It’s no coincidence that the Costa Rican national motto is pura vida—pure life. The gregarious people and the country’s abundant national resources lend to a happy cultural environment. It’s also no coincidence that the top team in the inaugural Bisbee’s Costa Rica Offshore tournament would be named Pura Vida. The seasoned family and friend team put on an angling display this past week and were well rewarded for the prowess. The team is pocketing $929,850 for its accomplishments, taking the major share of the $2,145,700 in overall prize money. Seventy-nine boats competed in the first-ever Bisbee’s tournament outside of Mexico.
Pura Vida’s Capt. Rudy Arguedas, mates Armando Delgado, Sebastian Delgado, Stiward Porras and owners JC and Aileen Gonzalez, plus team mates Evan Alonzo, Ericka Sandi and Chris Witherington released 59 sailfish and three blue marlin aboard the 62 Paul Mann. In doing so, the team won the top overall release team, top captain and crew and multiple daily sonar billfish and marlin release jackpots.
Fish Tank/Galati, a 64 Viking run by Capt. Ben Horning, was the second-place team overall. Fish Tank tallied one blue and black marlin each, plus 54 sailfish overall. Deal Sled/Junk Male, (50 Dean Johnson/Capt. Andy Moyes) released the third-most fish for the week. The team scored one blue and 55 sailfish. Rounding out the top teams were Poco Ocho (58 Weaver/Capt. Sean Gallagher) and Miss Behavin’ (72 Ricky Scarborough/Capt. Jose Reyes), with 57 sailfish apiece. Blackhawk earned a big check ($343,400) on the basis of multiple jackpots. The team released five blues to go with their 40 sailfish. Optional daily bets often result in bigger payouts for teams despite their catch log or overall standing.
In the non-sonar division, the big winners were Five More Minutes, Kelly Dawn (45 Rybovich/Capt. Will Ochse), Double Nickel (43 Buddy Harris/Capt. Michael Zuniga), E&A (Capt. Jonathan Arn) and Reel Gold (35 Cabo/Capt. Stan Cook).
North Star Costa Rica brought their game fish skills to Quepos this week. The team (35 Swordfish/Capt. Randy Morales) boated the heaviest tuna, a 187-pound yellowfin, to take top honors in the division and also won jackpots for tuna and dorado. North Star Costa Rica is taking home $186,550 for their catch.
Howler (38.3 Viking/Capt. Jean Carlos Segura Serrato) captured the biggest bull dorado, which tipped the scales at 60.91 pounds, earning the team a check for $79,450. Other big winners in the game fish divisions were Concan Castaways (Capt. Greg Giampapa) for their 149.7 tuna, Zancudo Lodge Z-1 (44 Contender/Capt. Maudiel Quiros) for a 141.9-pound yellowfin and Rock N Reel (80 Merritt/Capt. Dick Younger) with a 29.8 pound dorado that paid out $107,100 due to optional entries.
Nikita Timmermans, competing on Salochankita, a 74 Viking run by Capt. Andrew Mason, was named the Top Lady Angler for the week after releasing 18 sailfish. Daily Flor de Cana Happy Hour trophy winners included Trophy Fly (Capt. Mainor Oporta), Pura Vida and Fish Tank.
“What a fun, outstanding tournament,” said Director of Operations Blake Bisbee. “I’d like to thank all our teams for making this inaugural event so special and for our host nation and Marina Pez Vela and its staff for being so gracious. The teams put on an angling clinic and we are already planning for bigger and better things for the second annual Bisbee’s Costa Rica Offshore in 2027.”
Photos courtesy of Sebastian Harris
