Wade Boggs Fishes off Osa, Colorado Sees Flooding
Free Spooling by Jerry Ruhlow http://www.ticotimes.net/fishing.htm
“It seems baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs started the streak off in January, and the ocean has been one big ballpark ever since,” reported Todd Staley from Crocodile Bay, at Puerto Jiménez, on the southern coast of the Osa Peninsula.
Todd said Boggs tangled with lots of fish during the week, but his last day here almost launched him into the fishing hall of fame as well. He threw a big pink fly at a sail estimated at 140 pounds, and the fish gulped. Boggs played it perfectly and finally had it a few feet from the boat.
“He muscled it for a quick release, the tippet popped, and it was then he realized he had caught the fish on 16-pound tippet, and it well exceeded the world record for that fly fishing tippet class.”
Todd added that in January Crocodile Bay anglers saw 1,755 sails, and the pace for February will well surpass that.
“Marlin have never left the area, and one day the first week of February our boats had 32 marlin up… dorado are still around and the porpoise and tuna show has kept the bar in sushi,” he said.
“You have done it again!” wrote Florida angler Larry Owens, who just got home from another Costa Rica trip we arranged at the Ojalá Hotel in Drake Bay, on the other side of the Osa Peninsula.
“I told you my friend Roger didn't like to fish, but we now have a major convert,” Larry said. “We fished two days with Fred Maschmeier, and raised about 20 sails. Roger's first fish was a bonito, which was the largest fish he'd ever caught, and he couldn't believe it when we used it for bait.
“He proceeded to catch nine yellowfin tuna, and hooked and landed four LARGE sails. I couldn't believe he boated every fish he hooked, as he was an absolute rookie. I boated five more sails… What a great time. Thanks again for one more fantastic trip…”
Further north, in Quepos and Los Sueños area, Costa Rica Dreams reported Monday that from Feb. 1-14, the fleet of about 20 boats they booked out of the marina had a total of 691 sailfish and three marlin releases, along with 14 dorado, 37 tuna (to 180 pounds) five wahoo and 104 dorado.
J.P. Sportfishing fishes five boats in Quepos, and reports similar daily averages.
Off Carrillo, on the north Pacific coast, boats report seeing a lot of free-jumping sails and marlin, but pickings have been a little slim, with the Kitty Kat on Sunday going two for three on sails, some dorado and one marlin hooked that jumped free.
The previous week in that same area, the White Magic reported that Phil and Syl Quatrale, from Natick, Massachusetts, were happy campers with a grand slam, scoring a sailfish, blue marlin and striped marlin the same day. Winds kicked up late last week, and skipper Forrest Zielke said the blow made fishing difficult.
On the Caribbean coast, Colorado angler Billy Lowe took a tarpon on a fly rod fishing up the Colorado River on Saturday, but apparently there was heavy flooding that night further up on the San Juan or Sarapiquí, and a heavy offshore wind kept boats from going outside the river mouth.
As a result, Billy and his partner Raymond Clayton fished from the beach at Agua Dulce, and he nailed an 11-pound snook while Raymond broke off another, estimated to have been even larger, on 12-pound test line, according to Dan Wise at Río Colorado Lodge.
Water was back to normal by Monday, when Donna Carlson, from Jupiter, Florida, flew into the lodge in the morning, jumped into a boat after breakfast and was back by noon reporting a tarpon release at Banana Lagoon, fishing with guide Tito Brown.
Dan said one of the guides from the lodge also reported seeing a family of five manatees up the river last week, once a familiar occurrence in the region but very rare in recent years.
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Free Spooling by Jerry Ruhlow http://www.ticotimes.net/fishing.htm
“It seems baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs started the streak off in January, and the ocean has been one big ballpark ever since,” reported Todd Staley from Crocodile Bay, at Puerto Jiménez, on the southern coast of the Osa Peninsula.
Todd said Boggs tangled with lots of fish during the week, but his last day here almost launched him into the fishing hall of fame as well. He threw a big pink fly at a sail estimated at 140 pounds, and the fish gulped. Boggs played it perfectly and finally had it a few feet from the boat.
“He muscled it for a quick release, the tippet popped, and it was then he realized he had caught the fish on 16-pound tippet, and it well exceeded the world record for that fly fishing tippet class.”
Todd added that in January Crocodile Bay anglers saw 1,755 sails, and the pace for February will well surpass that.
“Marlin have never left the area, and one day the first week of February our boats had 32 marlin up… dorado are still around and the porpoise and tuna show has kept the bar in sushi,” he said.
“You have done it again!” wrote Florida angler Larry Owens, who just got home from another Costa Rica trip we arranged at the Ojalá Hotel in Drake Bay, on the other side of the Osa Peninsula.
“I told you my friend Roger didn't like to fish, but we now have a major convert,” Larry said. “We fished two days with Fred Maschmeier, and raised about 20 sails. Roger's first fish was a bonito, which was the largest fish he'd ever caught, and he couldn't believe it when we used it for bait.
“He proceeded to catch nine yellowfin tuna, and hooked and landed four LARGE sails. I couldn't believe he boated every fish he hooked, as he was an absolute rookie. I boated five more sails… What a great time. Thanks again for one more fantastic trip…”
Further north, in Quepos and Los Sueños area, Costa Rica Dreams reported Monday that from Feb. 1-14, the fleet of about 20 boats they booked out of the marina had a total of 691 sailfish and three marlin releases, along with 14 dorado, 37 tuna (to 180 pounds) five wahoo and 104 dorado.
J.P. Sportfishing fishes five boats in Quepos, and reports similar daily averages.
Off Carrillo, on the north Pacific coast, boats report seeing a lot of free-jumping sails and marlin, but pickings have been a little slim, with the Kitty Kat on Sunday going two for three on sails, some dorado and one marlin hooked that jumped free.
The previous week in that same area, the White Magic reported that Phil and Syl Quatrale, from Natick, Massachusetts, were happy campers with a grand slam, scoring a sailfish, blue marlin and striped marlin the same day. Winds kicked up late last week, and skipper Forrest Zielke said the blow made fishing difficult.
On the Caribbean coast, Colorado angler Billy Lowe took a tarpon on a fly rod fishing up the Colorado River on Saturday, but apparently there was heavy flooding that night further up on the San Juan or Sarapiquí, and a heavy offshore wind kept boats from going outside the river mouth.
As a result, Billy and his partner Raymond Clayton fished from the beach at Agua Dulce, and he nailed an 11-pound snook while Raymond broke off another, estimated to have been even larger, on 12-pound test line, according to Dan Wise at Río Colorado Lodge.
Water was back to normal by Monday, when Donna Carlson, from Jupiter, Florida, flew into the lodge in the morning, jumped into a boat after breakfast and was back by noon reporting a tarpon release at Banana Lagoon, fishing with guide Tito Brown.
Dan said one of the guides from the lodge also reported seeing a family of five manatees up the river last week, once a familiar occurrence in the region but very rare in recent years.
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