What a total blast we all had during the May 25-26th PELAGIC ‘PURA VIDA’ INSHORE CLASSIC FISHING TOURNAMENT here at the Marina Pez Vela. Guys, Girls and even a special tournament on the Sunday morning just for kids—what a fun packed weekend it was for everyone & memories for a lifetime created for the kids, most of them fishing their first ever fishing tournament!
The tournament weekend was put together by the guys from leading global fishing apparel brand PELAGIC who have proudly made Quepos their Central American outpost and have a SUPER COOL clothing store right here in the Marina Pez Vela, be sure to check it out! The Fishing fun got underway on the Saturday with the Adults ‘PURA VIDA CLASSIC’ Inshore tournament. This was an 8 hour shoot-out where teams battled it out in two main divisions, the ROOSTERFISH division where points were accumulated for the most Roosterfish releases & the ‘GRAND SLAM’ division awarded for the heaviest 3 fish combo. Team Z GASTRO BAR fishing aboard GOOD DAY were the winners of the Roosterfish division releasing 3 nice sized Roosterfish in the 36’-48’ category which earned them 900 points. Jeff Dechesneau fishing aboard the smallest boat in the fleet, the 19’ Boston Whaler Montauk, caught the longest Roosterfish of the day, a stunning fish of 55 inches in length which helped his team to 2nd place. All Roosterfish caught were quickly measured and released, a tournament format designed to promote conservation of such an important fish species. A shout out to Reymond Rodrigues who fished the tournament aboard an awesome Seadoo Fishing Jetski, certainly a first for a Quepos tournament but also one serious piece of kit! Huge congratulations to team DREAMS II for winning the Grand Slam division. The guys had a blast catching a ton of different species including a 26lb Cubera Snapper Roosterfish, Mullet Snappers, Jacks, Wahoo, Rainbow Runners and many other species. They comfortably took home the honours for the heaviest 3 fish combo, great stuff guys & well deserved!
There was some truly world class fishing action in April here in Quepos with some great catches of Sailfish, Tuna, Marlin, Dorado, Roosterfish, Snook, and Cubera Snapper, making Angling dreams come true.
OFFSHORE FISHING
The fleet enjoying some good Sailfish fishing throughout April with plenty of Sailfish caught but no one had a better day than the guys on Double Nickle who released 29 Sailfish on April 5th, what a day, congrats guys! Striped Marlin made an appearance during April with some nice Stripeys caught along with a few Blue & Black Marlin. The Blue Marlin bite on day charters should improve into May and June as water temperatures start to drop with the afternoon rains. If catching a Blue Marlin is high on your bucket list then you should seriously consider heading out to the FADS & Seamounts on an overnight trip. Caribsea, Double Nickle, Tranquilo, The Hooker, and Pescadora are all great Quepos boats to take you on the Marlin fishing trip of a lifetime. May to November is the peak time for overnight FAD fishing trips and when the bite is on you could be in with a chance of some truly insane Marlin fishing!
April provided some excellent Tuna fishing which should improve into May which is usually a great month for Tuna. There were some BIG Bull Dorado caught during April further Offshore and closer to shore some smaller Dorado started making an appearance. Expect numbers to increase into May and June.
The bite has been HOT HOT HOT this past couple of months here in Quepos. There has been some truly world-class Sailfish fishing with some very impressive catch numbers posted with lots of boats experiencing double digit Sailfish release days during February and March…and an awful lot more fish some days!
There have been some stunning Blue, Black and Striped Marlin caught making lots of dreams come true. Dominical resident Jerry Wells has landed two stunning Marlin this season during trips aboard GOOD DAY—his latest fish a beautiful 300 pounder!
WICKED TUNA!
