So last month I told you all about how epic the fishing is here. And now in January, Marina Pez Vela is hosting the ROCKSTAR Fishing Tournament, brought to you by Pelagic, January 12-14. Expect this event to be exactly what the namesake says. ROCKSTAR. The bite is hot, and this tournament is going to make it hotter! With $100,000.00 up for grabs in prizes, and top Rock Star status, its gonna be insane. Check back for photos and an update HERE in Quepolandia next month. Check out the excerpt below taken from their blog:
The Rockstar! Offshore Tournament presented by PELAGIC is a team event with cash, prizes, and awards estimated to over $100,000. Labeled as “Costa Rica’s Funnest Big Game Fishing Event”, The Rockstar! features multiple marina-side bashes, a knock-your-socks-off rock ‘n roll band, and offshore tournament extravaganza. You bring your crew, we bring the fun – so join us this January in Costa Rica for an experience you don’t want to miss. Fish all day, party all night… If you dare!
As you’ve seen from other parts of Quepolandia, high season is upon us. It’s the transition from rainy to dry weather, and also the return of North American tourists fleeing the cold and dark. You will also find that the waters off of Quepos are transitioning too. It’s time to welcome back sailfish, marlin, mahi-mahi, and much more. Most people welcome back the sailfish and marlin bite because that’s what’s driving our sport fishing industry here now.
Why? How? Well, it’s like this. We have a WORLD CLASS bite and boats here; people come from all over the world to fish. Numbers for the past few years have been insane, with charter boats regularly posting numbers of 30+ bites in a day. When professional anglers go out, it’s a completely different story. I’ve been on boats where they released 30+ fish. I’ve heard of boats releasing 77 fish and running out of bait so they had to go in. There really is nowhere else that you can go and get those numbers, so fishing freaks come here regularly. It’s awesome.
There is SO much special in Manuel Antonio. In the air, on land, in the sea, there’s always something new for you to experience—and that’s regardless of whether or not if you live here. The rewards are so great—the biodiversity found here is some of the most epic in the world.
I count myself as one of the luckiest people on the planet, because I’ve been living and fishing here for the past four years. It’s been absolutely amazing and I don’t think that it’s possible for another destination to give me what this one has. Perhaps my most epic day on the water was fishing with fish friends Tan and Merlin out to Foruno to try our day for meat fish. Epic was the only word to describe it for me. Of course I’ve had good days out on the water, but a day where I out fished everyone else on the boat? While using lighter line and tackle? Not losing a fish all day?!!! Having Sportfishing Magazine make you a Sportfishing Girl of the Month due to this day out on the water!? This day was nothing but epic. We caught red snapper, amberjack, grouper, and we even tried to hook a hammerhead shark that was stalking the underwater mountain we were fishing. It was an amazing day, and we created amazing memories that will stick with us forever. Well, they’ll stick with me forever, and my guy fish friends still call me to go out so I guess they remember too.
It’s that time of year out there. It’s wild marlin time for a fads fisherman. It’s been an incredible run so far this FAD season, with all kinds of fantastic numbers being posted by multiple boats. Fishing out of Marina Pez Vela, Los Suenos and Golfito, this year’s sport fishing season has been unbelievable, and continues to be.
