Yellowfin Dominate, Bottom Fishing Good, Marlin Slow

Report Date: July 29, 2015

We have had a steady sailfish bite throughout the month of July, not red hot, but consistent, typically getting between 4 and 10 sailfish bites every day.

The marlin bite (within day trip range) has been slow, other than an occasional one here and there. The red hot marlin bite we had last year never materialized. While there has been some flotsam (floating debris) holding bait (bonitos and small yellowfins), there is not as much as last year at the same time, and the pieces has only occasionally provided any marlin bites.

An occasional bite trolling along the edge near the corner or in the craters has really been the most likely option. However, on long range overnight trips to the FAD's (fish aggregating device), the marlin bite has been very good. Lots of reports of boats having 15 to 20 shot days in the past month since mid-June. The FADs are located on various sea mounts located off the coast, the closest being 80 miles and raging out to 160 miles and beyond, requiring a minimum of 2 day overnight trip to fish them.

Yellowfin tunas have made a reappearance this year after a dismal showing in 2014. It is still not as good as 2013 and before, but steady. They require a bit of hunting to locate them as they do not hold on structure here and are moving around with pods of spinner dolphins (a type of porpoise). Radar to find birds diving and a good pair of stabilized binoculars really helps the hunt. But they have been around pretty consistently while we may not find them every day, I would say about 70% to 80% of days since mid-May, we have been able to locate and catch some yellowfin tunas, mostly in the 40 to 80 pound range. This should continue through October.

Mahi-mahi have been scarce as usually this time of year, they begin moving into the area in big numbers by late august and will provide excellent fishing opportunities through December.

Fishing for rooster fish has been very good inshore near rocky points and ledges. Most fish are in the 15 to 35 pound range, but bigger ones are possible depending where you fish and with what bait your use. There are areas to target trophy sized large rooster fish between 50 to 80 pounds, but it is often choice between quantity or quality, if you want to catch one for sure, you might be better off targeting mid-sized roosters to cross off your bucket list.

The bottom fishing for grouper and snapper has been red hot for past couple months, as it usually is this time of year. Lots of groupers and silkly snappers to catch out in the 300-450 ft. range making it very easy to fill a cooler in just a few hours. It has been excellent bottom fish fishing out along the drop-off near the corner about 22 to 25 miles offshore, which allows the possibility of trolling offshore in the morning and stopping for a couple hours to catch dinner before heading back in.

Captain Michael "MJ" Alligood
EPIC Sportfishing Costa Rica
[email protected]
USA call: 561-459-5355
CR call: 011-506-8718-2357

Back to Main Fishing Report Page