June 20, 2012

Panama Fishing Report - The Gulf of Chiriqui...Tunas and more!! - May 23 & 24, 2012

We had some time off from clients so Nancy, Steve, and I decided to head out on the Scandalous for a couple of days and see what we could drum up here in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama.




We left the lodge, on Wednesday the 23rd, with a live well full of blue runners we'd caught the previous day late around 11 o'clock. Perfect because we'd be fishing the rising tide. First we swung by Isla Ladrones, only 15 miles from the lodge here on Isla Paridas, to see if there was any activity going on. Nothing. So I decided to head out towards the area ten miles north of Isla Montuosa that we were hitting the big schools the Yellowfins last week. On the way out a Panamanian captain buddy of mine hails me on the VHF and says he's on a nice "Cardumen" or Tuna boil and gives me the coordinates. Only another 10 miles and sure enough we're into birds, working Porpoises feeding on small squid, and Tunas! We quickly put a couple nice 60# YFT on ice. Then finish up the day by releasing six more that we catch all one after the other right near the Porpoises dropping down live Blue Runners.



The Thursday the 24th we head out around a little earlier but we can see a big storm moving down south. We decide to try and slow troll some liveys for a little inshore action for a while to see if the weather clears up offshore. As the morning progresses we catch a nice Roosterfish, Cubera, and then weather clears up! We run out to near the same coordinates as the day before and once again we run into the birds and Porpoises and it's on! We slay a couple more YFTs and then start releasing the rest! We decide to take off early, after releasing another five or six, and head back to the lodge. Another great couple of days here in the Gulf of Chiriqui!



Captain Shane Jarvis