The red hot billfish bite from June carried over into July and more anglers got to see first hand why sport fishing in Costa Rica doesn’t have an “off” season.  Nicknamed the “billfish capital of the world”, this seems to be a well deserved moniker not only for the ridiculous marlin numbers we put up at the FADs but also the fact that our charter fleet truly catches sailfish and marlin twelve months a year. The peak season grabs most of the attention, but as we’ve seen year after year the months of May-August are still incredibly productive for trophy billfish, meatfish like tuna and dorado, and overall variety.  Below is our full Costa Rica Fishing Report – July 2019.

The first week of the month the sailfish bite remained surprisingly steady as most boats were getting 6-8 bites a day, including a few double digit days out from the Maverick Yachts from the famous Los Suenos Marina. June and July are what we call our “second season” for marlin, and July 2019 didn’t disappoint as several blue and even a few striped marlin were landed. During the middle of the month the sailfish bite slowed down and boats were getting just 3-5 bites per day, leading many to think the season must be over and it’s too late in the year to have good billfishing. Then the final two weeks of the month the sailfish bite ratcheted back up and the top boats were getting 7-12 bites a day again. Between last month and this month, the billfish bite in the “off season” has been every bit as good as it was during the “peak season”.

The inshore and bottom fishing remained steady as well with plenty of snapper and grouper being hauled up from our deep drop points. Last but not least, the now-famous marlin fishing at the FADs was going off as we had reports of 30-marlin trip on the Sea Fly as well as a 22-marlin trip from the folks aboard the Pescadora from Quepos. Below is our full day-by-day.?

July 1 – Geaux Fly – 6 sailfish and 2 mahi
July 2 – Spanish Fly – 8 sailfish, 5 snappers, 2 groupers
July 3 – Spanish Fly – 11 sailfish and 10 snappers
July 4 – Top Fly – 12 sailfish, 1 mahi, 1 tuna from Los Suenos Resort & Marina
July 5 – Spanish Fly – 2 blue marlin, 4 sailfish, and 2 tuna for dinner
July 6 – Fish Tale II – GRAND SLAM! 1 blue marlin, 1 striped marlin, 5 sailfish
July 7 – Epic – 1 blue marlin, 4 sailfish, a 4 yellow-fin tuna
July 8 – Good Day – 8 sails, 1 mahi, 1 roosterfish fishing from Quepos
July 10 – Gamefisher II – 1 striped marlin, 2 for 4 on sails, and 3 yellow-fin tuna
July 11 – Wet Ass II – 1 blue marlin + 2 for 6 on sails
July 12 – Sea Fly – 30 marlin in 2 day trip to FADs
July 13 – Epic – 2 for 3 on blue marlin and 1 for 3 on sailfish
July 14 – Pescadora – 22 marlin in 2 day trip to FADs
July 16 – Gamefisher II – 1 for 4 on sails, 2 mahi, and 3 yellow-fin tuna
July 17 – Top Fly – Released 9 sailfish
July 18 – Tres Amigos – 15 sailfish
July 19 – Captain Tom’s – 8 sailfish and 3 tuna
July 20 – Gamefisher II – 3 for 7 on sails, 4 tuna and 2 mahi fishing from Flamingo
July 21 – Wing Man – 12 roosterfish released out of Los Suenos
July 22 – Geaux Fly – 1 blue marlin + 7 sailfish
July 24 – Reel Fly – Released 12 sailfish
July 25 – Wet Ass II – 4 for 7 on sailfish
July 27 – Good Day – 4 for 4 on sails and 1 mahi fishing from Quepos
July 28 – Spanish Fly – 2 blue marlin and 4 yelllow-fin tuna
July 29 – Double Nickel – 1 black marlin and 7 sailfish
July 31 – Spanish Fly – 1 sailfish and 5 big tuna