I’ve been lucky enough to fish on some of the top boats in Central America. I’ve featured many in my articles. This is the perfect opportunity to showcase Maverick Yachts and Sportfishing—as they do many fads/seamount trips. Due to their stellar reputation for building boats that raise fish, and take you on a ride in style, Mavericks ‘Fly’ boats are a sure thing. All of their Captains are seasoned veterans who are very well respected in the fishing community. With these two things combined, it’s hard to consider any other boats. For example, this was posted this past week on their Facebook page:
SEAMOUNT REPORT… Another two-boat trip with Capt. David Mesen’s Geaux Fly and Capt. Carlos Pollo Espinoza Jimenez ‘s Sea Fly? The result? Collectively 49 billfish… 45 Blue Marlin and 4 Sailfish released. Both boats raised 95 Marlin, hooking 68. Absolute insane fishing. Capt. Juan Carlos Fallas Zamora ‘s Spanish Fly heads out today to add to these crazy numbers. Ready for your trip-of-a-lifetime? 866-888-6426
Sometimes awesomeness just happens. Sometimes it doesn’t. Take this for example—I’ve booked inshore fishing with Roy Zapata (local/international fishing legend), and always knew in the back of my head that it was possible to catch a world record fish. Why not, as Roy has brought in world record fish before. And when he was chartered in my tournament last year, it was Roy that took Papa to ‘the spot’ and brought in a 77 lb grouper, the tournament winner. Roy is indeed a legend. I’ve had my fair share of fish when I go out with him—last time we had 8 different species of fish in one day. No world record, but just try and go and do that yourself. It’s one thing to write it, it’s quite another thing to do it.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is the promised land of fishing. I remember my first few trips to Guanacaste, Costa Rica. I was always disappointed. Where was the green? Where was the epic bite that we heard of? Through a friend, I found the right spot and changed my plans to come here, 4 years ago. Of course my first trip included days on the water, and that’s all it took. Three months later, I had moved here. People always ask, why did you move here? The answer is always the same—for the fishing.
It’s that time of year where the buzz and the bite are equally hot. For instance, the recently completed third leg of the Los Suenos Signature Triple Crown brought in 832 more fish than last year. During the 9 days of competition, this tournament brought in 6570 fish, and released them all. Coming up before this article goes to print, is the Offshore World Championship, held here at Marina Pez Vela April 16-23. Tight lines to all competitors!
The fishin’ is HOT out there, and so are the anglers. Summer is here, and the first tournaments of the season have happened. Officially opening the tournament season, Leg I of the Signature Triple Crown in Los Sueños, was January 20-23. Local boat, Tranquilo took top spot with 8100 points, Agitator with 7600, and Fish Tank with 7300. Total catch over three days was 1946 Sailfish and 15 Marlin. Leg II of the Signature Triple Crown takes place this February 24-27, and expect the competition to start boiling over.
The ‘funnest’ thing in the world is taking rookies out fishing. It can also be the ‘not-so-funnest’ thing in the world. What’s even crazier, is that it can happen at the same time. Seriously. All you have to do is take one Tico river fisherman and a granola girl—neither of whom have been offshore fishing before—fishing on one of the top boats in the country. Welcome to my world.
We got up early that day, 4am to be sure, and packed up the marine cooler in expectation of filling it with fresh fish, and made our way to Los Suenos. It was nothing but sheer excitement all the way there for me; not only was it my first real ‘tuna hunt’ but it was my friend’s very first time fishing. We got there with plenty of time to meet Captain Franklin and the rest of the gang on the Fire-Fly for our departure; it’s funny how fishing excitement can turn into drinking beer at 8 am in the morning. Again, welcome to my world.
I think I gave away all my fish mojo to my friends. Seriously. I’ve been out fishing twice in the past week and the only bites I got were baitfish! They didn’t even bite; they nibbled at my bait until it was gone. Do you know how frustrating that is?! All of us say that any day on the water is a good day and that’s true. However, when you’re a very competitive person, and fishing runs in your veins, when you go out and get skunked, more than once in a row, well, you go a little crazy.
Imagine yourself receiving an email from a friend, and when you read it, it’s an invitation to fish the Bisbee’s tournaments in Cabo San Lucas Mexico with Team Tranquilo. You are immediately floored because this is the biggest paying tournament in the world and an invitation to fish with one of the best teams in the world. You throw caution to the wind, and say sure to the $80,000 entry fee. Months later, you head out from your home marina, Marina Pez Vela, for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, to the SUPERBOWL of fishing—The Bisbees Black and Blue Tourament™. You take shelter from a hurricane on the way there, and just as luck would have it an earthquake triggers a tsunami warning in the marina you took shelter in. Fortunately, things work out and you arrive in Cabo San Lucas. Your team decides that if you’ve come all this way, you may as well enter another tournament before the two Bisbees tournaments you came for.
