It has to be taken in perspective. In many billfishing hot spots around the globe, 568 billfish releases in a single day would represent a phenomenal bite. In the fertile waters off the Costa Rican Pacific coast, it’s rather commonplace. Still, when more than $2.14 million in prize money is pending on the outcome, it’s anything but blasé. And when it’s combined with a first-ever final day of a heritage sport-fishing family event, it turns out to be pretty special after all.
The last day of fishing in the inaugural Bisbee’s Costa Rica Offshore started with atypical winds and seas for the normally tranquil waters. Maybe that change had the fish slightly off-balance. By the time lines out was called though, Pura Vida, a 62 Paul Mann run by Capt. Rudy Arguedas, had led his team to a resounding victory. The tally started slowly but kept building all day, to a final score of 21 sailfish releases. That would earn the team several daily jackpots and cement the overall championship.
Blackhawk made a late charge up the leaderboard. The team was boosted by three blue marlin releases, which padded the score by 900 points. Blackhawk would finish the day by adding 12 sailfish for a second-place daily finish.
Fish Tank/Galati would also challenge Pura Vida’s lead, only to come up just short. The team released 21 sailfish for the day, but Pura Vida won out on time of releases.
Deal Sled/Junk Male was another last day contender. Led by Capt. Andy Moyes, the 50 Dean Johnson sonar-equipped sportfisher made the most of the afternoon bite, pulling dredges, teasers and naked ballyhoo.
“It started out slow, but then Capt. Andy moved and we got on ‘em,” said Junk Male angler John Barber. “This has been a good tournament, good times and good people!”
Team mate Capt. Adam Peebles has fished Costa Rica several times but this was his first tournament.
“It was intense,” he said. “It was a little snotty this morning with a weird wind bucking against the current and it was hard to present the baits. We picked up a couple and then we made our move. That was probably the right thing to do. The water temperature was 84 degrees at the new spot and we started getting bites where we found birds and the bait. It’s a different game with the sonar. This afternoon we got on the fish and there was hardly anyone else there. Andy knew exactly where to move and it paid off.” After three releases Friday morning, the team stepped it up with 16 releases in the afternoon. That effort vaulted Deal Sled/Junk Male into third place overall in the billfish release team standings.
Team Lone Star Longshotz/Double Nickel was the top non-sonar boat on Friday. The team scored 10 sailfish to up their overall ante.
The big tuna certainly didn’t mind the slight weather change today. John Ramos and Zancudo Lodge Z-1 topped the field with a 141.9-pound tuna to take top daily honors. Adrian Miranda and his North Star Costa Rica pals were right behind with a 141.7-pound entry.
The big bulls were absent on the last day, but some nice dorado still hit the scales. Jake Hammett, fishing on Rock N Reel, scored a 29.6 entry, while Howler repeated with a 28.7-pound fish caught by Chris Petrucelli.
On Friday, billfish-wise, 556 sailfish and 12 blue marlin were leadered and released. That’s not a bad “off” day, by any standards. The 2026 Bisbee’s CRO will wrap up with the awards ceremony Saturday evening. With the number and size of the checks being passed out then, it’s guaranteed to be an “On” day for multiple teams.
Photos courtesy of Sebastian Harris
