Yellowfin Tuna Double Whammy | Costa Rica Fishing

by Doug
(McMinnville, OR)

In late August '07 I was out fishing with my fellow divemaster Curdin. We were trolling up and down the mouth of the Bahia Culebra in the Gulf of Papagayo. It has been a fairly unproductive day - a couple of nibbles and two Amberjacks, but not much action. But, as it goes in Costa Rica, the weather was gorgeous and the beer was cold, so we kept fishing until dusk settled in like a gray satin fog.

While the sun's dying rays were being quickly consumed by the blackening horizon, we decided to make one last pass by Monkey head rock - a popular dive site for diving shops in Playas del Coco, where we were living.

Fifteen minutes went by and I walked to the back of the boat to fetch my rod and begin reeling in my line. All of a sudden I heard a whiz and the rapid fire clicks of the drag on my reel. "Fish on!" I yelled in English, then in Spanish for our already excited captain.

Curdin ran over to his rod and picked it up, furiously reeling in his line to avoid entanglement with my own. Looking over I noticed that Curdin was reeling hard and his rod's tip was bent over. The next thing I heard was the staccato clicks from his reel before he said, "I got one too!"

The next ten minutes were devoted to reeling in two fifteen pound yellowfin tuna in the waning light of the evening. That night we had a party and invited over a bunch of friends to partake in our catch. Between Curdin and myself we must have eaten one whole fish raw with nothing but a soy-based dipping sauce that I had whipped up in our tiny kitchen. It was a delicious way to end a day on the sea. Costa Rica fishing truly can't be beat!