|
The fishing up and down the Pacific coast continues to be above average for this time of year. The northern Pacific has seen a good sailfish, mahimahi and tuna bite, while the central and southern Pacific coasts have had a decent marlin, mahimahi and tuna bite. The fishing up at Lake Arenal has been steady, and they've had a hot tarpon bite on the Caribbean side.
Both coasts have been having mostly sunny days with light winds and some afternoon and evening showers. The interior of the country has had more daytime rain, which is normal for this time of year.
Northern Pacific
 |
Wahoo! This nice wahoo was caught recently on the Disco Pirate at a Central Pacific hot spot called the “26 rock.” |
Photo courtesy of Matt Westby
|
Capt. Lee Keidel of Kingpin Sportfishing reports good conditions in and around Tamarindo, where they're running about five miles out to reef and then trolling about 20 miles offshore from there. Keidel has been catching sailfish, mahimahi and some yellowfin tuna, with his best day seeing seven sailfish releases and a few mahimahi.
Capt. Steve Curtis on the Capullo reports a very good past month for fishing in the Tamarindo area. He's been doing more half-day trips for budget-minded anglers, he says, and the weather, water and fishing has been good, with most people catching sailfish, mahimahi and some tuna.
On the Gamefisher II in Flamingo, Capt. Richard Chellemi reports lots of lazy sailfish offshore. The boats are seeing dozens of sails, but they are not feeding aggressively. The past few weeks, the Gamefisher II has caught a good mix of sailfish, mahimahi, tuna, wahoo and roosterfish. English anglers Peter Hughes and David Daniels went seven for 12 on sailfish and the kept a couple of nice mahimahi for dinner, Chellemi reports.
Petra Schoep of Tamarindo Sportfishing reports some good fishing for sailfish, yellowfin tuna and mahimahi. Jacob Dole and family from the U.S. state of Kentucky went out on the Talking Fish with Capt. Randy Wilson and caught lots of tuna, grouper and mahimahi for some good eating.
Thomas Jones of Bahía Rica Adventures in Punta Cuchillo reports that the blue water moved in recently for a few days, and they had some great fishing for mahimahi, roosterfish, jack and even some sailfish.
Dean Paquette from Playa Naranjo reports a bunch of 10- to 20-pound mahimahi in the area. He says he and his friends have been going out about five miles and catching about 20 fish per day.
Central Pacific
Capt. Brandon Keene on the Fish Whistle had the boss in town for a few weeks. They fished almost every day and caught sailfish, mahimahi, grouper, snapper, roosterfish and a handful of marlin.
Capt. James Smith on the Dragin Fly has been offshore a few times a week lately and has caught some sailfish, mahimahi and marlin, but the best catch was a few big yellowfin tuna in the 80- to 120-pound range. July is usually one of the best tuna months along the central Pacific coast.
The Disco Pirate, under Capt. RJ Lillie, took some friends out for a half-day of fishing around a local hot spot called the “26 rock.” Lillie and the boys ended the day with a handful of 15-pound mahimahi and a nice wahoo about 45 pounds.
My friends and I have also been doing some inshore fishing on the Disco Pirate and have caught good numbers of roosterfish and jack, with a few snapper in the mix.
A father-and-son group went out recently on the R&J with Capt. Rich Binkus. They started at the 26 rock and ended the day offshore, and caught a handful of mahimahi, a few nice jack and a wahoo. They also raised a 300-pound-plus blue marlin.
Mike Brennan went out for some inshore fishing recently on the Hoo's Your Daddy and caught a monster roosterfish. Capt. Lillie was running the boat for Capt. Dana Thomas and fished a local inshore spot called Negritas. They fished hard all day and were finally rewarded when they released an 80-pound-plus roosterfish that hit on live bait.
Capt. Dave Mothershead on the Miss Behavin' has been mixing it up with some inshore and bottom fishing lately. He says the fishing has been steady for roosterfish, wahoo, jack and small mahimahi.
Felipe Fernández of the Good Day team reports a good roosterfish bite in the Quepos area and some sailfish and tuna up around Los Sueños. The guys on the Good Day II caught a really big tuna out by a local hot spot called “the corner.”
Capt. Chris Bernstel on the Kinembe II has been doing a lot of snook fishing recently, using live bait and catching snook in the 10- to 25-pound range from his 26-foot center console boat.
Capt. Dave Dobbins on the Blue Water II has had a couple of good days recently. One day, they found a floating fishing net offshore and caught yellowfin tuna, wahoo, mahimahi and more. A few days later, they found a nice pod of sailfish and ended the day with 12 releases.
Quepos locals Van Porter and Davis Henley of the Byblos Hotel went fishing in the Damas Estuary in a 12-foot dinghy and caught a really nice 35-pound snook.
Southern Pacific
Capt. Bob Baker of Golfito Sportfishing reports some nice weather, lots of tuna, very few mahimahi and good numbers of marlin offshore recently. The inshore bite has been good for snapper, mackerel, corvina and yellowtail. Baker also reports lots of commercial fishing pressure in the area but is optimistic about some new laws that will restrict certain types of commercial fishing in the Golfo Dulce.
Northern Region
Capt. Ron Saunders of Arenal Fishing says the weather and the fishing at Arenal continue to be above average for “green season.” He reports some nice guapote and machaca caught trolling and throwing topwater lures.
Caribbean Region
Capt. Eddie Brown on the Bullshark in Tortuguero reports some really good tarpon fishing in the area. He called me several times while out on the water to report calm seas and a hot bite. One afternoon, he had already released eight tarpon by 2 p.m.
|
| 
