The Pacific Sailfish

What a sailfish is

The sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) is a billfish, a cousin of the marlins, with a long spear-like bill and a tall dorsal fin that it can fold flat or raise like a sail. Its back is dark blue, its sides silver with pale blue bars, and the sail is dotted with dark spots. FishBase lists a maximum of 348 cm fork length and a published weight of about 100 kg, and MarViva's Costa Rican fishing guide gives a common size of about 2.7 m total length, bill included.

Sailfish hunt in loose groups, using the sail and bill to herd and slash at schools of sardines, mackerel, small tuna and squid. When hooked they jump, tail-walk and make long runs, which is why so many anglers fly to Costa Rica just for them. The IUCN lists the species as Vulnerable, and the main threat is incidental catch by commercial longlines and purse seines.

Where to find them in Costa Rica

Sailfish are a Pacific fish here. They're caught offshore along the whole coast, from the Gulf of Papagayo to the Panama border, wherever blue water, current edges and bait come together. Fisheries data gathered for MarViva's best-practices guide puts most of the abundance within the first 80 miles of the coast.

The big fleets work out of Quepos and Los Sueños on the central Pacific, out of Golfito and Puerto Jiménez in the south, and out of Flamingo, Tamarindo and Papagayo in Guanacaste. Costa Rica isn't a sailfish destination on the Caribbean side, though Atlantic sailfish are sometimes caught offshore there.

Best months

The two halves of the Pacific coast peak at different times, so there's good sailfishing somewhere almost every month.

• Central and southern Pacific: best from about December to April, often strongest from February to April. MarViva's data shows peak abundance from Nicoya to Burica between November and May.
• Guanacaste: the strong winter winds (the Papagayos) make offshore runs harder early in the year, and northern operators quoted in Sport Fishing Magazine's billfish guide put their sailfish peak from about May to August.

Fish are caught outside these months too, and the season chart on our species page shows the pattern for each coast.

How crews fish for them

Most Costa Rican boats troll a spread of hookless teasers and dredges behind the boat to raise sailfish to the surface. When a fish comes up behind a teaser, the mate pulls the teaser away and the angler drops back a rigged ballyhoo or a live bait on a circle hook. The circle hook usually catches the corner of the jaw, which makes for a cleaner release.

Tackle is light to medium: 20 to 30 lb class conventional or spinning gear is typical, and many crews offer a fly rod for anglers who want to try the bait-and-switch method on fly. On a good day in peak season a boat can raise many fish, but it varies a lot with water conditions.

The rules

Costa Rica's fisheries law (Ley 8436, article 76) names the sailfish a species of tourist and sport-fishing interest. Under the fisheries regulation (Decreto 36782, article 68), sport fishing for large pelagic fish is done as catch and release with circle hooks when natural bait is used, and selling sport-caught fish is banned. INCOPESCA's agreement AJDIP/280-2014 also bans placing billfish on the gunwale for photos and using gaffs or hooks to pull them alongside, except for fish being weighed for a world record or in an INCOPESCA-approved tournament.

In practice this means your sailfish stays in the water: the crew grabs the bill, removes the hook or cuts the leader close, and revives the fish before letting it go. That's exactly what the photo at the top shows.

Everyone fishing from a boat, crew included, must carry an INCOPESCA sport fishing licence (Ley 8436, article 75). It comes in 8-day, 30-day and 1-year versions, and many charter operators can arrange it for you, so ask when you book.

Commercial boats are a separate story. Commercial fishing for sailfish is banned, but fish caught by accident on commercial gear can be sold in Costa Rica within a limit set by INCOPESCA, which was cut to 10% of a trip's catch in 2023. Sport-fishing groups continue to push for a full ban on sales.

Eating quality

You won't be eating a sport-caught sailfish in Costa Rica, since they're released. If you'd like fish for dinner, ask your crew to keep a dorado or tuna instead, within the limit of 5 fish per trip in the regulation.