Costa Rica Stream Fishing

I finally graduated university and Alex and I decided to take a celebratory trip to Costa Rica. Of course, it helped that her sister is staying there so we'd have a place to stay for part of our adventures. We started the trip with a mini road trip around the northern part of the country, before spending the second half of our 10-day vacation at her place by the beach in Matapalo. This is a summary of the first half, map below.

Day 1 involved a lot of flying, driving, and sleeping... your basic travel day. It did give us a chance to get used to the steep switchbacks in the CR mountains and find some cool critters at night. I saw my first monkey, tons of leafcutter ants, a giant crab spider, some tree frogs, giant toads, etc. Taking pictures was tough at night but I still managed some decent shots:

Giant Crab Spider

Veined Tree Frog

The next day would be our first full day of the trip! We got up at 5:30, had breakfast, and began heading north. The first stop was actually a fishing stop, which was perfect because seeing all the beautiful rivers and creeks on day 1 but not being able to fish them was driving me crazy. We found a spot at "el Gran Parqueo" and made our way down to the chosen location: Rio Ciruelas. It was a beautiful spot with a nice deep pool just downstream of the highway. Upon arriving, I saw a "Jesus" Lizard (Common Basilisk) run across the river; Alex manage to get a great picture!

Common Basilisk

Rio Ciruelas Microfishing

I tied a #0 Mepps onto my ultralight setup and made a cast. The hits were instant! It took a couple casts before I actually hooked up and caught my first lifer of the trip, some sort of Tetra. I would end up catching these all over the country and later identified them all as being Astyanax orstedii, with no common name. They also made for great bait which I used for the next few days until I found squid.

Astyanax orstedii

A couple casts later and something much larger hit the lure, it put up quite a spirited fight with 4lb test but I finally landed it and saw some sort of Cichlid. This turned out to be the famed Guapote, one of the largest Cichlids in CR. I ended up catching a few more after switching to a jig.

Guapote

After catching a bunch more Tetras and a few more Guapote, I switched my focus to some Livebearers, Gobies and smaller Cichlids I spotted in the shallows. Unfortunately, I was never able to get any of them to take the tanago hook. As I would later learn, many of the freshwater fish in CR have vegetarian diets and are unlikely to bite. We left the Rio Ciruelas after about a total of 1.5hrs of fishing.

We then continued heading north to the town of Bagaces where we looked for our hotel for the night. We found the Hotel el Greco which was clean and only cost about $30 for the night! Sidenote, we were told that many people spoke English in CR but this did not seem to be the case as soon as you left anywhere that wasn't extremely touristy. Luckily, Alex speaks decent Spanish and was able to figure everything out for us :)

Hotel el Greco + our Rental

I forgot to mention our rental car, a Toyota Rush. That thing was sick, small car with great gas mileage, 4WD, and great clearance.. I wish they sold them here! Anyway, after figuring things out at the hotel, we changed into our bathing suits and drove over to our first Costa Rican waterfall: Llanos de Cortez. Entry was $7 each and included a guarded parking lot with close access to the falls. The falls themselves were beautiful and had one of the best swimming areas of the ones we visited throughout the trip.

After a bit of swimming, we hiked up to the top of the waterfall for a better view and to search for a hidden pool I heard of online. We ended up finding not only the pool, but also a bunch of the Livebearers and Cichlids I was unable to catch at Rio Ciruelas. I rushed back to get my gear and try for them again. Of course, the vegetarian Livebearers remained uncatchable but I did manage one of the small Cichlids. Of course, it turned out to be the same Convict Cichlid I had already caught in Florida :p EDIT: Turns out this is a new species, the Honduran Redpoint Cichlid! I also saw a nest of Executioner Wasps in the rainforest, rumoured to have one of the most painful stings in the Insect kingdom.

