That’s Fishin’- January 2021

January 11, 2021

Welcome to the January installment of That’s Fishin and from the entire Sportfishing community here in Quepos, a huge Happy New Year from our family to yours, we are delighted to have you here with us and hope to see you on the water!

Whilst COVID lockdowns seemed to give the entire planet a well needed rest, we certainly saw the results closer to home in our fishery. Casting our minds back to May, June, & July of 2020, while Costa Rican borders were closed and there was very little pressure on the ocean, we experienced what was simply the best Sailfish bite we have seen in Quepos for some years. Recalling one trip aboard my boat GOOD DAY, we released 26 Sailfish, 2 Wahoo, and a handful of Tuna. Now that was one heck of a day for sure but the crazy thing was, boats were going out and catching those kinds of numbers on a daily basis! For 3 years running now we have had an excellent ‘off season’ bite happening May-July, we are hoping it happens again this year and if you love fishing, it is definitely worth considering a trip back here during those months to see if it happens again.

OFFSHORE FISHING

Back to current times, we have just experienced a fantastic November and December with some simply world class Dorado and Tuna fishing. Lots of Dorado in the 20-30lb class with some larger 50lb plus Bull Dorado making an appearance also. Yellow Fin Tuna have been averaging 30lb with lots of fish in the 50-80lb class and some fish over 100lb. The turn of the year is always a good time for a huge Tuna here in Quepos and stay tuned for reports of the 200 pounders we see every year at this time of year. Livebait is always a favourite for a large Tuna but Poppers, Jigs, and all manner of artificial Squids, Bass Worms, and Tuna Bullets do the trick also.

In addition to Dorado and Tuna, January will provide some excellent Billfishing for Sailfish, Blue, Black and Striped Marlin. The main attraction in January is most certainly Sailfish and is the start of our peak Sailfish bite which typically goes on from January through April. Double digit Sailfish release days are not uncommon when the bite is on and Blue and Striped Marlin can make an appearance in the spread at any time. Mr Dwayne Wiley had a day he will never forget on December 6th when he released 4 Blue Marlin and lost a 5th during a day charter aboard GOOD DAY, showing the incredible potential out fishery has when the stars align.

INSHORE FISHING

The sardines arrived along the beaches north & south of Quepos during November which is the signal that Inshore fishing starts to improve. There were some fantastic Snook landed during November and December from the Parrita, Savegre, and Naranjo river mouths and expect this to continue through January. January is an excellent month to target Roosterfish and these can be caught at the rocks, islands, beaches, and river mouths north and south of Quepos. Mackerel and Jacks can be caught alongside the sardine schools and the deeper water close to the rocks and islands will provide opportunities for Cubera Snappers, Corvinas and other species. Some great boats offering Inshore charters are Chloe Frijole, IDRA 2, Good Day, Captain Sky, Mucho Fisho, and Nueva Vida which offer half day or full day inshore charters. Our half day inshore charters are the perfect way to get your family & kids on the water if you are worried that a full day might be too much for the younger ones.

TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP

After the cancellation of some of our March & April 2020 tournaments due to COVID, we rescheduled these events for November & December. A huge thank you to the tournament team at Marina Pez Vela for putting on a fantastic series of events and for all supporting Anglers and boats for making them a success. Covid restrictions and then back to back hurricanes tried their best to put a stop to some of the events but with a great team anything is possible and four great events were delivered on a fun but socially distanced basis, giving us a great format to go into 2021 with. Here’s a quick recap of the results & winners:

2020 Dorado Derby
The Svensters on Pescadora = 46lb Dorado
The Hooker = 36lb Dorado
Top Fly = 34lb Dorado

2020 Dorado Re-Derby (Round 2)
Los Zapatas on Captain Sky 2 = 41lb Dorado
Reel Inn = 30lb
MPV Girls on Reel Deal = 28lb

2020 Quepos Billfish Cup
Top Fly 1100 points (1 Blue Marlin, 3 Sailfish)
Prime Time 1000 points (2 Blue Marlin)
Pura Vida 500 points (1 Striped Marlin)

Heaviest Dorado = 44lb Prime Time

2020 Marina Pez Vela Open
Dragin Fly 1600 points (2 Blue Marlin, 3 Sailfish)
Pura Vida 800 points (4 Sailfish)
Tacos Tunas on Super Fly 700 points (1 Blue Marlin, 1 Sailfish)

Heaviest Tuna = 69lb Dragin Fly
Heaviest Dorado = 36lb Goose
And Double Nickle were the winners of the MPV Open FUN Boat division with 4 Sailfish, congrats guys!

2021 TOURNAMENT SEASON!

The 2021 tournament calendar is set and we have a host of excellent events lined up for the coming months. The tournament team at the Marina Pez Vela have worked tirelessly to come up with new event formats that respect social distancing and health protocols including virtual Captains meetings, Award ceremonies, and crowdless weigh stations. Why not gather your social bubble and put a team together for yourself. There is no better way to bond with your friends, family, or work colleagues than to spend a weekend on the water. Just ask the guys from Tecsa Computers, Agua Azul, & Visit Quepos who did exactly that & had a blast! We get underway on the weekend of January 16-17th with the ever awesome PELAGIC ROCKSTAR tournament. This event is guaranteed to be a blast and has some HUGE CASH PRIZES on offer! Then it’s time for the LADIES ONLY PESCADORA BILLFISH CHAMPIONSHIP in February which has been a roaring success these past couple of years and just goes from strength to strength. The ROOSTERFISH RODEO is a 1 day FUN tournament and then we finish up with THE QUEPOS BILLFISH CUP & MARINA PEZ VELA OPEN weekend tournaments in March & April. We would love to see you there and further details can be found at marinapezvela.com/tournaments.