That’s Fishin’ – March 2022

What a season it has been so far! Quepos has literally fished its socks off during January and February and I cannot wait to see what March has in store for our visitors from around the world!

OFFSHORE FISHING

The Marlin bite was just epic during the first couple of months of the year. We believe that the Pelagic Rockstar tournament held in mid-January, released more Blue Marlin during its 2 days than any other tournament in history on the entire planet…and that is saying something, just wow!! The Sailfish bite cranked up during February with some lucky Anglers getting involved in WIDE OPEN SAILFISHING and releasing upwards of 20 Sailfish in a day on some occasions. A shout out to FRENZY, HOG WILD, & MONKEYSHINE who are all Marina Pez Vela Charter Boats posting some huge numbers of Sailfish releases recently. The late rains this season really helped keep the water temperatures down and the Dorado around for a bit longer and there has been some fantastic Dorado fishing recently with lots of 20-30 pounders with a few huge 40-50lb plus Dorado showing. Wahoo made a surprise appearance and were caught consistently during January and February over the Offshore reefs up to 50lbs. The Offshore Tuna fishing was epic also with Anglers enjoying scenes of hundreds of Spinner Dolphins, diving birds, and hungry Yellow Fin Tuna busting the surface whilst chasing Flying Fish, in National Geographic-worthy moments.

March looks set to provide some excellent Sailfishing in flat calm seas during Offshore trips. It is not uncommon to release double digit Sailfish in a day when the bite is on. There will be Blue and Striped Marlin mixed in with the Sailfish, and anglers wanting to target Black Marlin can do so by Livebaiting over our Offshore Reefs.

The Tuna fishing in March should be exceptional, and opportunities for large Bull Dorado will be possible also.

INSHORE FISHING

The Inshore Fishing during January and February was simply ON FIRE!! Roosterfish to more than 60lbs, Snook to more than 40lbs, Snappers, Jacks, Mackerel, Blue Fin Trevally, Corvina, Tripletail and more were regularly caught by the Quepos Inshore Charter boats. The Roosterfishing at the rocks and islands provided some excellent quality fish with lots of Roosters in the 20-30lb category and many Trophy sized fish that were much larger. The Snook fishing was simply world class during January and February with many Snook in the 6-15lb category with some stunning fish of 20-40lb showing at our local river mouths. Whilst Snook are plentiful in some areas of the USA such as Florida and the Gulf, anglers travel to Costa Rica to be in with a chance of landing a Pacific Black Snook which grow larger and are much heavier set than their cousins in the USA. Anglers are just in awe when they get their eyes on a large Costa Rican Snook and you have come to the right place if a BIG SNOOK is on your Bucket list. There is lots of livebait around at the moment and the excellent Inshore fishing should continue through March and April before the rains start again.

FISHING TOURNAMENTS

After a recordbreaking weekend for the Pelagic Rockstar in January where 83 boats took part to catch more Marlin than ever before and where we witnessed TEAM VAQUERO take home a check for a whopping $624,000, it was then time for the ROOSTERFISH RODEO on February 5th. This ONE DAY, FUN, FAMILY FRIENDLY TOURNAMENT, with a super low entry cost saw 19 of Costa Ricas best Inshore boats set off in search of the MOST & LARGEST ROOSTERFISH. Our one-day, FUN fishing tournaments just seem to go from strength to strength each year and the Roosterfish Rodeo was not exception. As well as holding the Roosterfish tournament that day we also ran a Roosterfish Tagging and Research expedition over the same weekend. A huge thanks to GRAY FISHTAG RESEARCH, MARINA PEZ VELA, & the ORTIZ FAMILY for supporting this program. Not only did we tag dozens of Roosterfish during the tournament but we also deployed a Satellite Tag in a 40 inch, estimated 30lb Roosterfish which will track the movements of this fish for the next 4 months. We cannot wait to see the data once it starts coming back to us as we continue to increase our knowledge & understanding of Central America’s most iconic fish.

2022 ROOSTERFISH RODEO RESULTS

1st GOOD DAY with Team GRAY FISHTAG RESEARCH
2nd BAIT TANK with Team FISH TANK
3rd IDRA with Team KING COCK
Biggest Roosterfish BUCKETLIST 40.5”
Top Lady Angler Kelie Limehouse
Top Junior Angler Ian Oporta

Next Up we have the SAILFISH SLAM, another FUN, 1-day tournament on March 5th and then the PELAGIC PURA VIDA BLUE MARLIN CLASSIC, a brand new high dollar Marlin event taking place March 24-27th.

2022 TOURNAMENT DATES

March 24-27 Pelagic Pura Vida Blue Marlin Classic (New!)
April 22-23 Marina Pez Vela Open
April 25-29 Offshore World Championship
June 18 Summer Solstice Shootout
November 12 Dorado Derby
November 19 Dorado Derby Dos

See the full schedule at marinapezvela.com/tournaments

I hope to see you on the water!

Benn Gilmour
Jackpot Sport Fishing, Marina Pez Vela, Quepos