Every now and again, you witness something you know you won't soon forget.
Just such a moment in time along the northernmost coast of Costa Rica remains clearly etched in my memory.

Now and then over the years, I've seen dorado (mahi or dolphin) showering baitfish — the silvery shimmer of a school flying out of the water in unison as it attempts to flee a marauding bull, lit up with colors that would make a peacock jealous. But this was the first time I'd watched adult dorado as the "showerees." It was indeed a sight to behold, and everyone on the 40-foot Gamefish Plautus beheld it in awe on that June morning, last year. A pack of big dorado were making like low-flying birds. The fish would hit the water and soar right out again in long-distance broad jumps worthy of an Olympic medalist.

The event lasted long enough that I managed to turn away to make a grab for my camera. I had no time to try to adjust settings for the dim light beneath a veil of morning mist and heavy overcast, just snapping a few quick shots, zoomed out to the lens's 200mm maximum. Later, looking at the images, I noted with some surprise just how close to shore we were when all this occurred.

"Now you see why we call it Jurassic Park up here," says Jamey Harless, our host and owner of the Plautus and Billfish Safaris.
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“The captain and crew and the guest fishermen had seen several marlin free jumping in the water,” said Capt. Dan Eaffaldano, General Manager of Marina Papagayo. “They caught and bridled (on a circle hook) a bonita and a big black marlin took the bonita - the angler fought the marlin for at least an hour and 45 minutes.”

That half-day sport fishing charter out of Marina Papagayo yielded several spectacular catches. The anglers caught and released the 500-pound marlin and several dorado. On another recent fishing charter, three large blue marlin were caught and released, and, during a June 2 charter, anglers caught and released three sailfish and eight dorado.

These amazing, powerful fish are among the big catches landed by sport fishermen and women almost every day since Billfish Safaris began the summer fishing season off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Billfish Safaris is offering sport fishing charters out of Marina Papagayo at the 2,300-acre Peninsula Papagayo luxury resort in Costa Rica.

“Hop on an airplane and come to Marina Papagayo. Now is the time for great fishing,” said Capt. Eaffaldano, President of Costa Rican operations for Brandy Marine International, L.L.C. of Sarasota, FL. Brandy Marine manages, markets and performs consulting work for the new, state-of-the-art 180-slip luxury marina at Peninsula Papagayo.

“In summer, the water has been warming to around 85 degrees (F),” Eaffaldano said. “That’s bringing in more fish - blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, roosterfish, wahoo, dorado and amberjack. This will continue through October.”
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