Panama Fishing Report - Tony Peña & Family Visit - May 10-13 2013

During a pre-trip conversation I warned Armand that Panama was not anything like trolling for salmon. It's muscle straining, knock-down, sweaty, physical punishment at times that will make you regret not bringing pain pills. An open bar doesn't quite do it either. On the first day Armand mentioned he'd like to catch a dorado (reminiscing about the time he fished with me in Loreto, Baja) but I said there haven't been very many around since December. So the first fish hooked-up was a 45 lb. dorado about four miles from Isla Montuosa that worked him over pretty good. "Man those fish can pull hard!" he said after a 20-minute fight. "That's a good warm -up for the tuna" I said sort of as a caution to both of them.

With a Furuno radar that can pick up birds at a range of five miles it wasn't long before Capt. Jarvis pointed the bow in the right direction getting attention from other boats calling to verify that he saw something worthwhile to make a run at. "Lots of birds at 160 degrees" was enough info to get some followers. One or two distant birds soon turned into hundreds as spotted dolphin and tuna fed below. Preferring heavier trolling gear, we picked up 5 yellowfin from 30 to 70 lbs. on live cojinua and bigeye scad. That was enough for a "Welcome to Panama" day. The cold cocktails and great appetizers that greeted us back at the view lounge were welcomed. Nancy Reagan is a great chef with an eye towards nutrition and the meals were all special such as the seared ahi.

On May 12 we crossed the Banana Bank that was holding scattered schools of tuna. Using cojinua Armand and Valerie upped their size to 70 and 100 lbs., respectively, while we headed for north Jicaron. Casting for roosterfish along this stunning coastline elicited a few hits while a bluefin trevally stuck on the Roberts Ranger for a release. Valerie released a nice greenbar snapper at the rocky point on the northeast corner. Crossing the channel to Coiba, Capt. Jarvis was curious to see where I had spotted some tarpon the previous week. The conditions looked good with brown rainwater and lots of feeding "tijeretas" or frigate birds and pelicans but we couldn't see any tarpon signs (they usually surface periodically to gulp air). We released a few jack crevalle and headed for the lodge over smooth seas or was that just the "cats" smooth ride? The next morning I picked up 23 lbs. of live lobster for $100 and continued on with my Panama journey. "This is a trip of a lifetime!" was repeated more than once by Armand and Valerie. If you want a quiet, isolated location but with all the resort comforts and the opportunity to fish on the "Top Cat" with a Top Captain take a look at Propiedad de Paradise (shane@FishPanamaToday.com).

Tony Peña
"The Roving Angler"