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CROCODILE BAY - BOB DAHLBERG
Crocodile Bay, Costa Rica Reviewed.
Bob Dahlberg, Menlo Park
(NOTE: Bob’s report was filed in 2002. Since then,
Crocodile Bay has developed the fly fishing aspect
of their fishing to a much more sophisticated level
which I personally verified in Dec. ’04 – Don M.)
Crocodile
Bay is a first class fishing lodge in Costa Rica,
located on the Gulfo Dulce Bay, on the Pacific Ocean
side, near the Panama border. A major draw for the
fly fisher is that the lodge provides high quality
10 and 14 weight tackle to go after rooster fish and
sail fish, respectively. Not having to invest
significant dollars to buy this tackle was a big
plus for me, so I checked in out recently (April 15
through April 21) before the rainy season started.
The Fishing
I experienced three different types of fishing:
Off-shore for sail fish and blue marlin (in November
Dorado is said to be plentiful), in-shore for
rooster fish, jack trevally and bonita. I am told
that permit take a fly more readily than rooster
fish! Sail fish take a fly much more readily than
rooster fish. In-shore fishing for snook is also
available, but I did not go for snook this time.
Sail fish, marlin and rooster fish are “teased up”
with live bait off the back of the trolling boat
whether you are using flies or bait. The teaser for
sail fish can be somewhat elaborate, typically a
multi-colored plastic squid, with a live bait fish,
typically a “blue runner”. In the case of rooster
fish, the teaser is simply live bait fish is rigged
by inserting some string above the eye-ball sockets,
and connected to a snap off a casting rod. The
teaser / live bait are trolled behind the boat. The
skipper watches for the game fish to attack the
teaser. Once a fish is raised, the teaser is reeled
in toward the boat, and then the fisher casts the
baited hook or fly near the incoming fish. Fly
casting is pretty easy, as the teased fish,
sometimes multiple, are easily brought within 20
feet of the boat.
Bonita fishing was more like classic sight casting.
The guide searches for bonita smashing schools of
bait fish in the bay. He brings the boat near the
feeding frenzy and the fisher casts a bait fish fly
pattern or jig 50 to 60 feet into the fracas, and
strips the fly back to the boat.
Off-shore fishing for sail fish (and blue marlin) is
done 60 minutes boat ride from the lodge in the
Pacific Ocean, just outside the Gulfo Duce bay
mouth. In-shore fishing for rooster fish is done
30-50 yards from the beach either in the Gulfo Dulce
(bay) just minutes from the lodge (typically
afternoon). In the mornings the guide took us just
outside the bay along the Montepalo peninsula, or
Point Banco. It usually took 45 minutes to get to
rooster fishing spots each morning. Bonita fishing
is done on the bay within 20 minutes of the lodge.
The bait fisher is in very competent hands with the
guides. The fly fisher can rely on the guides
getting you to the fish. But you will have to rely
on your own fishing know-how, skill and the flies
you bring to catch fish on a fly. The rod, reel and
line are of decent quality, you don’t have to
purchase those. But you do have to do your research
and come prepared.
The Guides
The fishing program is managed by Todd Staley.
Todd, an American, is a long time Costa Rica
resident. He has a great sense of humor that shows
up in teasing the guests in a friendly way. He was
involved with lodges on the Atlantic side catering
to tarpon. Then he moved to San Jose working
“hotels”. One of his side businesses was importing
Cuban cigars. He eventually got tired of “bus fumes
and perfume” and helped get Crocodile Bay off the
ground. He meets with all the anglers each evening
to set up the next day fishing, and then checks in
again each morning at breakfast.
I am left with the impression of the guides are much
more comfortable fishing with casting rods with live
bait, than the fly. They are familiar with fly
fishing, but I’d say with the exception of Robert,
they are at best tolerant of it (“whatever the
customer wants” kind of attitude, instead of a clear
passion for fly fishing.) I had three different
guides for these three different experiences.
Jesus was our off-shore sail fish/marlin guide on a
Srike 30 boat. His first mate was his son, Steve.
Steve speaks very good English. We fished with
Jesus for two days. The first day we neglected to
ensure that fly gear was on the boat so we ended up
bait fishing. Steve worked very hard for us. We
raised 12 sails and landed 5 between us. We were
told this was a good day. The second day we
requested a fly rod. The lodge provided a 14 wt.
Orvis Matrix 10 rod, with an Orvis Vortex reel.
Jesus had sail fish blue feathered popper flies.
Fishing was slow, after the first 2 hours of no
raises, Steve went up top with Jesus (his dad), and
the two spent their time joking and laughing, not
even looking not even watching for fish at the
teasers. After an hour of no results we demanded
that Steve come back down and work to get us to
fish. We raised 4 sails that day in total; it would
have been just 3, but I saw the last fish hit the
teaser near the end of the day. In my mind when the
fish are not biting you work harder, not less. To
top off the day Jesus ended the fishing day with a
phony sighting. We knew it was false as Steve did
not do his usual high effort to make sure we got
bait to the teased-up fish, but it was their way of
saying the fishing day is over. We told incoming
guests to avoid Jesus. I complained to Todd, the
fishing director, that the mate went up to the upper
deck to talk and joke. Todd told me that this
behavior was unacceptable. Todd was glad that I
told him saying that most customers don’t give him
feedback. I will not accept Jesus when I return to
this lodge.
