With a wealth of well-established marinas, resorts and fishing charters all along Costa Rica’s 630-mile Pacific coastline, visiting anglers will find no shortage of options in this small heavily jungled Central American Mecca for tourists. Besides its pristine beaches, Costa Rica offers visitors tropical rainforests, mostly protected and teeming with wildlife, as well as mountains (as high as 12,500 feet) and volcanoes to explore. The country has become known internationally as an eco-tourism center.

But of course, it’s also well known for its great sportfishing, with many options and well-established infrastructure for enthusiasts. Those options include entirely different fisheries on Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The Pacific side is larger and receives the lion’s share of sport-fishing effort in three major areas: Guanacaste in the far north (Tamarindo, Flamingo, Papagayo); the central coast (Los Sueños, Quepos) and the southernmost coast (Osa Peninsula, Golfito). 

These are the major game fish that anglers come to Costa Rica to catch:

Marlin – It’s possible here to catch all three marlin species in a day: blue, black and striped. Blues are particularly prevalent and the advent of anchoring FADs — fish-attracting devices — to offshore seamounts has led to some amazingly productive blue marlin fishing, mid spring through mid fall on the central coast. Since the FADs are 60 to 130 miles out, most FAD operations book trips for two, three or four nights out. Dorado (mahi) are a likely bonus on FAD trips.

Sailfish – They can be numerous enough that double-digit days are not at all uncommon. These are big fish — bigger than western Atlantic sails, running 75 to 100 pounds on average and sometimes much larger. The majority are caught on trolled rigged ballyhoo, but there are good opportunities for fly-fishermen as well (it’s worth noting that 10 of 15 tippet-class fly-rod records for Pacific sailfish came from Costa Rica).

Roosterfish – Central America’s high-finned, high-status inshore game fish, roosters are abundant all along the country’s rocky/sandy Pacific coastline, making it an iconic species for the country. Slow-trolling live blue runners or small tunas provides most of the roosterfish hookups though the powerful fish will hit poppers and stickbaits and at times, flies as well.

Yellowfin Tuna – The Pacific off the coast of Costa Rica is definitely tuna country, where anglers look for big pods of spinner dolphins, knowing well the symbiotic association between the mammals and yellowfin. Often where you find one, you find the other. Add in diving birds and get ready. And tuna action for anglers has gotten even better in recent years, thanks to a 2014 Tuna Decree that prohibited big purse seiners from operating within 45 miles of the nation’s coast.

Planning a Trip

When to Go: Like most great fishing destinations, plenty of opportunities await year-around, but peak times vary in part by area. So, on the central and north coast, late spring/summer offer the best chances of blue marlin while winter might be a better bet in the country’s southern reaches. For sailfish, hit the north coast in summer and winter/spring along the central and south coast. Yellowfin all year for the most part, though the far north is generally best in the summer. For roosterfish and Pacific cubera: any time, any place. The Atlantic-side tarpon fishery is all year, though October-November often prove to be peak months.

Where to Go and How to Get There: Most visitors fly into the country’s capital city, San Jose. The other alternative for international flights is the newer Guanacaste airport in Liberia. The San Jose airport requires a 30- to 45-minute ride to most of the city’s hotels. A variety of small airlines offer in-country service to both coasts. Winter into early spring on the Pacific is a bit drier and a bit windier in general, while summer through mid-fall days are usually calm but often with heavy interior showers spreading out toward evening. Whenever you plan to go, booking far in advance is advisable.

What to Expect: Costa Rica offers fishing resorts, marinas and charters all along its Pacific coast and several in the Rio Colorado and Parismina area on the Caribbean. Boats available for charter can range from small pangas for inshore/nearshore fishing (always check for basic safety equipment including VHF radio) to convertible sport-fishers more than 60 feet long for offshore/FAD trips. While Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica, it’s common to find locals who know at least some English. You’ll need a valid passport to enter the country — and a return flight ticket, proof of which you’ll have to provide to immigration at your time of arrival. Exchange rates for Costa Rica colóns are usually better at the airport, though U.S. dollars are generally accepted and desirable, so bring some U.S. currency. Pay the $29 departure tax before your departure day if it isn’t included in the return flight cost, as lines to pay can get long at the airport.

Helpful Links

There is so much more to do in the country in addition to fishing — ziplining, whitewater kayaking, mountain hiking, horseback riding and more.

• Essential Costa Rica
• U.S. News & World Report Costa Rica Travel Guide
• Crocodile Bay Resort
• Zancudo Lodge
• Los Suenos Resort and Marina
• Marina Pez Vela

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In the universe of great fishing lodges around the globe, one shines brighter than a supernova. Tucked in Panama’s remote Darien rainforest on the Pacific coast, Tropic Star Lodge is the culmination of ideal location, unequaled bounty and eco-luxury, honed for nearly a century by skilled anglers and meticulous stewards. The lodge may be 100 miles from the nearest road, yet that doesn’t deter guests from visiting time and time again. The magic is that special.

