Crocodile Bay Resort:
Costa Rica Fishing Report, May 2007
By Todd Staley, Fishing Director
If I had any hair left on my head I would pull it out!! Not even the best physic in the world could predict this season. I bet I’ve said a million times this year. There are plenty of fish out there….”your patience will be rewarded.”
Cory Holbrook from the Sacramento area found this out yesterday when in a three-hour flurry he had 6 marlin up, hooked 4 and landed 2, plus 2 dorado, a couple tuna and a wahoo. He was only a sailfish away from a super slam. The marlin ranged from 200 to 350 lbs each.
First El Nino hit us. This week patches of red tide moved in and then the water cleared up. Something’s going terribly wrong. I went looking for holy water and then, the witch doctor.
Marlin seem to be the main attraction lately with them popping up in the teasers every day. sailfish come in spurts with a few dorado and tuna mixed in. It is more of a hunting game this time of year, but “your patience will be rewarded.”
Oliver Hudson took a break from Hollywood duty to spend a little time with his brother, Wyatt Russell who spends his work hours trying to save his teeth from flying hockey pucks. The two caught marlin, bagged a double on sailfish and again their patience was rewarded.
A couple of roosters in 50-pound range were caught this week but for the most part jacks are beating them to the bait. One boat bagged 17 jacks. Jim Bell made his annual trip down here and played tug of war with a bunch of cubera snappers.
Todd Staley,
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort,
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report, June 2007
by Todd Staley
As I was leaving for the states Jeff Young from
Shimano was arriving with a group from the famous tackle company. They landed a few
marlin, and other offshore species, and did well inshore over the reefs with the
"Butterfly Jigs" Shimano makes. I wished I could have spent more time with the group.
Deep jigging has become more popular lately and has proved to be a great way to
fish here also. "Google," Shimano Butterfly Jigs and you will find plenty of info about them. Instead I paid a little visit to the Owen Heart Center in Ashville, North Carolina where Dr. Harry Burton put me back together. Besides being a great surgeon, Harry is also one heck of a fly fisherman. When he is not helping people improve their lives, he's off chasing sailfish, tarpon, permit and bonefish with chicken feathers. He has challenged billfish on the fly here at Crocodile every year since we opened.
Many have asked, so to let those interested know, I am doing great. Not back to work full time but I was able to pop in the resort a couple times this week. It seems like the
billfish "headed for the hills."
It rained like crazy for almost a week in late May and all the freshwater rushing into the ocean turned the water green and
billfish don't like that much. This happens every year. The water changes color,
fish scatter. The water cleans up and it's off to the races again.
This first heavy downpour of the season also pushes a lot of things like fallen tree parts out of the rivers and into the ocean and they become a floating refuge for
dorado and
yellowfin tuna. These fish are like popcorn to
marlin.
The weather is returning to it's normal pattern for this time of year which is clear skies in the daytime and a late afternoon or nighttime shower. The blue water returned.
Fish find shelter under floating debris and begins the rush of summer marlin. I sure wish I could predict it's exact start. Two years ago it was June. Last year it was July. This is the time of year we see
black and
striped marlin mixed in with the blues. By July the water has usually cleaned up enough for a number of
sailfish to join the party.
Joe Forma from
Safari Club International and friend Tom Krug's goal was to get Joe's son Andy a
billfish. It didn't happen. I imagine it is kinda like freezing your butt off in a tree stand waiting for that big buck to stroll by to get your shot and it doesn't happen. They caught a total of
79 dorado, a couple of those going between 35 and 40 lbs, a few
tuna, a
wahoo, but no
billfish. They saw action inshore with a few roosters and a bunch of jacks.
Chris Pilder also fished with his son Gray. Gray looked to be around 11 years old but is already an astute angler. They bagged
44 tuna,
19 dorado outside and some
jacks and
roosterfish inshore. Most of the offshore action was under debris that washed out of rivers. As I told Mr. Forma this morning before he left, I really couldn't believe with all that marlin food around one didn't pop up.
The happy angler of the week was Natalie Martinez, who passed her honeymoon and birthday here with us this week.