The Tuna fishing has been on fire also with some fantastic Tuna caught by the Quepos Charter boats recently, with several boats landing Tuna in the 150-200lb range, fish-of-a-lifetime stuff for sure! The big Tuna are typically caught on Bonito or Blue Runner live baits, however, often equally as effective are the Fat Daddy Squids from SQUIDNATION. Trolled slowly but jerked aggressively just 20-40 foot behind your boat, when the Tuna are in the mood for them they promise to give you some of the most visual bites you are likely to encounter in your fishing career! Think 100 lb plus Tuna jumping clean out of the water just 20 feet from your boat with a big fake squid in his mouth! There are also plenty of smaller Tuna in the 20-80lb range that will take live baits or various styles of Jigs, dark coloured Bassworms have been a particular favourite this season. Encountering a group of feeding Tuna off the coast of Costa Rica is a sight in itself as they gather with mega-pods of hundreds of Spinner Dolphins which put on a spectacular show as they work together to herd up the bait fish, all of this going on right here in our backyard!
What a GREAT start to the year it has been here in Quepolandia with some truly world class fishing taking place during January & February. Plenty of Sailfish & Blue Marlin were caught with some good numbers of Striped Marlin and several huge Black Marlin in the 500lb plus range. Quepos boats have been seeing Dorado on most Offshore trips with some good sized Bull Dorado still being caught which are always a welcome addition to any charter.
PELAGIC ROCKSTAR!
What a blast we all had at the Pelagic Rockstar Tournament held in January! The Marina Pez Vela was one big party for the weekend as a staggering 50 boats joined the action releasing a staggering 413 Sailfish & 11 Marlin between us! There were lots of Tuna and Dorado weighed also for good measure. Huge congrats to BIG OH for winning the big boat division with 26 Sailfish and Amy’s Dream for winning the small boat division with 9 Sailfish, great work guys! TAG TEAM won the Dorado division & The SEA HAWK PAINTS team won the Tuna division fishing on the stunning 50’ Maverick OPEN FLY. Congrats to all & I am already looking forward to next year’s event!
TUNA TIME!
We have enjoyed some great Tuna fishing recently with lots of fish in the 30-80lb class with some larger fish & several 200lb plus fish reported. Most of the larger fish are caught on live baits such as Bonitos, Blue Runners, Goggle eyes & Sardines. Surface poppers, artificial jigs and small tuna lures can also work great and account for many of the 30-80lb Tuna. Our Tuna form huge schools typically 20-50 miles Offshore and travel alongside Spinner Dolphin megapods which consist of several hundred dolphins, which provide some simply incredible scenes. Reason enough to take a fishing charter in itself and March should continue to provide some excellent opportunities for Tuna.
Welcome to the February installment of That’s Fishin’ and what incredible fishing we have experienced here in Quepos the past few months folks! With blue skies, hardly any rain for the past two months, calm seas and a great bite, what is not to love! The fishing both Offshore and Inshore has been fantastic during much of November, December and January with visitors travelling from literally all over the world to see what all the fuss is about!
OFFSHORE FISHING
The Offshore fishing headlines during January are all about the Sailfish and some consistent bites have developed 20-35 miles Offshore in areas such as Furuno, The Pocket, & The Corner in recent weeks producing good numbers of Sailfish. Many boats in the Quepos fleet got into the double-digit Sailfish release days in January that Costa Rica has become famous for and these opportunities should continue through February. After an insane Blue Marlin bite in November and December, good numbers of Blues continued to be caught in January with a few Striped Marlin & Black Marlin mixed in also. A big shout out to the guys on Double Nickle who kicked off 2019 in style with a Grand Slam on January 4th! They had one of the best fishing days of their lives catching several Sailfish, a 350lb Black Marlin, a 500lb Blue Marlin plus a few Dorado for good measure! That is one incredible day of fishing wherever you are in the world!
There were some HUGE Tuna caught during December and January also. One lucky Angler aboard GOOD DAY had the fight of his life when he battled a Tuna estimated between 160-200lb for 4 HOURS single handed! That is one determined young man and a very big fish to catch on 30lb class tackle, congrats! January continued to produce plenty of Dorado Offshore and it was great to see plenty of Big 30lb plus Bull Dorados keeping Anglers busy. February should produce more of the same, a solid Sailfish bite, Blue and Striped Marlin out deep and a chance at Black Marlin over the Offshore Reefs. Water temps will be hot which may thin Dorado numbers out a little but there should still be a few Dorado around plus Yellow fin Tuna together with the Spinner Dolphin mega pods.