The quest for Panama’s black marlin began in the 1930s. Western novelist and angler Zane Grey is credited with discovering the area’s most magnetic underwater feature, subsequently named in his honor. The Zane Grey Reef is a trio of rocky columns that jut to within 125 feet of the surface. Only a short 5-mile run from the lodge, it intersects a major migratory path for marlin and other pelagic gamefish. The abundant bait, lack of pressure and prevailing currents add to the angling appeal.

The lodge’s colorful fleet of five vintage Bertram 31 convertibles, 10 upgraded 31 convertibles’, a Hatteras 45, a Viking 47, and a Bertram 32 are carefully maintained and manned by local crews who grew up on Piñas Bay. These skilled watermen have an uncanny knack for putting guests on the hottest bite, made evident by the hundreds of IGFA world records credited under their tutelage. Black, blue and striped marlin, Pacific sailfish, yellowfin tuna, and dorado are the offshore stars, while powerful roosterfish, snapper, and grouper along with 14 other inshore species inhabit the craggy shoreline and nearshore depths.

Fabulous fishing isn’t Tropic Star’s only attraction, though. Well-appointed accommodations, mouth-watering gourmet food and first-class amenities including a full-treatment spa and rainforest pool are set against the lush backdrop of the emerald rainforest. The lodge is totally self-sufficient and staffed by residents from the nearby village, who always provide exemplary service and attention to detail with cheerful smiles.

Tropic Star Lodge is also noteworthy for its unwavering commitment to marine conservation. It was one of the first to mandate circle hooks to reduce billfish mortality, and emphasizes catch-and-release. It helped successfully lobby for a regional noncommercial fishing zone and gamefish status for roosterfish. It partners with several institutions to advance vital research. Sustainability is crucial for sportfishing’s long-term survival, and Tropic Star has long been an industry advocate.

So when is the best time to visit this unique hotspot? Anytime you can, obviously, but there are prime windows for specific targets. January and February are peak for black marlin, along with big blues, plus triple-digit yellowfin tuna and sailfish. Grand slams (blue, black and sail or striped marlin) are common in February.

Giant yellowfin are likely in March, and the inshore bite really picks up in spring. April is a great time to target cubera, snapper, grouper and other inshore species because they are plentiful, and May marks the TSL annual roosterfish tournament. The sailfish run peaks in June, along with steady action with marlin and shots at trophy roosterfish. July and August continue the torrid streak with more grand slams and the chance at giant dorado too. The action continues in November and December. The season reopens mid-November, when the highly anticipated annual Billfish Tournament takes place. December has an excellent variety of species biting, including blue marlin, yellowfin, dorado and inshore species.

Regardless of season or goal, sport-fishing enthusiasts seeking the ultimate destination should aim for the brightest beacon: Tropic Star Lodge.

To learn more about Tropic Star Lodge, visit TropicStar.com.

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Simply put: I find no greater enjoyment on the water than fishing with other women. When I can combine that with prime accommodations, bragworthy meals, rainforest nature and a pampering massage, sign me up — again and again.

In June, I traveled to Crocodile Bay in southern Costa Rica to test new tackle from Penn Fishing. Also new to me was the recently opened Botanika resort. During the three prior visits I’ve made to this location over the last 12 years, I stayed at Crocodile Bay’s original property — which I would call a nice fishing lodge. It had just enough comfort and amenities to suit groups of guys and even families, as well as some extra perks and options like eco-tours to see sloths, toucans and monkeys, and ziplining through the tree canopy.

But Botanika attains a level of class that’s rare for any location, particularly one that offers the kind of offshore and nearshore fishing available here. Over three days, we encountered acres of spinner dolphin and yellowfin tuna feeding and breaching like aquatic missiles. During prior trips, I’ve caught Pacific sailfish, snappers and groupers and punched a bucket-list ticket by boating a 30-pound roosterfish on a topwater plug.

On this recent adventure, and once about seven years ago here, I was fortunate enough to fish with a group of women. This time, I spent the final half-day aboard one of the resort’s Striker Yachts with two women anglers from Penn — Kimberly Hoffman and Jen Ripple. We asked to fish nearshore to target roosters, so we spent our first hour catching sardines with gold-hook rigs — sublimely simple fun.

As the captain started slow-trolling the livies inside the Golfo Dulce, our mate rigged a popper on one of the new Penn Carnage III rods that was paired with a new Penn Authority spinning reel. Jen and I took turns at the bow with the popper rod and a fly rod. Bait was everywhere. We saw one follower, but found no takers.

The rest of the morning, we slow-trolled just outside the breakers along the ocean beaches, where the bow heaved too dramatically for casting. While the bite proved slow, we spent hours talking about experiences and eating perfectly spiced and blended fresh-tuna salad. No tension. No competition. No comparisons. No bragging.

Toward the end of the morning, our captain — who had been casting the popper from the fly bridge — hooked a rooster and handed down the rod. Kim fought the fish to the transom where the mate brought it aboard for multiple photos before release. You might have thought we’d won the Super Bowl.

Target fish notched, we headed back to the dock for our rendezvous with Gloriana, the massage therapist. One muscle-melting hour later, and I met the others for drinks and fresh tuna sushi for supper.

