From the Crocodile Bay Lodge, Puerto Jiménez
by Todd Staley, Fishing Director
May 5, 2003
The week started out with a bang with boats continuing to raise 15 to 20 sails each but a few local storms that produced some waterspouts blew thing out over the weekend. The skies are blue this morning so the action should return to normal any day now. Lots of football size tuna and a few dorado have been active despite the weather.
Roosters and jacks have been the inshore fish de jour with most roosters running of average size but Gee Scruggs 60 pounder took top fish of the week. There always seems to be a couple over 50 lbs released each week. Several others in the 40 to 45 lb range also were taken this week. The big snapper of the week came from Mata Palo rock and weighed just under 60 lbsTodd StaleyMay 16, 2003 Dr. Warren Crosby was determined to land a billfish on a fly. He was part of 27 folks in the medical profession brought down for by Howard Solomon for seminars and a little fishing. Warren had several chance at sails and a marlin but something always went haywire including a top of the line fly reel siezing up in the middle of a battle. Finally on the last day of fishing he stuck a 120 lb fish. For the next 3 hours and 17 minutes he was in the middle of a tug-o-war that finally ended with a photo and release of a tired fish and an exhausted angler.
Fishing was a little slow in general for the group but there were some good catches. A couple of roosters in the 45 to 50 lb range made it to release and Bonner Thomson and Don Ferguson teamed up to supply snook for dinner on a daily basis. Their big fish went 30 lbs. Towards the end of the trip the fishing picked up and on the day of the full moon one of the boats raised 18 fish. So much for that theory. Two brothers and a nephew set a new lodge record for "cerveza" consumption and took some nice sails in the process.
May 26, 2003
They have been singing the "Blues" around here this week. Blue marlin have been being raised almost daily and many have been taking baits. Andy Stein started it when he hooked a blue at 1:30 in the afternoon and at 7:00 pm he still had it on the line and dinner was starting to get cold. After six hour he had enough and worked the fish close to the boat and broke it off. The monster marlin was estimated at 800 lbs. Charles Dorta followed the next day with a 220 lb fish taken on 20 lb line. Fishing with his Dad, Tony, they also had shots at 29 sails during their 3 days on the water. Tom Boyd took a 260 lb the next day and 2 blues were raised today but didnít take the baits. We had one day when every boat in the fleet raised over 17 bills but the numbers have drop to normal for this time of the year.
Inside lots of plate size snappers and roosters to 45 lbs have been stretching lines and corvina made a show. Guy and Pam tillotson teamed up for a bunch of them keeping one 30 pounder for dinner.
May 31, 2003
Sometimes when you go to film a fishing show things can be a little tough. The fish are not members of the Screen Actors Guild and they could care less if a million folks will be watching one day on TV. On Robert Duvall's recent trip the sails only came up and sniffed the baits the first day and decided they wanted to be stars on the next day out. It is stuff like that that drives producers crazy. ONeill Williams from "ONeill Outside" was down and wanted to get three shows done in four days. Now I've worked with ONeill on and off over a decade now and we have always managed to pull it off. He once wanted two shows in a day and a half and got it. This trip was no exception. First day out light tackle stuff for snappers.
Fourteen in the boat along with a mixed bag of grouper, bonito, jacks and other inshore surprises like barracuda and big needlefish. Day two: Sails on 20 lb gear. Seventeen fish up, landed four sets of doubles and a single before noon. Largest sail went around 130 lbs. Day three: A mixed bag of roosterfish and jacks along the beach. A dozen or more fish landed and back to the dock early. He went chasing schools of bonito the next day on flys and canned show number four. George and Jimmy Bowers from Florida raised 49 sails and landed 20 in two days of fishing. The numbers have dropped down to about ten fish a day but the fishing is still great for what some call the "off season".
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