There are times when sportfishing is, to put it mildly, fantastic. You can’t drop a line without something biting. Right now is one of them.

Los Sueños Marina, just north of Jacó on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast, is among the finest marinas south of the US border. Thanks in no small part to marina manager Bill Kirby, an unabashed workaholic who runs things smoothly and efficiently, Los Sueños Marina has garnered an enviable flotilla of boats moored permanently or semi-permanently on both the private and the charter sportfishing sides. Anyone who takes a moment to stop in at Los Sueños – it’s only 75 minutes by car from San José – will be impressed by the number of boats to be seen there at any given moment, some of them mind-blowing.

Great bites help as well, like the one taking place off Los Sueños right at this moment. Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast is renowned world-wide for its wonderful billfish bite between the beginning of January through April. This year’s bite so far has been exceptional, perhaps the best in the past five years. Most of the boats that are frequently chartered saw between 20 and 45 Sailfish over the weekend, and one or two Marlin.

Captain Daniel Espinoza on the 42ft Spanish Fly, and Captain David Mesén aided by mate Carlos Espinoza on the 42ft Super Fly, each released a dozen Sailfish on NFL Conference final Sunday, complemented by a Marlin and a Dorado (Mahi-Mahi).

The big boats weren’t the only ones hopping: Captain Bill McMenemy on the 31ft Straight Up with a Twist, went out at 7:00 AM, released 15 Sailfish and broke off a Marlin – and got back in time for the games (New England vs. Denver began at 2 PM local time). Captain Alex Holden and mate Russ Nixdorf on the 32ft Miss-Behav’in, one of the most popular mid-size charter boats on the charter side, went 18-30+ on Sail bites. And as Alex aptly remarked, ‘Awesome fishing out there right now!’

Leg 1 of the First Annual Los Sueños Signature Triple Crown gets underway in a couple of days. There are three legs: Leg I: January 22-25; Leg II: February 26-March 1; and Leg III: March 12-15. The Triple Crown is the melding of two ultra-successful tournaments – the decade long Signature Billfish Series and the Marlin Invitational. Between 40-50 boats from around the world along with 200 anglers are converging on Los Sueños to participate. The winning team after the three legs takes home a guaranteed cash prize of $100,000.00. If the bite holds, expect some fantastic numbers to be racked up during Leg I, as these guys – along with several gals – are superb, experienced anglers, and the boat captains first class.

Not all of the boats on the charter side of Los Sueños are fishing the Triple Crown. Some captains/owners of many great boats, for whatever their reasons, choose not to participate. So if your vacation time falls on these dates, and Los Sueños happens to be your preferred destination because of the exceptional billfish bite, don’t lose heart. There will still be excellent boats and captains for charter.