At dinner, I asked a Crocodile Bay representative if the resort had any package offers for female anglers, so others can experience a getaway that’s unique and special to women. They do. For a limited time, visit this link to see the Girlfriend Getaway Fishing Special. Sign me up.

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The Los Cabos region at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula is a sport fishing shrine that draws worshipful anglers from all over the world. The famed tourist destination includes Cabo San Lucas with its sprawling marina and easy access to the merger of the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez, as well as the East Cape region a few miles north on the sparkling southeastern shores of Baja.

These waters harbor an incredible wealth of marine life, including gamefish ranging from billfish, mahi and wahoo in the blue offshore waters to roosterfish and grouper inshore. Here are some of the angling opportunities you’ll find around Los Cabos in spring.

Striped Marlin Mania

Few other fish attract anglers to the Cabo region like striped marlin. While this species feeds year around in these waters, the best time to fish for striped marlin runs from February through the end of June. While the stripers might show up anywhere, one of the best areas to find the acrobatic billfish in spring is the Golden Gate Bank, 15 miles north of Cabo San Lucas on the Pacific side, where upwellings create rich waters that attract sardines and Pacific mackerel. You might find a school of these marlin attacking a dense pack of bait on the surface, and well-placed live bait such as a mackerel or caballito (Mexican scad) will often draw immediate attention.

Bird Brain

To be clear, the surface feeding activity by striped marlin described above does occur during every outing. On many trips, crews spend time trolling and, at the same, searching the horizon for the telltale clouds of birds hovering over schools of sardines and other baitfish driven to the surface by ravenous striped marlin and other pelagic gamefish. When a boat crew finds these birds, they race to the spot, and once within casting distance, the anglers fling live baits into the melee, often producing multiple hookups followed by releases—an extraordinary opportunity for anglers to achieve personal-best billfish catch-and-release totals.

Other Targets

Striped marlin might grab most of the offshore attention, but there are many other spring angling opportunities in this region, including dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo, often found in the same offshore waters.

Close to the sandy beaches of the Sea of Cortez on the East Cape, anglers also can target roosterfish in spring. This fish’s unique comblike dorsal fin slices the water as the rooster attacks schools of baitfish. Roosters often behave like the striped marlin, feeding on the surface.

When roosters don’t show themselves at the surface, one of the most effective techniques for finding them is slow trolling live baits such as mullet or sardines along beaches. Other inshore gamefish such as Pacific jack crevalle and sierra mackerel join in on the near-shore feeding frenzies. Both of these species eagerly bite anything moving, including trolled cedar plugs, tuna feathers and Rapala diving plugs in a variety of colors.

Other species to consider in spring include California yellowtail, cabrilla (leopard groupers) and pargo (Spanish for various species of snapper) These delicious fish can be found along rocky areas of the coastline, and will readily strike a live bait fished near the bottom.

Cabo Launch Points

Los Cabos Airport in San Jose del Cabo serves both Cabo San Lucas and the East Cape, and it is less than three hours by air from most major Southern California airports. A transfer to Cabo San Lucas takes less than hour, while the drive to the East Cape takes about one hour.

Cabo San Lucas features a huge, bustling marina; the IGY Marina company is the largest resident operator with 380 slips, many of them filled with sportfishing boats to meet the needs of anglers wanting to charter. Hotels ranging from economical to luxury 5-star properties surround the marina, and make it convenient to walk to your charter boat for an early morning departure.

On the other hand, the East Cape has no marinas. Instead, each beachside resort has its own fleet of sportfishing boats that anchor in the typically calm waters in front of the resorts. Some properties build small piers where passengers can board and de-board, while others use pangas to ferry guests to and from the larger boats.

Charter Options

Back in Cabo San Lucas, for more than four decades, the Ehrenberg family has run the Pisces Sport Fishing charter operation in Marina at Los Cabos. Their boats are equipped with high-end rods and reels spooled with fresh line, available in various sizes from 30- to 80-pound-test trolling outfits. They also provide bait-fishing outfits with either 30- or 50-pound-test line, plus lures, leader, terminal tackle and more.

“Pisces Sport Fishing has gotten off to a record-breaking pace in 2022,” says Rebecca Ehrenberg, Pisces vice president of conservation, “In January, our fleet released 2,361 marlin, with excellent catches of 315 tuna and 181 dorado (mahi), combined with 282 wahoo and other inshore species. Our bookings through June are rapidly filling up. Our spring season should be remarkable.”

Read Next: Cabo San Lucas Fishing

Few destinations can match the Los Cabos region for the remarkable array of spring fishing opportunities to catch saltwater gamefish.

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The new Penn Clash reels are available in seven models, handling 8- to 80-pound braid, with 10 to 30 pounds of max drag. Reel prices range from $180 to $260 — reasonable costs for the quality of performance we experienced.

Getting to the fishing lodge required a 45-minute Nature Air flight from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez. Flying into Puerto Jimenez seemed a bit ominous, with the cemetery just feet from the runway, but all the flights went smoothly. Staff picked us up for a short ride back to Crocodile Bay Resort.

