Quepos, Costa Rica Offshore Fishing
Yellow Fin Tuna:
(Thunnus albacares )
Yellow Fin Tuna get their name from their brightly colored dorsal and pectoral fins. They can get to as large as 400 pounds and are generally found in large schools. In Costa Rica, it is rare to find them over 150 pounds, and I don’t know that after fighting a 150 pounder you would want to! They are known for their incredible strength after being caught, often leading our customers to think they hooked a marlin. Yellow Fin Tuna is another one of the fish we are allowed to keep if the customer requests. These are also thought by some people to be the best-tasting fish caught in these waters, and many customers eat them raw (sushi) after putting them in the cooler for a bit.
Yellowfin Tuna Fishing Techniques:
YellowFin’s generally like the live bait, so we try to keep a few blue runners in the live well. We can also use live Bonita in our Tuna Tubes on the back of the boat if we find Bonita’s before we find the Yellow Fin. Another super effective way is using cedar plugs. We have racked up some serious numbers using the cedar plugs! We have also been known to stop in front of the schools and drop down the jigs, and sometimes we use tremblers made by Halco. Black with green stripes seems to be the most effective. We use to get into these about once a week, but now with the Gyro Stabilized Binoculars, we have been finding schools pretty much every trip. Awesome fish, a thrill to catch, and great for dinner!
