fish with teeth

It seemed like most rivers you see while traveling around the country, but this one was special.  We were out looking for adventure, and decided that this stretch of water deserved some further investigation.  One reasonwas,  it was easy to get to.   that's always a problem; you're driving by or over a river, you slow down (it's what you do when you're a fly fisherman), then look around to see what kind of access might be handy.  Most of the time it is tough.  You are either too high above the water and can't see a way down, , or the surrounding terrain is just too much to bushwhack through.  But this river was different.  A small dirt road paralleled the water, which made it  easy to get stream side.  We first looked around for possible crocs (!), then found a local (vecino or neighbor) to interrogate.  Yes ("si, hay pez!") there was fish, machaca.

 Machaca is a common costa rican river fish, not too great for eating; too many bones, but great fighters; good for the soup pot as well.  They can grow up to 8  pounds, and a light 5 or 6 weight road is just the ticket.

In this instance, we hired a local boatman to take us out for a few hours.  Heading up stream, we enjoyed the river flora and fauna.  But when henri (Henri is our "captain"!) made his U turn, it was time to get serious.

For the next 4 hours we caught fish; a bunch.  we used top water poppers of varying colors (although the green ones seemed to be the most alluring).  And as you can see from this photo, these are "fish with teeth"

the GREEN season

yeah, they call it "green", but lets face it, we know it's just a marketing ploy to avoid using the word RAIN!  yes, rain is the ruin of many a fly fisherman's plans.  it's not the rain itself, because we all know that fishing in a light rain can actually enhance the bite at times.  no, it's more what the rain creates; runoff.  runoff muddies up the water and runoff also brings all the agricultural chemicals home to roost; or kill.  it's really a bummer, but the fact is that this beautiful country is emersed in chemicals; a way of life for most ticos.  beautiful rivers are laid barren from  the poisons.  now you know why that river you tried produced nada!

of course there are clean waters, and the higher up you get, or the farther from this contamination you can run, the better your day may be.  and as we get closer to the end of GREEN season, it's time to start dreaming of
new adventure.

In the beginning

I have been fly fishing the waters of Costa Rica for over 10 years.  In that time, I have had opportunity to visit many areas of the  country; with fly rod in hand.  I get to speak to the locals and inquire on the fishing ("hay pez?").  The local fisherman are eager to share their knowledge of the local waters, and I in turn, will share with you. There are many exotic species in our country that beckon an adventurous  spirit with a fly rod.

Fly fishing in Costa Rica is relatively unknown. There are no fly shops and no "Orvis authorized"  anything. Don't get me wrong, I am not the first to throw a fly out down here, but I have  blazed some new trails. I have learned and fished with some of  the best fly fishermen in country,  and in doing so, have learned much.  From the northern waters of giant tarpon country to the mountain trout streams, Costa Rica offers a  fly fishing experience unique to this part of the world.

In the future I will endeavor to enlighten and entertain those of you taken with this inglorious past time; come back and take a look