Costa Rica Fishing Report
by Captain Todd Staley
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
My day starts at 4:00 am. This morning I saw something that I have not seen in a long time, a sky full of stars. If you live near a big city you can't image what's up there, but in a small town or out on the ocean it is unbelievable the beauty of a moonless clear night. It is also a signal that Costa Rican summer has finally arrived.
It looks like someone also told the fish. Offshore the ocean has really come to life. We have seen double digit days on sailfish, the porpoises ran through this week signaling yellowfin tuna were below, and the missing link, dorado began to show. Marlin has also been almost a daily occurrence.
Jimmy Nelson, of Extreme Fishing Adventures was down with his film crew, Ben Bateman and Sam Spornhauer. The came across a school of spinner dolphin and managed a couple of 20 lb yellowfin tuna when Jimmy decided to see if they would eat a popper. On the first case a big yellowfin came completely out of the water and crashed down on top of the lure that he through with 20 lb spinning gear. It was certainly an "Extreme" site to see as well as was the battled that follow. For every minute you have a big fish on the line the odds of losing it go up. Nelson took his time on the light gear and 4 hours and 12 minutes later he had a 160 lb tuna onboard and was ready for a trip to the spa. Father and son team Dan and Don Ballard also got a 100 lb fish out of the same school.
There have been too many marlin taken lately to list without forgetting someone. Greg Boyer's, Dave Garlow's, and Steve Wilcox's groups were some that got in the action. Most of the fish were in the 150 to 400 lb range. Steve Wilcox's trip was especially rewarding because it was like a repeat of his childhood when his father took him to Mexico where he caught his first marlin. Steve's son Aaron took his first billfish here and also took a 55 lb monster dorado as well as contributed many of the photo's in this report.
Ian Davis from Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures was down and got into the tuna action with a fly rod. He also left our webmaster Will Briegel with a library full of great photos.
Inshore has yet to turn on really strong although Caroline Zargony took a couple of nice roosters to 45 lbs. Amberjacks and smaller tuna have kept deep Jiggers busy lately as well as big sier
Todd Staley
Fishing Director
Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica
Visit http://www.crocodilebay.com or call 1.800.733.1115 for information on reserving your fishing vacation at Crocodile Bay Resort, Costa Rica.
