Sails, marlin highlight Costa Rica fishing this winter

We put a lot of Americana Sportfishing (www.americanasportfishing.com)
clients on the water in January.

Most of the top captains in the Central Pacific (Los Sueños and
Quepos) coast of Costa Rica are, as usual, booked pretty solid during
the first three months of the year for one of the world's great sail
bites. Even so, there are still the odd openings here and there. If you
want to take advantage of fantastic fishing, and can be flexible and
work around open days, call me now toll free at 1-866-888-6425,
1-800-634-0012 or e-mail me, and I'll hook you up with the
country's top captains, many of whom are featured below.

Julia Hutchcroft and Kerri Ronning spent an enjoyable January 18 with
Bill Gannon on the 33-foot Unique out of Quepos in the Central Pacific.
After overcoming a bit of queasiness at the beginning of the trip (the
sea was a bit bumpy, Bill told me, and the two nibbled on soda crackers
rather than the lunch Bill had prepared for them), Julia and Kerri had
a really enjoyable day, releasing four big sails in the 100lb+ range
and bringing in two mid-size dorado.

Received this nice note from Julia: "Kerri and I had a great time on
the Unique... The seas were choppy that day - more like a day in June
or July, according to Bill. Not only was the fishing active, but we got
to see porpoises, Ridley sea turtles, and a manta ray. Cool."

It was even windier in the North Pacific in mid-January, paralleling
the strong winds that hit the east coast of the U.S. at the same time.
Lou Dempsey and two buddies fished three days with Captain Sonny Kocis
on the 31-foot Wet Ass II out of Carillo where it's usually calmer
than further north in Flamingo, Sonny's base for seven/eight months
of the year. The stronger than average winds weren't at all helpful
- in the three days the Dempsey group bagged several sails, tuna and
dorado, but not really in the number they had hoped for, said Sonny.

The mid-January winds were also up on the other side of the country.
David Aguilar and his father in law Jim Dixon spent a day and a half
fishing with Captain Eddie Brown and his 22-foot Bull Shark out of
Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast. They couldn't get out to the ocean
because it was too rough, Eddie told us, but they managed to catch
several nice snook in the lagoons and off the sand bars.

From Tortuguero, David and Jim flew to Quepos where they fished on the
30-foot Tranquilo II with Captain Francisco Barrantes. Their first full
day offshore yielded a sail and a few dorado, while Day 2 provided two
sails and a huge 50lb dorado, capping off a great week-long trip
overall.

Martin Flaherty ands his daughter Kelly also spent a couple of days up
in Tortuguero fishing with Eddie Brown. Although they raised nine
tarpon and got several jumps, they didn't manage to get one to the
boat; their compensation, however, was five good-size snook.

At times I like to think I'm a bit of a wordsmith, but usually my
clients tell the story a lot better than I do: long-time client Mike
Spezia brought five anglers with him, four of them first-timers here,
to fish with Captain Bobby McGuinness on the 28-foot Sweet Dream and
with Captain Rafael on the 28-foot Fiona, her new sister boat.

Mike writes: "Bobby is one of my all time favorite captains. Not only
did he put us on big fish, but he is pretty entertaining, to say the
least. We decided to go for marlin on Days 1 and 2, and to say that we
exceeded our expectations would be a gross understatement.

"Day 1 had to be one of the most awesome days I have ever spent
fishing. We raised 16 Marlin, having hits on six fish and catching
three. I caught my first black marlin estimated at 550lbs, Dennis
(Norman) was next with his first-ever black at 450lbs and then Steve
(Jones) got his first blue at 575lbs in addition to a 40lb dorado that
he hooked just minutes before my hook-up with my marlin. We actually
had Steve's dorado, my marlin and a second hook-up on a marlin - it
was mass chaos for awhile.