A huge happy new year to you all, may all your fishing dreams come true in 2019! After some epic fishing during December, Quepos captains are hopeful for an even better January which is typically the start of our peak Sailfish season. Large numbers of big Pacific Sailfish averaging 70-80lbs gather just a short run from our coastline and Anglers flock from all around the world to experience our incredible fishing for themselves. Double digit Sailfish release days are not uncommon during full day Offshore charters out of Quepos when the bite is on. Blue, Black and Striped Marlin are all possible during January also and Anglers can expect some Dorado and Yellow Fin Tuna to be in the mix also. We enjoyed some spectacular Dorado fishing during November and December, numbers will likely reduce during January as water temperatures rise during the dry season but you should still expect to see a Dorado or two on most Offshore trips. Yellow Fin Tuna will be found with the Spinner Dolphin schools, we get lots of Tuna in the 30-40lb range with plenty over 80lbs and some real 100-200lb plus monsters also. There was a 245lb Tuna caught out of Zancudo lodge in southern Costa Rica during December, an amazing fish demonstrating the potential we have here. Read More…
Welcome to the December edition of That’s Fishin! We had some truly spectacular fishing during November with some of the best Marlin fishing that we have seen for some time. Lots of Blue Marlin have been showing 20-40 miles from Quepos and are targeted during full day Offshore trips. Many boats in the fleet had banner Marlin days raising 3-4 Marlin with some accounts of double digit Marlin raises in a single days fishing from several boats in the fleet which is just insane fishing, wherever you are in the world! Most of the Blue Marlin are in the 150-250lb range but some larger fish up to 400-500lb have been caught also. Striped Marlin made an early appearance this year and good numbers of Stripeys in the 60-150lb range were caught in November in addition to a few Black Marlin and increasing numbers of Sailfish as the month progressed. An IGFA grand slam of three different Billfish species in one day is certainly a real possibility at this time of year!
As December progresses, Sailfish numbers will continue to increase ready for the height of Sailfish season which is typically January to March. Double digit Sailfish releases should be recorded some days this month and if catching some good numbers of Billfish is on your bucket list we have some fantastic boats and captains that can put you right on top of the action. Check out my boat GOOD DAY, or Caribsea Sportfishing, Double Nickle Charters, Pacific Fly Sportfishing, or JP Sport Fishing. All are great options for an Offshore trip in search of Billfish and our other hard fighting Pelagic species.
December is an excellent time for Dorado/Mahi Mahi with most fish in the 15-40lb range and always the possibility of a really huge fish in the 50-70lb range. Yellow fin Tuna with a few Big Eye Tuna mixed in, will be abundant 25+ miles Offshore and can be located together with mega pods of Spinner dolphins which makes for some amazing scenes! If you have never seen this phenomenon before, I GUARANTEE you will be amazed!
November is one of my favourite months of the year to Fish out of the Marina Pez Vela, here in Quepolandia. After the rains of the past few months, our afternoon rains should start to subside as the month progresses, water temperatures will start to warm back up again and the volume of baitfish in the area increases both Offshore & Inshore bringing the hungry predators with them.
OFFSHORE FISHING
We have enjoyed some incredible fishing over the past few months. Blue Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and Tuna have all been getting caught in good numbers with some weeks producing excellent fishing and opportunities to catch all of these species just 20 miles or so from the Marina.
We have had an awesome Dorado bite this year which should peak during November, just in time for the Dorado Derby here at the Marina Pez Vela on November 17th! This tournament really is open to all, tourists, locals, expats, professionals, novices, ladies, kids— all are welcome! It’s still not too late to get your entry in to what is the most accessible Sport Fishing Tournament in Costa Rica with a team entry fee of just $250. It is going to be one epic weekend as competitors battle it out in the search of the largest Dorado. If recent catches are anything to go by, Anglers could be in for a real treat, as there have been some HUGE Dorado caught these past few months with several Quepos boats catching 70lb plus Dorado, which is just huge for this species.
At this time of year we often get some great Dorado fishing less than 10 miles from the marina and when the fishing is like this it is perfect for a half day Offshore family trip with the kids.
