TRAVEL & ADVENTURE _Feature
Photos Courtesy of Joan Vernon & Assoc.
_ A STEP BACK IN TIME
F
54
by Sam White
lamingo, Costa Rica is one of the world’s legendary sport fishing locales, and one that has been attracting generations of passionate anglers from all over the world for decades. And while the focus may have shifted to other destinations in recent years, the fishing out of Flamingo is still phenomenal, and not just for billfish. The northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica is world-renowned for its excellent fishing for mahi-mahi, wahoo and tuna, in addition to roosterfish and several species of grouper and snapper. If it swims and it’s fun to catch, you can probably land one in Flamingo.
“The average run to the fishing grounds is about one hour. The edge where the continental shelf meets the continental slope is approximately 20 nautical miles in most all directions," Chellemi says. The edge can produce at times some world-class marlin fishing for blues, blacks and stripes, as well as very consistent fishing for sailfish. The dorado (mahi-mahi) fishing as well as the yellowfin tuna fishing can also be excellent.”
Capt. Richard Chellemi has been chartering the Gamefisher II charter boat in Costa Rica since June of 1987, basing out of Marina Flamingo for 17 years until the marina closed and then operating from a mooring in Potrero Bay for the past 11 years.
Flamingo is geographically positioned on the edge of the inter-tropical conversion zone, which is the fluctuating line between the tradewind belt to the north and the doldrums to the south. The seasons are loosely defined for the most part with a rainy season from
THE HOWLER MAGAZINE
He also points out that for many years, the world record mahi-mahi was caught in the Gulf of Papagayo.
