Cuberra Snapper Fishing, FishingNosara-style!

Sportfishing in Costa Rica holds exhilerating adventures from catching massive marlin to aggressive reef fish. Fishing in Costa Rica is well-known for it's wide array of diverse fish species and it's high level of excitement.

Check our this gem from the most recent Fishing Report:

Catching gigantic Cuberra Snappers is a feat worthy of the most experienced fisherman. Using relatively standard equipment and this outside-the-box technique, the crews of FishingNosara.com have had great success on these hard-fightin’ giants.

First, we rig our live Bonita (also called Black Tuna) to the Penn International 50W off both long outriggers. Each of the tunas are trolled with a J hook through the head of the fish and a Circle Hook through the dorsal. The troll should be a very quick 2.5 knots to keep pace with the baitfish.

It will take about an hour for the bite to happen. While you are waiting patiently, five fathoms under the deck those two feisty baitfish are stirring up a big commotion. The giant Cuberra Snappers should start poking their heads out of their deep hidden holes in the reef to investigate what the commotion is about.

It's important to realize that a masive Cuberra Snapper is not easy to catch. Cuberras over fifty pounds are over thirty years old; they don’t get so old and big by biting on Fishing Hooks. On the rare occasion they hit a a hook, they are usually close to deepwater sanctuary and can get away. However, the two baits zipping around at high speeds for over an hour creates adequate commotion thatif you can create a big enough commmotion the Cuberras will guess that they are not in danger and will come up to feed.

Get the baitfish back on board and reverse the hooks in the black tuna, setting the circle hook under the fish’s rear to make the bonita to swim directly to the bottom. As long as the Cuberra is out of the reef, he can’t resist a fresh meal swimming right towards him.

Eighty feet down and 10 second later, the Bonita line popped off like it was hit by a Buick. Since we use Circle Hooks there's no need to “set” the hook, but rather smoothly engage the drag to let the fish set itself. I set the reel to a stiff 35lbs. of drag and lock my feet into the gunwales.

These fish are not acrobatic or wily at this point; just strong. These excellent tasting beauties are truly a high point in any fisherman's career. Check out the videos and tactics areas of FishingNosara.com to learn more about the Best Fishing in Costa Rica.