Fishing Trips
The Ultimate Costa Rican Pacific Coast Fishing Trip: Part 3
As the sun set on Playa del coco, and the big catches and big misses fresh on our minds, we pressed forward in our adventure to our next destination, Manuel Antonio to fish out of the nearby town Quepos for our blue water shot for the trip, generally this time of year the sailfish are out en’force, The weather was on our side so all things were a go as we drove down down the Costa Rican coast a picturesque drive through tree covered highways that, while at times, can be a little hectic through the middle of the country. When you reach the coast a serene drive awaits you through acres of date palms and open roads ahead.
Manuel Antonio is a unique and beautiful section of costa rica accompanied a national park, a must do, hike when traveling through Manuel Antonio, the side trails to waterfalls, and a wide variety of wild life including; monkeys, sloths, racoons, and a plethora of birds will keep you entertained for more then a few hours… Throw in a few pristine white sand beaches and a little slice of heaven awaits. Did we mention the food?
The cuisine in Quepos/Manuel Antonio is top of the charts in costa rica with a wide variety of chefs from various places around the world there is an abundance of restaurants to choose from that should sate any pallet. All this beauty however didn’t serve a distraction for our main purpose in the area… fishing. The ride out was a joyful one as the fishing to this point in the trip was fantastic! Breakfast of champions in hand we joked about immediate hookups and with a good morning cheers out the way we were upon the fishing grounds, about 15miles out that day.
Rigged and ready we dropped lines, everyone settled in, anticipation ripe in the air, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, line screaming.. a cheering captain directed our attention to a jumping sailfish in the distance… a big one… before he could jump again a second line strikes, another large sail, after a 30 minute battle one large pacific sail is in range tired and unhappy he fought and fought and fought some more, but ultimately was caught and released. The first bill had made the boat, and it wouldn’t be the last!
We came in contact with 6 sails throughout the day and a Dorado that put on quite a show, taking a cue from the mahi we got our show rolling once again and made our way down through the south western region of Costa Rica, driving down through the entire Osa Peninsula to Mata Palo, where we’d be fishing for our last stop on the trip, but getting there was a bit more interesting – The River Crossing – was quite the event, after yelling across the river for the boat man a younger Tico shows up via horse back and fires up a small dingy boat and maneuvers a huge steel barge across the pick us up. It was a David v Goliath looking scene as this tiny dingy slowly but surly moved that barge with its tiny little engine across the Rio Sierpe, but he landed on a dime and delivered us across in the same fashion. The Osa is an incredible drive all the way down to Golfito, across the Golfito Dulce, the last port before Panama.
It also hosts some pretty solid in shore and off shore fishing along with some of the longest surf breaks in the world. Whenever Addictive Angler makes its way down to Golfito we always stay at the very unique and always welcoming Casa Roland Resort. The art decor, all Costa Rican made, creates very rich environment and an incredibly well designed lounge/bar create an ambiance that will keep a smile well engraved on every fishermans’ face! Happily aching bones found a comfortable landing in the plush and relaxing rooms of Casa Roland, reinvigorating us for one more fishing trip.
Lindor Sr. and Lindor Jr. Were running the boat, great fisherman out of Golfito who we really enjoy fishing with! The weather was a bit on the wet side for part of the day, but it didn’t do much to slow down the bite, and before long we had fish in the boat, the day would be a little slower the up north, but we caught more then enough to fill our plates for the evening! A 3 course meal that was first class, and good enough to earn a sweet ass from Addictive Angler, 1.5 for the pie! It was an incredible trip, one that wont ever be forgotten, or as our great friend Porsche would say:
There is a saying in Costa Rica:”Pura vida” meaning pure life and that is exactly what they have there as the country is untouched with its natural beauty and abundance of wild life everywhere.The hospitality of the people are second to none.The fishing,both on sea and land [muchas chicas],was extreme to say the least.We did both inshore and offshore charters and caught such a wide variety of fish that knocked many “firsts” off of my personal list.Before the trip I was feeling as if I was stuck in a rut and this vacation has given me a renewed vigor for life and put a spring back into my step.Gaff and I would like to make it an annual event.Thanks again guys.May all your lines be as tight as Jeff in the morning after his breakfast of champions.We are now friends for life.Your good buddy respectfully, Porsche
Another slice of the AA Experience:
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By Ben George
The Ultimate Costa Rican Pacific Coast Fishing Trip – Part 2
As all great journey’s tend to do, we continued. While La fortuna was boasting some great fishing, food, and relaxation, we had bigger game planned as we made our way to Playa Del Coco, but not before we took a quick stop over at Sky Trek, near. Lake Arenal for some outrageous zip-lining! Check it out –> here <– . The show was on the road and adrenaline was pumping, the road trip through Guanacaste in the northern part of Costa Rica during the wet season is a lush beautiful site to behold (the opposite during the dry season where everything turns brown). Playa Del Coco would be the first Pacific beach sighting for our two friends from Trinidad, and what a site she presented as the golden coast held true to its namesake and gave us a nice pacific sunset, the dinner, a catch about a week prior, for dinner sealed a night of travel with dulce suenos for fish in the morning. 
Fish there were! Heading out in two panga boats, we were on the look out for some big fish and a series of new species and and new experiences for our friends! We would be utilizing a lot of artificial over the course of the next two days, jigging and popping for roosters, amberjacks, tuna, jack travel, pargo, and more. The water temp was a nice mid-upper 70′s and the clarity a nice opaque light blue, the wind was down and our hopes were high, it would seem with good reason. It was long before both boats began snagging numerous hook-ups with trolling, jigging, and popping, we were off to a good start for sure!
It would hold too, The fishing in playa del coco held up to all the previous experiences we’ve had and delivered us some big fish! It seemed to be Amberjack season in late September as everyone of our 5 anglers nailed multiple large size AJ’s, roosters we also around en force, fierce as ever, we had some big fights including a 60+ pounder who leaped from the water multiple times, 4 in total although only 1 on camera, in a good 30 minute+ fight! That wasn’t all the waters off of Coco were offering either as we say species after species land in the boat, most released as we quickly filled ours, and our captains tables for a couple of days. We also had the addition of a possible world record sierra mackarel, it was at least 17 – 19 pounds and the current IGFA record is 18lbs — needless to say it was eaten in our excitement and never weighed!
The town of “El Coco” is a great destination with some avid night life and a lot of great eatery to indulge in, Beach Bums with a gorgeous view of the pacific is one of those places! They prepared our catch top notch! Mackarel fingers, yellowfin tuna sashimi with fresh wasabi, and grilled amber jack with an array of side dishes was part of the great hospitality served up, a must visit on any venture up in the north pacific Costa Rica! other restaurants served to impress as well, Andre’s Beach bar, always serving us up a fine meal in his clay oven, Claudia y Glorias for their Diabla Sauce poured over fresh mahi and all their great service at the adjacent hotel right on the beach, our choice of residence every time we’re in the area.
Over-all Coco was quite the stop on our Ultimate Costa Rican Pacific Coast Fishing Experience, but don’t just take my word for it, checkout the video below and see for yourself!
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