Another month of good fishing in Costa Rica

July was a solid if not spectacular month of fishing all along the
Pacific coast. A few of our captains in the Central Pacific have
already taken their boats out of the water for overhaul and repair work
as they prepare for the great sail bite that usually begins there
mid-December and lasts until middle/end of March.

If you're thinking of doing some sail fishing during that time, call
me now toll-free at 1-866-888-6425, 1-800-634-0012, or 1-866-978-5198,
or e-mail me. Don't leave it too late; make sure you fish with the
best captains. Americana Sportfishing - www.americanasportfishing.com -
is now booking heavily for next winter/spring and this fall also, if
you have a few days to spare and fishing on your mind. As I write this,
a couple of boats out of Los Sue=F1os Marina already have NO open days
from the beginning of January through the end of March, so start
preparing now!

Sails were about in the North Pacific, as out client Bill Plott and two
of his friends were very pleased to see. On a full day July 13 with
Captain Sonny Kocis on the 31-foor Wet Ass II out of Flamingo, they
released five sails and kept three good-sized dorado, which provided
the makings of a very decent meal that evening.

On a very slow July 20 in the Central Pacific during which, says Quepos
boat manager John Kleimer, none of his charters came back with more
than one sail, our client Ed Traurig and his five buddies on the
36-foot Alboran managed exactly that - one sail. At least they
weren't skunked! According to John, the best catch out of Quepos in
terms of numbers on that forgettable day, when the fish simply
weren't cooperating, was three small tuna.

Do you sometimes get ****ed off at your fishing buddies when there's
no action? An American priest visiting Costa Rica recently was invited
by a couple of his ex-pat friends who have a boat on the Pacific coast
for a half day inshore. Just as they were passing the reefs they
encountered another sportfishing boat where two guys, obviously not
Costa Ricans, were pulling another man at the end of a rope toward the
boat. "That's what I like to see," the priest called out to them,
"Men helping their fellow man." Before getting out of earshot, the
priest overheard one of the guys in the other boat: "Idiot doesn't
know the first thing about shark fishing".

Moving back to the real world, on July 22 Jeff Horn and his five
friends fished with Captain Daniel Espinoza on the 42-foot Spanish Fly
out of Los Sue=F1os Marina in Playa Herradura, just north of Jac=F3 in
the Central Pacific. The fish were a little more willing to please: the
six anglers notched seven good-sized sails, which certainly made their
day.

In Flamingo again, Bing Hacker and his son, who fished with Captain
Chepe on the 31-foor Permit III last summer, booked three days with him
again this year. Day 1 (July 21) produced a 400lb blue marlin and two
sails. The next day they repeated their marlin catch with a slightly
smaller 300lb blue, but upped the sail count to three. July 24 was not
quite so productive, as the Hackers came back empty-handed after a few
nibbles - but that's fishing!

Sandy Merrill, her husband Gary and family had a wonderful July 27 on
the 30-foot Hoo's Up out of Los Sue=F1os with Captain Kevin Cowles.
During their full day they caught one of just about everything - one
good-sized sail, one dorado, one tuna, one wahoo, one snapper, one
jack, one rooster - plus about 15 rainbow runners.

If you have some spare time between now and Xmas, think about an autumn
fishing trip. There are dorado and wahoo on the garbage lines ('reed
lines' to the more fastidious) where the rivers spill out, the
schools of big yellowfin tuna in the 200lb range will be moving up
along the Pacific Coast, there are always sails and marlin, plus great
inshore fishing for roosters, jack, mackerel and snapper. Call me at
one of our toll-frees: 1-866-888-6425, 1-800-634-0012, or
1-866-978-5198, or e-mail me. Americana Sportfishing -
www.americanasportfishing.com - charters terrific captains here in
Costa Rica, guys who know how to catch fish.

And let me emphasize once more that if you want to get in on the 2006
sail bite and fish with the best, call or e-mail me now. We just booked
two trips this morning for next February - the early bird catches the
top captain, and the most fish!