By Mikey Erickson • Coastal Angler Magazine Co-Editor
The months of November & December have given us great fishing, Inshore & Offshore. Plenty of big roosterfish, and cubera snapper’s off the rocks near Manuel National Park as the water clears up from a brutal Rainy Season. Nice size snook’s can be found near the river mouths, especially Naranjo River at the end of the National Park.
Offshore fishing has been especially nice lately, with plenty of boats reporting slams and Grand Slams. The mahi bite has been ridiculously good on most trips ,coming home with 5-10 nice size mahis and a couple of BIG bulls. The key is finding the pods of dolphins chasing the bait. The mahi are schooling underneath and tearing into these bait balls, and the marlin and sailfish right under them are eating the smaller mahi and bait.
It’s truly an adrenaline rush raising mahi after mahi (to the point you start throwing them back because your freezer cannot fit that much fish), with a couple nice sailfish in between. Add in the occasional marlin or double hook-ups on marlin, chasing our teasers and getting them with the pitch bait (always have that pitch bait ready!).
Personally, I raised my biggest blue marlin to date at 475lbs. And I see the months of January-February bringing out the Marlin in big numbers, as well as sails and the ever-present Mahi, with an occasional nice Wahoo if you are lucky. These fish are a nice treat but they are very elusive.
All-in-all I see this year’s High Season to be one for the books.
Mikey Erickson
Co-Editor Coastal Angler Magazine CR
Tres Niñas Tours, Quepos CR
+506-8305-0041