Two oceans,
beautiful lakes and hundreds of rivers all add up to some of
the best fishing for more species at any time of the year than
you're likely to find in such a small and easily accessible
area anywhere else in the world.From the
capital city of San José, fishermen are only 30 to 40 minutes
flying time from the prime fishing regions on the Pacific and
Caribbean coasts, with two national airlines providing daily
service. There is hardly anyplace in the country you can't
reach within three to six hours driving time.
Costa Rica's
reputation for incredible fishing is well-justified, but like
anyplace in the world, there are never any guarantees. Action
will vary with the seasons and prevailing wind, weather,
currents and other natural conditions at any given time, and
the following breakdown should be considered only as a general
guide.
NORTHERN PACIFIC COAST
Cabo Blanco
to the Gulf of Papagayo
Flamingo Beach, with its
full-service marina, and nearby Tamarindo, Nosara, Samara and
Playa Carrillo are the sportfishing centers in this
area.
Fishing will vary with prevailing
conditions, but here's how it generally runs for the more
popular species. Look for winds north of Cabo Vela from about
December into mid-May.
- Marlin:
Caught every month of the year, with mid-November to early
March exceptional, then slowing a bit from April into early
June when it picks up again, peaking in August and
September.
- Sailfish:
Caught throughout the year, with May through August normally
the top season. They may begin to thin out in September, with
the slowest months running through November.
- Tuna: Peak
months are usually August through October, but when all else
fails, there are always tuna, anytime of the year. Yellowfin
and some bigeye tuna to over 350 pounds are sometimes found
well inside the Catalina Islands, 30-minutes or less running
time from the beach, while schools of 12 to 20 pounders can
frequently be found under the birds and dolphin, spread for
acres on the outside.
- Dorado: More
properly known as dolphin, these colorful gamesters are most
abundant from late May through October when the seasonal rains
flood the rivers that carry out debris, forming trash lines
close inshore they like to lie under. Troll past a floating
log and you'll likely hook a dorado.
- Wahoo:
Caught in limited numbers throughout the year, the best
showing begins about the time the rains start in May, peaking
in July and August. Most are caught around rocky points and
islands, but you may pick one up occasionally fishing offshore
as well.
- Roosterfish:
Available all year, but more are caught in the Papagayo Bay
area and around the islands from October through
March.
CENTRAL
PACIFIC REGION
Cabo Blanco
to Drake Bay
Quepos is the center of fishing on Costa
Rica's central Pacific coast, with 50 or more professionally
equipped boats in the 27-feet-and-up range, and smaller boats
well-suited to the excellent inshore angling in the area. Some
sails are taken throughout the entire year. It's seldom more
than a 12- to 20-mile run to the blue water where most of the
billfish action is found. Boats out of Quepos also offer
multi-day trips to the Drake Bay and Caños Island area,
over-nighting at one of the several lodges centered around
Drake Bay and there are a few boats based at Drake Bay, also a
top diving area. This region is best known for its wahoo, big
cubera and roosterfish, but there are also tuna, dorado, sails
and marlin.
- Marlin:
October is normally the top month for marlin in this area, but
action is also good in September and November. Occasional
blues and a rare black are likely to be found anytime of
year.
- Sailfish: Mid-December to the end of April is rated
the best season, but the big schools often move in about
October and stay longer. A few sails always show among the
catch from June through September, mixed with the other
species that are found inshore during those months.
- Tuna: Found
throughout the year as they are all along the Pacific coast,
but most abundant from about June through September. Most are
the eight to 12 pounders, but a dozen or more over 200 pounds
and maybe another two dozen in the 100- to 200-pound range are
taken every year
- Wahoo:
Pretty rare in the area around Quepos, but more abundant in
the late summer farther south, especially the Drake Bay and
Caños Island area from late June to early August.
- Dorado: Best
action begins with the winter rains that start in late May and
wash debris from the river mouths, creating the inshore trash
lines that the dolphin like to lie under.
- Roosterfish:
Fishing for this hard-hitting inshore species is little short
of incredible with the best spots off the river mouths and the
rocky drop-offs. Exceptional at the mouth of the Parrita
River; Palo Seco between Parrita and Damas; just outside
Damas; off the mouth of the Naranjo River; around the points
at Dominical Beach and throughout the Drake Bay area. Best
fishing is during the summer months, from June through early
September.
- Snook: Best
spots are just off the many river mouths along the coast, up
the Sierpe River and in the big lagoon on the Sierpe. The
world-record Pacific black snook was taken a couple years ago
in July just off the mouth of the Río Naranjo on a charter
with Capt. Jim Geary. Although it is a new fishery, the best
months seem to be from July through November during the heavy
rainy season.
SOUTHERN
PACIFIC REGION
Golfito and
Playa Zancudo
Golfito is the center of activity on Costa
Rica's southern coast. It's a rare day during peak season that
boats don't raise a dozen sails and a marlin or two, along
with plenty of jacks, runners, mackerel and perhaps an
amberjack, roosterfish or big snapper inshore. Light-tackle
fishing inside the bay off Golfito, with its profusion of
small coves and rocky islets, as well as off the shoreline, is
good for small barracuda and snapper, corbina and occasional
snook to more than 40 pounds.
Across the
bay there are lodges on Playa Zancudo, a narrow peninsula with
miles of beach on the ocean side and the confluence of three
rivers on the other side. Operators offer day charters and
three- to five-day packages with all meals, lodging and an
open bar. One of the lodges there has posted more than 40 IGFA
records on various species. Fishing the drop-off outside
Matapalo produces sails, marlin, tuna and other blue-water
species, and inshore there are roosters that average more than
30 pounds (a couple up to 100 pounds), grouper, jacks,
barracuda, trophy-size Pacific cubera snapper and
more.
