Mark your calendar -September 13, 14 & 15
because that’s when the tarpon tournament at El Castillo on the San Juan River in Nicaragua will occur. Hundred plus pound silver kings are there over a hundred miles from the sea and a three day fiesta celebrates them.
My sister Terry Lucas and a friend Jim Black and I traveled there on a visa renewal jaunt last month. The fishing at this time of year was poor but the towns of San Carlos, Boca del Sabalo, and El Castillo and the riverside beauty during the boat trips was spectacular. Three seats wide and ten rows long, the river buses took us from Los Chiles, Costa Rica to San Carlos, Nicaragua and then on to The Sabalos Lodge which is well described at http://www.sabaloslodge.com/english
The proprietor of the Lodge is a retired Sandinista Major who after retirement raised poison dart frogs and other colorful amphibians for export to the US and Europe. His headquarters is now a nine bungalow hotel right on the banks of the San Juan River five minutes from Boca de Sabalo. The thatched huts have modern bathrooms and porches right over the river. In addition to fully netted double beds, hammocks are strung at each bungalow and at the riverside, totally open Hammocks Bar. Lots of insects swarm to light bulbs but we found no biting insects at all. Meals are a bit pricey but are nicely served in a pretty little dining room.
Jim and I fished one day from the Lodge to El Castillo and back. We saw a few huge tarpon roll but there were just taunting us and inviting us to the tournament in September. We got a few smaller fish on smaller lures, but the Solantiname Islands are much better for guapote, managuense and machaca. Six inch medium diving Rapalas in tiger stripe/fire belly or white with red head for the tarpon, and Big Os in the same colors for smaller fish were what we trolled for. Our guide Hamilton lives in El Castillo and we stopped there for coffee and to see the Castle. The town hugs the riverside below the fortification built to combat pirates who had to stop at the rapids there on there way to pillage Nicaraguan cities from Lake Nicaragua.
Our trip back repeated the two boat rides and was equally full of birds ( I saw green, white, and blue herons, both sizes of green kingfisher, cormorants and anhingas, blue grey and red rumped tanagers, Baltimore orioles, and flycatchers and honey creepers of every shade as well as several varieties of hummingbirds.) There were also caimans and congo monkeys and basilisks. The boats stop not only at hotels, but at simple rough hewn homes on stilts which house local farmers and cowboys. Photo opportunities abound.
because that’s when the tarpon tournament at El Castillo on the San Juan River in Nicaragua will occur. Hundred plus pound silver kings are there over a hundred miles from the sea and a three day fiesta celebrates them.
My sister Terry Lucas and a friend Jim Black and I traveled there on a visa renewal jaunt last month. The fishing at this time of year was poor but the towns of San Carlos, Boca del Sabalo, and El Castillo and the riverside beauty during the boat trips was spectacular. Three seats wide and ten rows long, the river buses took us from Los Chiles, Costa Rica to San Carlos, Nicaragua and then on to The Sabalos Lodge which is well described at http://www.sabaloslodge.com/english
The proprietor of the Lodge is a retired Sandinista Major who after retirement raised poison dart frogs and other colorful amphibians for export to the US and Europe. His headquarters is now a nine bungalow hotel right on the banks of the San Juan River five minutes from Boca de Sabalo. The thatched huts have modern bathrooms and porches right over the river. In addition to fully netted double beds, hammocks are strung at each bungalow and at the riverside, totally open Hammocks Bar. Lots of insects swarm to light bulbs but we found no biting insects at all. Meals are a bit pricey but are nicely served in a pretty little dining room.
Jim and I fished one day from the Lodge to El Castillo and back. We saw a few huge tarpon roll but there were just taunting us and inviting us to the tournament in September. We got a few smaller fish on smaller lures, but the Solantiname Islands are much better for guapote, managuense and machaca. Six inch medium diving Rapalas in tiger stripe/fire belly or white with red head for the tarpon, and Big Os in the same colors for smaller fish were what we trolled for. Our guide Hamilton lives in El Castillo and we stopped there for coffee and to see the Castle. The town hugs the riverside below the fortification built to combat pirates who had to stop at the rapids there on there way to pillage Nicaraguan cities from Lake Nicaragua.
Our trip back repeated the two boat rides and was equally full of birds ( I saw green, white, and blue herons, both sizes of green kingfisher, cormorants and anhingas, blue grey and red rumped tanagers, Baltimore orioles, and flycatchers and honey creepers of every shade as well as several varieties of hummingbirds.) There were also caimans and congo monkeys and basilisks. The boats stop not only at hotels, but at simple rough hewn homes on stilts which house local farmers and cowboys. Photo opportunities abound.
So, load your camera* and take the three day visa trip – or rig your rods and get ready for huge tarpon in September.
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Border crossings at Los Chiles and San Carlos are less congested than most, but equally bureaucratic – have your up to date passport and a pen ready to fill out Customs and Immigration forms on both sides. United States citizens do not need a Nicaraguan visa and may proceed directly to the Costa Rica Immigration Office which is about three blocks from the dock at Los Chiles. In San Carlos both immigrations and Customs are right at the dock.
