Costa
Rica Fishing Archives - 2003
by
Fishing Director Todd Staley
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Dec
Nov Oct Sept
Aug Jul Jun
May Apr Mar
Feb Jan
January
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
January 8, 2003
The
first of the year started out with a bang as a little bit
of everything rose from the deep blue to excite holiday anglers.
Our good friend Dave Burkhardt brought his better half Katie
who as usual out fished him. Besides a couple of 50 lb roosterfish,
she caught an array oy of sails, tuna, and dorado.
The
Thompson family of four each landed four sailfish
after two days of fishing and decided to give roosters a try.
Fly
guys have been doing well with big pink chickens that the
sails can´t resist. Ten to 15 fish
are rising to the teasers and almost all are hot enough to
take a swipe at the fly. Speaking of flies. Tom Boyd had the
family down fishing his roosterfish dfly
and got the roosters as well as a sail and dorado to eat it
also.
But our hats go off and the angler of the week award goes
to 9 year old Hal Press son of Clifford Press. You could not
keep a rod out of this kids hands. He wanted nothing to do
with the rainforests, waterfalls or horseback riding.
His scorecard at weeks end read like an old man in a heminway
novel. Fifty plus pound roosterfish, 120 lb sailfish, 104
lb tuna, and a 400 lb blue marlin. Those
are his top catches. Add a few more sails, tuna, dorado and
roosters to the list. A lot of men who have been fishing for
year wish they had resume like that.
Congratulations Hal. See you next year for a fishing
lesson.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
January
20, 2003
A good concentration of bait has moved into the area bringing
the number of fish raised everyday to proportions
that give each angler 6 to 12 shots at catching a billfish.
Patrick Basler from "Bites On" made one of his frequent
visits to the Resort and took a good number of sails as well
as dorado and tuna. He picked up a few nice roosters
in the gulf as well as big jack crevalle. A die hard
angler, he had to get a few licks in on some big fish
before returning home for back surgery. Good luck Pat.
Fly guys are bending some rods on sails as they are falling
for pink and white poppers.
Robbo
Swartenberg stretched some string and bruised some knuckles.
"It's not the numbers that count, but the success of
beating one on a fly." He was happy at the bar
as he recounted his battle with a 100 pounder. Chris
Bernset managed to fool a couple of roosterfish with a fly
along the shoreline not far from the lodge. They weren't
monsters, but anytime you can fool a rooster into eating a
clump of chicken feathers, it's something to crow about.
A few marlin have showed up and the number
of sails seen this week has increased over the last weeks.
Boats are raising as many as 20 sails a day
and one boat had three marlin up in the baits
but decided not to try the menu. Joe and Mary Bowden
ended up catching 19 sails in four days on the water.
Their top day was landing nine and they had many in the baits
every day.
Tampa Boy Wesley Snapp brought a couple of
NASCAR buddies in for just one day of
fishing before racing back to Florida for the Daytona
races. In four hours offshore, they each bagged a sail
and moved inshore to tangle with a couple of roosters.
Inshore, the water has really gotten clear and more
fish are moving on to the shallow reefs in the gulf.
Several
dinner size cubera snappers were fooled by
topwater plugs and roosters have been crashing schools of
bluerunners and small mullet near the lodge. A couple
of roosters over fifty pounds were taken in the gulf this
week.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
January
28, 03
Everything
is about as expected for late January as
far as the fishing goes. More sails are moving
into the area and the roosterfish have started working their
way into the gulf.
Fly
guy Gerry Wendrovsky spent three days on the water where 27
sails came up into the teasers. Twenty two of them fell for
the clump of feathers he offered and he managed to bring nine
to the boat for release. Not bad numbers.
John
Cassidy is a young 82 years old. He has probably spent more
time wetting a line than anyone I know. He took a sail over
a hundred pounds on fly tackle and then tussled and won the
battle with a 200 lb blue marlin on stand
up gear. That's right....stand up gear.
Bret
Gamrot from Inshore Offshore magazine was down with a group
of friends and tackled a good number of sails before inviting
me to spend a half day inshore with them before catching their
plane back to St. Pete, Fla. I don't get to fish
much when we are busy so I was really gassed when I took my
biggest rooster to date at 75 lbs.
Ted
Knothe had a big day on the water inshore by taking
20 fish including 11 roosters. A couple of nice cubera
snapper graced the dinner table this week. They were 25 and
30 lbs.
