Juan Carlos Méndez Gutierrez

Rating

Anglers' gallery (1489)

What anglers say

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  Sean Goodman

  Repeat angler

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  Wisconsin, US

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  Member since 2022

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  4 trips

  5.0

  Verified

  Captain Mendez was great, kids had fun, caught fish!

  Full Day Trip on August 11, 2026 • 4 adults

  We did a whole day offshore with Captain Mendez. Wife and daughter were not so keen on the 6 am start, but ya got to put in the hours if you want success on the water! (Son and myself were stoked!) We ended up landing a 45" mahi and a massive sailfish, estimated at 90". Kids were thrilled, especially my avid fisherman son, who was excited to add his catch to his FishBrain app. Toward the end of the trip we stopped in a bay close to Play Hermosa for some snorkeling. Conditions were slightly turbid but did end up seeing some iconic pacific reef fish. The usual damsels and parrot fish were abundant. Species of note included longnose Pufferfish, spotted porcupine fish, king angelfish, and a life list species for me...the iconic Morish Idol! While snorkeling, Captain Mendez whipped up some fresh mahi ceviche. Pretty sure my son ate 3/4 of it. He's 17 and needs to feed every 2-3 hours LOL. After freezing about 3lbs of the catch, we took what remained to a local restaurant, La Casita Del Marisco. The chef prepared the mahi 3 ways, two grilled and one blackened; and accompanied the fish with 3 different sauces and seasonal vegetables, rice, and beans. Dinner was amazing and at a very reasonable price! The remaining 3lbs, we saved for grilled fish tacos at our last stay of our CR trip in Jaco. Costa Rica was amazing and Captain Mendez made sure our time on the water was great from start to finish. Pura Vida!

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  Lance Childress

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  Texas, US

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  Member since 2026

  5.0

  Verified

  Best guided fishing trip we have ever been on!

  Full Day Trip on June 16, 2026 • 2 adults

  Caught 6 mahi, 2 tuna and a 92 inch sailfish which we will be getting a replica mount of. Captain Juan and his first mate were experienced anglers and worked hard to put us on fish. They also provided us with snacks including pineapple, local breads and sashimi made from some of the fish that we caught….delicious. Picked us up from the beach of our hotel and brought us back there at the end of the day. Would highly recommend Captain Juan to anyone considering a fishing trip in Costa Rica.

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  Response from Captain

  July 16, 2026

  Thank God we had a great time and made plenty of catches; we look forward to seeing you again soon.

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  Joris Rouchon

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  France

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  Member since 2026

  5.0

  Verified

  Fishing trip PM

  Half Day Trip (PM) on March 10, 2026 • 3 adults

  Nous voulions essayer la pêche au Costa Rica et notre expérience fut inoubliable! Nous étions à la recherche d’une espèce de poisson du nom de poisson-coq ou roosterfish, cependant les conditions n’étaient pas au rendez-vous pour ce poisson emblématique du Costa Rica. Pas grave ! Les thons jaunes étaient de sortie !! Munis d’une canne spinning et d’un leurre, nous étions à la traque des bancs de thons qui chassaient tout autour de nous, c’était spectaculaire ! Résultat : 5 jolies prises et de beaux souvenirs. Merci au capitaine et à son équipe qui ont été très agréable et qui on tout mis en oeuvre pour que cette sortie ce deroule au mieux pour nous.🔥🇨🇷

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  Brett Orr

  Repeat angler

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  Saskatchewan, Canada

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  Member since 2024

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  3 trips

  5.0

  Verified

  What a blast!

  Half Day Trip (AM) on January 31, 2026 • 1 adult

  This was my second time out with the captain. Him and his man on the boat were great, sharing fishing knowledge and just generally having a good time. The first time we went out was for Rooster fish and it was slow but we saw some dolphins and went and caught some Red Snapper to take home. The wind was up today but this time out we caught some snapper in the morning and then tried for something better landing a decent Jack Crevalle trolling, then back to the "honey hole" to get some more snapper before heading in. Carlos is a great guy, will be going out with him again when I visit.

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  Cody Vrem

  Repeat angler

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  North Dakota, US

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  Member since 2023

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  2 trips

  5.0

  Verified

  Costa Rican fishing

  Full Day Trip on January 20, 2026 • 3 adults

  We had a great time, captain and first mate were great and tried hard to mae sure our trip was good. we eneded up catching 4 rooster fish, a jack crevalle that the captain turned into shashimi which was so good. We also had numerous other bites. He made sure to bring live bait which was a game changer for us. There were other boats around us not having hardly any luck because they didnt bring any live bait. We 100% recommend fishing woth Captain Mendez!! Thanks again for the great day and next time we are in Costa Rica you will most definitely be getting a call to take us out again!!

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