Who all has been to central America to fish? Looking to catch slammer dolphin and 50 lb wahoo. Have been doing research and seems some of the best waters in the world is off of Costa Rica and that area. Wanting advice from people that have traveled that part of the world. Can't speak Spanish either.

My son has been to los suenos a couple times and done well on dolphin, sails, and blues. I have been to Crocodile Bay and caught a lot of sails and a few mahi but no big mahi. I have been on a mother ship out to Hannibal Bank in Panama fishing for Black Marlin and we tried not to catch mahi. They do catch wahoo there, but I have never caught wahoo in pacific except for Cabo and Kona. For big mahi, probably hard to beat Tropic Star Lodge in Panama for everything but wahoo. Best combo for decent mahi and big hooters is probably bahamas

Did you get to keep all the fish?

Google "Reel Surprise Charters" in Orange Beach, Alabama. Talk to Captain Randy. We chartered a boat with him on our trip to Alabama/Florida. We happened to stop by to book our charter on a day he was in the "office". Anyway, he said the best fishing he had ever experienced was out of Costa Rica. That's saying something when it comes from the owner/Captain of another charter service. I think he could be of great assistance in pursuit of your quest.

We have been ocean fishing before out of islamarado and fixing to go again. It's good. But looking for great. Everyone says Panama, Costa Rico, other places in that central America has the best fishing. Not all of them are safe for Americans though.

I have never been, but several I know who fish a fair bit say Tropic Star is the best there is. Not surr you will catch a wahoo their if that is really a bucket list fish. At the right time of the year, at least have a chance to catch blues, blacks, pacific sails, big mahi, yellowfin, cubera, and roosters.

I just finished my world’s billfish slam three months ago, catching all nine of the worlds billfish.

I fished at Tropic Star 5 times in the 90's and had great fly rod sailfish trips every time except one, when the fish just weren't there. The first time I went there the lodge tagged and released over 750 sailfish for 11 boats in the week. Good numbers of other stuff including yellowfin, cubera, some wahoo and dorado of all sizes. We never really targeted marlin, but I hooked a 150 pound striped on a fly, and my clients hooked black marlin on conventional gear on most trips. The lodge has changed hands and when I looked into going last year, their operation is very different than before. Can't vouch for the fishing recently, but from what they say on their website, the fishing has definitely changed. It was always a very well run operation.

I fished in Costa Rica many times in Quepos and further north. The people were super friendly and we always found good captains. Commercial fishing has taken its toll on the sailfish numbers and no doubt other stuff. We never saw wahoo or dorado on those trips, but from north to south, Costa Rica has very different offshore structure, so every spot is different.

I do know that a lot of blue water fishing these days is affected by rising water temperatures, so current reports are important. Our trip to Guadeloupe this spring was disappointing for blue marlin... not raising one in 3 days with good captains. The water was warmer than normal and there was a lot of sargasso, so even the hookless teasers were fouling a lot. Would have been almost impossible to fish with rigged trolling gear.

Guatemala has some great offshore fishing as well, but I never went.

Sorry my info is not very current.

Good luck,

Pete

What are your main fish you are wanting to catch. The continental US is probably not a great place for quality fish. It is fished hard by a lot of folks. For sure there are still good fish being caught - but quality is going down. If you are wanting big mahi, the time of the year would be different than for billfish at Tropic Star. I still think the bahamas are your best bet for mahi and wahoo - if that is what you want. The best offshore fishing I have personally seen was in cabo. I have also had days there we didnt get a bite. When I fished for black marlin in panama, we tried not to catch other fish because I did not want to waste time reeling in a mahi and potentially miss my one shot at a black.

I went to Kona last april o attempt to catch my last of the nine worlds billfish - a short billed spearfish. I booked three days - I caught my spearfish two hours into the first day. In three days fishing, we caught three spearfish, a small blue, a mahi, and a wahoo. We had one blue get off and two more bites - in 30 hrs of fishing. I had always read where kona was a prime offshore destination - but come to find out on average, the fishing is slow there - but your choice for a spearfish is pretty much Kona or the mediterranean sea.

Some places, like tropic star may book up two years in advance during peak season. I think you need to decide what your main wishes are and then work backward from there.

The biggest fish of my life is still a dorado I caught when I was 12 years old. It was over 50 lbs. Caught off Cabo San Lucas. Of course that water has been overfished for a long time now. Costa Rica is supposed to be excellent fishing for what you are targeting. A Wahoo is a bucket list fish for sure. Fastest fish in the ocean, I hope to catch one some day. Main thing is time your trip according to the best fishing time. Mid Nov-mid jan from what I recall.

Every single Caribbean trip we have ever taken we always book a fishing excursion.
Dominican Republic
Jamaica
Bahamas (two trips)
Mexico (multiple trips)
We have fished many areas down south.
Haven’t made farther south than those, but I imagine techniques are similar.

I love to see what we can catch. Dorado (mahi mahi), barracuda, wahoo, sailfish, shark, you name it.
Some examples from previous trips below.
Jim

Last year we fished out of islamarado, went all the way out to 2100 feet. We stopped at the humps for just a few minutes and caught some tuna. Then proceeded further in search of dolphin. We found one floating stick about 7 foot long maybe 2" thick at the most. We caught a very small wahoo and 4 small mahi off it. The trip out to that depth and back in a slow boat was about 10 hours. Was neat going hours at a time without seeing any person or boat in any direction. Just took observation that no boats out of 100s if not 1000s of boats in the Florida keys was catching any trophy size fish.
I'm not really looking for sail fish or marlin. The fish for multiple days for one bite is a little slow for us. The idea of having 2 or 3 slammer mahi within minutes or maybe same time just sounds like the most fun in the world. And for as one big trophy fish. A 50 plus pound wahoo would mean as much as a sail fish to me. And there isn't much anything better tasting than a wahoo in my opinion.

Im looking at a mixed bag long range 6 to 8 day trip out of San Diego. Blue fin, yellow tail , Dorado and wahoo are the target fish. If I can swing it I might do a 3 day trip in August to get some experience.

One of my friends says he would pic Guatemala over Costa Rica for sail fish.