At Crocodile Bay, our rooms had wooden porches that extended seamlessly into the surrounding nature. Each morning, we were woken by a chorus of macaw parrots — a great alarm to make it to breakfast and the docks on time.

Inshore fishing consisted of casting Sebile poppers and plugs to jagged shorelines and outcrops made up of rocks and corals. Some anglers preferred live-baiting or trolling goggle-eyes, sardines and other live baits.

This juvenile mullet snapper blasted a Sebile Stick Shadd meant for its bigger brothers.

Besides mullet snapper, other species are available for anglers. This yellow snapper (Pargo Amarillo) bit a chunk of cut bait in 200 feet of water.

Probably the snapper that garners the most attention in area waters is the cubera. Angler Zeno Hromin landed this impressive cubera near the inshore rocks on a Sebile Magic Swimmer soft bait.

One of the most-popular and recognized casting spots is Matapalo Rock. Angler Alex Suescun peppered the area with poppers, along with plenty of coastline near the mouth of Golfo Dulce.

Besides snappers, a variety of jacks hunt the same waters. This big-eye jack was one of a few pulled from a school that aggressively patrolled the famous outcrop.

Roosterfish are the prized jack species for anglers out of Crocodile Bay. The rooster may have an outrageous-looking dorsal fin (not so unlike the comb of a rooster), but its aggressive feeding behavior and fight make it a top inshore target. Watch a video of a roosterfish attacking a topwater plug on this trip at Sport Fishing‘s Facebook page.

Jack crevalle are a common catch, mixed in with the other inshore species. This jack hit a plug over a reef just outside the mouth of Golfo Dulce.

Ron Kliegl, SpiderWire‘s brand business manager, landed this African pompano inshore.

Offshore, yellowfin tuna are a common catch, often bigger than the one pictured. Angler Andrew Cox hooked this fish in the morning, just after lines were put out.

One of the most common areas to troll for marlin offshore Crocodile Bay is at a FAD (fish attracting device) 50 miles from the lodge. A blue marlin pulls tight to angler Dave Morel’s line after a hookup near the FAD.

After the hookup, the marlin tail-walked and jumped across the surface, providing a show for all the different boats trolling around the FAD structure.

Dave Morel, in the Penn hat, fought the marlin to the boat skillfully, allowing anglers on the boat to take a couple photos of the billfish. With energy left, the marlin kicked away from the 33-foot Strike back to the depths.

Back at the Crocodile Bay docks, angler Scott Goodwin tossed out a jig and chunk-bait to land this catfish.

Even in mid-December, high sun and temperatures in the low-to-mid 80s tired all the anglers at the Penn Fishing Crocodile Bay Clash event. After a day’s fishing, the rooms were cold, clean and refreshing.

All fun trips must end, so after three days of solid fishing, it was time to leave Crocodile Bay Resort. The flight back to San Jose provided bird’s eye views of solid-green mountains and valleys.

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That tranquility proved short-lived. Minutes later, one of the other five kayak anglers around me, each bobbing about on a brightly colored Hobie Outback in the muted late-afternoon light, shattered the peace.

I took in the hard bend of his live-bait rod as well as several yellowfin crashing the surface just beyond. As I pedaled toward the action like a maniac, I flipped the bail on an Okuma Raw II 80 spinner, filled with 80-pound braid, ready to cast.

Other _kayakeros _were hooking up. I made it a point to stay well clear of Kevin Nakada, fishing-team coordinator with Hobie, fighting a yellowfin on the popper he’d cast off his bow, while leaving his live blue runner trailing behind: He now had two crazily bent rods, each pointing off opposite ends his kayak!

Chaos Amid Busting Tuna

As I neared the area where I’d seen the commotion, nothing broke the surface. Had I missed a fast-moving school? I recalled that Pascal Artieda, who operated his “wild coast” kayak-fishing camp, had advised us to make casts with poppers even when tuna weren’t busting.

I did, and halfway back to the kayak, a tuna burst from the surface 20 feet behind the Yo-Zuri Sashimi Bull. I gazed in awe as it chased down the lure and clobbered it.

A yee-haw! battle ensued that had the kayak variously sleigh-riding ahead and spinning, toplike, as I pedaled around the circling tuna in an effort to keep the rod pointing off a bow quadrant and never behind me.

Ultimately, I released a 40-pounder or so (that release made easier and safer since I’d replaced the treble hooks on most lures with strong singles).

Then I pedaled quickly over to Chris Russell of Denver, with my GoPro in hand and ready to shoot the 60-pounder he was easing into his kayak to disengage a popper.

In fact, all anglers were busy hooking, fighting or releasing yellowfin — the best sort of chaos.

Bad Place to Be a Live Bait

That tuna bite capped off quite a day. Early on, we’d pedaled out of the small, protected cove where Artieda and his associate, fellow Frenchman Aurelian Perez, have set up their remote camp. A small river flows into one corner of the picturesque cove.

