In July 2022 we had the pleasure to chat with Dave from the WetFlySwing Podcast about all things fly fishing in Costa Rica. Check it out!
Original Text from the Podcast:
Today, we’re going fly fishing in Costa Rica with Tom Enderlin. We discover a few different species in the jungle including a fruit-eating fish called, machaca – cousin of the piranha but vegan. We break down the species to target for each season and we touch on some of the wild habitats such as jaguars, monkeys, and birds.
Tom tells us how they ensure maximum benefit to the local communities there, equipping them to become excellent guides. Find out why Costa Rica is described as “one of the happiest countries in the world” and why they don’t even need a military.
What is it like to fish tarpon in freshwater with monkey audiences cheering on you? Welcome to the jungle!
Fly Fishing in Costa Rica Show Notes with Tom Enderlin
05:15 – Tom started out as an intern for a coffee company in Costa Rica and then got into tourism. Then he went to Europe and worked as a coffee trader. Then he joined a conservation group, Rainforest Alliance and worked with them for a number of years. Then back to Costa Rica with his Costa Rican wife and that’s when Fly Fishing Costa Rica was born.
07:30 – Tom describes Costa Rica as one of the happiest countries in the world. They don’t even have an army.
10:50 – Their main program at this time this year is the jungle tarpon reserve. It rains up until November then the rain slows down from December up until April.
12:30 – December to April is their dry season and that’s when they fish Machaca. These are related to piranha but eat fruit and flowers.
14:55 – Tom loves fishing Tepemechín (Mountain Mullet). They’re small but powerful.
16:30 – Marlin fishing in the Pacific Ocean is great from May until November
18:00 – There are 2 different types of Machaca in Costa Rica – one lives in the Caribbean and the other lives in the Pacific. In March and April, the wild cashew tree produces fruit that the Pacific Machaca feeds on. For the Caribbean machaca, they feed on Chilamate tree fruits.
20:00 – They have rainbow trout all year but the best time to fish them is the dry season
21:00 – The Costa Rica Grand Slam is a tarpon, trout, and billfish fishing
25:41 – Tom breaks down what a 1-week itinerary looks like
27:15 – Tom tells us how they make that perfect “kerplunk” – a funny term they use for putting the fly on the water that drives the machaca crazy. Click here to learn how to tie a Machaca fly pattern.
29:25 – They typically use a 3 wt or a tenkara for the small rainbows. For machaca, they use a 6 or 8 wt with a floating line. For roosters, they use 10 or 11 wt. For billfish, sailfish, and marlin, they fish up to 16 wt.
31:10 – They have a film about machaca with the F3T – click to watch the video
33:00 – Another draw to the area is the bird-watching hub where there lives a bird called, the resplendent quetzal.
33:30 – There are lots of jaguars in the jungle. They’ve set up some camera traps to watch the jaguars and a lot of other biodiversity activities in the area.
36:00 – Costa Rica has 4 different monkey species and 3 of them they see every day – white-faced capuchin, howler monkey, spider monkey
43:30 – Hunting is prohibited in Costa Rica
44:15 – The jungle tarpon reserve is where they fish for tarpon. They work together with the national park office.
48:10 – There’s a specie called Guapote aka Wolf Cichlid or rainbow bass
51:30 – Tom uses bead head nymphs or hopper droppers
54:05 – Costa Rica is also an amazing destination for ecotourism – Tom breaks down the activities to do there
55:10 – Tom’s son got his first machaca all by himself – he now holds a small fry world record
58:45 – Tarpon fishing in the jungle river is from August until December and a small window in May
1:00:27 – Sport fishing is illegal in Ecuador.
1:01:30 – Tom tells us how we can connect with the local community there. The guys from Indifly came over to Costa Rica to talk about a possible collaboration with Tom’s crew.
1:05:00 – Shoutout to Yeti for raising funds for the Bristol Bay project. Their coffee cups work great.
1:06:10 – They work with the company, Zen Tekara