Greetings from Costa Rica
Tom Hauer
Most everyone knows about the record setting billfish catches all along the entire Pacific coast of Costa Rica. What seems to be undiscovered is the fantastic inshore fishing. World record setting snook, roosterfish, cubera snapper and multiple other hard-fighting species inhabit the beaches, river mouths, rocky outcroppings and nearshore reefs. Perhaps the best thing about the inshore fishery is it’s not as subject to seasonality as the offshore pelagic species. Green season, high season, these inshore monsters just don’t care.
I recently had an opportunity to visit with a local legend from Quepos, Roy Zapata. (www.zapatafishing.com) He and his family have been fishing the area both commercially and as guides for out-of-town fishermen for decades. Roy told me about the snook and roosterfish he has caught and released over the last few years. The pictures he has shown me are incredible roosterfish estimated at 120 pounds and snook that would crush existing records. It is not uncommon for his anglers to catch more than a dozen heavyweights, snook in the 30-pound range and other giants of 40, 50 and even 60 pounds. Roosterfish are common, with 40 to 70 pounds being the norm and, of course, the occasional behemoth of more than 100 pounds.
Up in the north Pacific region it’s the same story. We spent a couple of days at the beautiful Papagayo Marina (www.marinapapagayo.com) and had the opportunity to spend the morning fishing with the crew of the Fish Tale II (www.sportfishingcostaricafishtale2.com). We fished the area south of the Papagayo Gulf. It’s a beautiful area of large outcroppings of rock formations and small islands. We had caught a few Pacific barracudas when I hooked up to something on one of the bonitos we were slow trolling. I can best sum up the battle by saying, imagine being hooked up to a V-8 engine block tumbling down the side of a mountain. After a great battle, we released a cubera snapper in the 40-pound range. Shortly after we managed to hook up to a roosterfish in the 40- to 60-pound range, but he released himself 20 feet from the boat.
It was a fantastic morning. A big thank you to Marina Papagayo and their general manager Capt. Dan Eaffaldano for the incredible hospitality. Inshore fishing here is actually mostly done from boats just offshore. The river mouths and beaches can be accessed by foot in many areas, and the fishing can be just as good as from a boat.
When you come to Costa Rica, don’t miss out on the inshore fishing. You can spend days exploring and catching multiple species while enjoying some of the most incredible scenery in the world.
Tom Hauer is the co-publisher of Coastal Angler Magazine-Costa Rica. He can be contacted at tomh@coastalanglermagazine.com.