Costa Rica travel services and tours

Fishing
Central Pacific

Main

Cabo Blanco to Drake Bay Quepos is center of fishing on the central coast, but there are charters available out of Puntarenas, the resorts at the southern end of Nicoya Peninsula, Jacó Beach, Punta Leona and at Drake Bay. Billfish are the target of most visiting anglers, and they are seldom disappointed from around December through April.

Some sails and marlin are taken throughout the year. From most areas mentioned above, it's no more than 12 to 20 miles run to the blue water where most of the billfish action is encountered. Inshore sport includes tuna, roosterfish, wahoo, dorado, jacks, mackerel, cubera, a varity of small snapper species and even snook.

The snook can be taken trolling just outside the breaker line off the river mouths in the area, but are more often fished from shore. Some boats out of Quepos also offer multi-day trips to Drake Bay and Caño's Island area, overnighting at one of the several lodgescentered around Drake Bay. This region is best known for its eahoo, big cubera and roosterfish, but there are also tuna, dorado, sails and some marlin.

Seasons


Marlin	October is normally the top month for marlin in this area, but action is also good in September and November and occasional blues and rare black are likely to be found any timeof year although they are usually out further than the boats hunting for sailfish are likely to be fishing.
Sailfish	Middle of December to the end of April when they begin moving north is rated the best season, but the big schools often move in about October and occasionally stay longer. A few sail always show among the catch from June through September, mixed with the other species that are found inshore during those months.
Tuna	Found through the year as they all along the Pacific coast, but most abundant from June through September. Most are the eight to 12 pounders, but a dozen pounders and maybe another two dozen in the 100 to 200 pound range are taken every year.
Dorado	Best action begins with the winter rains that start in late May and wash debris from the river mouths lines that the dolphin favor.
Wahoo	Not common in the area around Quepos, but more abundant in the late summer further south, especially the Drake Bay and Caño's Island area from late June to early August.
Roosterfish	Available all year, but are more caught in the Papagayo Bay area from November through March. That may be because more boats in the northern most area of this region are fishing inshoreduring those windy months. and the roosters like the structure of the shoreline and islands where they're found 50 to 60 feet of water.
Snook	Favored spots are just the many river mouths all along the coast, up the Sierpe river and in the big lagoon on Sierpe. The IGFA world record Pacific black snook was taken in the month of July at the mouth of the Rio Naranjo on a boat trolling just outside the braker line. This a relatively new target for some small charter boats, but the best months seem to be from July through November during the heavy rainy season.