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.

I have always made it a habit, especially when I travel in the ‘third world’, to seek out the oldest person I can find and start up a conversation. I have found that is how I can get the true flavor of an area. One example of this insight was when my boss at the time, many years ago, kept a boat in Havana, Cuba.

Not until the early 1990s did sailfishing off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast attract major international attention, and by the turn of the century, Costa Rica was billing itself as the “sailfish capital of the world.” Just after that, however, sailfish numbers began to take a major hit, and many anglers ended up more disappointed than excited. But thanks to the adoption of regulations limiting the commercial exploitation of sailfish about 10 years ago, sailfish populations have rebounded and remain strong enough to justify the country’s self-anointed title.

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.

Did you know the picture above is now illegal in Costa Rica? Ten years ago a regulation made it illegal for the sports fishing sector to take a billfish, sailfish and marlin, out of the water for a “hero shot” photo of their prized catch. The web is full of photos that could potentially bring a 2 million colones fine ($3,250) to the offender who pulls a billfish out of the water. To date, I don’t know of anyone who has ever been arrested or prosecuted on this. In fact, after all these years, many still claim they don’t know about the law.

The fishing charter website “FishingBooker” has named Costa Rica as the fourth-best billfish destination in the world.The list — based entirely on customer preferences and reviews, according to a FishingBooker spokesperson — ranked Costa Rica ahead of the Florida Keys, calling the country’s Pacific Coast “nothing short of paradise.”

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.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. A sound I love. That is the sound of line peeling off a reel. The screaming noise at the moment was coming from a PENN spinning reel which was making that sweet sound. The PENN spinning reel I was using was part of the excellent collection of rods and reels that were on the boat while I was at Crocodile Bay in Costa Rica. All boats there are equipped with a wide array of updated PENN gear which is some of the best in the business. It always makes me feel more confident when using boat provided gear to have up to date products from a well- respected company.

They enter through Panama at the canal and head in both directions.Some go south, settling in Colombia and as far south as Ecuador. Others head north to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and as far as Guatemala. They pass in small groups or alone, but when they reach their Pacific-coast destinations, they group up with others that have made the passage. The coastline of southern Costa Rica is exactly what they need to thrive.

Fishing Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula: In “Costa Rica Business Trip” in the October issue of Florida Sportsman, Publisher Blair Wickstrom details his battles with yellowfin tuna on the new Penn Spinfisher V off Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Staying at Crocodile Bay Resort in late June of this year, Wickstrom and the other members of the […]