We fished in-shore two days with Wilber on a
Challenger 25. Wilber loves to fish, and speaks
fairly good English. While fly fishing is not his
strength, he is knowledgeable enough to know that
you use poppers for rooster fish. At the end of the
first day, we caught 2 rooster fish on bait. The
lodge provided fly rod was a Loomis GL3 10 wt. with
an Orvis Odyssey VI+ reel. Fortunately I purchased
some poppers just before departing on the trip, as
Wilber had no flies. I did hook a rooster on the
popper, but after 15+ minutes the fish gnawed
through the 20lb test leader. We caught numerous
jack trevallies. On the second day we told him we
wanted more, albeit smaller, roosters; we caught 8
between us, none on a fly. Wilbur worked very hard
for us, had a good sense of humor. Despite his lack
of familiarity with rigging a fly outfit, I would
recommend Wilber to fellow anglers.
Before we flew home, we fished one-half day with
Robert, on a flats boat. Todd told us that Robert
was the most experienced fly fishing guide on his
staff. Robert is actually a recent transplant from
Miami, Florida, where he was in the guided and was
in the fly fishing retail business. His wife is
Costa Rican, and he wanted a change in life style
that comes with moving to Costa Rica. He has been
in Costa Rica for 6 months; and my sense is that he
is still learning how to catch lots of fish in the
Gulfo Dulce. The downside of using his flats boat
is that there is no shade. The sun is very bright,
and it is very hot in the afternoon, at this
location, as the lodge is located at 8 degrees 30
minutes off the Equator. It was acceptable for a
morning half day however. The rod provided by the
lodge was a Redington Nano Titanium, with a Vinor
Riptide reel. The fly line was dirty and was worn
by abrasion, making it difficult to shoot the 60
feet to the fish. The fish were exceptionally
spooky on our day of fishing, going down quickly
once the boat got close enough to cast. We were
skunked in our 3 hours of morning fishing prior to
our departure to the USA.
The Lodge.
The lodge staff picks you up at the airport, which
is just a 5 minute ride away. It is a quicker
walk! We were greeted at the lodge with mango
smoothies, and in hand was a bottle of rum for
fortification.
The lodge was completed 3 years ago. Each room has
a firm bed, is air conditioned, with ceiling fans.
Shower. Bottled water is provided in the room. All
the furniture and other wood work were made
locally. 120V. Low cost laundry service (shirt $1)
is available.
There is a swimming pool. There were little
no-see-ums that bit pool goers. Birds skim the pool
for a late afternoon bug snack.
The bar has friendly attentive service. Local beer
and spirits are complimentary. The house Chilean
sauvignon blanc was pretty good. The merlot should
be passed. Cuban cigars, including Cohiba and
Montecristo, are available for purchase ($15).
Smoking is allowed in the bar, there is an
electrostatic air cleaner there.
Meals
Overall the food is very good. Breakfast included
fresh fruit (local water melon, pineapple, mangos
and papaya). Orange and “Mixed” juice. Coffee.
Entrees included your choice of eggs, rice and
beans, toast, greasy hash browns, bacon, omelets,
pancakes and French toast.
Lunch on the boat included a sandwich roll that
rotated among roast beef, ham and tuna salad.
Watermelon and pineapple. There was seemingly
unlimited bottled water, soft drinks, local fruit
drinks and local beer.
Dinner usually had a green salad or soup, and choice
of 3 entrees. Samplings include: “false salmon”
(baked marlin, with a heavy herb cream sauce),
breaded marlin, grilled marlin, filet mignon,
teriyaki tuna steak (excellent), beef tenderloin and
lobster, chicken spaghetti, beef lasagna, fettuccine
Alfredo. Desert included locally made ice creams,
banana flambé, and banana bread. Coffee. Generally
the dinners were quite tasty.
Getting There
I flew from San Francisco, CA to San Jose using TACA
Group,
www.taca.com . TACA is the El Salvador national
airline. I paid $870 for roundtrip business class;
coach was available for $450. TACA aircraft was a 2
year old Airbus A-320. The flights were all on
time. Food and service was as good as any airline.
(I sat next to TACA’s CIO on the flight back. He is
former Silicon Valley resident, worked at HP for 15
years.) My fishing partner flew using United Air
frequent flier ticket via Los Angeles. No problem
with that too.
The lodge arranged for land transfer between
international airport to the domestic airport, and
air taxi from San Jose to Puerto Jimenetz. Carlos,
the lodge’s logistics manager based in San Jose did
the transfers personally, and arranged to have an
earlier flight out to the lodge than originally
scheduled. His English is excellent.
Other activities.
Wildlife viewing (i.e. Eco Tour) is done on the
Montepalo Peninsula
TRIP REPORT
Fly Fishing Adventures
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
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