One rule of thumb we found in the two-and-a-half days we fished here: A live bait isn’t safe anywhere at any time except in a livewell.

With that in mind, shortly after sunup, I had dropped a live runner over the side barely outside the bay, planning to slow-troll it out to deeper reefs. But I didn’t get more than 200 feet or so before something slammed it, and right there in front of the camp, I had one hell of a fight on my hands. My adversary turned out to be a large roosterfish.

That day and the next, we caught more roosters, cubera snapper to 60 pounds, Colorado snapper, barred pargo, amberjack, African pompano, Pacific crevalle, bluefin trevally, Sierra and more. We caught fish while trolling live bait and lures, and while drifting — dropping jigs or tossing poppers. We caught ’em a mile offshore (where the water is very blue and very deep), over reefs closer to shore, and right along the surf-washed rocky headlands of the wild coast.

Wilderness Camp in Style

As the sun fell, everyone pedaled back to camp and carried kayaks well up on the beach for the night. In the clearing marking the outpost camp, showers were available, though I chose the cool, clear fresh water flowing out of the river for a welcome cleanup.

After sashimi appetizer and a great dinner (with the day’s catch as the main dish), we sat and sipped our wine (hey, these guys are French; I liked their version of roughing it), and relived the day’s many exciting moments. Even a half-hour torrential downpour couldn’t dampen our heady spirits.

Before long, most were ready to get some shut-eye; each angler crawled into his own tent, where an air mattress, sheets and a towel waited. They were good tents, and the rain fly had kept mine dry inside. I slept amazingly well both nights we were there.

Yes, we had to contend with a few mosquitoes. And at times, we had to hunker down under a tarp to stay dry. But all participants agreed that they wouldn’t have traded the experience for a plush resort.

Over Land and Water to the Wild Coast

About eight years ago, Artieda opened his Panafishing Adventure Lodge near Pedasi. From 26-foot cats and 25-foot super pangas, anglers caught all the species mentioned above plus good numbers of sailfish, at times mahi and more.

Then Artieda tried kayak fishing and was hooked — so much so that he bought a fleet of Hobies (five Outbacks and two Pro Anglers) and started offering kayak fishing around Pedasi (where it usually remains calm when the ocean gets breezy) for roosterfish, in particular. (Artieda had fished Hobies and said he recognized the almost-effortless and hands-free pedal system as the only way to go for serious fishing.)

Soon he was taking anglers to multiday adventures based out of his secret cove on the wild coast.

To get there requires about a five-hour drive (some of that smooth and easy, some w-w-w-washboard) from Pedasi to Cambutal, where the road ends at a large bay rimmed with an immense sand beach, on the southernmost Azuero Peninsula. From there, anglers transfer with their gear to pangas for another hour-and-a-half scenic cruise west along this “tuna coast” — as remote as any you’ll find in Panama — to the outpost camp. As to why it’s called the tuna coast, and why it’s so productive, search Google Earth for “Azuero Peninsula” and note the precipitous drop to abyssal depths almost at the shoreline!

Waiting at the camp: a central cooking/lounging tent, a large patio tent with mosquito netting for dining and tents. (At press time, a new and improved base camp is under construction, which will feature huts on wooden platforms with showers, a bar, tables and other amenities.)

And of course, there were the kayaks, ready for us to hop onto and go. Sometimes Artieda and Perez will load kayaks onto skiffs to travel up or down the coast to specific reefs or areas where they’ll find feeding tuna and other pelagics, but the grounds just in front of the camp are hard to beat, and one need only jump into a kayak and pedal a few minutes to start fishing.

Return Trip

We ended up spending only a couple of full days off the Azuero Peninsula, with Artieda deciding we should head back just before the groundswell was predicted to grow considerably. (Though running through some squall lines still made for an exhilarating ride back to Cambutal.)

That was in late May, when things can (as they did) get wet at times, though Artieda cites spring as a good time for big yellowfin. Most of the season, winds and seas are light here, but if a wind does blow in spring or summer, it will be from a southerly quadrant and can rough things up. In that case, it’s a fine time to fish for big roosters in the calm waters around Pedasi.

On the other hand, in winter, if a wind comes up, it generally blows from the north, Artieda says. That means the high cliffs of the wild coast offer great protection, so most of the time, kayakeros pedal out onto a flat sea.

And as long as the weather remains cooperative, Artieda will schedule wild coast adventures for five days and nights — or longer or shorter per a group’s wishes.

For anyone who appreciates the unique pleasures of fishing from a kayak, I’d have to call this ultimate adventure a must, based on our trip this past spring. In fact, I already scheduled a return trip for this winter.

Planning a Kayak-Fishing Trip to Panama’s Wild Coast

Who: Experienced kayak anglers. These are big fish, and this is not a place for novices to try their hand. (Experience notwithstanding, Artieda keeps one skiff, with VHF, out on the grounds for every two or three kayaks, for both support and safety reasons. Also, skiffs may be used to run kayaks and anglers to spots farther up the coast.)