Dorado
and yellowfin continue to roam the bluewater. A 90 lb tuna
was the tops for the week.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
February
1, 2003
I
had this picture in my mind right out of “Happy Days,”
as Barbara Graf described catching the 50 lb roosterfish.
Big
Bopper blasting on the juke box, teenagers dancing around
the booths and a young couple each with a straw sharing a
chocolate malt. Forty five years later Dick and Barbara Graf
still like to share. After a week of inshore fishing
which included a mixed bag of jacks, roosters, snappers
and some nice grouper they ventured offshore on day and took
some sails before finishing their trip with one last day inshore.
The
lines came tight simultaneously and they each set the hook.
Line buzzed from the reels as captain “Mochilla”
hollered, “good fish, good fish.”
Suddenly it appeared the lines were crossed and everyone was
afraid one fish would cut off the other.
It seemed as both fish were swimming together until after
15 minutes when the action changed to right next to the boat,
they all realized that a huge 50 lb roosterfish had eaten
both their bait and they had caught it together. Just like
a chocolate malt.
Bill
Martin’s group were not disappointed when he promised
Costa Rica had good fishing. The group caught lots of sails,
Ed Palm took a 130 lb tuna and the lady in the blue dress
came knocking on the door. As a host though Bill could have
been a bit more congenial. He caught both of them one going
500 lbs and the other 125.
Shep
McCook pleased everyone at the lodge as his 57 lb wahoo hit
the grill. He can also shave now because he finally got his
sail on a fly. Feather throwers have been
getting fair numbers with Byron Johnson taking three afte
a couple days of missed shots.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
February
26, 2003
Things
were off to a bang when Danny Young's group
of four raised 59 sails in two days of fishing
and then things went a little nutso. The fish got finicky.
They would lazily come up and take a look at the bait or swat
the fly but would not eat. Fortunately that changed and things
are getting back to normal with most boats seeing a dozen
or so sails per day. Ted Moody from Orvis banged three on
the fly yesterday after a couple days of aggrevation. The
big news offshore was a 700 plus pound black
marlin that broke off after 7 hours of back straining
and line stretching. Tuna and dorado have been a little scarce
but a few football tuna hit the grill the
last couple of days.
Carl
McCants's 80 pound roosterfish was top dog on the
inside. Not many roosters are falling to anglers offerings
but most that did went over 50 lbs. Bjour Odenbro from Sweden
had a big day on the water when he bagged 11 roosters and
9 big jacks. A couple of nice African pompano
hit the dinner plates as well as cubera snapper
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
March
March
24, 2003
Things
have really done a 180 since my last report. After a slow
spell like Costa Rica has never seen before
the "fish gods" have sent folks
to bed early with aching arms and our massage therapist at
the hotel is working overtime.
A
front blew through here last week and spoiled what looked
like was a turn around in the action. When everything calmed
down the fish threw a party.
The
last few days boats have been raising at least 20
sails apiece and several boats over thirty. We have
a group of Orvis dealers down and they are getting a true
test of their equipment with 20 or more shots a day.
Pier
Laurentini traveled all the way from Italy to test our waters.
As they say this guy must have really stepped in something
because he did what many have tried for a lifetime in a couple
of hours.
The boats here leave the dock at 7:00 am two days straight
offshore fishing he was back at the dock by ten after capturing
a marlin on a fly. Both were blues and went
135 and 120 lbs respectively. He finished his last day with
5 sails and a dorado.
Gene
and Sherri Franklin from Pine Island, Florida had never offshore
fished before. They were top anglers yesterday when they boated
14 sails.
Inshore
started to pick up with roosterfish action in the mornings.
On fish of 60 and one at 70 lbs stretched some string here
and the big cubera snappers won, burying anglers in the volcanic
reef.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
April
The
annual Redbone@Large tournament
was held last week with 20 teams competing
To
raise more than $50,000 for cystic fibrosis research. In
three days of costa fishing the group that
fished both inshore and offshore raised over 300
billfish, releasing 87 and took roosterfish
to 70 lbs.
The team of Dave Przysinda and Mike Collochio took top honors
and also had the largest rooster. Connie Taylor took her
first sail on a fly adding points for her
to take top spot in the ladies division. John Ward took
the biggest fish trophy and a memory of a lifetime when
while fishing in the gulf the came across
a school of a dozen whale sharks and he
jumped in and rode a forty foot one.
