Fishing has been full of surprises lately. Some good, some not so good. I always prefer to get the not so good news out of the way first. Sailfish numbers are down. El Nina has peaked and we are on the downside of it, but the result is cooler water temperatures and sails prefer a little warmer waters. It is predicted that El Nina will be completely finished by late May or mid-June and things will get back to normal.

Strange weather really affected offshore fishing in March 2021. I have seen more rain in this “dry season”, dropping surface temperature and causing a big wad of sailfish to move north early this year. There were a few really good days but the sails just were not consistent. The tuna on the other hand were in no short supply. Most fish ran 40 to 50 lbs but a few over 100 lbs tested some drag washers. Marlin, who are not bothered by the drop in water temperature, did take a few baits making for better than normal March marlin action.

We finished giving our pier a new look just in time for the crowd that came fishing in February. It was really nice to see that kind of movement again after being held back by restrictions for so long. El Niña played with us a bit during this last month as it is usually clear skies, with a flat ocean, and hotter in February.

January 2021 ended with a beautiful full “Wolf Moon”, and although you would be hard-pressed to find a Wolf in Costa Rica, the friendly neighborhood howler monkeys let anglers know when it was time to rise and shine and head to the boats every morning.

December was a tune-up for the season. It was great to see the movement around the resort again and to see some returning friends and meet some new ones. The captains have been itching to get on the water for months.

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.

The month started off with a bang, especially inshore when some boats were catching as many as 20 roosterfish a day, above the average of a good day of fishing. Mark Davis was here the first week of the month to film yet another episode of Bigwater Adventures and came out of the gate with a nice blue marlin to start the show.

January starts and ends with a Bang! New Year’s Eve is the only day of the year you will find a traffic jam in Puerto Jimenez. Yet, thanks to a generous neighbor, this small beach town has one of the largest, most spectacular NYE fireworks display in all of Costa Rica. Local people come from all over the peninsula to enjoy the lit-up sky.