Welcome to our Dorado special edition of That’s Fishin! Dorado, Mahi Mahi, Dolphin Fish, three names but yes guys, it really is just one type of fish! No matter what you choose to call it, this magical fish has been capturing the attention of Sports Fishing enthusiasts around the world for a long long time. In fact, Costa Rica is home to the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) World Record Dorado, a huge fish measuring 69.5 inches and tipping the scales to 87lbs! The fish was caught in the Papagayo area of Guanacaste in northern Costa Rica back in September 1976! So we are no strangers to large Dorado here in Costa Rica and in fact in recent months there have been some pretty special Dorado landed by the Quepos fleet.
In July 2018 a 70lb Dorado was caught aboard the 31’ GOOD DAY by Charlie Rogers from ‘Against the Grain Charters’ (check them out!) in Key Largo Florida, whilst vacationing in Costa Rica. This was the largest Dorado caught aboard GOOD DAY for some years. Just 2 weeks later on August 8th, Jordan Gilchrist from Texas caught another HUGE Bull (male) Dorado measuring 65 inches which also tipped the scales to 70lbs! Jordan had also caught a 50lb Cow (female) Dorado the day earlier! These are just huge fish by Dorado standards. Many of the Quepos captains have caught 50lb plus Dorado in recent weeks which is just fantastic fishing.
A warm welcome to the stunning Pacific Coast of Costa Rica & the August edition of That’s Fishing!
We have plenty going on down here in Quepos & Manuel Antonio, the Offshore fishing has been great in recent weeks, there have been some HUGE Roosterfish & Snook caught inshore and at the time of writing, the Humpback Whales had just arrived in southern Costa Rica which are sure to provide some incredible scenes as they do each year, to those lucky enough to spend some time on the water.
OFFSHORE REPORT
June & July produced some great Offshore fishing and there was some great species variety caught by the Quepos fleet. Blue & Black Marlin, Sailfish, Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo, Snapper & Grouper made up most of the Offshore catches. There were periods of some great Sailfish action and during one Offshore day trip in June the 31’ GOOD DAY released 13 Sailfish with reports of 20+ Sailfish days by other boats during the month, simply incredible fishing for this time of year! August will continue to hold some good opportunities for Sailfish and Blue Marlin for those Anglers looking to check a Billfish off their bucket list.
There are still plenty of Dorado being caught during Offshore trips which are providing some great action and some nice eating for visiting Anglers. Simply take your catch along to any of the great restaurants in the area and they will be pleased to cook it up for you.
BRAZILIANS STORM THE OFFSHORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!
The Marina Pez Vela was once again the proud hosts of the Offshore World Championships which took place at the end of April. 51 teams from 30 countries descended on Quepos/Manuel Antonio for the Olympics of Sport Fishing and it was a truly special week here in paradise.
328 Sailfish & 24 Marlin were caught and released during the 4 fishing days as well as 18 Dorado, 3 Wahoo and 3 Tuna making it to the scales. The top 4 teams were all from Brazil with eventual winners, representing Rio de Janeiro. A huge congrats to all entrants but especially the Brazilians, who showed everyone how to fish this year, congrats guys!
The Quepos Billfish Cup team who were representing not just Quepos but the whole of Costa Rica, really did us proud and finished in a very respectful 6th position, well done Sam, Nicky, Justin, Parker & Josh! The top boat of the week was EPIC Captained by Michael Alligood. Huge congrats for a fantastic performance taking top honours for the second time in recent years! All tournament records were broken for the quality of the Dorado weighed with the top six fish all being over 45lbs and the largest Dorado weighing an impressive 62lbs! The scene is set for our 1st ever Dorado Derby coming up this November (details below)!
You are visiting Costa Rica at an excellent time with less people and the start of our afternoon rains to cool the air and give the jungles the water they need to spring back to life after the dry season.
