Costa Rica Fishing Report, December 15th, 2014

Crocodile Bay Resort – Costa Rica Fishing Report
December 15th, 2014

Todd Staley Fishing DirectorThese dadblamed fish owe me a toupee. Yesterday just about every boat offshore had at least one shot at a marlin. Several were landed and released in the 3 to 4 hundred pound range. The day before the fishing was slow. Day before that the marlin bit good. Two decades of that and my hair is gone.

One of the really cool things about working here off the beaten path is seeing the new technology that people bring down. We all know that the folks at “Go-Pro,” the sports cameras are using semis to drive money to the bank because they are so popular and take amazing footage as you have seen on our website.

Costa Rica Fishing Report

Musgociu Mircea and his wife Tudor Steliana brought down a small little camera that attaches directly to your line. They got some amazing footage of a marlin lit up like a Christmas tree as it took the bait. The fish looked like a pit bull playing with a tug rope until the hook came unbuttoned. The fish then returned twice to take a look at the bait as if it was trying to figure out “what the heck just happened.”

Watch this fully lit striped marlin pursue this bait – thank you to Musgociu Mircea for bringing this amazing high tech underwater camera to the Resort. We’re not sure what company manufactured this camera, but we’re sure it’s going to be a hit with anglers as it mounts directly to the fishing line!

Crocodile Bay Resort

The sails are also playing games with me. Some days boats are raising as many as a dozen in the teasers and other days only a few. All that should stabilize as we move into Costa Rican summer at the end of the month and the late afternoon rains stop.

Inshore the roosterfish have been a little finicky but an 80 plus pound fish got many folks excited. A couple big cubera snappers have hit the decks and anglers opting for the Gulf waters are bringing plate size snapper for dinner.

It has been several weeks since the Costa Rican government pushed the commercial tuna boats out almost 60 miles from shore and the first wave of tuna brought fish in the 50 to 60 pound range and lasted until they moved on, not because a tuna boat came in to scoop them up. This new law will be a boost for sport anglers and also give some protection to the several species of dolphins that cruise with the yellowfin tuna.

Even jacks are fun to catch when they hit a hard splashing popper! Great shot by Musgociu Mircea of Romania.

Costa Rica Fishing

Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica will be a featured destination prize on Wheel of Fortune tonight, December 16, 2014 at 7:30PM. Check your local listings for exact air time in your area.

Todd Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica

Sportfishing Calendar

January

Tuna, marlin and dorado taper off. Number of sailfish begins to increase.

February

Prime time for sailfish. Occassional marlin, tuna or dorado.

March

Prime time for sailfish.

April

Sailfish numbers drop mid-April and some marlin begin to appear.

May

Slower for billfish. Typically we start seeing schools of spinner dolphins with yellowfin tuna.

June

Slower for billfish. Spinner dolphins with yellowfin tuna.

July

Marlin begin to appear. A chance for black marlin as well as blues and striped marlin. A chance for tuna.

August

Marlin and tuna.

September

Slower for billfish. A chance for tuna and dorado.

October

Dorado begin to appear in numbers with marlin close behind.

November

A mixed bag of dorado, marlin and some big tuna.

December

Marlin, dorado, tuna and sailfish are all possibilities.