North Carolina angler Dan Bowman with a big dorado and his two favorite fishing buddies, Chloe and Sophie.
As always, it’s tropical, warm and beautiful down here in Costa Rica. The only change here is that the fishing has been white-hot.
On the Pacific Coast, we mark our fishing seasons by the presence of two distinct feeder fish populations: dorado from November to June and yellowfin tuna from April to October. The months of April and May are a magical time when both Dorado and yellowfin are abundant.
As much as we love coming home with full filet bags of multiple species, the real benefit is that the billfish are in town and they are feeding like hungry hogs.
Fishing Nosara Hall of Famer Chuck Darner invited radio host Roger Walker for a fun week of action in late April. After lighting it up on the Harvester on the April 23, they moved up to the Wanderer the next day for a productive day offshore. Walker got it started with a 45-plus-pound dorado, and then hooked up a nice sailfish heavier than 100 pounds.
Then Capt. William pursued a big school of porpoises that were feeding on yellowfin tuna. These dolphin schools are better measured in acres than numbers, and when they are packed in this thick, there is obviously something tasty just beneath the surface.
Walker got in on the action with a beefy 50-plus-pound yellowfin, clearly the best fish of the day. Near the end of the day, they hooked up another big sailfish, which put on an aerial display on the way to a safe release.
Other boats on the FishingNosara team accumulated eight marlin releases during the month of April, including a two-release day for anglers Craig Sutton and Marino Lora on April 22. We are just beginning to see multiple marlin release days and expect things to ramp up as we approach the summer months.
Speaking of summer, this is a great time to pack up the kids and get them down to Costa Rica for some sportfishing. As much fun as it is to spend three months playing video games and screwing around on the Internet, let the words of North Carolina angler Dan Bowman change your mind.
“Best fishing trip EVER,” he wrote, “and I got to enjoy it with Chloe and Sophie, my 4- and 5-year-old daughters!
We fought through a slow morning with a huge cubera snapping off on the reef to landing three sailfish in the early afternoon (the first two being a double hookup which was super exciting) to be followed up with a monster dorado on the way home.
My girls had the best time ever, as did I! Memories to last a lifetime. Thank you and your crew for being so accommodating! Can’t wait to come back and go out again!”
It’s a great feeling to see youngsters get their first taste of blue water action; it means that our sport has a bright future.