Boston
Whaler boats followed the Redbone group with 34 of their
top people and they split their days between fishing
and eco tours. This was their third trip here and
beween a 160 pound tuna and scaleing a
waterfall there is never a dull moment for this group.Offshore
the fishing is good with 8 to 20 sails showing up in the
baits. A couple of marlin have teased anglers
but tuna from 10 to 200 lbs are the hardest pullers this
week. Roosters are consistent and a 39 lb snapper was the
biggest this week.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
April
29, 2003
I
don't know which is more exciting—having a week of
raising 20 or more fish per day or getting
the chance to fish with actor
Robert Duvall (see photos)and
a whole slew of other movie fame. For
example, with a lull between groups I had just four boats
offshore yesterday and they raised 91 sails
and two marlin.
Two
of the boats were back before 1 pm. We
welcome Russ Johnson and Joe Jarzynka from Royal Journeys
to our family. The two had a hay-day tossing chicken feathers
at sailfish and said it had been one of
the best trips they had been on. When you're in the business
of sending folks on fishing vacations that is a great compliment.
Thanks!
Bobby
Duvall fished with fellow actors Willy Marquez and Luciana
Pedraza doing a show for the New American
Sportsman. It was enough to get a producer nervous
when the roosters didn't cooperate on a short day on the
water and rain the next didn't work well with the cameras,
but next September you'll be able to see Duvall
and Marquez taking some nice sails on 20 lb outfits.
Inshore,
the jacks have been beating the roosters to the baits and
Ed Drew and Peter Gorinsky battled a boat full. Ed also
sunk into a big wahoo who managed to escape
the dinner plate. Todd
Staley
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
May
May
5, 2003
The week started out with a bang with boats continuing to
raise 15 to 20 sails each but a few local storms
that produced some waterspouts blew thing out over the weekend.
The skies are blue this morning so the action should return
to normal any day now. Lots of football size tuna and a
few dorado have been active despite the weather.
Roosters and jacks have been the inshore fish de
jour with most roosters running of average size
but Gee Scruggs 60 pounder took top fish of the week. There
always seems to be a couple over 50 lbs released each week.
Several others in the 40 to 45 lb range also were taken
this week. The big snapper of the week came from Mata Palo
rock and weighed just under 60 lbs.
Todd Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
May
16, 2003
Dr.
Warren Crosby was determined to land a billfish on a fly.
He was part of 27 folks in the medical profession brought
down for by Howard Solomon for seminars and a little fishing.
Warren had several chance at sails and a marlin but something
always went haywire including a top of the line fly reel
siezing up in the middle of a battle. Finally on the last
day of fishing he stuck a 120 lb fish. For the next 3 hours
and 17 minutes he was in the middle of a tug-o-war that
finally ended with a photo and release of a tired fish and
an exhausted angler.
Fishing was a little slow in general for the group but there
were some good catches. A couple of roosters in the 45 to
50 lb range made it to release and Bonner Thomson and Don
Ferguson teamed up to supply snook for dinner on a daily
basis. Their big fish went 30 lbs.
Towards the end of the trip the fishing picked up and on
the day of the full moon one of the boats raised 18 fish.
So much for that theory.
Two brothers and a nephew set a new lodge record for "cerveza"
consumption and took some nice sails in the process.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
May
26, 2003
They
have been singing the "Blues" around here this
week. Blue marlin have been being raised
almost daily and many have been taking baits. Andy Stein
started it when he hooked a blue at 1:30 in the afternoon
and at 7:00 pm he still had it on the line and dinner was
starting to get cold. After six hours he had enough and
worked the fish close to the boat and broke
it off. The monster marlin was estimated
at 800 lbs.
Charles
Dorta followed the next day with a 220 lb fish taken on
20 lb line. Fishing with his Dad, Tony,
they also had shots at 29 sails during their 3 days on the
water. Tom Boyd took a 260 lb the next
day and 2 blues were raised today but didnít take
the baits. We had one day when every boat in the fleet raised
over 17 billfish but the numbers have drop
to normal for this time of the year.
Inside lots of plate size snappers and roosters to 45 lbs
have been stretching lines and corvina made a show. Guy
and Pam tillotson teamed up for a bunch of them keeping
one 30 pounder for dinner.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
May
31, 2003
Sometimes when you go to film a fishing show,
things can be a little tough. The fish
are not members of the Screen Actors Guild and they could
care less if a million folks will be watching one day on
TV. On Robert Duvall's recent trip the sails
only came up and sniffed the baits the first day and decided
they wanted to be stars on the next day out. It is stuff
like that that drives producers crazy.
