By Captain Willy Atencio
Greetings from the remote waters of Drake Bay on the southern Pacific coast. Just as we hoped for, the sailfish bite over the last several months has been excellent. It’s always fun for me to see the look on the angler’s face with their first big Pacific sail. Most fishermen from the US are used to catching 50lb. sails and are usually not prepared to battle a 100+lb fish. From the bridge, it never gets old watching angler’s reaction when the a sail makes it’s first magnificent jump straight up. Often times the mates and I yell, “Reel!” at the same time as the clients sometimes freeze seeing the size and sheer beauty of these fish. As we look forward to May and June, the sails should begin to thin out a bit but a nice population should remain as they arrived a little later than usual.
This year, without a doubt, the best fishing has been for yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Unlike the sails, these are resident fish that can be found pretty much all year chasing huge schools of bait off Drake Bay. In the last few trips our clients have caught several nice mahi mahi, dorado or “dolphin fish” depending on where you are from. Regardless of what you call them, we are thrilled to have these beautiful and tasty fish around Drake and we anticipate the May and June the bite will even get better.
For those anglers who prefer to stay closer to shore to jig, cast or fish with live bait, the cubera snapper bite has been excellent. The snapper are often found in the same zip code as roosterfish. We are blessed to be located in a remote area with countless numbers of rocky outcroppings and underwater reefs. This is a perfect environment for both snapper and roosterfish. If grouper is on your mind, get some rest the night before as they are typically found in deeper water and need to be muscled up out of the rocks.
As you can see Drake Bay offers an incredible fishery both inshore and offshore in a scenic and remote location. We often say if you want to escape cars, concrete and noise come to Drake. As I finish this article, the two mates, Alonso and Maynor and I are preparing to head up to Quepos for the Offshore World Championships. This will be our sixth consecutive year fishing in this great international tournament.
Come and see why we are the #1 tour on Trip Advisor for Drake Bay.
Until next time, tight lines . . . Capt Willy Atencio – Reel Escape
The Captain of Fish Drake Bay, Willy Atencio is a native of the local area. Fish Drake Bay is the premier sport fishing charter service in Drake Bay, the surrounding Osa peninsula and Corcovado National Park. Captain Willy is considered one of the best Captains in Costa Rica with over 20 years experience. Willy has captained sport fishing yachts ranging from 31-47 feet in the USA, Caribbean and Costa Rica. He has also fished in numerous big game fishing tournaments including the Offshore World Championships for 5 consecutive years. Contact Willy at info@fishdrakebay.com