Honduran Redpoint Cichlid

Executioner Wasps

Alex and I had split up while I was fishing, and I could not find her for about 20min after returning to the fishing hole. Turns out she was only just out of sight, but it sure isn't fun to lose the only person you know in a foreign country where no one understands you! Anyway, after that whole debacle, we returned to Bagaces where we visited the supermarket for some local treats before cleaning up at the hotel and going back out to look for dinner. Costa Rica has these restaurants called "sodas" that are basically your small local restaurants. The main meal is called "cassados" and usually seems to consist of your choice of meat, rice, black beans, a salad, and plantains. We found Soda la Fuente on a slightly sketchy street but the waitress was friendly and the place looked clean. The food costs us less than $5 each and was delicious!

<$10 of Cassados!

Dinner pretty well ended the night as we fell asleep soon after returning to the hotel to be ready for another early day. We rose at 5:30 again and continued heading north, this time to Rio Celeste. There was no fishing allowed in the park, but it was still totally worth the visit! The river has a beautiful blue colour caused by a chemical reaction between two smaller clear streams, and you can even hike to the point where the reaction occurs. There was also tons of wildlife, some small hanging bridges, and a huge waterfall.

The hike along Rio Celeste took us about 2.5hrs and we then drove to a section of the river just outside of the park where we could swim/fish in the blue water. I only caught Tetras and the water was pretty cold but some White-throated Capuchins came right up to us!

After finishing up the river, we began the drive to our next major destination: the town of la Fortuna. Along the way, we were treated to some spectacular views of the Arenal Volcano, better than any we'd see while much closer to the volcano.

Once in la Fortuna, we searched for our next hotel and settled on la Choza Inn. They had small, but clean, rooms, beautiful grounds, and free breakfast! All for $35! We also took a bit of time to explore the town and buy some fried plantain and ice cream.

Kitchen Area

The Grounds

The next activity was a dip in a river naturally heated by the volcano. Resorts all around took advantage of the natural hot springs but the river could be accessed for free at the right spots. We found the right location and enjoyed the hot water and jungle surroundings for a while. We then continued down the road past where the tourists go until we hit a river crossing where the car wouldn't make it across, and stopped at some fishing spots along the way. Unfortunately, nothing of interest came to hand but we still enjoyed our adventure and were treated to some nice views :)

River crossings in CR are pretty intense!

That pretty well ended day 3, and brought us to the final day of our mini road trip. We rose extra early to have this cool swimming hole I had heard of to ourselves, called el Salto. I started by fishing at the spot because it looked so fishy, and was rewarded with one of my top targets for the trip: the Machaca. More specifically, the one I caught was a Machaca del Atlantico. They're a sort of river-dwelling version of a Piranha, but with teeth like a Pacu. After fishing, we also took time to use the rope swing, which was much higher than it looks.

Machaca del Atlantico

el Salto Rope Swing

After our exciting morning, we returned to the hotel for (free) breakfast and then headed to our first set of fishing spots for the day. I had found a promising river on iNat and noticed a few others nearby that also looked like they could be good. As it turns out, all of them were great! Beautiful clear water despite the agriculture in the area and nice deep pools right by the bridges :) I caught more Guapote and Astyanax orstedii at each spot, some bigger Machaca, and a lifer Pastel Cichlid! Just watching the fish in the clear jungle pools was worth it though.

Bigger Machaca

Pastel Cichlid

That bit of fishing rounded off the morning and we started heading south for our last stop before making it back to Matapalo. We wound our way up the steep mountain roads to get to one of CR's tallest and most scenic waterfalls: del Toro! We couldn't swim under this one but the hike down was fun and the waterfall and surroundings were beautiful.

After leaving del Toro, the rest of the day was simply devoted to making our way back to Alex's sister's place, made difficult by the rough mountain roads. Slowly but surely, we made our way back and were treated to epic mountain landscapes and a beautiful sunset along the way.

Why Lifelisting is Problematic - A Response

Be warned, this is a fishless post!

