From the Crocodile Bay Lodge, Puerto Jiménez
by Todd Staley, Fishing Director
Over 3000 hits and an impassable glove will get you in the Hall of Fame. Wade Boggs former Boston Red Sox, Yankee and Tampa Bay great now sits amongst the other legends of baseball.
One day he will undoubtedly end up in the Fishing Hall of Fame also. A fly-rodder by heart, Boggs enjoys tossing pink colored chickens at florescent colored pointy nosed creatures from the deep blue sea. He twice now has missed world records here at Crocodile Bay Lodge on miscues. First last year, he landed a fish that crunched the 16 lb tippet record for Pacific sailfish. Thinking he had 20 lb tippet rigged he let the fish go and realized later as he checked his gear for the next day he actually had 16 lb tippet on the rod.
This year he hooked a dream fish as a sail estimated at 150 lbs burned his glove when it screamed off to the horizon taking 300 yards of backing off the reel. He worked the fish close to the boat several times and in one last burst of
adrenalin, the fish took off and the gears exploded inside the reel and the huge sail escaped. He landed several more on fly but not large enough to make the book.
That's what makes you come back. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Lodge regular Dick Schram from San Clemente, CA. landed over forty sails this week, most of them on 8 lb test. He was testing a new electronic teaser that supposedly imitates a wounded mackerel. Might be something to it. He was top angler this week.
In January, the lodge boats raised 2,563 sails, 56 marlin, released 175 dorado,392 roosterfish and 135 cubera snapper. The numbers dropped for a couple of days the first part of February as a front moved in with some very unusual rain for this time of year. The numbers have since returned to double digits.
Mike Pizzi from the "Big Apple", had a bang up day inshore catching lots of bluefin trevally on poppers with a rooster and a mixed bag of cubera and mullet snapper, and a nice grouper. He ran outside and bagged a couple of sails before
calling it a day.
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