ONeill Williams from "ONeill Outside" was down
and wanted to get three shows done in four days. Now I've
worked with ONeill on and off over a decade now and we have
always managed to pull it off. He once wanted two shows
in a day and a half and got it. This
trip was no exception. First day out light tackle stuff
for snappers. Fourteen in the boat along with a mixed bag
of grouper, bonito, jacks and other inshore surprises
like barracuda and big needlefish.
Day
two: Sails on 20 lb gear. Seventeen fish up, landed
four sets of doubles and a single before noon. Largest sail
went around 130 lbs. Day
three: A mixed bag of roosterfish and jacks along the beach.
A dozen or more fish landed and back to the dock early.
He went chasing schools of bonito the next day on flys and
canned show number four. George
and Jimmy Bowers from Florida raised 49 sails and landed
20 in two days of fishing. The numbers have dropped down
to about ten fish a day but the fishing is still
great for what some call the "off season".
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
June
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
June
8, 2003
A front blew through here this week and really changed things
from last week. Wind, rain, and a rough ocean made our calm
tropical Pacific Ocean look like the first episode of Gilligan's
Island.
Those would toughed it out were rewarded with some nice fish
but the numbers dropped considerably from last week.
Ron Kapplow brought down his group of "Funfishers"
from Florida and they landed on the day of the storm. The
first day only brought three sails a mixed bag of dorado and
tuna and a 60 lb rooster saved the day.
Day two picked up some when Greg Kapplow
took his first blue marlin and a mixed bag
of dorado, tuna, and wahoo made dinner plates.
The Gaebe family was ready to have me "swim with
the fishes" until they took top prize offshore
on day three with a sail, 17 dorado and 13 tuna.
Clear skies and a flat ocean have returned as the boats left
the dock this morning so things should return to normal.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
July
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
July
4, 2003
Fish
were slim pickins for a while because the green water moved
in and sent the pelagics scurrying after the bait that had
moved to "greener pastures" so to speak. Luckily
when a group of 30 showed up this week so did the fish.
Not in great numbers but enough to keep some rods bent and
put some smiles on some faces.
Evertt Kelly from Nashville brought his family down to celebrate
his and Mrs Kelly's 51 st anniversary and they were top
guns on the inshore scene. The couple took 25 snapper one
day and 19 nice mullet snapper on day two. There kids caught
some nice sails and dorado in the 40 pound range offshore.
John
Williams also had his family here and the managed 10 sails
and some small tuna the little time they fished as they
spent much of their time here exploring the jungle. (Must
have read the L.A. Times article)
Ed Olsen from San Francisco fished with sister Barbara and
announced he would like to catch some "football"
size tuna in the 10 to 20 pound range.
No
problem I said, there has been plenty of those around. Well
Ed "Big Tuna" Olsen returned to the dock with
a new definition of "football". His football yellowfin
weighed 203 lbs. He and Barbara had 4 sails to their credit
and a large number of guests had grilled tuna and sushi.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
August
21, 2003
Crocodile Bay Fishing Report
The
sails have been teasing anglers lately
by floating on the surface with their sails proudly displayed
but turning down all offerings. Just a couple of days ago
6 to 8 a day were charging baits. Recent offshore catches
include small marlin in the 200 to 240
lb range, wahoo to 50 lbs and a few dorado.
Inshore the action has been consistant with roosterfish
readily taking baits. Flor de Maria Cuarda took a dozen
roosters with 2 that went over 50 lbs and Ella Gunst took
a couple to 35 lbs. Ty Visscher added a nice 25 lb snapper
to an inshore catch.
With the Canadian, Alaskan season winding down we are
seeing more anglers and offshore numbers will soon return
to normal. The humpback whales have moved
into the gulf with their young and will be around till mid
October so the fishing is always interesting
when watching mothers teaching the youngsters how to herd
sardines and breach.
Todd
Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort
Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Read
the current costa rica fishing report
September
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
September
11, 2003
Being
in the fishing business as a lure manufacturer,
outdoor writer, lodge manager and, fishing director has
given me the chance to meet and fish with many special people
over the years. One person that has made an enormous impression
on me is Larry Dalhberg.
