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Annual trip to Zancudo Lodge in Costa Rica was a blast!  Tuna were running bigger than usual with two at 110lbs and 120lbs.  Takes a couple of hours to bring these in so once they hit the deck its time to move on to a different target species.  Went 5 for 7 on marlin smallest at 225lbs and the biggest at 300lbs. Sailfish were starting to show up and a cool Blue Runner.  Mahi have not shown up the last two years but apparently they don't like the warmer water that El Nino produces there but La Nina has moved in now so hopefully for others on their way the seem some big bulls!

Very nice!

Great pictures. Just curious, what happens to the tuna, can you ship it home?

I get that question quite a bit.  We're we are at is really remote and not set up for shipping large quantities of fish.  To get to Zancudo Lodge you fly in a 12 seater prop plane from San Jose to give you idea of the logisitics you are dealing with just to get youself there.  Also, tuna (in my experience) doesn't freeze well so its really not feasible. The lodge uses it, sells it to local resturants, and also donates to local residents in need.  Its a relatively small lodge with 8 fishing boats but not uncommon to have 700 - 1000lbs (total weight) of tuna show up on their dock at the end of the day.  

Sounds like a great trip. Not trying to usurp the thread, but I became a "tuna-fanatic" making several excursions to the San Diego area to target them. At the time, Southwest Airlines allowed three 70-pound luggages for free and a 48 qt cooler full of tuna fillets was about 70 pounds. We learned it only lasted about two months in the freezer until its flavor deteriorated. We canned most of it in Mason jars and everyone agreed it beat Starkist by a mile. 

I also learned that tuna are the ultimate fighter. Fifty pounders are great! Using 30# line, they are 15 to 20 minutes hook-up to gaff. First five minutes is thrilling, last five minutes is exciting - everything in the middle is just plain work!  

Check-out the long range fleet out of San Diego and schedule a 4 or 5 day trip in August.  

Absolutely Mike and would not surprise me if some the big marinas west of San Jose like Las Sueneous start doing it but I also think Costa Rica is wanting the tuna resource to not turn into a commerical production.  They had a 60 mile commerical fishing ban from shore and have now pushed it to 100 and the tuna population is back in a big way.  30-50lbs fish arwe awesome without feeling like you got hit by a bus afterword.  Get north of 100lbs on 30lbs braid with 80lbs leader and like you said, the first 15 minutes are great!  The next 2 hours is a soul crushing battle.