The winds have died down some and the bite has still been good offshore.

The 28′ center console went 4 for 9 on sailfish today…the guys ahd never fished in the ocean before so they lost a couple that they shouldn’t have but still a good day.

The 33 proline released 3 sailfish, a mahi and a blue marlin today.

The 60 Betram went 7 for 11 on sailfish today.

 

The winds and the good bite offshore has continued the past few days.

The guys on the 38′ custom said they were in 6 to 8 ft waves 35 miles out and raised 15 sailfish and released 7.

One of the 42’s was about 50 miles south and they raised a dozen sails and released 6 as well as a blue marlin.

The cubera snapper above was caught by the 36′ topaz last week…about 75 pounds…a monster for these parts.  The captain has the head in his freezer because he wants to have a mount made with the real jaws and teeth of the fish.

 

One of the best boats, captain and crews had some days canceled at the end of March and  they are open March 22 to march 30.  I have fished with these guys dozens of times and they spoil you for other boats.  Normally $1750 but any of these dates are now $1650.  Contact us if you are interested…these days will get booked up.

 

The sailfish were still out there today in good numbers.  The problem today was the crazy north wind that made it tough for guys to fish out past 30 miles. We usually never have wind this time of year.  The strange weather pattern continue.

The boats that could make it past 30 miles saw lots of fish but with the winds and the chop it made for a tough day to get hook ups.

The guys on the 28 center console caught 3 sails and 3 mahi less than 30 miles out.

Another 28′ center console did some inshore and they caught 3 big roosterfish and about 15 big amberjack.  He said the sardines were thick in the morning about 12 miles south of the marina and then they and the gamefish disappeared in the afternoon.

Another 28′ center console did some bottom fishing but it was too windy to hold on the rocks and they had a slow day.

A 32′ Albermarle caught 4 sails and a couple mahi yesterday and today they released 11 sailfish.

My buddy on the 36′ Topaz caught 5 sails, a few mahi and a couple wahoo today..he also raised 2 blue marlin.

A friend of mine on a private 40′ gamefisherman released 30 plus sails and 1 marlin the past 3 days. They raised 3 marlin today…he said it was choppy but lots of fish.

The guys on the 32′ Irvin Forbes caught 3 sails and a couple mahi today…he also raised a blue marlin.

We are spoiled here with our weather and fishing.  The clients on the 32′ Irvin Forbes were from the Carolinas and they are seasoned fisherman.  They captain is also from the Carolinas and they laughed at him yesterday when he said the ocean was rough and the fishing was slow.  They said they would take 3 foot waves, 3 sails and a couple mahi any day…those may be poor conditions for us but anywhere else in the world that’s not a bad day.

The roosterfish above was caught last week by Mac from Texas on the 28′ center console.  It was the only fish all day but it was a big un…one of the biggest I have seen in 10 plus years down here.

The first reports I heard this evening were good.  I talked to a guy that did a half day afternoon trip and they went 3 for 6 on sailfish 15 miles out.  He said several boats had 20 plus sailfish bites today about 25 to 30 miles out.

The guys on the 38′ Custom had 10 sail bites yesterday and they caught a big mahi and a nice wahoo.

The 35′ Bertram just called and they caught 7 sails today but he said they were little guys…75 to 80 pounders.  Our sails are usually always over 100 pounds. He said they also caught 3 nice mahi mahi.

The guys on the 28′ center console went 6 for 7 on sailfish today…it was the clients dream to catch a sailfish and today he and his friends caught 6.  Tomorrow they are going for roosterfish.

The 26′ regulator caught 3 sails, 2 mahi and a wahoo yesterday and today they caught 7 sailfish.

The 32′ Maverick went 5 for 10 on sailfish today, they would have caught a few more but they had a couple first timers on the boat and they lost a couple of the fish because they could not crank fast enough and they got slack in the line.

The 60′ Bertram just called and said they went 9 for 30 today…he said he saw more fish today than he has all month.

A couple captains said the water temp dropped a couple degrees and they think that may be what turned on the bite.

 

One of the best 42′ footers in Los Suenos had a last minute cancellation for March 8, 9,  and 11.  These guys finished 3rd out of 40 boats in our last billfish tourney…great boat…$1650 full day. Call soon if you are interested they will get booked.

