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January 2018 – Costa Rica Fishing Report

Fishing in Costa Rica — *Sunrise From the Pier at Crocodile Bay by Bryce Johnson*

Costa Rica Fishing Report – January 2018 by Captain Allan Smith – December is a fun time of the year at Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica. The kids are on vacation and we get a lot of families down for a fishing holiday in the tropics.

As someone who grew up fishing with my dad and my uncle, I have always appreciated the way fishing brings families together. Fishing is a great way to spend time with your kids and is well away from the distractions of the television, the cellphone and video games. It creates a shared experiences in a natural environment and is universal between generations. It is not simply about the fish on the end of your line but about the people you are with, the places you go, the new friends you meet, and of course the chase of an illusive prize.

December was a good month. The fishing was just like it is described in the Crocodile Bay fishing calendar. Lots of dorado, shots at marlin, tuna opportunities and a few sailfish. We have been raising marlin almost every day and dorado have been in good abundance and we have even been catching them inshore.

One of the highlights of the month came from Captain Francisco, who was alternating days between two different groups. Mike Cuff, who came to visit us from the UK, was here specifically targeting billfish. The first couple of days the billfish had eluded him, but Mike was determined. On his third day, Mr. Cuff’s patience was rewarded and he caught his first “slam”. A “Slam” is releasing a marlin, sailfish, tuna and dorado all in the same day. The following day Mr. Cuff was not on the water and Captain Francisco was fishing with Mike and Carmen Gagnon. Mike Gagnon is an accomplished bluefin tuna fisherman from Kennebunkport Maine, who wanted to try his luck at getting a marlin . They headed offshore first thing and soon were soon hooked up to a big blue marlin. As the morning progressed, both Mike and Carmen released Marlin then added a sailfish, tuna and dorado to complete their “slam”. Two slams in two days!

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Currently, there is a young man here named Joe Dalsey, who has been coming to Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica with his mom for the holidays the past two years. Joe reminds me of myself at his age. He fishes all day on the water, then gets off the boat and starts fishing at the pier. Joe has caught a lot of fish at the pier since he first started coming here. He has landed multiple snappers, jacks, a 30″ snook and a 45+ pound roosterfish. It is wonderful to see a young man so enthusiastic about fishing. The other day Joe was out fishing with his mom when they hooked into a 120lb tuna on light gear. It was a big fight and though the mate suggested Joe use a fighting harness, Joe wanted to fight the fish “mano a mano”. This was a fish that would have put a lot of seasoned anglers in tears, but it was no match for Joe. After a grueling two hour fight, the yellowfin tuna was finally landed.

The Inshore fishing kind of took a back seat this month, as good reports from offshore attracted the most attention. There were some nice roosters caught, and some good days on snapper. It was interesting in that there were several days that boats fishing inshore also landed many offshore species as well, including dorado, yellowfin tuna, Rainbow runners, sharks and Wahoo.

Historically, in the next few weeks we should see the numbers of Dorado and marlin start to taper off, but we should start seeing more and more sailfish. January is normally the beginning of sailfish season and I am very optimistic that it is going to be a good year. Don’t forget we offer 30 of Costa Rica’s most popular expeditions and a luxury spa for the non-anglers in the family. Hope to see you soon in Costa Rica.