Never too early to book Costa Rica's top sportfishing captains

February was a great month fishing in Costa Rica: lots of clients, lots
of fish caught, lots of good stories, lots of pix. Those lucky (or
farsighted) enough to have booked with us early fished with the
country's top captains, and their catch and comments reflect it.

So... if you were among the fortunate and want to fish again next
January or February, think about freeing up some dates now and booking
with us ASAP. For those who missed out, you can get it right for next
year. Call Americana Sportfishing (www.americanasportfishing.com) now
at one of our toll frees: 1-800-634-0012 or 1-866-888-6425, or shoot me
an e-mail, and we'll set you up with Costa Rica's top captains
while they still have open dates.

That's not to say you can't fish (again) this year. There's
excellent fishing throughout Costa Rica - sails, marlin, dorado,
tuna, roosters, snapper, tarpon - year round. Call me, and we'll
put a great fishing trip together for you whenever you can grab some
time.

Ted Bell and his three friends spent two days fishing out of Los
Sueños Marina in the Central Pacific on the 36-foot Hoo's Your Daddy
with Captain Dana Thomas; sandwiched in between was a day with Captain
Bill Kieldsen on the 35-foot Sailfish.

Day 1 on the Hoo's Your Daddy was (in their words) somewhat slow,
although the guys came home with a tally of two sails, a dorado and a
special treat, a 200lb black marlin brought to the boat.

Day 2 on the Sailfish brought nine sails and two dorado. Ted caught a
10ft1inch monster sail; according to Bill Kieldsen, it was potential
world record on 30lb test. Day 3 inshore on the Hoo's Your Daddy was
solid if not spectacular, with the guys catching a rooster, jack and
blue runner.

Billy Gee also fished on the Sailfish with three of his friends at
about the same time. "Fishing was great," writes Billy. "Fished
three days Feb. 7, 8 and 9, and released 21 sails and five dorado.
Cannot say enough good things about the crew of the Sailfish; Bill and
Randall were one of the best crews I've fished with. The other guys
that fished with me were all first- timers to Costa Rica and they're
ready for next year. I don't think I can wait that long. Will be in
touch."

Bobby Plott and five of his good friends did a couple of days offshore
with Bill Kieldsen on the Sailfish. As soon as he got back, he e-mailed
us: "We had a blast and you did a great job with all arrangements.
Everything went very smoothly. On Day 1 we had six hookups (all sails)
and released five. On Day 2 we had 19 hookups (again, all sails) and
released nine. We raised one dorado on Day 2, but no hookup".

At about the same time, Bill Bentley and Lee Loquist spent a couple of
days fishing with Captain Melvin Mora on the 46-foot CaribSea out of
Quepos. Apart from the five sails released, Bill got a 40lb dorado on a
12 wt fly pole with 20lb test line - really something to crow about.
As Bill wrote us, "the crew of the CaribSea did a terrific job
helping to land the fish".

John Mahn spent three days on the 31-foot Cowboy out of Quepos with
Captain Jerry Picado. He writes: "We had a great trip... Captain
Jerry did an excellent job finding sailfish but because of the full
moon they weren't biting at first, but each day got better. We boated
eight sails, lost a few. (Mates) Mike and Alex did a great job on the
boat, were very accommodating..."

Still in Quepos, John Furno fished for three days with Captain
Francisco Barrantes on the 30-foot Tranquilo II. He has these nice
words for us: "My nephew Ed and I had a memorable experience that
will stay with us forever. We landed 14 of the 21 sailfish and one tuna
in the last two days of the trip. They were larger than average,
reaching 115lbs or better according to the captain.

"The Tranquilo II was a fast, stable boat. Francisco and his mate
Gabriel were friendly, helpful and fun. They worked very hard to put us
on fish and provided plenty of good food and drinks. (Boat manager)
John Kleimer was also helpful and friendly...

"This kind of experience will bring us back sooner than later, and
our friends at the fishing clubs will see the many pictures and learn
of your agency when they want to fish there. Thanks again, John Furno
and Ed Hickey".

Russ Bruce is a repeat customer who fished out of Los Sueños on the
26-foot Predator (two days), the 30-foot Hoo's Up, and the 38-foot
Barbarrosa. He writes: "I wanted to again thank you for setting up a
great trip ...When we arrived we went down to the marina to touch base
with the boats that we would be fishing on during the week... Everyone
said that for some reason the fishing had slowed tremendously which
initially proved to be an accurate statement; but the fishing picked up
as we went through the week. Day 1: one sailfish; Day 2, three
sailfish; Day 3, seven sailfish; and on our final day we hooked 10
sailfish, two blue marlin and one wahoo about 45 lbs.

"Our camera hit the deck after catching the wahoo which was our first
fish of the last day, consequently no photos of the marlin....go
figure! All of the crews worked hard and did a great job."

Many more reports came in from Americana clients last month, most of
them with kind words about our boats and captains, a couple indicating
some glitches which we will pass on to the boats concerned. Space
prevents our printing them all.

As I keep saying every month, to fish with the top captains in Costa
Rica - and we know who they are - book early. Call Americana
Sportfishing (www.americanasportfishing.com) at one of our toll frees:
1-800-634-0012 or 1-866-888-6425, or e-mail me, and I'll hook you up
with the best. There are still nine months of great fishing left in
2006, and more in store for 2007. So let's hear from you soon.