That’s Fishin’- August
By Benn Gilmour
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.
INSHORE FISHING
There have been some HUGE Roosterfish caught in the Quepos/Naranjo area recently. There have been lots of fish caught in the 20-40lb range, however, there have been several huge Roosters around 80lbs caught in recent weeks. In addition to Roosterfish, Snappers, Jacks, Mackerel and other species can be caught whilst slow trolling live baits and casting top-water lures along our rocks & island locations close to Quepos. If your Captain heads for the River mouths then in addition to the species mentioned you will also have the chance of catching some Big Snook or possibly a great tasting Tripletail. Captain Roy Zapata made the headlines again recently when a female angler aboard his boat The Pink Panga caught a HUGE Snook of 51lbs which is a potential IGFA ladies world record for 20 lb line class. Great stuff guys!
ROOSTERFISH TAGGING PROJECT
A team from the Marina Pez Vela, Gray Fish Tag Research friends & sponsors have put a huge coordinated effort together over the past 12 months to deploy Satellite & Electronic tags into Roosterfish along the Quepos coastline. The project has proved a huge success with the final satellite tag being deployed into a HUGE Roosterfish during June. Now we await for the all-important data that the tags will give us as they start popping off the Roosterfish in the months to come. If you recapture any tagged fish please release the fish unharmed but return the tag number, fish measurements & location caught to grayfishtagresearch.org immediately.
INSANE BLUE MARLIN FISHING!
There has been some truly insane Blue Marlin fishing happening at our Offshore FADS & Seamounts during recent weeks. TRANQUILO had an incredible day’s fishing when they released 22 Blue Marlin in one day & the guys on CARIBSEA & DOUBLE NICKLE have been releasing some crazy numbers of Marlin also. If you are interested in making a trip out to the FADS/Seamounts yourself we have some great charter boats in the Marina Pez Vela that can take you on this trip.
Check out CARIBSEA, DOUBLE NICKLE, PESCADORA, THE HOOKER, & TRANQUILO—all fantastic options to put you on the Marlin trip of a lifetime!
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES
November 17, 2018, Dorado Derby
January 12-13, 2019, Pelagic Rockstar
February 22-23, 2019, Pescadora Billfish Championship
March 15-16, 2019, Quepos Billfish Cup
April 26-27, 2019, Marina Pez Vela Open
April 28-May 3, 2019, Offshore World Championships
See marinapezvelatournaments.com for details!
See you out there!
Tight Lines!
Benn Gilmour, Jackpot Sport Fishing
Marina Pez Vela, Quepos
Cell: 8458 4997
[email protected]
jackpotsportfishing.com