishing it has seen in 20 years. Now it is a hunting game as the big numbers move into the area again in late November and December. The first part of the next season will offer lots of shots at big dorado and marlin.
Costa Rica Sailfish Trip
Costa Rica saw some of the best billfishing it has seen in 20 years in 2014.
One fish that has been consistent all year is roosterfish. Jim and Kathy Drumm down celebrating Kathy’s retirement racked up 7 rooster, 7 snapper, a couple African pompano and a pair of grouper for dinner.
Richard “Mac” McElwain wanted a shot at a billfish on a fly. He never imagined what would come up to eat the fly would be a 300 plus pound blue marlin. You can count the number of people who have landed a fish that size on a fly on one hand so when he had it hooked up for several minutes before the 20 lb tippet broke, it was an accomplishment in itself, and a lifelong memory.
Pacific Fishing Above Average;
The weather throughout Costa Rica continues to be normal for this time of year. The Caribbean side has had mostly calm seas and light winds, and the Pacific coast has been mostly sunny and nice with some afternoon and early evening showers.
The northern Pacific coast has had the hot bite the past few weeks, with some good numbers on marlin and sailfish. The central coast has been average for sailfish and tuna, with some good inshore and bottom fishing, while the southern Pacific has had a good marlin and mahi mahi bite, as well as some good inshore action. On the Caribbean coast, they are experiencing ideal conditions for big tarpon as they get ready for their best weather and fishing months.
Northern Pacific
Capt. Steve Curtis aboard the Capullo had a hot hand recently with the Mark Price group. They fished three days and caught three marlin, 11 sails and a handful of nice mahimahi.
Angler Dan Charpie fished with Capt. Warren Sellers on the Bad Dog and caught four marlin and a bunch of mahimahi the first day and five sailfish and a couple of nice mahimahi the second day.
Petra Schoep of Tamarindo Sportfishing reports that Amy Shaw fished on the Talking Fish and caught a sailfish, a blue marlin in the 200-pound range, a 40-pound roosterfish and several tuna. Scott Jones fished on the OutCast and caught three sails and a 300-pound blue marlin.
Capt. Richard Chellemi on the Gamefisher II has been getting in on the good fishing up north. The boat has been going offshore and averaging four or five sailfish per day with some marlin, tuna, mahimahi and wahoo in the mix.
Ralph Solano of Costa Rica Wild Fishing in Potrero Bay reports the fishing in Guanacaste is excellent this time of the year, with good numbers of mackerel, barracuda and snapper.
Central Pacific
Capt. Brandon Keene on the Fish Whistle had the boss in town for a few weeks. They fished almost every day and caught sailfish, mahimahi, grouper, snapper, roosterfish and a handful of marlin.
Capt. James Smith on the Dragin Fly has been offshore a few times a week lately and has caught some sailfish, mahimahi and marlin, but the best catch was a few big yellowfin tuna in the 80- to 120-pound range. July is usually one of the best tuna months along the central Pacific coast.
The Disco Pirate, under Capt. RJ Lillie, took some friends out for a half-day of fishing around a local hot spot called the “26 rock.” Lillie and the boys ended the day with a handful of 15-pound mahimahi and a nice wahoo about 45 pounds.
My friends and I have also been doing some inshore fishing on the Disco Pirate and have caught good numbers of roosterfish and jack, with a few snapper in the mix.
A father-and-son group went out recently on the R&J with Capt. Rich Binkus. They started at the 26 rock and ended the day offshore, and caught a handful of mahimahi, a few nice jack and a wahoo. They also raised a 300-pound-plus blue marlin.
Mike Brennan went out for some inshore fishing recently on the Hoo’s Your Daddy and caught a monster roosterfish. Capt. Lillie was running the boat for Capt. Dana Thomas and fished a local inshore spot called Negritas. They fished hard all day and were finally rewarded when they released an 80-pound-plus roosterfish that hit on live bait.
Capt. Dave Mothershead on the Miss Behavin’ has been mixing it up with some inshore and bottom fishing lately. He says the fishing has been steady for roosterfish, wahoo, jack and small mahimahi.
Felipe Fernandez of the Good Day team reports a good roosterfish bite in the Quepos area and some sailfish and tuna up around Los Suenos. The guys on the Good Day II caught a really big tuna out by a local hot spot called “the corner.”
Capt. Chris Bernstel on the Kinembe II has been doing a lot of snook fishing recently, using live bait and catching snook in the 10- to 25-pound range from his 26-foot center console boat.
Capt. Dave Dobbins on the Blue Water II has had a couple of good days recently. One day, they found a floating fishing net offshore and caught yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahimahi and more. A few days later, they found a nice pod of sailfish and ended the day with 12 releases.
Quepos locals Van Porter and Davis Henley of the Byblos Hotel went fishing in the Damas Estuary in a 12-foot dinghy and caught a really nice 35-pound snook.
Southern Pacific
Capt. Bob Baker of Golfito Sportfishing reports some nice weather, lots of tuna, very few mahimahi and good numbers of marlin offshore recently. The inshore bite has been good for snapper, mackerel, corvina and yellowtail. Baker also reports lots of commercial fishing pressure in the area but is optimistic about some new laws that will restrict certain types of commercial fishing in the Golfo Dulce.
Northern Region
Capt. Ron Saunders of Arenal Fishing says the weather and the fishing at Arenal continue to be above average for “green season.” He reports some nice guapote and machaca caught trolling and throwing topwater lures.
Caribbean Region
Capt. Eddie Brown on the Bullshark in Tortuguero reports some really good tarpon fishing in the area. He called me several times while out on the water to report calm seas & a hot bite. One afternoon, he had already released 8 tarpon by 2pm.
If you would like to go fishing anwhere in Costa Rica. Be it the caribbean, South, Central or North Pacific and even in Lake Arenal for Guapote. Bill Beard’s can make all the arrangements.
Call us M – Sat 9 – 7 ET at 877 853-0538 or EMail anytime agent@billbeardcostarica.com
Our reservation office is located in La Fortuna Costa Rica in the shadow of Arenal Volcano, behind the Catholic Church, near the world famous hot springs.
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Costa Rica Fishing Report With Bill Beard’s