August 2017 – Costa Rica Fishing Report

1 Boat, 3 days, 128 fish, 12 Species

The roosterfish are schooled up and they are hungry.  In the first two weeks  of August we released 94 roosterfish with only three boats on the water each day. Some highlights included the Alameda group that started off their vacation catching twenty-seven roosterfish and a mixed bag of fifteen other fish (see a complete recap of their trip below). The Dinger family also got in on the action, releasing eighteen roosterfish and ten jacks. Mr. Villareal set out for a day alone on the water with his family opting to do some Costa Rica eco tours after fishing the first day. His captain made the short run to the beaches outside of the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf). They set out four rods with sardines and It wasn’t long before the first baits were getting hit. Mr. Villareal told me they had many multiple hookups, including four roosterfish on at the same time. He would release one fish and the mate would pass him another rod with a fish on it. After releasing thirty-one roosterfish, they decided to call it a day and were back to the pier before noon.

costa rica fishingKeeping up with Todd Staley – Roosterfish Tagging with Gray Fish-Tag Research “Crocodile Bay Resort has always been a supporter of marine conservation and they let me take several months off to “give back a little” to the ocean which has been so good to me over the decades. I have been working with FECOP (Federacion Costarricense de Pesca) a sport fishing advocate and conservation group. We have had great success with tuna conservation and recently I got to fish out of Crocodile Bay with Gray Fish-Tag Research folks who both Crocodile Bay and FECOP sponsor. We placed Archival tags in roosterfish. Being a coastal animal we have had lots of returns on convention spaghetti tags so Gray Fish-Tag thought we should step it up and see if we good get even more information by placing electronic tags. Soon we will give you a full report. Keep a wet line…Todd

Crocodile Bay Resort Has Just Been Chosen as a Top 5  World Saltwater Fishing Destination by BD Outdoors!

Lights, Camera, Action – During their three days of fishing at Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica Kenny and his group caught and released 128 fish, over three days, on one boat – most of which were released.

Here is a Daily Recap of Their Adventures:
The first day they got into a thick school of roosterfish releasing 27, also releasing 9 jacks and a rainbow runner, while taking a cubera snapper and African pompano for the dinner table.

Costa Rica Roosterfish

Day two – it was off to enjoy Crocodile Bay’s front yard – Central America’s largest coastal rainforest – referred to as “The most biologically intense place on Earth” by National Geographic. Speaking of variety, within 18km of the resort you will have a chance to see all four species of indigenous monkeys, sloths, and more . The rainforest hike was followed by a zip-line tour which combines raw adrenaline with magnificent views and a birds-eye perspective of the surrounding rainforest canopy. Crocodile Bay Expeditions are a great way to to break-up your fishing days to take in the unparalleled culture and nature Costa Rica has to offer.

Day Three – The Alameda group was eager to get back on the water, and although the anglers planned on going offshore – they hit a patch of cobalt blue water inshore only about 30 minutes into their trip where they noticed some action on the surface of the water. Birds dive bombing, with tuna and porpoises busting bait. They released 53 yellowfin tuna (possibly a one day record for the resort it terms of numbers) and kept a couple for the table. They also took a dorado and released bonita and rainbow runner.

Here is some of the Alameda group’s video catching football sized tuna – Not giant fish, but lots of action and lots of fun.

Torrential Tuna
Day four (third day fishing) started out like an exercise in futility skirting volcanic coastline of the far side of the Golfo Dulce in search of roosterfish and only finding one small rooster. As they approached the mouth of the Gulf they were in for a nice surprise and an end to the slow morning. A Wahoo (pictured above) struck a small Rapala at full speed which is always exciting (and make for excellent table fare). Wahoo although not common in Southern Costa Rica can surprise anglers any day of the year. As the excitement from the Wahoo started to wear off, more action came quickly in the form of 16 yellowfin tuna, mackerel and a snapper.

Here is what Kenny Alameda had to say: “We landed 128 fish in 3 days of fishing and the boat and the lodge said it was a 1 day record for tuna and maybe a 3 day record for 1 boat. We fished on the same boat for all 3 days and the crew of Oldemar and Johnny were fantastic. Everyone worked as a team. Terrific lodge and staff and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Thanks for helping to arrange a great trip”

Although  Kenny Alameda had been to Costa Rica several times before he said this was by far the most diversity he had ever witnessed in terms of fishing as well as the variety of additional adventure activities nearby (the resort offers over 30 private expeditions with expert guides)

From Key West to Costa Rica
Diego Toiran of the Key West based fishing show “Pescando en los Cayos” is currently down shooting his next episode and is getting into some amazing tuna,roosterfish and snapper action. Pescando en los Cayos is the only Latin American based fishing show on television in the US. Though the show is also bilingual when filming with legends such as Guy Harvey they strive to reach all anglers and boat lovers alike. They are now filming in several Latin American countries as their mission is to educate on conservation, culture and of course… fishing. For more information and air times, check out their website at http:wwww.pescando.tv

 

Book Your Costa Rica Fishing Trip at Crocodile Bay Today!

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.