With the rains, our Ocean temperatures now begin to cool which makes way for some of the best Tuna fishing of the year. Big Yellow Fin Tuna with a few Big Eye Tuna mixed in can be targeted 20+ miles off the coast during a full day Offshore trip. Smaller fish in the 20-50lb range can be caught using artificial lures such as Bucktail Jigs, Tuna Bullets and even dark coloured Bass worms fished on a Jig head have been working great this season! For the bigger Tuna Livebait is always the first choice and a Live Bonito takes some beating but Blue Runner, Goggle Eyes and Sardines can all work well too. Good livebait and the right Tuna school will put you in with a chance of catching an 80lb plus fish and there are many larger fish out there too with many 100lb plus fish landed this year and even some 200lb plus monsters. Wicked Tuna stuff for sure!
We might not get the Sailfish numbers in May & June that we do December through April, however, we see Sailfish on most Offshore trips, there will be a few Dorado out there and it is an excellent time to fish for Marlin.
Welcome to the April edition of That’s Fishin and a big hello to all our visitors from around the world! Thank you for visiting Costa Rica and we hope that your visit totally exceeds your expectations.
It has been an excellent high season so far with lots of visitors excited to get out on the water and experience our world class fishery for themselves. There has been a high demand for Sport Fishing this year and if you plan to go fishing you should book your boat as early as possible to secure the best boats. The fishing has not disappointed either and the story for me this season has been our excellent species variety. Offshore we have had good numbers of Sailfish with many charter boats releasing 2-5 Sailfish a day and some Anglers have been lucky enough to experience double digit Sailfish release days. There have been Blue, Black & Striped Marlin out there also, the Blues & Stripeys in the deeper water and the Black Marlin over our Offshore reefs. We expect a good Sailfish bite to keep us busy during April and put that with an excellent run of Tuna & Dorado (Mahi-Mahi), which are a welcome addition to any trip this, many boats have returned to the dock having caught Sailfish, Marlin, Tuna, & Dorado in the same day which is an awesome day’s fishing wherever you are in the world! There is the odd surprise species out there too—several nice Wahoo have been reeled in recently during Offshore trips out of the Marina Pez Vela!
We have had a blistering start to the Sportfishing year here in Quepos with some magical fishing experienced during January & February. At the start of the year, water temperatures remained cool due to the la niña weather cycle which made for some great fishing with fantastic species variety. There have been lots of Blue Marlin this year with boats getting multiple shots on Marlin during Offshore trips on many occasions. The Dorado bite continued with most boats in the fleet have been seeing a few Dorado each trip which makes for a fantastic addition when targeting the main event, Billfish. The Tuna bite has been strong with many 100lb plus Yellow Fin’s landed and a few supersized fish also, the kind of fish you spend your whole life wishing you could hook and once it has been on the line for 30 minutes, you kind of wished you had not hooked…but that’s fishin’ my friends!
In recent weeks water temperatures have risen dramatically and we expect the Dorado and Tuna bite to start to thin and the Sailfish numbers to peak during March. We have experienced some banner Sailfish days with boats raising more than 20 Sailfish but the bite has been a little up and down, great one day and a little slow the next but that keeps us on our toes and always searching for the best action.
February can only be described as a HOT HOT HOT time for Offshore fishing here in Quepos. It is perhaps the Number 1 month in the calendar for Sailfish and is why thousands of Anglers from around the world descend on Quepos to hook up with one of our great captains and experience our amazing fishery. If you have always dreamt of catching a Billfish then you have come to the right place and you could not have timed it better than coming here in February. Big Pacific Sailfish in the 70-140lb range will be available 20+ miles off our coastline. Blue, Black and Striped Marlin will be in the mix also, as well as Yellow Fin Tuna and Dorado. If you want to target the big Pelagic’s such as Sailfish & Marlin, a full day (8-9 hour) Offshore trip is the best option to give you adequate time on the water and increase your chances of landing a dream catch. Check out some of the photos of our happy Anglers from the past month or so releasing their trophy Marlin & Sailfish catches. They will not be forgetting their experience in a hurry!
