Costa Rica (fishing)

[flynick]

Going to costa rica in the new year, staying on the west coast penninsula. Any one ever fished down there? any info?


Thanks


Nick

[JSMPP]

I went a few years back and got cheap and went on one of the pangas, cant go somewhere like that and not pay a few bucks for the chance to catch fish, but this is the only place i have deep sea fished and never caught a thing. we booked through the tour guide (we went on a guided tour through all of costa rica). inexperienced fishing guide, i guess you get what you pay for, dont doubt you could haggle a pretty good deal over there on a charter but we didnt really have that option because we were moving around so quickly. where abouts are you going to be around, i cant remember any of the town/city names anymore but if i can look on google maps and put it together i might be able to give you some more info

[ORV]

there is a guy here that runs a charter in costa rica
he lives near crawling valley in the off season.
seems like a great guy & he is from here
i will try & get more info & p,m, you so i don,t step on any toes.

orv.

[Piker]

Plan on going next april and have been in contact with numerous charters. Cannot seem to get a straight answer out of any of them as there will be a bunch of us and the ones that have websites do not have large enough boats to handle all of us. So we are gonna go there and just see what we can do on our own. I have talked to several people that fished there and it is great especially for roosterfish and one called a cubanera which looks like a huge snapper. It is a very busy place but I think we will do okay. Piker

[conner]

Pm me and i will give you the name of a guy from alberta that does fishing guiding there in the winter !!

[Rockymtnx]

PM 209X50. He has spent a few weeks fishing Costa Rica the past couple winters

[jacobmu]

Went a few years ago and stayed in Jaco Beach. Organized a fishing trip through the hotel we were staying at and me and my wife each caught a sailfish. The boat was not overly fancy but did what was required.

[Pikebreath]

Do you mean the "Osa" or the "Nicoya Peninsula?" When are you planning on going? Central and southern CR fish much better than during our winter months than the northern west CR coast so for a winter fishing trip I would plan to fish from Jaco south. Quepos on the central west coast has a large charter fleet. Quepos is better known for its offshore sailfish and the occasionsl marlin. Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Peninsula are likely better inshore (roosters, snappers etc) with some offshore opportunity as well.

A good charter is not cheap. Expect to pay $800 plus per day for a boat capable of going offshore with a crew that knows what it's doing. If you just want to do inshore you can probably find a smaller boat or panga in the $400 - $700 range per day.

A note of caution, a lot of lesser expensive CR charters and crews are that way for a good reason. You may pay more for a good boat and crew, but a $900 - $1200 boat will more than double your chances of getting your picture taken with a sailfish or two.