This response is inspired by an article written by my friend Fletcher at ncangling.com, titled "Why Lifelisting is Problematic - and How it Can Still Evolve". The article is linked below; I highly recommend giving it a read before continuing through this response. I have long thought that there are some problems with the lifelisting hobby, but have never been an eloquent enough writer to put them into words. Although I don't agree with everything in the article, Fletcher brings up some interesting points and convinced me to write a response of my own. I will attempt to break down his words in the paragraphs below.

https://www.ncangling.com/post/why-lifelisting-is-problematic-and-how-it-can-still-evolve

Issue #1. Objectification/Lack of Care for Fish

The first issue Fletcher takes with lifelisting is the objectification of fish, especially rare and possibly endangered species. This is actually a point I have struggled personally with, so I'm glad he brought it up. The temptation to try and catch fish that are rarely encountered by others, that perhaps no one in the community has caught before, is high. The life of a listed (see what I did there :p) species is simply not worth the risk, and should not be targeted by anyone in the community. Of course, these fish are sometimes caught incidentally, which is understandable but should not be bragged about. The health of the fish should always come first and understanding proper handling is important.

Fletcher also uses this point to bring up some hypocrisy in the lifelisting community, explaining how lifelisters are often at odds with trophy game fishermen, but that the search for rare species essentially follows many of the same ideas as the search for trophy fish. I can not say it better than he has, and fully agree on this point. It's silly for lifelisters to discredit conventional anglers, all fishermen should try to cooperate more often.

Issue #2. Lack of Rules/Quality Control

This point describes how some lifelisters will go to any lengths to add a species to their lists, such as fishing in pay lakes, hatcheries, and even sometimes water fountains. While I agree with Fletcher's idea that these methods take away from the accomplishment of catching a fish in its natural habitat, I do not think there is need for regulation or quality control in the community. Their are no high stakes in lifelisting, very little fame, money, etc., so why the need for rules? Fletcher says, "if lifelisters attempt to be taken seriously, how can they allow hatchery fishing?". I say, why the need to be taken seriously? I think most can agree that lifelisting is a hobby, sometimes passion, but nothing more. While I personally believe that catching a wild fish in its natural habitat is a much greater achievement, I could care less what others prefer.

Issue #3. Networking/Spot-sharing

Fletcher's third issue with lifelisting is the high degree of networking, or spot-sharing, that is prevalent in the community. I unfortunately have to disagree with this point as well, as this openness is one of the things that initially drew me to lifelisting. I do understand how successfully researching, searching, then catching a fish can be much more rewarding than simply being given a spot, but there are advantages to both arguments. Humans are social creatures and networking allows for relationships to be formed, increasing the level of enjoyment for some. I personally prefer a mix of both methods, searching for some hard-to-get species on my own and working collectively for others. As with Issue #2, I think people should choose as they see fit, as long as they are happy with their choices, are following the law, and aren't negatively affecting others. On this last point, this means not sharing spots that were given to you in confidence!

Issue #4. Lack of Accountability

The final issue in Fletcher's essay is the lack of accountability he sees in the community, especially towards the act of snagging. I agree that some especially unethical acts such as intentional snagging or bowfishing should not be accepted, but I am not sure I see the lack of accountability. Perhaps I am too uninvolved, but I have seen lifelisters torn apart for acts such as these. Roughfish even has a "Bowfishing Wall of Shame" page on the site. That being said, I would be interested to hear what you guys think about this topic: is the lifelisting community apathetic towards unethical anglers?

5. My Thoughts

Finally, I'd like to present some of my thoughts on the topic at hand as well as some of the issues I see in the community. Firstly, as is reflected throughout my opinions presented above, I find that some lifelisters take the hobby way too seriously. Some even go as far as making personal threats when another "lifelists" in a way that does not follow their preferred methods and standards. I could very well be wrong, but I prefer a community where everyone gets along and everything is perfect ;) Just kidding, but I do think a bit of lightening up would do some good.

