Costa Rica Fishing - News, Reviews, & Reports

Tamarindo Fishing Report - May 2008

As we turned our calenders to May, the green season in Costa Rica arrived as scheduled.  While some loathe the afternoon rain showers of the low season, anglers in Guanacaste welcome it with open arms as it signals the start of the peak fishing season in the area.  The peak season for fishing in the Central and South Pacific regions of Costa Rica coincides with the dry season months of December-April, however the best fishing in the Northwest Pacific region of Costa Rica is actually during the green season months from May-November.  Experts agree there are two main reasons for that - 1) better sea conditions and 2) more bait fish to attract the game fish.

 When the dry season starts in December, the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica experiences a phenomenon known as the ‘Christmas Winds’.  These winds are strongest from December through March, then slowly fade out through April.  They are produced when the tropical sun heats up the land and the warmer air rushes out to sea.  This often causes rough sea conditions and less than desireable fishing.  However during the green season there are commonly afternoon showers that cool down the air over land and the winds subside.  The other affect the rain of the green season has is it raises the water level of the parched Guanacaste rivers.  As the water level rises and rivers begin to flow back out to sea with more power and volume, more debris and nutrients are washed out which attract the smaller bait fish.  So the natural cycle of it all is the rains make the rivers dump out more nutrient rich water into the ocean, that nutrient-rich water attracts bait fish, and the bait fish attract the game fish that we anglers live for.  One fish in particular, the mullet fish, receives most of the accolades for being a favorite among all types of game fish from snapper to roosterfish.

The Drawdy family knew this and decided to take their first vacation to Costa Rica in early May.  Three generations of Drawdy men came down and stayed at the beautiful Paradisus Playa Conchal all-inclusive resort just north of Tamarindo.  They went out for three days of fishing with Randy Wilson onboard his 38′ Topaz named the ‘Talking Fish’, and made a nice hauling.  Their first day out they caught four dorados and had two hook-ups with sailfish, but both managed to shake the hook.  The next day they were able to land two sailfish and make up for the near misses on the previous day.  Finally their last day they tried in-shore fishing and caught several skipjack tuna, small dorados, one huge amberjack, and jigged for grouper.  As you can see the fishing in Guanacaste is starting to pick up and should continue to do so through September.  To see where the Drawdy’s stayed and customize your own vacation check out the Paradisus Playa Conchal site - http://www.vacationscostarica.com/fishing/paradisus.html