Yellow bellies of Costa Rica
The first time I met one I jigging in a sea of coffee with cream colored water at the mouth of the Rio Colorado. Suddenly, a strike of nearly ripped the rod from my hand and a golden blur went flying behind the boat my size flew back to me as it was launched from a slingshot.
"What was that!" I asked my guide, Captain Eddie Brown. He laughed and replied, "Yellow Belly".
In the culture I grew up in a "yellow belly" is not a good thing. It usually meant you were afraid to do or try something and almost always had a challenge attached to it. As a kid I once had a stingray spine embedded between my thumb and forefinger before because I'd be a yellow belly, if I did not capture in a pot hole tidal mudflat low, pinching his eyes and pick it up. Of course, I will never forget the black eye I got to slam ramp Carol Diffenbach in seventh grade on another daring yellow belly. The last thing in my crowd of friends wanted to be was a "yellow belly."
In Costa Rica, a "Yellow Belly" is a fish, a tarpon actually, and some think it is a subspecies of atlanticus Megalops. It is also the most formidable of the bunch. They seem to be shorter and a tarpon squattier normal, but weigh more. They are yellow fish near gold and judging by the way they fight, should be tested for steroid abuse. The best way to describe a yellow belly is hanging a pinball bouncing off the bumpers. It moves so fast that most fishermen do not see just a blur when it becomes airborne.
Eddie Brown grew up in the jungle of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Nobody knows the waters better than him. In his half-century of fishing in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, he saw everything. When he was 18, he caught a snook £ 56, knowing nothing of the IGFA. Later, he holds record the test for £ 68 to £ 16 cubera snapper. His best fishing in tarpon day his boat jumped 126 tarpon landing 25. Now in his mid-50s he still has the fever as a young boy fishing. Usually the person who wins the annual tournament tarpon fishing in Barra del Colorado is on the fishing boat of Eddie.
According to Eddie, yellow bellies starting to appear in September and can be taken in November when the rains begin to fall on the coast. They arise when the dirty flood waters rushed through the mountains of Rio San Juan and the Rio Colorado. Fish are hanging from the mouth of the river. In recent months the weather on the Caribbean is bright and sunny, while regions mountain are in a flood. The ocean is as flat as a pancake.
Fishing at the mouth of the river may seem like a futile activity as dirty as the water is. One wonders how a fish could see a decoy in that nasty water. The water rushing soft floating above the Caribbean salt and below the water is clear enough. It is common to hook several yellow bellies in a days fishing.
Didiher Chacon is a biologist who directs the division of Latin America WIDECAST, an effort to conserve marine turtles. Years ago he worked on projects tarpon here with Dr. Roy Crabtree and I helped to collect samples for study.
Chacon explained it is actually the same fish, and not a subspecies. Many think it's a different fish, but the power that gives it its color. These fish are trapped, sometimes for years in backwater lagoons and Lake Nicaragua, where they feed mainly on crustaceans. This diet is loaded with axtasantina, a form beta-carotene, which changes the color of fish. It's the same reason flamingos are the color they are. Change their diet and they lose color. In zoos, flamingos are given beta-carotene in supplement form.
You really what you eat.
The yellow bellies find their way to the mouth of the river with flood waters that have them. They hang at the mouth of the river for a couple reasons. There are plenty of fresh water they used and there is a constant supply of what they are accustomed to eat down river.
The fish will either work there way back up the river or if they wish to remain in this new environment. If they do not diet will change the water level returns to normal and the silver will be back in their bodies.
As far as their attitude bull head, person No one really knows, maybe they are just celebrating their newfound freedom
About the Author
The Costa Rica Fishing expert submitting this article has resume (or C.V) that reads as follows: A trained U.S. lawyer, former Costa Rica charter boat owner and one original founder’s of the Costa Rica Classic fishing tournament. He is also bilingual in both English and Spanish. Our Costa Rica fishing expert is also the owner of 5 successful businesses in different fields with offices in the U.S., Costa Rica and Nicaragua and has 20 years experience living in Costa Rica.
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