The next issue I see is how some lifelisters seem to think of themselves as above the law when it comes to targeting certain species. Especially when it comes to following the fishing seasons set out for a given species. Targeting a fish out-of-season is regarded as very unethical in most angling communities I know of, but seems to be commonplace with lifelisters. Simply put, all laws and regulations should always be followed.

The final issue I can think of is the air of superiority some of us seem to have, especially when talking about/to conventional anglers. This is another one I have found myself guilty of, and is an easy trap to fall into given the amount of research and effort we put into our passion. The truth is, many of these "others" are just as passionate as we are, and that having an inflated ego does no good for our community.

I would write a conclusion here, but screw it. I think you got the point :p

Top Catches 2019

Well, it's that time of the year again! Too early for ice fishing and too cold for most of the fish out there. Time for the yearly top catches list before I die of boredom from being indoors for too long. This time, I'm including fish from November 2018 until the present (November 2019). Based on the seasons in Canada, it just makes more sense that way.

1. Atlantic Sturgeon

At the top of the list is the Atlantic Sturgeon, a fish I never expected to catch in the wild. I caught him with Alex after dragging my boat all the way to New Brunswick to fish the Kennebecasis River near Saint-John. He bit before we were even done rigging up all our lines!

2. Redfin Pickerel

This is likely the fish that has cost me the most money and the most time to track down. I searched for them in southern QC numerous times, in Ontario, in Virginia, in North Carolina, and probably some other places I'm forgetting :p I finally caught this guy in Connecticut with my friend Rowan from Connecticut Fly Angler.

3. River Redhorse

The River Redhorse was another top target of mine going into 2019, being one of the only lifers available to me anywhere near home. I caught my first one in June during a break from my work up north. Very impressed by their fight, pulled harder than any other sucker species I've caught!

4. Sea Tadpole

This weird little guy has always been one of my top targets during our annual trip to the Saguenay fjord. The locals call them "Jell-o Fish" and probably aren't as happy to see them as I was. It was caught over 300ft down on a small sabiki rig tipped with pieces of Smelt.

5. Summer Sucker

The Summer Sucker probably takes a spot in the top 3 rarest fish I've ever caught. In fact, it's only found in a handful of high altitude ponds in the Adirondacks. We were lucky enough to be visiting right during their spawning run, so catching one didn't take too long :) The bugs were bad but the fish were worth it!

6. Suwanee Bass

The Suwanee Bass is the most "unusual" Black Bass species I've managed to catch so far. This one was caught in the crystal clear waters of a spring-fed river in northern Florida on a Mepps spinner. I can't wait to add some of the other Micropterus species to my list :)

7. Thorny Skate

This Skate was a totally unexpected catch from the depths of the Saguenay fjord. It came off the bottom in about 700ft of water and wouldn't fit through the hole when I got it to the surface. After a bit of chiseling, we managed to get it out without any major injuries (to us or the fish) and saw this crazy specimen!

8. Nurse Shark

My first and (so far) only Shark species! Caught after a night of being a beach bum in the Florida Keys. Going to bed and waking up on the ocean is totally the type of shark fishing experience I look for.

9. Eastern Silvery Minnow

Not much to say about this pretty bland-looking Silvery Minnow, other than that it took me wayyy too long to catch. It's not even close to being the rarest minnow in QC, but for some reason I caught all of the others before this one. Don't know that I'll ever spend time looking for them again lol.

10. American Flagfish

The thing that made this fish stand out was the challenge in getting it to take a hook. The sheer number of Mosquitofish in the ditch we were fishing meant weeding through dozens, maybe hundreds, before even getting one to peck at it! The built-up frustration made the catch all that more rewarding :)

New Brunswick Tidal Fishing

After seeing my friend Francois successfully catch both Shortnose AND Atlantic Sturgeon in one day on the Kennebecasis River in NB, I knew I had to plan a trip! Everything came together on the weekend of September 21st, when both Alex and I were able to get the Monday off. The plan was to drive down to my cottage Friday night, pick up the boat, and then drive through Maine on Saturday to get to NB. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my trailer registration so we had to make a 3 hour detour to avoid crossing the border. Friday evening and night would consist of a bit of saltwater fishing, and the rest of the weekend would be devoted to sturgeon fishing and other touristy stuff.

