Costa Rica Fish Species

The short answer

Costa Rica has two oceans and a lot of fresh water, so the list of fish you might catch is long. Offshore on the Pacific, it's billfish, tuna, dorado and wahoo. Inshore on the Pacific rocks, it's roosterfish, snapper, grouper, jacks and amberjack. On the Caribbean, it's tarpon and snook in the rivers and river mouths, with snapper and mackerel on the reefs. Inland, it's guapote and machaca in the lakes and rivers, and rainbow trout in the mountains.

This guide covers every species you're realistically likely to hook, grouped by family. For each fish you'll find the English name, the Spanish name Costa Rican crews use, the Latin name, where and when it's caught, how it's usually fished, and whether it goes home for dinner or back in the water. For the months, see our fishing seasons guide, and for the rules in full, our fishing rules guide.

How we built this list

We started from the species list in our content plan and checked every fish against FishBase, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Shorefishes databases for the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, MarViva's 2023 sport-fishing guide for Costa Rica, and a 2026 study in the Revista de Biología Tropical that logged 685 fish caught on rod and reel by recreational anglers in Bahía Santa Elena, Guanacaste. Where a fish often turns up in fishing guides but doesn't actually live in Costa Rican waters, we say so in the section near the end on names that get mixed up.

A few rules apply to almost every fish below:

• Released by law or rule: sailfish, marlin and swordfish (billfish), roosterfish and tarpon. Billfish stay in the water for photos.
• Protected: the 3 large hammerhead sharks can't be caught or kept.
• Kept within a limit: the fisheries regulation (Decreto 36782) lets you land 5 fish per trip for your own use. Selling a sport catch is banned.
• Licence: everyone fishing from a boat needs an INCOPESCA sport fishing licence, which many charters arrange.

Billfish

Billfish are Costa Rica's headline fish, and they're all Pacific, all offshore and all released. Costa Rica's fisheries law (Ley 8436) names sailfish and marlin as species of tourist and sport-fishing interest. Natural baits have to be fished on circle hooks, and INCOPESCA's agreement AJDIP/280-2014 bans lifting a billfish onto the boat for photos, except for a world-record or approved tournament weigh-in.

How they're caught: most boats troll hookless teasers to raise fish, then pitch a rigged ballyhoo or a live bait on a circle hook. Sailfish are usually fished on 20 to 30 lb class tackle, marlin on heavier gear, and many crews offer bait-and-switch on fly. Blue marlin outnumber the other two, black marlin are most likely near islands and seamounts, and the shortbill spearfish is a rare offshore bonus we wouldn't plan a trip around.

Billfish counts can be huge on a good day: the central Pacific is famous for multi-sailfish days in February and March. See our sailfish, marlin and swordfish pages for more.

Tuna and mackerel

The tuna family gives Costa Rica some of its best eating fish, and several of its best bait fish. Yellowfin are the big prize on the Pacific, and fisheries data in MarViva's guide shows them as the most common tuna in Costa Rican waters, present all year.

How they're caught: yellowfin are found under diving birds or with spinner dolphins, then caught on trolled lures, live bait, poppers or jigs. Bigger fish run 100 lb and up, and Crocodile Bay Resort reports fish from 100 to 250 lb in the south in December and January. Sierra hit small spoons and plugs cast or trolled along the beaches. The small tunas (black skipjack and bonito) are what crews catch first in the morning to use as live bait for marlin and big tuna.

Wahoo are mackerel relatives, not tuna, but they're caught the same way: fast-trolled lures and wire leaders around rocky islands and seamounts. They're never caught in big numbers and they're one of the best fish to take home.

Jacks and pompano

Jacks are the hard-pulling workhorses of the Pacific inshore. The 2026 Bahía Santa Elena study found jacks (jureles) were the most-caught family on rod and reel there, ahead of snappers, and the Pacific crevalle jack was the single most common species.

