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Costa Rica- not "finger fishing"
- Thread starter Rzr570
- Start date
https://www.northpacifictours.com/charter-rates/
These guys are reasonable, professional, and will put you on some monster fish. They are out of Playa del Coco in the Guanacasta Province. Best fishing of my life.
These guys are reasonable, professional, and will put you on some monster fish. They are out of Playa del Coco in the Guanacasta Province. Best fishing of my life.
I've been to CR 100+ times, even married a tica. 
I've been big-game fishing all over this orb and found the Pacific coast of CR during the September - March months to be the best fishing I've ever done, by far. A couple of things to look out for, though: Sails run strong at that time, but so do Marlin. However, if you want to catch blue water fish, you've got to go to blue water (50+ miles offshore). For this you'll need a boat that can handle those seas, I've found that 40' or better will give you a good trip. Smaller than that and you'll be tossed around until you're sick. Also, look for the boat with the larger cockpit....those sportfishers are nice but no room to fish. Convertibles are the way to go. Check out the captain, his experience (LOCAL experience) and read the Tico Times for catch reports.
Playa Del Coco is an ok little town, a little far up in Guanacaste for me and no marina. Boats there are moored, meaning you'll have less luck finding a good one. I fished a charter out of there back in '05 and didn't enjoy it as the captain wasn't successful in turning us onto anything decent and the boat was too small (36') for the seas.
Check out the marinas at Quepos and Los Suenos. Many many more charters run out from these two places, as well as major tournaments. You'll have better luck finding a good boat and a better crew there.
I've been big-game fishing all over this orb and found the Pacific coast of CR during the September - March months to be the best fishing I've ever done, by far. A couple of things to look out for, though: Sails run strong at that time, but so do Marlin. However, if you want to catch blue water fish, you've got to go to blue water (50+ miles offshore). For this you'll need a boat that can handle those seas, I've found that 40' or better will give you a good trip. Smaller than that and you'll be tossed around until you're sick. Also, look for the boat with the larger cockpit....those sportfishers are nice but no room to fish. Convertibles are the way to go. Check out the captain, his experience (LOCAL experience) and read the Tico Times for catch reports. Playa Del Coco is an ok little town, a little far up in Guanacaste for me and no marina. Boats there are moored, meaning you'll have less luck finding a good one. I fished a charter out of there back in '05 and didn't enjoy it as the captain wasn't successful in turning us onto anything decent and the boat was too small (36') for the seas.
Check out the marinas at Quepos and Los Suenos. Many many more charters run out from these two places, as well as major tournaments. You'll have better luck finding a good boat and a better crew there.
Also, what kind of fishing are you wanting to do? If you want the excitement of seeing sailfish jump, you can catch LOTS of them (I caught over 20 in one trip) and they like to put on a show for you. But after a while they get boring. Down there they call them "Sea turds" because they're not smart and the fight is short, you can get one to the boat in just a few minutes.
For more of a challenge, hooking into a marlin is the way to go. What a magnificent fish! But be prepared to catch a quick glimpse of it at the start of the fight, because once hooked they like to dive and stay down. Got a monster one (400+pounds) once but took almost 3 hours to bring him up. That could eat up half your trip right there, and you'll have no strength to do much more fishing afterwards.
Tuna.....Awesome to catch, and you can east them! (Sails and marlin get released) Also a challenge, as a big one feels like you're reeling up a Volkswagen.
Then there's inshore fishing, roosterfish, albacore, etc. Good eating but less challenging.
Knowing what you want to do will help you target what type of trip to book.
For more of a challenge, hooking into a marlin is the way to go. What a magnificent fish! But be prepared to catch a quick glimpse of it at the start of the fight, because once hooked they like to dive and stay down. Got a monster one (400+pounds) once but took almost 3 hours to bring him up. That could eat up half your trip right there, and you'll have no strength to do much more fishing afterwards.
Tuna.....Awesome to catch, and you can east them! (Sails and marlin get released) Also a challenge, as a big one feels like you're reeling up a Volkswagen.
Then there's inshore fishing, roosterfish, albacore, etc. Good eating but less challenging.
Knowing what you want to do will help you target what type of trip to book.
Then September may be a bit early, the closer you get to October-March the better chances of hooking into a marlin. Also, if you're wanting this, then be sure to go for the bigger boat, and check out the crew.
Just do your research. Boats and captains are migratory, many of them work up and down the coast depending on what's running and time of year. Check in with Los Suenos marina ( www.lossuenos.com/deepsea-fishing/ ), they have an extensive fleet and because they're so high profile (tournaments, VIPs, etc) their boats/crews are the best and are expected to perform. They may be pricier than others but you do get what you pay for.
Also, remember that the average size of the sailfish in CR is about twice what you'd see in Florida gulf waters, or off the Yucatan. They're definitely a thrill to catch, you'll very likely catch a lot of them too.