The tournament weekend was put together by the guys from leading global fishing apparel brand PELAGIC who have proudly made Quepos their Central American outpost and have a SUPER COOL clothing store right here in the Marina Pez Vela, be sure to check it out! The Fishing fun got underway on the Saturday with the Adults ‘PURA VIDA CLASSIC’ Inshore tournament. This was an 8 hour shoot-out where teams battled it out in two main divisions, the ROOSTERFISH division where points were accumulated for the most Roosterfish releases & the ‘GRAND SLAM’ division awarded for the heaviest 3 fish combo. Team Z GASTRO BAR fishing aboard GOOD DAY were the winners of the Roosterfish division releasing 3 nice sized Roosterfish in the 36’-48’ category which earned them 900 points. Jeff Dechesneau fishing aboard the smallest boat in the fleet, the 19’ Boston Whaler Montauk, caught the longest Roosterfish of the day, a stunning fish of 55 inches in length which helped his team to 2nd place. All Roosterfish caught were quickly measured and released, a tournament format designed to promote conservation of such an important fish species. A shout out to Reymond Rodrigues who fished the tournament aboard an awesome Seadoo Fishing Jetski, certainly a first for a Quepos tournament but also one serious piece of kit! Huge congratulations to team DREAMS II for winning the Grand Slam division. The guys had a blast catching a ton of different species including a 26lb Cubera Snapper Roosterfish, Mullet Snappers, Jacks, Wahoo, Rainbow Runners and many other species. They comfortably took home the honours for the heaviest 3 fish combo, great stuff guys & well deserved!
OFFSHORE FISHING
The bite has been HOT HOT HOT this past couple of months here in Quepos. There has been some truly world-class Sailfish fishing with some very impressive catch numbers posted with lots of boats experiencing double digit Sailfish release days during February and March…and an awful lot more fish some days!
WICKED TUNA!
PELAGIC ROCKSTAR!
Welcome to the February installment of That’s Fishin’ and what incredible fishing we have experienced here in Quepos the past few months folks! With blue skies, hardly any rain for the past two months, calm seas and a great bite, what is not to love! The fishing both Offshore and Inshore has been fantastic during much of November, December and January with visitors travelling from literally all over the world to see what all the fuss is about!
OFFSHORE FISHING
A huge happy new year to you all, may all your fishing dreams come true in 2019! After some epic fishing during December, Quepos captains are hopeful for an even better January which is typically the start of our peak Sailfish season. Large numbers of big Pacific Sailfish averaging 70-80lbs gather just a short run from our coastline and Anglers flock from all around the world to experience our incredible fishing for themselves. Double digit Sailfish release days are not uncommon during full day Offshore charters out of Quepos when the bite is on. Blue, Black and Striped Marlin are all possible during January also and Anglers can expect some Dorado and Yellow Fin Tuna to be in the mix also. We enjoyed some spectacular Dorado fishing during November and December, numbers will likely reduce during January as water temperatures rise during the dry season but you should still expect to see a Dorado or two on most Offshore trips. Yellow Fin Tuna will be found with the Spinner Dolphin schools, we get lots of Tuna in the 30-40lb range with plenty over 80lbs and some real 100-200lb plus monsters also. There was a 245lb Tuna caught out of Zancudo lodge in southern Costa Rica during December, an amazing fish demonstrating the potential we have here.
Welcome to the April edition of That’s Fishin and a big hello to all our visitors from around the world! Thank you for visiting Costa Rica and we hope that your visit totally exceeds your expectations.
It has been an excellent high season so far with lots of visitors excited to get out on the water and experience our world class fishery for themselves. There has been a high demand for Sport Fishing this year and if you plan to go fishing you should book your boat as early as possible to secure the best boats. The fishing has not disappointed either and the story for me this season has been our excellent species variety. Offshore we have had good numbers of Sailfish with many charter boats releasing 2-5 Sailfish a day and some Anglers have been lucky enough to experience double digit Sailfish release days. There have been Blue, Black & Striped Marlin out there also, the Blues & Stripeys in the deeper water and the Black Marlin over our Offshore reefs. We expect a good Sailfish bite to keep us busy during April and put that with an excellent run of Tuna & Dorado (Mahi-Mahi), which are a welcome addition to any trip this, many boats have returned to the dock having caught Sailfish, Marlin, Tuna, & Dorado in the same day which is an awesome day’s fishing wherever you are in the world! There is the odd surprise species out there too—several nice Wahoo have been reeled in recently during Offshore trips out of the Marina Pez Vela!