Zancudo
operators also offer snook trips that have become increasingly
popular during the past couple of years, working the river
mouths and estuary at Zancudo, while some of the boats out of
Golfito fish snook north of there, at the mouth of the Río
Esquinas.
- Marlin:
August through December is peak season, but an occasional blue
or black may be taken most any month if the water temperature
is up. This year, the marlin bite was incredible from February
in March, with some to 750 pounds.
- Sailfish: A
few taken off and on year-round with the exceptional fishing
from December through March. Often slows from April into early
June, then picks up again and begins to peak in August or
September.
- Tuna: Best
fishing for the bigger ones corresponds with marlin and
sailfish season, but the schools of footballs can nearly
always be found outside.
Dorado: Best
runs are traditionally from late May through
October
- Wahoo: Not
abundant, but an occasional wahoo may be taken most any time
of the year while trolling offshore for billfish, or around
the structure off Matapalo.
Roosterfish:
Region is famous for its big roosters and they can be caught
virtually any month of the year, some to nearly 100
pounds.
- Snook: All
year, but best from middle or late May through July and
January and February.
CARRIBBEAN COAST
Fishing
along Costa Rica's Caribbean coast can vary more from one day
to another than from month to month. Historically, tarpon
fishing is promoted by lodges on Costa Rica's east coast from
about December through mid-May, while snook peak from about
September through November. But the fish are there year-round,
and it's mostly a matter of weather, which can change
overnight. Rainy season starts about mid-May, and action slows
for awhile as the dirty water sweeps out of the
rivers.
Facilities
catering to anglers are located at Samay Lagoon, Parismina and
Tortuguero, and there are three quality fishing lodges around
the Río Colorado. The Rain Goddess luxury houseboat serves as
a floating lodge based near the mouth of the San Juan River,
in Nicaragua, and provides access to miles of jungle rivers
and small hidden lakes that others rarely fish.
Lodges offer
full service, including transportation from San José,
comfortable accommodations, meals, boats and guides. There are
no roads to this area, and access is via the in-country
airlines or charter flights, or by boat through the Tortuguero
Canal system from Limón.
Most
operators on the Caribbean have 23-foot center consoles that
are able to get out the river mouths more frequently for
tarpon when the surf is up and often connect on barracuda,
jacks, kingfish, sierra, tripletail, cubera, grouper, jewfish,
wahoo, tuna to over 100 pounds and the occasional Atlantic
sailfish and blue marlin.
Light-tackle
fishing up river in the backwaters and lagoons is unsurpassed,
especially when the calba, or fat snook (Centropomus
parallelus) are running. These are the small snook that swarm
the Río Colorado area from about September through November,
sometimes overlapping as much as a month either way. They
average about five pounds, with eight and nine pounders fairly
common. Rainbow bass (guapote), mojarra, vieja, machaca,
catfish, drum, alligator gar and other light-tackle species
also abound, so bring along that bass rod or a light spinning
outfit.
INLAND
FISHING
Lake Arenal,
at the base of the active Arenal Volcano, is easily the most
popular inland fishing destination. Located about a four-hour
drive from San José, it's 22-miles long and Costa Rica's
largest lake. Arenal is loaded with guapote, or rainbow bass,
a member of the genus Parachromis, which displays the shadings
of a rainbow trout and habits of a largemouth bass. Limit is
five fish per day, and they often run seven to nine pounds,
although the average is closer to three pounds. A number of
lodges around the lake offer boats and guides.
Rainbow bass
are also found in the much smaller Lake Coto, just a few
kilometers from the big lake, and at Lake Hule (also shown on
some maps as Lake Echandi), near San Miguel—which you don't
even want to think about trying to get to without a
four-wheel-drive (preferably two of them and one with a
winch!).
The
low-elevation rivers that feed into the San Juan to the north
and the Caribbean Sea on the east coast also have rainbow
bass, although they generally don't run as large as they do in
the lakes. These rivers have a variety of other species
including bobo (a type of mullet); the colorful mojarra; the
machaca, often called sabalito, or little tarpon, because of
its acrobatic jumps that make it a favorite of fly fishermen;
and the roncador or drum, usually found in brackish lagoons
near the river mouths.
Light-bait
casting or spinning tackle works fine, but for bobo bring a
selection of spinners (large Mepps type), shallow runners,
poppers and a can of worms. Bobo have also been known to take
a chunk of banana.
Another
great trip is up the Río Frío from Los Chiles, working up to
its junction with Caño Negro Lagoon and the San Juan River as
it forms the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Caño
Negro is an immense inland lake that is home to the largest
tarpon you're likely to find in the country. While none of the
real giants have been weighed in to date, I've seen jumpers
that would have pushed the 200-pound mark. Caño Negro also is
loaded with snook, drum, guapote and other species. Boats and
guides are available. Arrangements can be made to fish Lake
Nicaragua out of Los Chiles.
There's even
trout fishing in Costa Rica, but access to the more productive
areas for natural fish is challenging, to say the least, with
access to most waters generally requiring a guide and a horse.
Rainbows average seven to nine inches, with the very
occasional two to four pounders. There are exceptions,
however, with some planted fish available on private ranches
within a two-hour drive from San José.
Keep in mind
there are closed seasons in some waters that may vary from
year to year, and a valid Costa Rican fishing license is
required for all freshwater fishing in the country.
