NICOYA EAST REPORT

By Thomas Jones • Bahia Rica Fishing & Kayak Lodge

The fishing has been a little up and down the last couple of months. A red tide made the inshore fishing a little difficult. This has luckily now cleared and good showing of sardines has made for some spectacular top water action for big jacks, mackerels and skipjack tuna.

The roosterfish have been around but in less numbers than normal for this time of year. The mahi mahi have been on fire with some days letting you catch all you can handle, mostly on topwater. The offshore has been good when we could get out with marlin, mahi, some tuna and a few sails in the mix.

As the water clears and the dry season sets in, more sardines are expected to move in bringing jacks, mackerels, seabass, snappers and small tunas towards the gulf islands. This makes for fun fishing on light gear as most of the fish are not giant but they make up for it in numbers. Casting into schools is very effective and also light jigging is a good bet. The roosters will be close to the schools, eating sardines, jacks and tunas. Live bait is the easiest but when there are lots of fish boils, they can be taken on topwater as well.

The offshore should really heat up as the sails start to migrate and the marlin action will also be good. The mahis are still around and will continue to show offshore and the tunas should also show up more often. All this makes for some of the best offshore action in the world!

Thomas Jones is a marine biologist with an extreme passion for sport fishing. Born in Norway, Thomas have been fishing since the age of 6. His fishing experience encompasses fly fishing, trolling, popping, jigging and bait fishing. Currently Thomas is the owner of Bahia Rica Fishing and Kayak Lodge on the Nicoya Peninsula. Contact Thomas at post@bahiarica.com or visit www.bahiarica.com