Can you feel it? It’s coming. Not winter. The Fish. Actually, thanks to El Niño, the waters have stayed unseasonably warm and the bite has been good year round. Not the world=record-breaking kind of bite that we have during dry season, but there are plenty of fish out there right now.
I went out with friends at Gran Gallo Sportfishing this past month on a bottom hunting trip for snapper, grouper, runners, and amberjack. Lucky for us, we had some awesome co-ordinates from our Captain, Merlin, and we struck fish gold most of the day. Well, Merlin, Jim and Gerrardo did. I can’t remember when I lost so many fish off the bottom. The guys can’t remember laughing so hard at my attitude when I lost fish. It was very, very, hard seeing lines bite and fish brought in all around me and, well, I was just feeding the fish. It’s funny how sometimes your luck can change when you talk to the Fish Gods. I got to the point where I knew that I had done something to upset them, so I poured my beer into the ocean to give them a drink as I made my apologies and prayers to them. The mate grabbed me some fresh hunks of meat for my hook and down down down went my line to the bottom of the ocean. (Not too deep, we were mostly at 2-300 feet.) I felt it hit the bottom, I flicked it up and found my tension and lo and behold!!! The Fish Gods had listened! Right away I knew that this was a big one and I was in for a fight. He ran, straight for some rocks and my friends were yelling ‘keep him up Sarah, he’s running for the rocks. You don’t keep him up he’s gonna break that line’. Of course, there is a fine line here in fishing. If you put too much tension and reeling in at the same time, you will pull the hook right out of the fishes mouth or snap the line. Keep it loose and the fish runs or spits the hook. Lucky again for me this was a big fish. I put my all into it and pulled up and worked that reel hard on the way down. Sweat was pouring down my face, my knees braced on the back of the boat, back and hips working the fish to the surface. The Fish Gods had answered, but I needed to show my worth and bring this fish in. This fish was tough and smart, but on this day I was smarter. He fought hard, taking the line out more than once, but I managed to boat a 25lb Amberjack in under 10 minutes with no help from the boat—other than the good advice—which is indeed priceless now as I will always remember that fight, that conversation with the Fish Gods, that day of fishing.
It’s some kinda wonderful out there, and it’s waiting for you… You’ve managed to land yourself in one of the most epic fishing hot spots EVER. If you need any convincing, how about considering that The Offshore World Championships are held here at Marina Pez Vela yearly, and the catch for the past three years has broken world records each time. That’s just point one.
It’s quite unbelievable actually. Any time of year you can come and catch fish. While the sailfish bite has tapered off right now, they are still here, and the 100+ mile mark is teeming with marlin right now. Check out local Captain, Pete Rae, who just shattered 1000 catch and release marlin this year. Hat’s off to Pete. And it’s only August. Just think, those marlin are out there waiting for you. Point two.
This is my favorite time of year here. The rains have come back, essentially cooling things off a bit and making everything super green again. Plants are flowering and fruiting, and we should soon see an overabundance of baby animals. In the ocean, whales are returning on their migratory paths, and we shall soon see them playing right out front of Manuel Antonio.
Costa Rica is exceptional. Manuel Antonio has no rival. The diversity of flora and fauna here are unlike any other in the world. National Geographic rates our beach as one of the 10 most beautiful in the world.
You can feel the energy before you get there. You can smell it. You can taste it. And when you arrive at Marina Pez Vela, you can experience it. ‘IT’ is The Offshore World Championship.
Wonder why there’s energy? Why you can taste the competition and the fish in the air? It’s because each of the qualifying 67 international teams had to WIN a qualifying tournament the previous year. Then, they had to get sponsors and get here–with all their gear.
By Sarah Munro
It’s that time of year out there. It’s wild marlin time for a fads fisherman. It’s been an incredible run so far this FAD season, with all kinds of fantastic numbers being posted by multiple boats. Fishing out of Marina Pez Vela, Los Suenos and Golfito, this year’s sport fishing season has been unbelievable, and continues to be.
By Sara Munro