When: December through May (seasonality discussed in text of feature)

Travel: A number of major airlines fly into Panama City. Copa offers direct flights from several U.S. cities, and I’ve generally flown Copa. (However, while I’ve had no problems thus far, I must point out that the airline’s contradictory baggage rules for fishing gear allow a “container” up to 115 total linear inches but then specify that no gear may exceed 80 inches; my efforts for some clarification have gone unanswered. For those who travel with 7-foot rods, note that United, American and Delta — all of which fly into Panama City — allow for up to 115 linear inches.)

Once your group arrives at Tocumen International Airport, you can overnight in Panama City, or you can arrange to leave for the wild coast right away (especially if you can arrive before midday). Artieda will have a van waiting — and a truck as well, if all anglers have a load of gear, as we did. It’s a bit more than five hours (with a lunch stop), a ride I didn’t mind since it meant we didn’t face the severe gear restrictions that flying in via a small, regional, in-country airline would have meant.

Depending on timing and logistics you’ll arrange with Artieda, you might overnight at the lodge or head right out to the wild coast.

What to bring: Your favorite rods/reels. The resort has limited gear. A range of 30- to 80-pound braid should serve you well. We used conventionals (Okuma’s Andros for jigging and Makaira for slow-trolling live bait), and big spinners for throwing poppers. Pack a selection of poppers, deep-diving and shallow minnow lures, and metal jigs, as well as various hooks (see “Hook Swap”) including large live-bait circle hooks (we had good results with Eagle Claw Lazer Sharps) and fluoro leader. Definitely bring a camera. Something compact and waterproof, such as a GoPro, will serve you best for shooting from a kayak. I’d also recommend good, open-fingered fishing gloves and pliers you can attach to yourself or to your kayak with a lanyard. A heavy-duty lip-gripper is a must; for some fish, a lip gaff might be useful. I consider a small waterproof VHF essential. A PLB (personal locator beacon) such as ACR’s compact Res-Q-Link is worth packing with your tackle. For camp, a flashlight comes in quite handy (or a headlamp even handier). Of course a couple of dry bags are essential.

Cost: For three or more anglers, $1,600 each covers five nights and five days of fishing on the wild coast. Add just $220 per person, and you’ll have van service from and to the airport. You may also opt for one or more overnights at the Panafishing Lodge in Pedasi, either en route to the wild coast or just to fish that (very different) area/fishery, for $100 per night.

For more information, visit panamakayakadventure.com and panafishing.com.

Trophy Colorado Snapper

Kayakeros’ Arsenal

The Journey West

Tuna Below the Kayak

The Outpost Camp

Old Man of the Trees

The Junkyard Dog of Eastern Pacific Reefs

An Abundance of Roosters

Mighty Big Rooster

Hook Swap

One Last Yellowfin

The post Kayak Fishing Panama appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Record Roosterfish on Fly

Anyone who’s caught roosterfish knows that Mr. Nematistius pectoralis is one bad-ass mamma jamma that can damage both tackle and feelings. Though superficially very similar to the Jack family (Carangidae), roosterfish are literally in a league of their own (the family Nematistidae). These fish are endemic to the west coast of Central America from roughly Mexico to Peru, with the all-tackle record of 114 pounds coming from La Paz, Mexico in 1960.

Often found very close to shore, roosterfish are very popular throughout their range with recreational anglers. Live bait probably catches the majority of fish but lures and flies can also be very effective under certain conditions. Fly fishing along Baja California’s Sea of Cortez has become increasingly popular, where anglers walk the beach to sight cast to 20-plus-pound roosters in shallow, clear water.

Baja California has produced no fewer than 11 IGFA records in the last five years — the latest of which is pretty special for several reasons. On June 2, Margaret Shaughnessy was fishing her secret spot off of the west coast of Baja with her husband James and guide Marco. Just before 4 p.m., she hooked what she considered a respectable rooster. You see, Margaret knows a thing or two about whipping roosters with the long rod — she happens to have held the 8-, 12-, 16- and 20-pound tippet records for this species.

Little did Margaret realize that the rooster on that fateful day would be her biggest ever. This fish was so large that she didn’t get to see it until more than three hours into the fight. Exhausted from the fight, the heat, and building seas, she battled the fish for another hour before her husband and guide collectively pulled the massive rooster in the boat.

A staunch advocate of catch and release, Margaret and her team placed the fish in the boat’s livewell and raced to shore to weigh the fish. When the big rooster was weighed, it bottomed out Margaret’s certified 60-pound BogaGrip. Even though they knew the fish undoubtedly weighed more than 60 pounds, the decision was made to release the fish and, after taking plenty of time to revive the fish, it swam away strongly.

Margaret’s pending 20-pound tippet roosterfish record is the second heaviest ever caught on fly rod. Had she killed the fish and weighed it on a bigger scale, it most likely would have eclipsed men’s 20-pound tippet record of 62 pounds, 4 ounces. (The 62-pounder reigns as the biggest roosterfish fly record.) However, I bet that Margaret feels pretty good about being able to catch a fish of this caliber and release it. That should make her a great angler in anyone’s book.