Fishing along with her husband Michael she just wanted a roosterfish. Being a ichthyologist, or one that studies
fishes she is right at home on the water. She got her rooster, a nice 45 pounder and got the thrill of swimming with a whale shark. I also met a good source for scientific information. Natalie is the current leader in the Summer long biggest
roosterfish contest to win a return trip to the lodge.
That's the thing about
fishing. Nothing is written in stone. One day very soon it is going to be
marlin fireworks on the water. I sure hope it is tomorrow.
Note!!!!!
I turned this into our webmaster 4 days ago for our website. Will Briegel is a really busy guy and won't have it up till later today. In the last 3 days we have landed a couple of marlin in the two to three hundred range with a few sailfish and the dorado bite is still on. I sure hope this is the start of the marlin run I predicted.
Brandon Crick from Nokia Corporation was down a couple of months ago with a group of coworkers who's friends probably thought were computer geeks when they were kids. Well these "geeks" are now all grown up and laughing all the way to the bank. The time spent on the computer really paid off because these guys wrote and designed a lot of the video games you or your kids play every day at home.
I am happy to say that what was once top secret is now out of the bag.
The group was here filming action shots of varies types of fish to incorporate in a new game. Creatures of The Deep is a virtual fishing game set at Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica and will be placed on about 100,000,000 Nokia phones.
This is full color graphics where you drive a fishing boat out in the Golfo Dulce, pick your own spot and fish. There are about 20 species of fish to catch plus a few surprises. I don't know the exact date available but I got to see the model version and it is really going to be something. I just got a Nokia N95 and I can't wait to be able to download the game. Don't tell the boss.
Editors Note: Rumor has it The Nokia Boys have incorporated our own scruffy fishing Capt. Todd in the game commanding anglers to reach certain limits to move to the next angling level.
Todd Staley
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
The Young Ones are the Top Guns !
Costa Ria Fishing Report, July 2007
by Todd Stale
Todd Staley is in Las Vegas and will return next month with "The Direct Line"
The Young Ones are the Top Guns !
Costa Rica Fishing Report, August 2007
by Todd Staley
I thought I heard a gun blast as I passed the game room at the resort. I jumped and looked to my left only to discover it was just 9 year old Milan Murphy slamming another goal passed his grandfather Henry Owens III. The youngster had whipped grandpa once again on the foosball table.
They traveled together from Boston for a week of Costa Rica fishing and eco tours and Milan had big expectations. He had roosterfish, sailfish and marlin on his wish list of fish. He bagged two sailfish his first day out with a mix of dorado and bonita. Next he wrestled a 50 lb rooster rooster to the boat. On his last day Milan was almost late for dinner because he and grandpa took turns for three hours in a tug-o-war with a 475 lb blue marlin.
Ethan Walter spent a few days here with his dad Ed and the rest of the family from Pensacola, Florida. The 14 year old was the fisherman of the family and didn’t miss a chance to be on the water.
I don’t know if you have ever done battle with a Pacific Jack crevalle. It is the bulldog of inshore fish species. It is one of the strongest pulling fish that swims. The problem is it is about as ugly as Cinderella’s stepsisters and it doesn’t jump. If it did it would be rated right up there with other prized gamefish.
The world record for junior anglers has sat in the IGFA record book for sometime now at 21 ½ lbs. In fact it was caught in this area. Ethan bested that record by more than 3 ½ lbs when his fished weighed in at 24 ¾ lbs. Congrats Ethan.
Natalie Martinez held the lead in the summer long roosterfish contest for over 5 weeks with a 45 lb fish. Many came close but could not top her mark. Then 9 year old Milan Murphy’s 50 lb fish took the lead. That fish only held the lead for 3 days. George Vonnah stole the glory from the youngster when he boated an 80 lb monster. George, down from Georgia got back on his feet enough to enjoy a fishing trip after rebounding from the effects of chemotherapy.
Marlin has made a regular showing the last month with a couple pushing 500 lbs landed. Most marlin have been between 200 to 400 lbs. sailfish have been hit and miss with some days seeing up to 8 fish per day and other days 2 or 3. Dorado are abundant around trash lines and floating logs. Tuna have taken the last two weeks off after a run of 35 to 100 lb fish. Snapper were biting well until the moon, but the big tides have passed and they should start biting again any day.
Todd Staley
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
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