Surface Fly Fishing for Machaca: Costa RicaвЂ™s Hidden Sportfish Realizing the importance of this fruit and imitating it with flies made machaca consistently catchable and turned them into a viable gamefish. Chilamate ranges in size from a small marble to the size of a tennis ball. It is common to see schools of feeding fish under a fruit tree attacking falling fruit as soon as it enters the water. WeвЂ™ve discovered the machacaвЂ™s primary food source where we fish comes in the form of a small fruit called Chilamante that falls from the trees. With such a diverse diet we have spent the past several years honing in on what flies work best for these fish and why. While this is their main diet, they will also eatsmall fish, insects, and anything else they decide to sink their razor sharp teeth into. They have a largely vegetarian diet, consisting of a variety of fruits, nuts, seeds, and flowers that fall into the rivers at different times throughout the year. Machaca are a cousin to piranha and live in Costa RicaвЂ™s low to mid elevation rivers. Landing these large fish in a flowing river with tons of fallen trees will test even the most seasoned fly anglers. For me, no fish in the jungle comes close to the thrill of a big machaca on fly.

Various elevations ranging from sea level to over 10,000 feet offer unique habitats that hold rainbow trout, tropical panfish called Mojarra, Guapote, also known as Rainbow Bass, Jaguar Guapote, Bobo Mullet, various gar species, and Machaca.ДЄs a fly fishing guide living in Costa Rica for the past four years, IвЂve had the thrill of discovering what this Costa Rica has to offer to anglers willing to get out of their comfort zone and chase new species. While Costa Rica has long been known for offshore billfish, its freshwater fishing scene has largely been overlooked.ДЄlthough Costa Rica is roughly the size of West Virginia, it boasts and incredible array of freshwater fishing opportunities for venturing fly anglers. Freshwater Machaca: Costa RicaвЂ™s Hidden Sportfish on a Fly RodД¬osta Rica is world renowned for its incredible biodiversity and untouched, pristine environment Wildlife and nature lovers from around the globe venture here to seethe jungleвЂ™s immense populations of exotic birds and land animals.

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