Roosterfish, or Nematistius Pectoralis as their Latin name goes, is a hard-fighting and widely sought after gamefish here in Costa Rica. Anglers come from all over the world to Crocodile Bay Resort in search of this prized species. And almost all of our guests have roosterfish at the top of their wish list.In Central America, the roosterfish can only be found on the Pacific side, and they range from southern California down to Peru.

This month I wanted to do something a little different and touch on some of the new equipment we have coming for our 2019/20 season. On the lure front, we have some great Yo Zuri Bull poppers and Halco Roosta poppers coming in. Both of these poppers have proven effective on the tuna and are even capable of attracting the lure-shy roosterfish.

August has been an excellent month at Crocodile Bay Resort in Costa Rica! We began with a wide-open tuna bite, as the fish were just a few miles offshore. The dolphins and tuna have been corralling big schools of blue runners and feeding on them voraciously — an excellent opportunity for some great topwater action. The weapons of choice were Williamson, Yo-Zuri and Halco poppers along with live blue runners and goggle eyes.

Greetings from Costa Rica. I have been away from the Osa Peninsula for the last two weeks on vacation, as well as at ICAST in Orlando, Florida for Crocodile Bay Resort. ICAST (International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades) is the world’s largest sportfishing trade show, premiering the latest innovations in fishing gear, accessories and apparel. It is an annual one-stop shopping event, perfect for conducting business, seeing old friends and catching up on all the latest innovations in outdoor products.  

Summertime action has been hot at Crocodile Bay Resort in Costa Rica! This is by far the best June fishing I have ever seen in my sixteen years at Crocodile Bay. The blue water has been just a couple of miles off the beach, and the sailfish have been here in pretty decent numbers. Yesterday, we had a boat raise eight sailfish and release three of them. As you will see in the video, it is not just the sailfish, but some excellent Marlin fishing as well. We do not typically see this many billfish in June, so I am super happy to have so many excited customers.

The excitement continues at Crocodile Bay Resort in Costa Rica with solid offshore marlin fishing and good inshore roosterfish action. This has been an interesting May, to say the least. Historically, we tend to see a slower billfish bite as we are transitioning out of the dry season. However, this year the offshore currents have kept the blue-water closer and a good number of baitfish have been consistently around the current lines.

The action in April has been great! As I mentioned in the March fishing report, we sometimes get a run of marlin in mid-April and this year we were not disappointed. Large numbers of baby dorado moved onto the current lines offshore and with them came the marlin and a nice concentration of sailfish. Several boats were posting double-digit raises on the colorful sailfish and the powerful marlin in a single day. 

The offshore action continues at Crocodile Bay Resort. The weather has been fantastic with clear skies and light offshore breezes. An abundance of bait has been holding in the blue water for weeks now and the sailfish along with the marlin have been taking advantage. Most days the bite has been early and late in the day, but there were several “wide open” days when the dolphins, sailfish and tuna all moved in on the bait and the action was non stop.

Great weather continues, with sunny days in the upper eighties and light offshore breezes. The tuna have been around for the last few weeks and there have been some epic feedings with spotted dolphins, tuna, manta rays and sailfish all converging on bait balls. The tuna have been anywhere from ten-pounds all the way up to 200+ lbs. Last week we had an angler, Mr Harris from the UK, that hooked up a big tuna on a Penn 50 International and fought the fish for over three hours in the late afternoon.

January historically is a transitional month. The marlin and dorado in November and December begin to taper off and the water temperature rises slightly with sailfish numbers increasing. This month has been basically true to form, though we are still waiting for the big push of sails. There have been some very good days with the sailfish so far this season, including a ten fish release day from one boat.