Today was a mess at the charter dock.  There were 3 or 4 boats that got double booked for today and it cause a chain reaction of problems on the charter dock…mainly because so many people were trying to book last minute trips.

My people all got out on the boats they were scheduled on so I was lucky.  My phone started ringing at 7.30 am and I had 3 groups that booked elsewhere and thought they had a boat for today but when they got to the dock they didn’t have a boat ready and there was nothing available.  I made a dozen phone calls but unfortunately was not able to find anyone a boat…not even for a half day trip.

During high season you should book in advance as much as possible to prevent problems like these people had.

Most websites will only show you the good things people say about them.  I am going to post the worst email I have received this year.  It was a group of 4 and I set them up with the 38′ Custom for a day of offshore fishing a week or so ago.

“If you read your report one would think that you are suppose to catch fish especially when they book with you.  We did book with you and and I guess you can say we did have an expensive boat ride because not only did we not catch a fish, we did not get a bite.  What is the odds of that happening when you troll for 8 solid hours?    To your credit, It was a nice boat, however, The captain may be a great guy but I do not believe he knows crap about fishing”

I responded to this email and ask for more details, was the boat in good condition?  was there a problem with the crew?  was the equipment nice?  was the food good?

I have not heard back from the angler and I hope they provide me with some feedback.

I really already know the answers to these questions because I have fished on the boat, my friends have fished on the boat and I have had numerous anglers fish on the boat.

I have known the captain for 6 years and he is a hard worker, very competitive and catches as many fish as anyone in the marina.   He is one of the few guys that run 50 miles to find fish and he has been a captain down here for 8 plus years.  I am sure he was on the radio all day talking to other captains to find the bite and I’m sure he did everything possible to catch his clients fish…that’s how he works…that’s why I use him.

The boat is a newer, faster nice boat with ac and top of the line tackle and i’m sure the food was good…not steak and shrimp good but good for charter food.

The reports I post are accurate and not made up…if you read the reports from the past month I say the fishing has been strange, the bite a bit off and boats are catching 1 to 6 fish a day.

Charter fishing can be  tough business…you can do everything right, good boat, good crew, good tackle, good equipment and if you don’t catch fish you are a zero and not a hero.

We can’t control how the fish are biting.   People don’t get skunked very often in Costa Rica but it can happen.

The fishing the last few days remains unchanged for the most part.  Most of the guys I talked to released anywhere from 1 to 5 sailfish and several added a mahi mahi to the box.

One boat was way out and they released 6 sailfish and one guy was only 15 miles offshore and he released 8 sailfish, a couple boats caught a striped marlin or two…but everyone else seemed to be working hard to catch a few fish.  Even the big and fancy private boats with tournament crew had a tough day.

The guys on the 36′ Topaz went down to the 26 rock the other day and the first day the caught about a dozen fish including roosterfish, amberjack, jack and a cubera snapper…then they trolled out about 8 miles and caught 4 sailfish.  The next day they went back to the 26 rock and caught a 70 plus pound amberjack and a 70 plus pound cubera snapper.

Everyone says the El Nino pattern is responsible for the warm water along the Pacific coast and is the reason we are not seeing as many fish as we normally do in February.  Some guys also think the fish we do have are closer to shore than they usually are and we have been driving over them when we start fishing at 30 miles.

 

The sailfish bite stayed the same the past couple days…everyone catching 2 to 5 fish on full days and a couple guys caught 1 or 2 on half days.  Most seem to get a mahi mahi as well.

When the fishing is average I don’t get many reports from my buddies.  They are used to 6 to 10 fish this time of year so when its 2 to 6 they just don’t get excited because to them it’s slow.

There were some tuna out there today and a handful of boats got in on some 30 and 40 pounders.  The 60 Bertram hooked into a big yellowfin and fought the fish for 3 hours before getting it in…it was a 2oo plus pounder.

One of the 42′ Mavericks caught a couple marlin late last week so that’s a good sign.  The marlin bite has been slow compared to last year…it’s nice to see a few get caught and released.

The Tsunami didn’t even cause a ripple in my part of the Pacific…but better safe than sorry.

The fishing today remained unchanged…most of the boats caught 1 to 6 sailfish and a mahi mahi or two for the dinner table.