Costa Rica Fishing - News, Reviews, & Reports

2009 Los Sueños Signature Billfish Tournament - Leg 1 Results

In light of this weekend’s second leg and conclusion to the 2009 Los Sueños Signature Billfish Series Tournament, it is about time we gave you the final results to Leg 1 of the tournament.  The first leg of the tournament, presented by Viking Yachts, was held at the Los Suenos Resort & Marina in Playa Heradura, Costa Rica from January 21-24, 2009.  The annual tournament saw a total of 43 boats go to battle in the three day tournament along Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast.  Perhaps even more astonishing than the overall number of billfish that were successfully released in three day tournament is that, as per tournament rules, they were all hooked up within a 50 mile radius of the Los Suenos Resort.

The scoring of the tournament was based on 100 points rewarded for each sailfish successfully released and 500 points for any species of marlin.  There was a maximum of four anglers per boat, a maximum of six rods and four teasers in the water at anytime, and finally all line used was to be at 50 lbs test or less.  For the conservationists out there, take heart that another one of the rules stipulated that only the more fish friendly tournament-legal circle hooks were allowed.  The first day of the tournament saw a total of 215 sailfish and 14 marlin released by various boats in the tournament.   The top three boats for that day were the Clean Sweep, Da Bait, and the Dealer’s Choice.  The second day of the tournament proved to be the best as the participants released a grand total of 267 sailfish and 12 marlin.  The third and final day still showcased plenty of tight lines and long fights as the anglers reeled in another 259 sailfish and 14 more marlin.

The final results of the three day tournament saw a clear winner in the boat Clean Sweep with a total of 5,500 points and a final tally of 35 sailfish and four marlin released.  Tied for second place were the Da Bait and Super Fly with 4,100 points each.  Both boats actually had the same fish count of 26 sailfish and three marlin.  The prize money was distributed by 50% of the entry fee going to first place, 30% going to second place, and 20% going to third place.  With an entree fee of $7,000 per boat (or $10,000 for both legs) it is easy to do the math and see that these lucky anglers made enough to survive the 2009 recession!

In general the sport fishing in Costa Rica has been stellar this year, and the numbers of the Los Suenos Tournament prove that even more so.  For those of you who are short a calculator, in just three days the 43 boats hauled in a total of 741 sailfish and 40 marlin for a total of 781 billfish successfully released.  That means that each boat averaged just over six billfish per day - not bad by anyone’s standards!