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View Full Version : Back from Costa Rica.....


donho
09-14-2008, 06:09 PM
Back from CR and was kind of dissapointed.
Arrived at Jaco Beach. Hot and humid as shit. It was raining through 80% of the days. I talked to a few Captains and they all said that fishing has been lousy. Infact that one day not one boat caught a thing!!!! They all offered reduced rates, but they all said it was very slow. i went into town and there was a small boat for hire that was only 28ft. But the rates were about half what the 32 footer+ were charging. My buddy and I said what the hell. If we do not catch a thing, it will be half the price.

We went out and the water was kind of rough. Very bad for billfish. Apparently they cannot see that well and in rough water they usually miss the bait. We trolled 4 lines. In 10 minutes we had a fish on!!!! It was a Mahi(Dorado) about the same size as we caught in Rio. Then another and another. The Captain was so shocked he kept'ed radioing back to the harbor to tell GPS coordinates where we were catching them. I ended up catching 5 Mahi and 2 yellowfin tuna. The Tuna were nothing to brag about. Maybe 2 ft? Maybe 2.5 ft? but they fight alot harder then the Dorado(pound for pound) I knew the chances of a billfish were not likely, so I made the best of it. My buddy had way too much to drink the night before so he was having a hard time reeling in any fish. Plus he threw up when we first got to open water so he wasn't feeling that good. We were thinkig of heading back, when one of the lines starting stipping like crazy. It was his turn, but he was so beat up, he wanted to pass. I kind of push him to get in to the chair. This one was a real nice one. It was leaping out of the water about 150 ft out. It looked pretty decent. He was was sweating and dying, fighting this thing. When it got to teh side of the boat, i saw just how big it was. Then in a second it was 200 ft out again. My buddy looked like he was going to puke again. i was yelling at him to pump that fish in. He was yelling to cut the line, he wanted to quit. 40 minutes later they gaffed it. It was a big mahi. He seemed to careless. He was exhausted and wanted to lay down. I was impressed. We headed back after this one. We decided no more fishing. The billfish were not biting and even though we got real lucky that day. The other boats in the dock area did not. I will try agin in the high season. The boats are double, but the water is flat and billfish are caugh daily. Sorry for the long story. Here is a pic of the big Mahi:
http://i37.tinypic.com/do1jrm.jpg

Jeremy Glass
09-14-2008, 06:30 PM
Nice fish, but how does your friend see with a beard like that? :)

donho
09-14-2008, 09:03 PM
I told him I was going to post his pic on a board. He said to block out his face since he had no clue what kind of board it would be on. Just respecting his wishes.LOL

Looks like cousin IT.!!!!

jwprops
09-18-2008, 01:36 PM
them tuna are fighters especially the heavier ones 75lbs. +
the mahi are a good eatin fish caught a bunch of them offshore at St. Martien

bbcfast1
09-20-2008, 04:20 PM
WOW

gbm
10-19-2008, 02:09 PM
Nice what did it weigh? Billfish show up when the water gets cooler ,They are there all year round but in the cooler months baitfish migrate from the north and so do the billfish.I personally like to fish in water like you guys were in, because fish have excellent vision and the flatter the seas the clearer the water .The clearer the water the easier for the fish to see (hooks,line,swivels). When you get ready to go again let me know , My freind Capt. Ron Schatman(famous big fish capt) his son works a boat down there(costa rica)and he fishes just as good as his dad.

Mod
10-19-2008, 02:15 PM
Grilled Mahi is awesome.

Nice fish.

Georgia340
02-23-2009, 01:39 AM
Nice fish! Back in 1969 I went with a friend to Costa Rica to stay with his family when we came back from the service, it was great, totally different I'm sure from today. You could survive a week with 20 bucks. I do remember it was hot, but considering were we had come from it was paradise.Great women too! :)

BadNotch676
02-23-2009, 12:24 PM
I'm actually headed to costa rica in about 2weeks I'm not sure which part I'm going to I think its around some rainforest I ha ve no idea though my gf booked the trip.

NASTYCAMARO
02-23-2009, 07:53 PM
I went to costa rica not to long ago I stayed Los suenos Marrott it was un super super nice..we fished also it seemed to rain more towards jaco beach and into the hills. Did you do the croc. boat ride? I did really good off shore..

clevelandpwr
02-26-2009, 07:54 AM
Impressive fish,that will be good eating