If you are an angler who loves the spectacular, Costa Rica is the place to be.

Between now and the end of April, Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast is home to one of the world’s most anticipated billfish bites. During this period Los Sueños Marina (Jacó/Herradura) and the newer Pez Vela Marina (Quepos/Manuel Antonio) will as always host some of the calendar year’s most prestigious international billfish tournaments, which can often attract sportfishing teams and boats from more than 30 countries.

It is not unusual for boats to raise 25-30 billfish – mostly Pacific Sailfish – during a full-day offshore charter. There are Blue, Black and Striped Marlin as well, the latter two species not nearly as prevalent as the first in Costa Rican waters. An average Sailfish:Marlin ratio on a good sportfishing day is 10-12:1.

Two other key factors, among many, also enter the picture of why Costa Rica is such an attractive sportfishing destination during mid-December through April. First, when the bite is on, boats don’t have to go out very far – 45-60 minutes max from either Los Sueños or Pez Vela. So a full day’s fishing is in reality, a full day’s fishing. If you leave the marina at 7 AM and come back at 4 PM, seven of those nine hours on the water are prime fishing time. Many places elsewhere, it’s two-and-a-half /three hours to where the bite is, and the same time coming back.

Second, Costa Rica has a superb sportfishing charter fleet. The sportfishing captains available for charter out of Los Sueños and Pez Vela are second to none. Charter sportfishing emerged in Costa Rica in the 1960s and 1970s; adventurous guys like Don McGuinness (father of IGFA record-holder Captain Bobby McGuinness) in Sierpe/Golfito; Harry Gray in Quepos, and Randy Wilson (who is still fishing on his 38ft Talking Fish) in Tamarindo, brought their boats to Costa Rica’s emerging beach resort towns and opened up shop.

Their success, and the record number of fish caught, attracted many other captains from outside the country.

Almost all of the original first- and second-generation charter captains who brought their boats here and offered sportfishing charters in Costa Rica were Americans, with a tiny sprinkling of Brits and Canucks. They took on Costa Ricans, most of them in their late teens and early 20s, who were the sons of local small-scale commercial fishermen, as mates and deckhands. Many of these young lads emerged from their training and experience as mates to become superb captains themselves.

One who immediately comes to mind is Daniel Espinoza, long-time captain of the 42ft Spanish Fly out of Los Sueños Marina. Fluently bilingual, a consummate international tournament-class captain and guide, and also mentor to another generation of even younger Costa Ricans, Daniel Espinoza has over the course of more than a dozen years become one of the most sought-after and best-known captains in the country. Daniel has one of the most highly-filled calendars anywhere.

Los Sueños Marina and Pez Vela Marina boast fine American, Canadian and local captains to guide you on an exciting billfish adventure. The 2014 billfish season has started off with a bang. Old hands say the bite will continue apace. If you relish the sight of and want to experience the adrenalin rush brought on by a spectacular billfish leap, now is the best time to make it happen.

This exclusive article comes courtesy of Americana Sportfishing which has been arranging sportfishing charters and complete sportfishing vacations in Costa Rica for the past 20 years.