"Day 2 didn't have as much action, but we seemed to have attracted
four other boats. The others included the Fiona and three more,
catching seven in all. The Sweet Dream raised two sails and four
marlin, catching two. Dennis started it off with a 500lb black and I
ended the action with the big fish of the trip, a beautiful 650lb blue
marlin that put on four awesome aerial displays.

"Our second group on the Fiona with Captain Rafael raised eight sails
and released four on Day 1. On Day 2 they raised four marlin and
released two blacks estimated at 450 and 275lbs.

"This is my third trip in four years planned through Americana.
Richard (has) always taken the extra mile to insure a great adventure,
and this trip was no exception. With four out of six in our group first
timers to Costa Rica, I think we created some repeat visitors."

Steve wrote us also: "The trip was wonderful. Looking forward to a
return visit in the future..."

Jeff Harenza, a repeat customer, fished two full days on the Unique
with a couple of friends. Phoned Bill Gannon about how they did, and he
told me the guys (great guys, he said) spent the first day going after
sails. Eight raised, seven bites, five released. Everyone got at least
one sail. On Day 2, they decided to go out a little farther and do some
fast trolling for marlin only, but no action. On the way back that
afternoon, they did manage to raise five sails, getting two bites and
releasing one so they could claim they hadn't been skunked.

The 46-foot Wave Dancer captained by Jesse Baletti, also out of Quepos,
hosted Dr. Dwane Bruick and three of his friends for a full day January
24 during which the satisfied group released nine sails.

Back to Los Sueños where John Giddins and three of his pals fished for
two full days with Captain Roy Vega on the 38-foot Barbarrosa. They
went after sails on Day 1, raising 14 and releasing seven. They also
had a marlin on, but it shook itself loose. This whetted their appetite
so on Day 2 they decided to fish for marlin only, initially hooking a
650lb blue which first jumped by the boat, but then spit out the hook.
But the story didn't end there; the Giddins group caught a 250lb
blue, a 250lb black and several dorado.

Joe Fincher and three of his fishing buddies spent three consecutive
full days with Captain Daniel Espinoza on the 42-foot Spanish Fly out
of Los Sueños. Joe called after he got home, saying "it was the best
fishing trip I've ever been on in my life and I've fished in lots
of places, including Hawaii..."

Day 1 saw the Fincher group release 10 sails. "We had a lot more hits
and probably would have caught more, but we baited our own hooks. We
also had a shot at a marlin, but lost it", Joe told us. Day 2 started
off with another seven sails, then a 300lb blue marlin "that took us
an hour to get", another two sails after that, and finally, at the
end of the day, a 500lb black that took two hours to reel in,
completing the coveted Grand Slam.

On Day 3 the Fincher group raised 23 sails, bringing a lot of them to
the boat, and got three marlin hits, but lost the marlin because they
didn't bring marlin tackle and bait. To add icing to the cake, over
the three days the guys also caught a 60lb wahoo and several dorado,
the largest 30-35lbs.

The Spanish Fly is one of the top boats in Costa Rica, and highly
sought after. January and February 2007 are already fully booked. Owner
Nancy Lebo tells why: "The first leg of the Los Sueños Signature
Billfish Tournament kicked off on January 19 with 47 boats. After three
days of hard fishing, the Spanish Fly came out on top with a first
place finish: 70 sails and one marlin released in three days.
Congratulations to anglers Larry Drivon, Richard Lebo (husband), and
Coco Cambronero! And, of course, to Captain Daniel Espinosa who always
knows how to find the fish!"

To end (don't worry, we'll tack some more January news onto our
next report) Lee McGill and Tenny Mount of Eagle Claw Hooks fished two
half days up north in Tamarindo with Captain José Asdrubal López on
the Salsa. They caught four yellowfin tuna on the first day, and six
more, plus a 44lb dorado, on Day 2.

As you can see, fishing is great! Call www.americanasportfishing.com
now at one of our toll frees: 1-866-888-6425 and 1-800-634-0012, or
drop me an e-mail, to book Costa Rica's finest captains. We'll send
you to where the fish are biting.