There was no schedule for Granny and I today here at 4 Corners Corcovado Beach Lodge here in Costa Rica. It was our first “do whatever” day since we got here a week ago. Granny and I still got up early, not 4:30 AM but rather 5:15. We cherished our coffee and listened to the birds. It was our last day.
We may not have had a schedule but fishing was definitely part of my plan. During our first full day, when our inshore boat broke down, we wade fished the mouth of a creek near the lodge. There were fish but we didn’t exactly capitalize. The tide wasn’t perfect but I could tell that when it was, fishing would be good. When the tide was right today at 11 AM I was there and so were the fish. The first for today was a black snook and the second looked almost the same but it wasn’t. This is the blackfin snook (Centropomus medius). Similar to the black snook but different. While I may have caught this fish before on a float trip in Costa Rica in 2018, I never realized it was different. The blackfin is officially a new one for my list.
The snooks opened the fish gates. I caught four in a row of the smallish snook species then I picked up my first of four snappers. Two were juvenile Pacific cubera’s (Pacific dog snapper) and the latter two look like mangrove red snapper (Lutjanus argentimaculatus). Neither is a new species for me.
Next was a tiny Pacific jack crevalle then this ladyfish. Neither new.
After that was this bullseye pufferfish. Not new.
The fish were cooperating and I was having a blast. Then I hooked into a truly hard fighter. It was a long cast with a spawning shrimp. I went tight on the first strip and felt some weight. Instead of running far, this fish pulled hard and swam in circles. I knew right away it was a jack of some sort. Sure enough, within a couple minutes I landed this gorgeous darkly striped golden trevally.
While all this fun action kept me smiling, I had a goal I haven’t mentioned. A few days ago Jarred of Cling showed me picture of a strange snook without the usual black lateral line stripe. It came from this exact spot and I was determined to catch one of my own and add the species. I caught a ton of snook and each time I was excited for the pull but when I saw that they were either black snook of the blackfin snook I sighed. Where was this unique snook I saw in the picture? I kept trying and lo and behold, there he was. Whoa! This snook is seriously different than others. This new species for my list is the yellowfin snook, also known as the small snook (Centropomus robalito).
Before I knew it, I’d been out fishing for four hours. The rest of the 4 Corners gang had joined me by now. Arturo was guiding the Cling folks and there was even a local dude. Fishing was good. I’d been told by Arturo that when I was done, Chuck and Marvin were down the beach making a fire for a barbeque. Just as I was about to call it, I stuck another cool fish. This is the bigspine or long-spine grunt, or in Spanish, the “Roncador” (Pomadasys empherus). And yes, he’s another new one for the list.
In the end I caught 11 species today and I could be forgetting one. They were the black snook, blackfin snook, yellowfin snook, ladyfish, bullseye puffer, jack crevalle, green jack, golden trevally, bigspine grunt, Pacific cubera and the mangrove red snapper. I reeled in and found the party. The boys were cooking up some delicious Costa Rican brats.
We ate. We drank a few beers. I had my sharpies. I did up some art for everyone. My favorite was this sailfish for Marvin on his Turtlebox.
It’s been a fabulous week down here with the 4 Corners Costa Rica crew. Granny and I are honored to have been their guests. The fishing, the food and best of all, the company has been outstanding. Before this trip we were acquaintances, now we are all good friends. No doubt, we’ll be back soon, likely to try one of their other Costa Rican destinations.
Tomorrow its homeward bound. Not Wisconsin but rather back to NH for a few more days with Mom. Then we’ll kick off the show season with the Marlboro Fly Fishing Show. Hope to see you along the way!