The post A Roosterfish Worth Crowing Over appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

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(Be sure to click through all the images in the gallery above.)

While there might be better ways to hook the really huge yellowfin tuna — as in 300-plus pounds — that patrol the eastern Pacific, I don’t think there could be any more-exciting way to hook any tuna than casting poppers into leaping, blitzing schools and cranking ’em back at high speed. The combination of the visuals (big yellowfin crashing your lure) and the physical (arm-wrenching strikes) definitely makes these “yee-haw!” moments.

That’s why, after a morning of little activity as we trolled, watched and waited 10 to 15 miles offshore of the lower Osa Peninsula off southern Costa Rica, we all jumped when the call came over the VHF. “Get those lines in!” Manfred, the mate aboard the Crocodile Bay Resort‘s Strikefisher 33, said. “They’ve got dolphin pods about two miles north!”

He didn’t have to tell us twice.

Finding Flipper

We knew of the well-established association between pods of dolphin (as in porpoise, of course, and not dorado/mahi) and yellowfin. Find big numbers of dolphin, and you might find feeding tuna.

While that “might” loomed large, and there are no ­guarantees when fishing the Pacific, it always pays if dolphin are spotted to see if they are traveling with an escort of yellowfin.

Our skipper pushed the throttles ahead hard, while Manfred tied circle hooks to the end of a couple of outfits. Hunter Cole and I opted to go with large poppers. Cole, senior marketing manager for Pure Fishing, handed me a Penn Spinfisher V with 50-pound braided line and a Sebile Splasher. He armed himself with the same, and we headed up to the bow.

| |Many tourists in areas like Costa Rica are interested in whale watching. For those coming to fish offshore, it’s all about dolphin watching. Skippers sitting up on the bridge while under way are constantly on dolphin recon — particularly the right species of dolphin. Courtesy National Marine Fisheries Service (3)|

There was no mistaking the dolphins — the sleek, dark mammals as much out of the water as in it, leaping high into the air — as well as the birds wheeling in the area. At first, I saw no sign of tuna and grew disheartened, until we drew near enough to see the silver bullets exploding from the surface sporadically among the dolphin.

Wanting to avoid the frustration of throwing short, I forced myself to wait, heart pounding, as the boat eased closer. Cole heaved a Splasher into the fray and just after, my own Splasher was on the heels of his. I glimpsed a commotion behind Cole’s lure, and suddenly his rod arced and bounced as he yelled, “I’m on!” Shortly after, a detonation under my lure knocked it high out of the water. With shaking hands, I cranked the popper the rest of the way to the boat — and then grabbed my camera to record Cole’s battle.

In the company of several other resort boats, we spent at least the next couple of hours running and gunning, trying to stay on the dolphin and tuna, until the yellowfin left or perhaps went deep. Most anglers had hooked tuna in that time, and some had brought several fish to the boat.

Best of all is that running and gunning for tuna means nonstop activity: If you’re not actually hooked up, you’re casting into fish or standing on the bow, ready as the skipper gets you into position. There’s never a dull moment.

At least that’s true when the yellowfin are feeding. If the tuna bite among the moving dolphin turns off, it might be only a matter of time until the fish start whacking bait again. “I had an angler out who really wanted a tuna on his popper. We stayed with a load of dolphin for four hours before the tuna went on a feed,” says Todd Staley, the resort’s fishing director. “Just before sunset, he ended up boating the 180-pound yellowfin that slam-dunked his popper.”

Fast Cast with a Jig

Southern Costa Rica offers — as we saw — good hunting grounds for tuna on top. In fact, the eastern Pacific from Mexico south into at least Ecuador can mean prime run‑and‑gun tuna activity when the timing is right.

For Crocodile Bay boats, that tends to be a crapshoot. “You can catch tuna any day of the year, just not very predictably,” Staley says. “We may find yellowfin out there for weeks at a time but then not see any for just as long.”

While he says there really is no tuna season, run-and-gun fans might have their best shot at finding tuna feeding late spring and late fall, with the fish more numerous then, but also smaller, as school fish dominate.

An effective alternative to poppers, metal speed jigs also have the advantage of tremendous long-distance castability, and when breezing fish are moving very fast or happen to be particularly spooky, only out-of-the-ballpark casts will make it to ground zero.

I was reminded of this the next day while fishing with Patrick Sebile. The yellowfin were on top but not feeding with quite as much abandon as they had been the day before. Sebile opted to forgo the Splasher and instead tied on one of his Fast Cast metal jigs. He cranked it hard and fast so it skipped along the top, looking indeed like a baitfish trying frantically to escape.

His jig was slammed repeatedly, and I became an instant believer in small metal jigs for schooling tuna at the surface.

| |Dave Underwood|

Sails and Roosters

While fishing offshore of the Osa Peninsula can be a good bet for yellowfin, billfish are always a big blue-water draw. During our June visit, sails were few and far between — not such a surprise, since that’s usually a slow time for sails — but seasonally (January into May), sailfish can be swarming. Anglers after marlin have their best shots at black marlin and striped marlin in July, August and September, and blue marlin November through mid-January.

