Nothing else looks like it. Seven long spines rise from the back like a rooster’s comb, and when a school drives baitfish into the surf the combs cut the surface in a line. People book flights for this.
Where you’ll see it
Along rocky points, beaches and river mouths the length of the coast, often in water shallow enough to wade. Boats out of Coco and the Papagayo marinas target them year round; the dry season is the classic time.
What to know
Roosterfish are an inshore predator with no commercial value and a poor table reputation, which is the best thing that ever happened to them: the whole culture around them is catch and release. A fish of 20 kilos is a good one, and larger exist. Keep the fight short and get it back in the water fast, and there will be one for the next person.
