On November 1, we start fishing again. I feel like we are getting paroled, and there is nothing like the salt air and a cobalt sea to liberate ones soul. After being prisoners for so many months there will be nothing more exciting than the sound of line racing off the reel when a big fish makes the first run. I so need that adrenalin rush. And what a great time to re-open. The fall marlin season will be in full swing and historically, and the dorado bite will be going on with the yellowfin tuna busting bait shoals offshore. The sails are not here in big numbers yet, but there are some cruising the area and they are usually hungry.

A circle hook is a fishing hook manufactured so that the point is turned perpendicularly back to the hook shank to form a generally circular, or oval, shape. It has become widely used among anglers in recent years because the hook typically catches more fish and is rarely swallowed. Since the circle hook catches the fish on the lips at the corner of its mouth, it usually decreases the mortality rates of released fish.

Twenty-five years ago, Costa Rica was known as the sailfish capital of the world.This was quite an accomplishment, as the sport fishing industry was still relatively new here. Quepos was the epicenter, and names like Larry Hustler, Jeanette Perez, John Cory, Bill Cannon, and Harry Gray and their crews had put Costa Rica on the world fishing map. Days of 20-plus sailfish per boat were common. Marsha Bennett was opening the Gran Escape, which became the place to be for fishermen when not on the water.