That’s Fishin’- March 2021

March 8, 2021

Welcome to the March instalment of That’s Fishin! I hope the big fish and smiling faces in the photos inspire you to take a trip for yourself!

OFFSHORE FISHING

March is an excellent time to fish Offshore here in Quepos. Blue skies and flat calm seas are the norm and large numbers of Big Pacific Sailfish are the main target. This is an excellent time of year to get in on a serious billfish bite. Releasing double digit Sailfish in a day’s fishing is not uncommon here during March. A recent guest aboard my boat GOOD DAY could not quite believe it when he reeled in 6 Sailfish back-to-back…he said that if he caught 1, he would have been delighted but never in his wildest dreams did he expect to catch 6 Sailfish in one day! Welcome to Costa Rica guys!

In addition to Sailfish the Tuna fishing should remain excellent during March. If you have never witnessed a megapod of Spinner Dolphins which travel together with the Tuna schools you are going to be in for a real treat. There have been some excellent marine life sightings over the past month with Humpback Whales, Pilot Whales, Killer Whales, even a rare Curviers Beaked Whale on one recent trip in addition to the four dolphin species we encounter regularly and daily sightings of Turtles, Manta Rays, and all manner of other species. National Geographic worthy scenes are a daily occurrence during offshore trips out of Quepos and I hope that you get to experience it for yourself. Blue, Black, and Striped Marlin should all make an appearance during March, plus the odd Dorado and maybe even a Wahoo.

INSHORE FISHING

Expect some excellent species variety during Inshore charters during March. Roosterfish, Snook, Jacks, Snapper, Mackerel, Tripletail, Corvina, and more can all be caught during full or half day charters out of Quepos. We have a fleet of excellent inshore boats including GOOD DAY, IDRA 2, SKY 2, MUCHO FISHO, NUEVA VIDA, CHLOE FRIJOLE, MIRSE AZUL, and more. Half day 5-hour Inshore trips are a great option when taking the kids along but for the more serious Angler a full day is always worthwhile. Rooster fishing should be excellent along the beaches, river mouths and rocks, and March/April is the time when some of the biggest Snook of the year are caught right here on our doorstep. Inshore charters use light spinning tackle with livebaits, or the opportunity to cast topwater lures if you prefer.

PELAGIC ROCKSTAR

The 2021 PELAGIC ROCKSTAR Fishing tournament held at the Marina Pez Vela in January was one for the record books for sure! 67 boats set off for 2 days of action packed, high octane tournament fishing, and battled it out for almost $1m in prize money, yes 1 million bucks!! And some serious checks were handed out at the awards ceremony, like we have never seen in Quepos before! 884 Sailfish & 38 Marlin were released over the weekend in addition to some quality Dorado & Tuna that were brought to the scales. team CABANA stole the show catching 38 Sailfish over the weekend to win top big boat honours and $296,440. Just wow!! Quepos based boat GAME PLAN took 2nd spot and prize winnings of $268,600, huge congrats to Capt. John & crew! team ALASKA aboard DREAM RAISER put an amazing show to win the Tuna Jackpots on both day 1 and day 2 to scoop a check for $63,420. Team ROCKSTAR were the winners of the small boat Billfish division, and team BUCKETLIST took away the heaviest Dorado and Tuna awards in the small boat division. What an event! It is going to be bigger and better next year, so do yourself a favour and come and join the fun!

ROOSTERFISH RODEO!

February 6th saw the ROOSTERFISH RODEO back for its second year and what a great addition to the tournament calendar this event is proving to be! With just a $250 entry fee per team, this event is super accessible and is a great option for families, work colleagues or those who would like to try their hand at tournament fishing in a fun relaxed environment.

The tournament was run on a measure and release basis with points awarded for the capture of the most Roosterfish. There were 63 Roosterfish caught during the event and 100% of these were released after a quick measurement and video verification. Tournaments of this nature are a great way to introduce children to the practice of catch & release fishing and teaching the important of conservation. A huge congratulations to team 4 TICOS & A HALF who took a very well deserved win by releasing 15 Roosterfish. These guys had to dig deep after their boat broke down on the morning of the tournament and they actually lost fishing time during the first several hours of the event but it just goes to show that it is not over until it is over and they fished hard and pulled off a great victory, congrats guys! Team OLD TRIPLE TAIL aboard GOOD DAY took second place with 10 Roosterfish and team LOS ZAPATAS aboard SKY 2 came in 3rd position with 9 Roosterfish. Team QUEPOS FISHING aboard MOONWALKER was the winner of the largest Roosterfish with a stunning 50” fish!

2021 TOURNAMENT SEASON!

As you can see, our 2021 tournament season is in full swing and after some great events these past couple of months, during March we now look forward to the Quepos Billfish Cup and a brand new 1-day fun tournament, the Sailfish Slam! Entry is open to all and we have some great charter boats available. Fishing Pros, families, groups of friends or work colleagues are all welcome to join and we would love to see you at our future events! Further details can be found at, marinapezvela.com/tournaments.

2021 TOURNAMENT DATES

March 12-13 Quepos Billfish Cup
March 27 Sailfish Slam
April 9-10 Marina Pez Vela Open
April 11-16 Offshore World Championships
June 19 Summer Solstice Shootout
November 13 Dorado Derby
November 20 Dorado Derby Dos

I hope to see you on the water!

Tight lines out there!