Everybody's catching fish on the Pacific

February started where January left off - great fishing here in Costa
Rica. John Lane brought three of his friends to fish with Captain Bill
Gannon on the 33-foot Unique out of Quepos in the Central Pacific.
Fishing February 1, 2, 4 and 5, the guys brought 25 sails to the boat
over the four-day span.

Still in Quepos at about the same time, Judge 'Lew' Llewellyn and
Dr. Edward Paul fished with Captain Oscar Corrales on the 31-foot Tiger
Shark. Their tally mirrored the Lane group's: five sails released on
February 3, seven released the next day.

Let me again say that if you're not mentioned in this February report
even though you booked with Americana Sportfishing, it's because we
put 38 groups in the water this month. I'm trying to keep this report
shorter rather than longer, so my sin is the lesser one of omission
rather than commission.

To charter Costa Rica's top captains year round, call me at one of
our toll frees - 1-866-888-6425, 1-800-634-0012 or 1-800-303-3238 - or
e-mail . We'll make sure you fish with
captains with superb track records, the guys who catch fish year in and
year out.

From just north of Quepos, at Los Sue=F1os Marina, Nancy Lebo e-mailed
me to say that during the first week of February the 42-foot Spanish
Fly skippered by Captain Daniel Espinoza released an average of 11
sails per day and even had time for the anglers to pull in a few dorado
for dinner.

We put Shari Riojas and her big group on two boats out of Coco to the
north: the 37-foot Predator and the 40-foot Plautus brought from
Flamingo. When she got back home, Shari wrote: "Just wanted to say
Thank you! Seas were ruff, but the fishing was great! While Don (of the
Predator) was out having eye surgery, his team - Arturo, Pete & Allen -
did a wonderful job of providing a great day of fun despite the seas.
Both boats were successful in catching fish - it was an overall great
time by all."

The reason we've been sending a lot of our clients down to Quepos in
the Central Pacific is so that anglers can take advantage of the
area's world-class sail bite. Most boats are now averaging about 7-10
sails a day. But you never know - it's fishing. After a slow
February 9 (two sails) on the 30-foot Cowboy with Captain Jerry
Morales, Scott Carroll and Vince Giovanelli brought a whopping 15 to
the boat the day after. Marlin have come in early also. Our captains
tell us that boats have been encountering one marlin for every 20 sails
raised.

Inshore fishing around Quepos was sketchy as February opened; so one of
our clients, on the advice of the boat manager, opted for offshore on
February 8 instead of the inshore charter originally requested on the
23-foot High-Tec. By doing so he was rewarded with six sails.

Gary Lemerand and Laura Guenette also chose offshore over inshore
fishing on February 17 on the 26-foot Rosa Linda out of Quepos. The two
obviously weren't disappointed as they brought eight large sails to
the boat. The next day Tom Enderlin of Caf=E9 Britt here in Costa Rica
brought three of his buddies to fish on the Cowboy. Their full day's
tally was a respectable six sails.

Still in Quepos, Brian Silver and his pal fished with Bill Gannon on
the Unique on February 20. After a fast and furious hour just before
noon when the two anglers went five for five (raising and releasing
five sails), they spent an enjoyable afternoon experimenting with and
practicing various fishing techniques suggested by the experienced and
accommodating captain.

Caribbean coast fishing was not as rewarding. David Via brought a group
of nine anglers down from the Houston area. Their tally fishing for two
days out of Tortuguero and Barra del Colorado with Captain Eddie Brown
and two other boats was limited to a 100-pound goliath grouper and some
smaller fish, but unfortunately none of the big tarpon they had hoped
to do battle with. They'll be on the Pacific coast in March where
things promise to be a lot better.

In a last-minute report from Quepos, Captain Jesse Baletti of the
46-foot Wave Dancer called in to say that Greg Byard and his buddy
Allan Robbins brought seven large sails to the boat on a full day
charter.

I now have an adventure/romance story for you with a possible surprise
ending, starring Gary and Laura (see above). Fishing on the 30-foot
C-Tales out of Golfito in the South with Captain Ra=FAl, they decided to
call it quits at about 3 PM after pulling in more than ten yellowfin
tuna between 20 and 30 lbs, and a 25 lb dorado.

Thirty miles out they reeled in the lines, put the boat in full
throttle and... the propeller shaft abruptly broke in half, leaving
them adrift and dangling, without radio communication (too far out). To
spare you most of the technical details, the innovative captain got
into the water, took the flanche out of the motor, pushed and prodded
it in place of the propeller, and thus managed to limp back to Golfito,
pulling in about midnight.

"It was a miracle the captain was able to fix the boat", said Gary.
"We drank cervezas all the way back. It amounted to a free moonlight
cruise, and when Ra=FAl was busy guiding the boat, oblivious to all
else, Laura and I... We'll know for sure in a couple of months".

I'll be back next month with another fishing report. In the meantime,
call 1-866-888-6425, 1-800-634-0012 or 1-800-303-3238 or e-mail
to book Costa Rica's top sportfishing
charters and complete fishing vacation packages.