Plus, of course, this peninsula has earned a reputation for producing roosterfish. We tried our hand and weren’t disappointed. The beaches along the open southwestern Osa coast proved slow, but closer to the resort, around the southern tip of the peninsula, the default live bait — blue runners — found some willing takers. Roosters have a tough time passing up slow-trolled runners near shorelines, though they’re not shy about snatching up other live-bait offerings, such as a moonfish that the mate quickly bridled up and put over the side.

We spent some time jigging, but other than a Pacific red snapper, a bright-red scorpionfish and a small fortune jack, we couldn’t find a lot to show for our efforts. But I have seen photos of excellent jig catches.

As outstanding as the waters of southern Costa Rica can be for many species, I’ll take tuna on top any day for sheer adrenalin-pumping action.

Commercial Fishing: Successes and Setbacks

| |Doug Olander|

As is often the case these days, recreational-fishing ­interests in Costa Rica have enjoyed both successes and setbacks as far as commercial overfishing is concerned. Longliners, tuna seiners and shrimp trawlers have all posed problems. In the past year or two, large shrimpers have been working the coast around the Osa Peninsula hard, says Todd Staley. Licenses were issued without the requisite environmental-impact studies, Staley says, which is the crux of a pending lawsuit by a number of entities against shrimpers.

Some successes against longliners fishing nearshore (they are supposed to be operating at least 30 miles out) have produced impressive results, Staley says, but there are still problems, as with purse seiners, who can deplete a large area of yellowfin overnight. The Federacion Costarricense de Pesca (FECOP), the “sport-fishing and responsible-fishing lobby,” says Staley, is working to move the tuna seiners 200 miles offshore.

“FECOP is also working closely with the Minister of the Oceans, Jose Lino Chaves, who oversees activities in the ocean, including fishing,” Staley says. “He’s a no-nonsense guy and aggressively goes after lawbreakers. We had a problem with longliners illegally fishing live bait on their lines here for sailfish. He personally came down and pressed charges against 14 longline boats, and stayed on them until they gave up. The result has been some of the best fishing we have seen in years, with 15 to 30 fish in the spread a day more common than a rarity as in the past few years.”

Planning a Trip to Crocodile Bay

| |Courtesy ­Crocodile Bay Lodge|

Logistics: You’ll fly to San Jose, served by many ­international airlines, and then transfer to the nearby smaller regional airport for the 45-minute flight to Puerto Jimenez. (Note the 25-pound baggage limit unless other arrangements are made.) You might need to (and/or want to) overnight at a hotel in San Jose coming and/or going, depending upon time of year and local flight schedules.

Timing: Between offshore and inshore (Golfo Dulce) ­opportunities, any month of the year might offer good fishing. Some of the best months for billfish and tuna are noted in the text of this feature. Summer can be intermittently rainy, but the heaviest rains usually hold off until October. December through April is generally dry and sunny, and can be breezy as well.

Besides fishing: The pristine rainforest covering the Osa Peninsula lends itself to a variety of activities that falls under the “eco-tour” umbrella. These include kayaking, surfing, snorkeling, rainforest hiking, canopy tours, zip lining, bird-watching, biking, horseback riding and so on. All this makes the destination an appealing one for the angler who wants to combine some serious fishing with a variety of family activities.

For more information or reservations: Visit Crocodile Bay Resort’s website; for general information, go to visitcostarica.com.

_To see more photos and exciting video from this trip, visit our Costa Rica Tuna Fishing channel._

The post Adrenaline Rush! appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

Monster cubera snapper!

At the beach, Pedasi

A ton o’ tackle

Last-minute outfitting

Time to fish!

Where pez gallo lurks!

Rooster country!

Trophy rooster!

Time to re-bait

Pedal power: perfect trolling machine

Snapper for dinner

Breakfast at the lodge

All this on one kayak!

Caravan to a southern beach

Moo!

The end of the road

Panga time

Fearless leader

Base camp on the “wild coast”

Off the “wild coast” — time to fish!

A speck on the ocean

Stretched to the limit

The wild coast — a.k.a. the tuna coast

Tough to the end

Towed by a tuna

Tuna on top — doesn’t get much better!

Kayak seat = fighting chair

Bluefin trevally

Roosters always likely

Wild coast base camp

The jungle’s beauty

Early-morning rigging at base camp

Preparing to launch

The fleet

A wild coast indeed

100 yards out from base camp

Cubera snapper: tough customers

Kayak catch of a lifetime!

Fearsome fangs

Jigging up jacks

Whole lotta houndfish

African pompano surprise

Barred pargo

Another trophy cubera!

Reluctant rooster

The post Phenomenal Panama Kayak-Fishing Adventure appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.

“We took the new Spinfisher V to a location to field test it with some of the hardest fighting fish in the ocean. Experience the adventure to Crocodile Bay Resort for three days of extreme adrenaline pumping action in this video. Go to pennreels.com/spinfisherv for more info on the reel.”

–– Penn Fishing

The post Crocodile Bay Adventure with PENN appeared first on Sport Fishing Mag.