Not only is he one of the most intelligent anglers as far
as reading fishing conditions I´ve ever met. He is
also a very funny man and is the "Kung Fu" of
fishing wisdom. One of the most prolific things I ever heard
about fishing rolled off his lips one night as we sat at
the Hard Croc Café inside the lodge at Crocodile
Bay-
"Your chances of catching a really good fish
are directly related to how much you deserve it."
.......... Wow!
You don´t know how many times I´ve wanted to
repeat those words, but being a gracious host, bit my lip.
Rebecca (Becky Reynolds) of the greater Miami Humane
Society must have some real good Karma.
She arrived at the Resort with a couple of goals in mind
and in 4 days fishing bagged enough memories to last a long,
long time. Her partner Capt. Jay Wright had his memories
served with some humble pie. I know that feeling.
Day one offshore produced a 350
lb blue marlin that she whipped in an hour as the
fish spent the entire time on the surface doing a blue water
ballet in fast forward. Becky wanted some roosterfish. So
she battled an array of over 40 bites. Some so big she dueled
them almost an hour before breaking off 60 lb leader. The
mixed bag at the end of the day include a dozen roosters
to the boat, some snapper, jacks and doubling the current
four pound test record for sierra mackerel.
So on the last day Becky wanted to catch a yellowfin
tuna. She was back at the dock before noon with
a 97 lb tuna that wore her out. Jay commented that during
the last moments of the fight it reminded him of his experience
in a birthing room when for a short time a women turns into
a monster before the moment of joy.
In
a few short days Becky fulfilled many of her fishing fantasies.
Thats what I call....Good Karma
October
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
October
21, 2003
Mastering Multiple Hook Ups
I
don’t think there is anything more beautiful on earth
than an endless carpet of cobalt blue ocean.
Blue water trolling can have a hypnotic effect on someone.
The teasers, sweetened with mullet or blue runner skitter
across the surface behind the boat wakes, skipping to the
rhythm produced by the motors. Purples, pinks, greens, oranges,
whatever colors the captain feels are lucky this day. As one
stares at them for a while, dancing along, one drifts into
a trance.
The tail of the bait flips in a certain way and a spark of
adrenalin races through your veins as your eye is fooled into
thinking it was the bill of a sailfish. This
rush repeats itself several times over until you don’t
want to blink because you might miss something.
Suddenly a shadow appears below one of the teasers. It rises
and the bill clears the surface slashing back and forth as
it takes whacks at the teaser. The fish is now lit up in a
neon purple hue, a quick meal on its mind. Though this has
been repeated a thousand times over the adrenalin rush overtakes
the captain and crew and they begin spurting out a form of
Spanglish, a mixture of Spanish and English as they communicate
with each other and the client at the same time.
At Crocodile Bay we use the "bait and switch"
method most of the time. We pull lures without hooks
(teasers) and when the time is right take the teaser away
and present an offering with a hook in it.
That offering could be live bait, dead bait, or a fly. It
is a simple process when all work together and gives the angler
a more "hands on" experience even for the most inexperienced
novice.
Basically the fish is attracted to the teaser
and begins its chase. The crew will keep the teaser just out
of reach as the teaser is brought towards the boat. On the
crews command the teaser is pulled from the water and the
angler presents his bait or casts his fly. By this time the
sail is so worked up it races over and gobbles up what hits
the water. By law billfish anglers in Costa
Rica are now required to use circle hooks. This takes a lot
of the guess work out of how much time to wait before setting
the hook and also results in a lot less deep hook ups.
This is an easy enough process to follow. What happens in
Costa Rica quite often though is more than
one fish are raised at a time. The last time our friend O´neill
Williams from O´neill Outdoors TV show was
down we raised 17 fish and caught four sets
of doubles before noon. That is a Costa Rican Chinese Fire
Drill for sure, but with a little planning on the part of
the crew and anglers, "Multiple Hook-Ups"
can happen often.
Be prepared. The first thing to do is communicate with your
crew and it is their job to communicate with you. Costa Rican’s
are a humble people and sometimes are a little shy about asking
about a person’s experience. If you are a good angler
let them know, and if it’s your first blue water adventure
let them know too. The more you ask, the more eager your crew
will be to please you. Talk about what part everyone will
play if more then one fish comes into the teasers.
Have your baits ready. This is part of the crew’s job.
