By Shawn Arnold  

A visit to Crocodile Bay in the Costa Rica Rain Forest proves to be life time memory.

 As the line was peeling off my reel I could not help but chuckle at the apprehension I had before I came to Costa Rica. I would be leaving the calm, the safety and the known of Orange County for the wild and unknown of the Costa Rican jungle.

The only unknown I had right now was who was going to win this war. Me or the Roosterfish. When I first hooked-up my guide, Jeff Klassen advised me that I had a nice fish — maybe 30 pounds. After fifteen minutes of a virtual draw Jeff conceded that it could be 40 pounds.

  I was using a Shimano Bait Runner reel. In other words a spinning reel. Never before had I attempted to bring in such a big fish on a spinning reel. I thought to myself, I use spinning reels for trout — what am I doing?

  The fish and I were in a classic one step forward, one step back confrontation. I did not want to muscle the fish because I only had 15 lb. test on the spinning reel. On the other hand I knew I had to hurry because earlier we had seen a 7’ 200 pound bull shark cruising around. Jeff informed me that these sharks were almost as mean as a great white shark.

  As I made my fourth circle around the boat the fish started to tire. At about twenty minutes it made one last 10-15 yard run before it ran out of gas and came to the boat.

  When the fish was at the boat Jeff stated, “Damn that is a lot bigger than I thought. This baby is 50-55 pounds.” Since there was no scale and I am writing the story, lets say the fish was 55 pounds.

  After a couple of quick photos Jeff gently released it back into the water. Jeff told me that roosterfish “taste like crap.” Though I have tasted neither I will take his word for it.

  I had made the journey to Costa Rica with two friends, Steve Cooper and Alan Tabrizi. While Steve and I were rookies in this country Alan had been to Costa Rica a couple of times before.

  We went there to visit a new facility called Crocodile Bay Lodge. It is located on the Osa Peninsula among the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. It is near the southern border less than twenty five miles from the Panama border.

   Costa Rica itself is a small mountainous country in Central America. Nicaragua borders on the north while the afore mentioned Panama is the neighbor to the south. As the crow flies you should be able to drive from border to border in a full day.

  The lodge manager at Crocodile Bay is Jeff Klassen. Besides holding 8 IGFA world records on 15 pound test, Jeffs claim to fame is that he frequently writes articles for Fish Taco Chronicles.

  The lodge itself is a nice resort. It sits on 44 acres of tropical gardens which are located on the Golfo Dulce on the Osa Peninsula. The Osa has been described by National Geographic as “The most ecologically intense place on the earth.”

  The lodge is called “Crocodile Bay” I assume because there is a small river full of crocs near by. It is about 300 yards from the main lodge. One day Jeff took us there armed with chicken inners. As we tossed them into the water six or seven crocs surfaced out of nowhere for the free meal. They ranged from four to seven feet.

  As we stood on shore about three feet from the crocs Jeff assured us that there have never been any croc attacks.

  Just to get to the lodge was a real adventure. I won’t name names but while checking in one of us did not have a passport and his affidavit for his birth certificate had expired. He had to get it notarized before we got on the plane. The plane was boarding in 30 minutes and the notary was on the other side of LAX. A nearly impossible task was completed and in 29 and a half minutes our stupid friend was able to board. Hopefully he will get a passport soon so he doesn’t nearly blow the next trip.

  When we arrived in San Jose (Costa Rica’s Capital City) my luggage was no where to be found. United Airlines had lost it. All they could tell me was that it was in L.A. or Guatemala City, Guatemala. That really narrowed it down and (ha, ha) made me feel better.

   Our connecting flight to Puerto Jimenez was delayed because of inclement weather. Not much you can do about that. While Steve and I were getting antsy, Alan recommended that we calm down. That it would be better not to fly in this weather. Since Alan is a licensed pilot I am sure that he knew better than us.

  While waiting an extended period of time to get from San Jose to Crocodile Bay we discovered three things. Costa Rican people are very friendly, they speak OK English and most important, they make a real good beer called Imperial.

  The layover also provided me a little time to buy some swim trunks and t-shirts in case I never got my luggage back.

  When we finally made it to the airport in Puerto Jimenez, Jeff was there to pick us up. Along with him was Karen Morgan, assistant manager at the lodge. Crocodile Bay is about two minutes from the airport.

  It was late in the afternoon but Jeff had two boats ready for us so we could do some inshore fishing. I went with Jeff and Karen while Steve and Alan went with a guide named Jose.  Jeff quickly had us at a reef where we threw lures. Using a Klassen Klassic Popper Karen caught a real nice jack crevalle. She played it like a pro and after 10-15 minutes she reeled in her nearly 20 pound prize.

