The coastal village of Samara lies within the Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.
A long, horseshoe-shaped beach rims the Pacific ocean. Large, aggressive roosterfish patrol just outside the surf break, while schools of dorado (mahimahi) cruise nearshore weed lines scavenging for their next meal. The village of Samara is home to a productive nearshore fishery allowing for a variety of sport fish to be targeted. In this galley, SF contributor Dave Lewis shares via photos an idea of what fishing can be like here with Samara Fishing charters, guided by local captain Adrien Martinez.
Strong, beautiful, and tasty. Mahi mahi may be the perfect game fish.
Launching the boat to start the day.
Mahi often school to feed on the small baits that take shelter under floating debris. A cast worked past this tree will smoke out any takers.
At times, dozens of mahi surrounded the boat.
Classic roosterfish fishing — casting lures into the back of heavy Pacific swells as they roll onto the beach.
Want to see more topwater action? Check out 17 great tips in 17 images to help you catch more fish on poppers by Dave Lewis
Roosterfish clearly preferred pink poppers and lures over all the others.
The average-sized roosterfish was 10 to 20 pounds, but anglers caught fish up to 40 pounds and had follows from much larger fish.
A large whale shark that “hung around us for ages so I stripped off and dived in for a swim with him. He was totally unbothered by my presence: priceless!” says the photographer.
One of several small but deadly sea snakes we spotted swimming among the trash and debris of a weed line.
It’s recommended that anglers fit even small casting jigs with decent assist hooks – as the saying goes; elephants eat peanuts.
Many anglers consider Pacific bonito great for sushi.
Hang on tight when a fish with a mouthful of teeth gets out of hand, in this case a Sierra.
After coming across a longline, the guide makes a point to remove it from the water since, in the photographer’s words, “The only good longline, is a dead one.”
“Why?” wonders the photographer. “Wherever I travel in the world always I find trash. Why do people find it so difficult to dispose of their trash responsibly?”
A breathtaking leap from a lit-up mahi.
A turkey vulture basks in the sun on the Samara beach.
- Make sure to check out Dave Lewis’s web page for photos and reports of more great fishing destinations.