They generally fish two anglers so they will have three baits
ready. Usually two live baits and a dead bait. Lots of dead
baits will be prepared in a bait cooler ready for a busy day.
In the case of fly fisherman decide who will cast first. After
the first fish is hooked up and running away from the boat,
the second fly can be easily cast to another fish.
Relax. OK easier said than done. When there are two or three
lit up sails running around in back of the boat and your heart
is racing a million miles an hour it is easy to forget to
remain calm. Once they are hooked up and doing their fast
forward ballet across the surface we need to try not to cross
the lines. A sailfish is one of the fastest fish in the ocean
and sometimes they have a mind of their own as to which direction
they want to go. When you have two fish a couple hundred yards
out in different directions it is impossible to chase down
both fish with the boat. As they fish get close to the boat
it is important for the anglers and crew to let each other
know what the fish are doing.
On an average day here you will get a chance at least a dozen
billfish. We have had boats raise over fifty. The best we’ve
done is catch four out of five raised at one time. How’s
that for a spider web of mono going in opposite directions?
If there is anywhere in the world to have a chance at "multiple
hook-ups" on billfish it is Costa Rica.
A little preparation and you can douse any blue water fire.
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
November
November
8, 2003
We
opened again November first after a month of sprucing up
the place getting ready for the season..
The sails started the season a little picky but dorado have
made up for the slow times.
Ron Schimdt had the big fish of the week with a 250
lb blue marlin. Daughter Tammy added a nice dorado
for dinner.
Arturo
Restauro and Johnny Sanchez from San Francisco picked up
a couple sails and when inside to bag 10 nice snapper.
Don
Kullgren from GMAC in Wisconsin bagged the big rooster this
week at 45 lbs. Every day the fishing has been improving
so I expect some big numbers in my next report
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
November
November
14, 2003
As I predicted the fishing and the catching
has improved everyday. More sails are coming up in the teasers
and there are more dorado, tuna, and the lady in the blue
dress danced several times this week.
Rhonda Slubowski and good friend Pat Hill started it off
this week as the two ladies out-fished the guys. They topped
off their trip when Rhonda whipped a blue marlin three times
her size. They released the "lady in the blue dress"
that was estimated at 350 lbs.
We also had Reel Adventures TV down this week. Leader Jeff
Aderman had crew Mike, Scott fishing and Tony "the
Frog" doing the underwater filming. Friends and sponsors
Mike and Barbara Padula from MP Lures with them. They teamed
up for 17 sails up, 3 blue marlin up, and a mixed bag of
tuna and dorado to 35 lbs. Big fish was a 500 blue that
was released after a three hour battle.
Inshore the bagged a 30 lb dorado, 14 lb mackerel and big
jacks.
Every day it keeps getting better. A good number of
marlin are in chasing tuna and dorado.
I expect next report to be even betterNovember
20, 2003
Crocodile
Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Costa Rica Fishing Report
November
This report is a day early this week because tommorow I
am getting married and probably won't be able to tell one
end of a fish from the other!
I love it when a prediction comes true. I'm no Jean Dixon
or nothing but the fishing just keeps getting better.
Mark Sydney and Charles Statford picked up some roosters
and a nice fat wahoo inshore. Some cubera snapper have been
breaking strings and jacks over 30 lbs are testing arm muscles.
The great news is the sailfish have decdided to join the
party offshore. Still lots of dorada, smaller tuna, and
a few blue marlin muching on them.
Mark and Valarie Brown each bagged their first sails when
they landed five after having 28 fish up in the teaser in
one day. Today they bagged several nice roosters including
a 40 and 50 pound. " You must have mistaken us for
VIPs" they commented on how the total staff here attended
to them while here. Thanks for the great compliment!
John Beath from Western Outdoor News took
a monster 130 lb sail on the fly on 20 lb tippet.
Next weeks prediction...... It will get even better
November
28, 2003
Well I just got fired from the Equirer as a predictor of
the future. The sails took a Thanksgiving day break and
their numbers dropped way off. Anglers were able to pluck
off one or two a day and a few dorado but it was a crash
dive from last week when the numbers were up in the twentys.
There have been a good number of marlin this week with fish
over 500 lbs being hook but the biggest brought to the boat
went around 350.
The roosters were the saving grace this week when more than
a dozen fish over 50 lbs were released and the cock fight
was just around the corner from the lodge. Several triple
hook-ups were recorded as they moved numbers moved in to
feed on small sardines.