How they're caught: jacks smash poppers and stickbaits cast at rocks, and they take live bait slow-trolled for roosterfish. The almaco jack is a deep-water fish caught by vertical jigging and bottom fishing over pinnacles. Rainbow runners come up around floating logs while crews look for dorado. Most crews release jacks other than amberjack and the pompanos, since they're not the best eating.

Dorado and wahoo

These two are the dinner fish of the offshore fleet. Dorado (mahi-mahi) are fast, colourful and often found around anything floating, while wahoo hang around structure.

How they're caught: dorado are found by running weed lines and floating logs, especially after the rains flush debris out to sea. Once a school is found, crews keep one hooked fish in the water so the rest stay near the boat, and anglers cast light tackle or bait. The photo at the top of this page is a dorado jumping off Costa Rica's Pacific coast. A world-record dorado of about 39.5 kg was caught in Costa Rica, and MarViva's data puts peak abundance from October to February. Wahoo are covered under tuna and mackerel above.

Roosterfish

There's only one roosterfish, and it's a fish of the eastern Pacific found nowhere else. Its tall comb of 7 dorsal spines makes it unmistakable, and it's the fish many anglers come to Costa Rica's Pacific coast to catch.

How they're caught: slow-trolling a live bait (often a blue runner or small bonito) along the rocks and beaches is the classic method, and many anglers love casting big poppers at the white water. INCOPESCA's 2014 sport-fishing rules (AJDIP/086-2014) list roosterfish with billfish and tarpon as catch-and-release species, and they can't be sold. Crocodile Bay Resort reports record-size fish in the south in April and fish over 70 lb in June.

Pacific snappers

Snappers (pargos) are caught all year on the Pacific, they fight hard near rocks, and most of them are excellent eating. The Bahía Santa Elena study found yellow snapper the second most common fish caught by anglers there.

How they're caught: casting poppers and stickbaits at rocks at dawn, live bait near structure, and bottom fishing or jigging on reefs. The Pacific cubera is the giant of the family, reaching about 170 cm according to FishBase, and southern fleets report fish over 50 lb all year. Spotted rose snapper rarely get big but are one of the best-eating fish on the coast.

Caribbean snappers

The Caribbean snappers are a separate set of species from the Pacific ones. They're caught on the reefs off Limón, Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, and around the river mouths of the northern Caribbean.

How they're caught: bottom fishing and drifting baits over reef, and casting along river mouths at dawn. The Caribbean is mainly a tarpon and snook coast, so snapper are usually a side catch on offshore days out of Limón or lodges like Silver King Lodge.

Groupers

Groupers and cabrillas are the true sea basses of Costa Rica's Pacific reefs. They live tight to rock, so the fight is a tug-of-war.

How they're caught: bottom fishing with live or cut bait, and vertical jigging over rocky pinnacles. Pull hard early or the fish will reach its hole. The Pacific goliath grows to about 250 cm and is slow-growing and rare; we found no specific Costa Rican rule for it, but responsible crews release every one. Deep-caught fish suffer from the pressure change, so release them quickly, ideally with a descending weight.

Corvina

Corvina are croakers, not true basses, but they're what's usually sold as "sea bass" in Costa Rica. They live in the Gulf of Nicoya, Pacific estuaries, river mouths and surf beaches.

How they're caught: bait and lures fished on the bottom in channels and river mouths, and from the beach on falling tides. INCOPESCA's agreement AJDIP/026-2018 sets legal first-capture sizes for these corvinas (the sizes in the table), based on when each species first breeds. Those are commercial rules, but they're the right guide for what to keep.

Snook

Costa Rica has snook on both coasts, and it holds two all-tackle world records for them: common snook, and a Pacific black snook confirmed by the IGFA in 2026.

How they're caught: casting plugs and jigs at river mouths, mangrove edges and the surf, and live bait at dawn and dusk. In the Barra del Colorado refuge, SINAC closes fat snook (calba) fishing at the river mouth and the inner lagoons from October 1 to January 31. The biggest snook are mostly breeding females, so release those.

