Jimmy Nelson and Luiza Barros from “Living the Dream” and “Fishing with Luiza”

Jimmy Nelson and Luiza Barros from “Living the Dream,” and “Fishing with Luiza” television shows made a return trip to Crocodile Bay where they concentrated on the inshore action. The got plenty of species to make an exciting show as they wrestled with big snapper, roosterfish, jacks, African Pompano and a mixed bag of other inshore creatures and they may have caught a whale or two on film. They also got to spend some time in the jungle enjoying the wildlife the Osa Peninsula has to offer.

Inshore, everyone is catching fish. Close to the beach, there are lots of light tackle roosters in the 8 to 15-pound range, as well as jack crevalle. If you work areas like Matapalo, some bigger roosters up to 50-pounds have taken baits. Plenty of snapper and other bottom fish action. Some grouper have been taken in deeper water as well as a return of Bluefin trevally and African pompano.

Offshore has been hit and miss the last few days after a good run of marlín. A few sails show up now and then, and a dorado or two has been caught, hoping it is a sign of a good dorado season coming up. Still, yellowfin tuna are abundant and most of late have been 50 to 70 pounds, a good muscle tester.

Still, lots of humpback whales in the Golfo Dulce and breaching school with their young is a sight to see. Lots of turtles are nesting and hatching in the area and you can see their tracks on the beach while fishing inshore or you can take a tour by land to the turtle hatching area.

The Amateur Fishing Club of Costa Rica hosted a one-day bottom fishing tournament at Crocodile Bay. A mixed bag of snapper, grouper, and jacks were taken on a beautiful day weather-wise. Claudio Poma took top honors followed by Gustavo Fernandez who also had the biggest snapper. Kellie Limehouse took third and probably would have finished higher but the nice roosterfish she also caught didn’t count towards points for the tournament.

By Todd Staley