  Jeff has by far and away the best eyes of anyone that I have fished with. He was constantly telling me to cast over there to the boil. I would look and see nothing. Finally I would see a small ripple and Jeff would tell me that there was a bunch of bait where I was looking.

  Though Jeff and Karen were catching most of the fish I did not care. The sights of the jungle just a mere 100-150 yards away were breathtaking.

  Scarlet Macaws, toucans, hawks and falcons could be seen all over. I did not see any but the sounds of monkeys could be heard day and night.

   It got dark quick since we had a late start. Back at the resort we showered in our very nice rooms and got ready for dinner. All meals are included at the lodge. Food is a big part of the Crocodile Bay experience. Joe Lynberg from Seattle is the chef. Joe is a good cook and a great guy.

  Every night after dinner Joe would hang out with the three of us and smoke a Cuban and have an Imperial. It was very tranquil sitting outside and listening to the sounds of monkeys, frogs and who knows what else while staring into the blackness of the night watching the fireflies put on a show.

  The next day of fishing was cut short because of the rain. That is when I caught my rooster. Alan and Steve were on the boat with Jeff and I. Alan showed off his angling skills as he kept catching jack after jack.

  Jeff hooked up with a big pargo that came two feet out of the water then sawed Jeff off in the rocks. Jeff was still talking about that fish the next day. With all of his records he probably is not used to losing a fish.

  Steve caught our only Sierra Mackerel of the trip at this spot.

  The next morning after a great breakfast by Joe we went hiking in the jungle. Jose, one of the fishing guides, drove us to our destination. Once again even though we were not fishing, we did not care. Driving to our destination in one of the lodges 4-wheel drive Troopers we were witness to some amazing things.

   As we walked through the forest it drizzled on us. I guess this heightened our experience in the rain forest. Jose was leading us, but it was like the blind leading the blind. He had never done this before. I was glad he was in the lead and not me as once he walked into a spiders web that must have measured 4’ wide by 3’ high.

  Jose jumped about 3 feet when he touched it. Inside the web was the biggest spider I have ever seen. With a black body and red legs the spider was probably a little bit bigger than a baseball, including legs.

  Every step was taken carefully as the jungle holds numerous snakes, lizards, iguanas, spiders, poisonous frogs and too many bugs to mention. While watching where you walked you still had to look up because the sounds of monkeys were everywhere.

  While hiking in the jungle we came across four or five beautiful 3,000 square foot houses in the middle of nowhere. The only access was dirt roads. It was quite bizarre. Our trail took us to the ocean. There was a magnificent surfing beach where six or seven 20 year olds were catching waves. They were from San Diego. What a Life!

  When the drizzle became a down pour we decided to head back. The dirt roads that we drove on to get to our trail were now small streams. On the way back we noticed a resort in the middle of nowhere and decided to stop and wait out the rain. The place was magnificent. The Lapa Rios is 12 miles south of Puerto Jimenez. The main lodge was situated on a hill in the rain forest. While the rain died down, we sat on their covered balcony, had an Imperial and saw toucans, scarlet macaws, some unknown black and bright orange birds and a couple of sloths.

  This was our last day and when we returned to Crocodile Bay we went out for our last day of fishing. Steve caught what Jeff estimated as a 14 or 15 pound bluefin trevally. The world record on this scrappy and good eating fish is barely 18 pounds.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent catching more jacks. Alan caught a big eye trevally and a couple of small pargo. Overall he caught the most fish.

  When the dark cloudy skies looked like they were ready to explode, Jeff called it a day and we headed back in.

  On the way in Jeff explained to us that we came at the slowest possible fishing time. The best period is December through April. We were there in early October, otherwise known as the rainy season.

  Because of the rain, the rivers that feed the ocean were to muddy to go into to fish for snook, which are quite abundant. We only fished inshore but offshore you can catch tuna, dorado, wahoo, marlin (black, blue, striped) and sailfish.

  Even though we went at the slow fishing time, Steve, Alan and I agreed that this was a trip of a lifetime. Crocodile Bay and Costa Rica are destinations that I hope all are lucky enough to go to one day. Jeff and Karen are great hosts as was everyone else who worked at the resort.

  On the flight back to LAX, I became apprehensive about a couple of things. I was leaving calm, tranquil and beautiful Costa Rica for the stress, grid-lock and concrete jungle known as Orange County. Could I survive the torrid pace I would be reintroduced to? The other thing on my mind I know that I better get a passport.