Tarpon

Tarpon are the Caribbean's giant, and the one fish that brings anglers to Barra del Colorado, Tortuguero and Parismina. They jump like few other fish.

How they're caught: jigs and plugs fished near the river-mouth bars and in the rivers, plus drifting live bait. Ley 8436 names tarpon a species of tourist and sport-fishing interest, and INCOPESCA's 2014 rules say tarpon are released in the water. MarViva notes tarpon have now spread to the eastern Pacific, likely through the Panama Canal, and a few are caught in the southern Pacific.

Barracuda and other inshore fish

This is the catch-all family: fish that turn up on inshore trips, sometimes as the target, often as a welcome bonus.

How they're caught: barracuda hit fast lures and live baits on the rocks. Ladyfish jump wildly on light lures in river mouths. Tripletail hang under floating logs and lines, and take a cast bait. Triggerfish ("chanchos") are among the most common catches on Pacific reefs, steal bait, and eat well.

Sharks

Sharks are a sensitive subject in Costa Rica, and sport crews treat them as catch and release. Three hammerheads are protected outright: Decree 43900-MAG-MINAE (2023) bans catching, transporting, storing or selling scalloped, great and smooth hammerheads, and The Tico Times reports that any caught by accident must be released immediately.

How they're met: most sharks are hooked by accident while bottom fishing, chumming for tuna or fighting a fish that a shark then grabs. Silky sharks are often around floating logs. If you hook one, keep it in the water, cut the leader close and let it go. Isla del Coco is a national park and a shark sanctuary where fishing isn't allowed. Our conservation guide has more on why.

Freshwater fish

Inland, Costa Rica's sport fish are mostly native cichlids and characins, plus trout stocked in the mountain rivers. The best fishing is in Lake Arenal, the northern lowlands around Caño Negro and the Río Frío, the Caribbean rivers, and the trout streams of the Talamanca mountains.

How they're caught: guapote hit plugs, spinners and live bait near drowned timber and weed edges. Machaca rise to small surface flies and fruit-imitating baits. Trout take spinners, flies and bait in the pools. Tarpon and snook also run up the big northern rivers. In the Barra del Colorado refuge, SINAC's 2026 guide closes gar fishing from March 1 to July 31, allows 2 gar per licence with a recommended minimum of 80 cm, asks anglers to keep (not release) tilapia, and bans fishing on Tuesdays.

See our freshwater fishing guide for where to go.

Names that get mixed up

Some fish names in fishing guides and on menus don't match what actually swims here. These are the ones we checked and corrected:

• Spanish mackerel: the Atlantic Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) only reaches as far south as Mexico's Yucatán. FishBase says Caribbean Central American records belong to the serra Spanish mackerel (S. brasiliensis). On the Pacific, the "sierra" is S. sierra.
• Pacific barracuda: the fish sold under that name in the US (Sphyraena argentea) lives from Alaska to Baja California. Costa Rica's Pacific barracuda is the Mexican barracuda (S. ensis), called picuda.
• Gulf corvina: Cynoscion othonopterus lives only in Mexico's Gulf of California. The "gulf corvinas" of Costa Rica are the Gulf of Nicoya's corvina aguada, picuda and agria.
• Cobia: a Caribbean fish here; FishBase says it's absent from the eastern Pacific.
• Sea bass: what restaurants call sea bass is usually corvina. The true sea basses here are the groupers and cabrillas.
• Mahi-mahi and dorado: the same fish. "Dorado" is the name you'll hear on the boat.
• Wahoo and sierra: both have teeth and stripes. Wahoo are bigger, live offshore and have a long snout; sierra are spotted and live along the beaches.

Which fish can I eat?

For most anglers, the best fish to keep are dorado, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, snapper, smaller groupers, sierra and corvina. Within the 5-fish limit, take what you'll eat and let the big breeders go. Many crews will clean and fillet your catch at the dock, and some restaurants in fishing towns will cook what you bring in; ask your captain or lodge how it works locally.