After a long drive, we finally made it to the coast and had about 1 hour of fishing time before the sun was supposed to go down. We made the best of it and caught some Pollock, Shorthorn Sculpin, and Atlantic Tomcod. The Pollock were the highlights and only lifers for us that evening :)

Next I tried scouring some tidepools for Lumpfish and maybe even a Clingfish. The tide had dropped enough to make the search worthwhile, but the targets were nowhere to be found! All I found were a couple of Threespined Stickleback.

After nighttime had fallen, we made our way to the third and final spot of the day: a pier where Francois had managed to catch a Wrymouth. We saw plenty of Mackerel and Squid, but, once again, the target was nowhere to be seen. I did manage to hook one new species, but it got snagged on a ladder halfway up the pier. Thus, I had to climb down into the darkness, untangle the rig, and successfully land my lifer White Hake!

The harrowing climb down the ladder ended our night and we headed to an epic free campsite right on a beach on the Bay of Fundy! It was dark when we arrived, but we woke up to this awesome view:

The only thing on the schedule for the new day was Sturgeon fishing, one of my favourite groups of fishes. We drove to the boat ramp I had marked down, put the boat in, and headed to the waypoints some friends had sent me. The water was shallow and weedy, not at all what I was used to for Sturgeon fishing. I was not confident in the area and decided that we should fish elsewhere, so we headed upriver to a known Sturgeon wintering hole.

This spot seemed much more promising; I was marking tons of fish on the graph! We began rigging our lines and casted out our first rigs while beginning on our second ones. While tying my second rig, I turned around and saw my first rod bent over! I fought the fish to the boat and saw that I had caught what looked like an Atlantic Sturgeon, one of the rarest fish I've ever seen. I sent out a couple messages and the ID was quickly confirmed, I had really landed a true mythical beast!

The adrenaline from that catch slowly wore off, and we returned to attentively watching our rigs. The mix of tidal action, current, and high winds made bite detection quite difficult. We decided that two of our rigs would need to be fished straight down and the other two would be held by each of us. Soon after, Alex felt some bites and reeled up her first American Eel! I was happy she finally got to get the full Eel slime experience :p

Needless to say, we spent the next 15 minutes or so scraping the slime off our hands. We then untangled her rig and got back to bottom fishing. It wasn't long before Alex noticed the rod behind me bouncing. I set the hook and fought up something that felt small; I figure it would be another Eel. After bring it up to the boat, I saw that it was another Sturgeon! The blunter snout made the ID obvious, I had caught a Shortnose Sturgeon :)

Now it was time for Alex to get her Sturgeon. Unfortunately, after this catch, the incoming tide picked up and brought tons of Tomcod with it. This meant that all of our rigs were devoured almost as soon as they hit the bottom (usually within 30 seconds). She caught one more Eel, a Yellow Perch, and dozens of Tomcod... but no Sturgeon :(

Tomcods #32566 and 32567

The sun started going down and we had to end our efforts before it became to dark to find our way back to the ramp. We spent the evening driving to the town of St-Martin and found an abandoned road to camp on. The next morning was our final bit of time out east, and we spent it exploring some nearby sea caves and enjoying the best seafood chowder I've ever had :)

Endgame

I meant to write this post after catching all but 10 of the 112 QC freshwater fish species, but I've been busy with a new job up north so here's a report for the final eight. Feel free to reach out if you think you can help me find any of these guys! Even the smallest piece of information could be the clue I'm missing. Most of the fish left are pretty rare, found far from my home, or aren't currently legal to target; but one day I hope to get all of them.

1. Atlantic Sturgeon EDIT: Caught September, 2019

The Atlantic Sturgeon is the largest of all QC fish that can be found in freshwater. They apparently spawn in certain areas around Quebec City, but I have yet to see any confirmed catches. The closest "targetable" population seems to be in New Brunswick, where they are an occasional by-catch while targeting Shortnose Sturgeon. That is where my buddy, Francois Guay, caught the beast pictured above!
I was able to finally land one of these mythical beasts in September 2019 after dragging my old boat all they way to New Brunswick. Picture of my trophy catch is above, definitely one of the coolest fish I've caught to date! For more info, check out my full report here.

2. Round Whitefish EDIT: Caught March, 2021

These cryptic salmonids have been tough to track down, but I recently came across a blog post detailing a potential targetable population in Vermont. I'll definitely keep you guys posted if that works out! Otherwise, it seems like they are mostly caught accidentally in the salmon rivers of Gaspésie.

Finally made a crazy 12hr drive out to lake Superior and back to spend a single day ice fishing before the ice started going out on the big lake. The bite was tough but we persisted (and lost many fish), and I was very excited to see this guy show up in the hole!!

3. Cutthroat Trout EDIT: Caught August, 2020

Apparently these Cutthroat Trout were stocked in a couple QC rivers back in the 60's or 70's, but I've only found rumours as to where they are, and I think it's likely that they have mostly died out. I haven't seen a single confirmed catch within the province so far, but maybe they still exist somewhere! The easiest solution will probably be for me to travel out west, but I'll still cling to the hopes that I may find them on the east coast for now. The fish pictured above was caught by my friend Rowan over at Connecticut Fly Angler.

Alex and I made a second run across the country to western Canada and this time we had favourable conditions to land a Cutthroat Trout! We caught our first ones in a small river in the Castle mountains and then caught plenty more in an alpine lake in Kananaskis Country :)

4. Copper Redhorse

Image Source: Oceans and Fisheries Canada

These rare Redhorse are listed as endangered throughout the entirety of their very small range, so are not legal for the time being. Hopefully their population will rebuild and they will be de-listed one day so that they can enjoyed by all.

5. Spoonhead Sculpin EDIT: Caught September, 2021

I have found very little info about these small Sculpins. As far as I know, no one has been able to catch one on hook and line and they aren't studied very often. I believe they are more of a lake-dwelling species that prefers deeper water of around 60', making them difficult to target. Apparently they are sometimes found in streams as well, but only out west, meaning the closest ones to me would be in Alberta.

Turns out the secret was to go seek them out in the northern streams of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. I was able to catch three individuals in two different creeks. Such a gnarly-looking freshwater sculpin!

6. Fourhorn Sculpin EDIT: Caught August, 2021

These guys seem to be pretty common where they are found. Unfortunately, they are only found in the Arctic Ocean. They are on the list of QC freshwater fish because there is a freshwater form that lives in the rivers of James Bay. I'm hoping to eventually do a trip up to Wemindji or Chisasibi to catch one! Or, if that fails, I may travel to far northern Sweden.

Or... just go wayyyyy up north!

7. Deepwater Sculpin

Image Source: Justin Londer

This may be the most challenging freshwater fish to catch in QC. I say that because they are only a couple of inches long, and prefer water of depths over 200'. They have been sampled in a couple glacial lakes in the Outaouais region of QC, but are also found in some of the Great Lakes. Catching one will likely require many hours with a 4oz weight and a size 20 hook!

8. Grass Carp EDIT: Caught August, 2021

The Grass Carp was the most recent addition to the list of QC freshwater species. Only one specimen has been sampled within the province, so I doubt I'll be able to catch one here in the near future. I think I may have found the closest population down near Albany in New York, but I have yet to confirm if they are actually there. The picture above is yet another awesome catch by Rowan from Connecticut Fly Angler!

With all the covid border closures, I actually ended up catching this one in southern Alberta, where sterile triploids are stocked for weed control! They put up a hell of a fight, and I was sure I would lose this guy when he went on a screaming run halfway across the pond, but it finally came together :)