Propiedad de Paradise - Panama Sport Fishing Lodge

Video from Hannibal Bank - Video - Yellowfin Tunas are Back!

2012-01-16T22:10:00.000-05:00

Yellowfin Tuna Frenzy caught out near Hannibal Bank and Isla Montuosa. The Tunas are back here in the Gulf Of Chiriqui for 2012! Check out the feeding frenzy video as Yellowfin Tunas and birds crash bait balling up near a floating log 40 mile offshore with the crew of the TOP Cat!

Panama Fishing Report - Family Fun in the Gulf of Chiriqui! - January 4-7, 2011

2012-01-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

The Widner family from Galveston,Texas joined us at Propoiedad de Paradise Lodge, Isla Paridas for a few days of fishing and fun here in the Gulf of Chiriqui, Panama last week. The whole family enjoyed the calm seas and great fishing we had out on the TOP Cat at Hannibal Bank, Isla Montuosa, and Isla Ladrones.

We were able to raise quite a few Black Marlin as the bite out at Isla Montuosa, the week preceding the full moon, was epic. The first day, not five minutes into fishing, we had a monster nearly spool Wray's reel and spit the hook! An hour later another monster came and ate the short bait. As she swam past the back of the TOP Cat I noticed that she was a long as the beam of the boat! At least twelve feet long and at least 750 pounds! She ate the short bonito first, spit it, then went and ate the bridled Blue Runner on the left rigger, I grabbed the left rigger rod and put the reel into free-spool as Johnny manned the short bait. Just as we thought she was going to eat my Blue Runner she spits it and goes back to the short bonito! Johnny's ready and lets her eat for a good 8 seconds before he puts the Tiagra to strike, reels hard, and has her hooked good as she jumps and thrashes peeling line of the singing reel. And hour and a half into the fight we had our shot as Wray got her close enough and had the wind on into the reel. As Johnny the mate grabbed the leader the fish exploded into the air and ran off another 200 yards of line! Three and a half hours later Wray was exhausted. The big fish decided to sound down underneath the boat and just sat there. We put the 5/0 Tiagra spooled with 80# line into the rod holder and tried for another 30 minutes as we got inch by inch a few more feet until the line finally snapped. What a fight! We had a couple of more chances on the Blacks as we had a few more up in the spread the following couple of days but none would eat. We got a nice Pacific Sailfish and missed two more as we concentrated on trying to get another shot at a Marlin for Wray.

In the afternoons we concentrated on different action to get the kids involved and caught a wide variety of fish including Cubera Snappers, Wahoos, Mullet Snappers, Amberjacks, and Dorado. Enjoy the pics!!

Some new photos of the Lodge!

2011-12-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd share some photos of the lodge after the work that Steve, Bernabe, Nancy and I have done recently. We had to rip the floors out of both bathrooms due to some shody construction techniques from the builder that had the floors actually collapsing. We replaced the wet and rotted out floors with plycem, a cement fiber board material, and had a local tile guy come out to the island and tile the bathrooms. Also we had to cut out a couple of portions of the floors in the main house and guest house and retile as well. Over the last couple of weeks Steve and Bernabe replaced over 15 posts under the house also due to poor construction techniques. The house was sagging in a few spots so bad that the doors wouldn't shut! Steve did it right. Replacing all of the the failing posts that were not set in concrete nor protected in any way from the elements. The builder just set posts into the ground for the water and termites to destroy. What a learning experience this has been. From the roofs on all buildings we had to replace two years ago, to the floors that are sagging and rotted beams under the deck....I have learned that pretty isn't necessarily sturdy. With all of the elements to deal with out here on the island the rain, humiditly, termites, leaves, animals.... If you don't take these into account your bound to run into problems.

Check out

Fishing Report - Hannibal Bank, Panama - Dec. 12, 2011

2011-12-19T08:01:00.000-05:00

Ben and Jeff co-owners of AddictiveAngler.com came out to stay on the island for a couple of nights and fish one day with us. We started out on Sunday, after I picked them up in Boca Chica, making the 12 mile run out to Isla Paridas and catching bait right out in front of the lodge. After a couple of hours both live wells were filled with over 3 dozen blue-runners (green jacks) and the the trash bag was filled with the same number of empty beer cans!

The next morning we made our way out to Hannibal Bank. The seas were pretty rough, on and off rain showers, and it took a little longer to get there than usual. It seems than the rainy season doesn't want to leave. Upon arrival at the "high spot" there was a hell of a mark on the sonar. Tons of bait! We put out the bonitio rigs, picked up 6 nice bonitos right off the bat, and stuck them in the Tuna tubes. I had hoped to tease a Black Marlin with a slow trolled bridled bonito but after having 4 eaten by the porpoises it became evident that I had to try something else. We switched up to try a few drifts. I put two bridled blue-runners down and three on top to see what would take. Right off the bat a top bait gets eaten by a big Sailfish! One spectacular jump and he throws the hook. Gone. Not three minutes later.....Bam! One of the down baits gets hammered! A nice 40# Amberjack! A couple more drifts over the mark produced a couple nice eating size Dorados, a nice 50# Cubera Snapper, and another nice AJ. Then on the last drift of the day Ben drops down a 200 gr. butterfly jig on his little Stella 10K filled with braid and gets tight! Two and a half hours, three angler changes, and about one hundred circles over this what must have been a BIG Tuna and finally pulls the hook. Damn! Not a good way to end it but we had consistent action the whole day.

We took it back to the lodge with the box full of meat. Liz, our chef, cooked it up nice with Dorado fingers and grilled Pargo. Great day out on Hannibal Bank!

Changes in Paradise, that is Changes in Panama

2011-12-15T09:23:00.000-05:00

Every blue moon or so Propiedad de Paradise on Isla Paridahas to travel into the “real” world. Today on the travels we encountered new construction at every airport onthe way. It’s nice to see so much change, but with the new---the curmudgeon inme likes the old. Don’t worry, we willadopt the new instantly, but I miss the San Blas Indians sitting at the frontof Albrook; I now have to go upstairs before I get on a plane at Tocumen to geta cup of Sancocho; and in David at Malek there are automatic sliding glassdoors.

Here are some pictures of all of the new changes in Panama.

Construction of the new David, Panama Malek Airport Expansion

Construction of the new Panama City Albrook Airport Expansion

New Food Court at Tocumen Airport in Panama City

New Watering Hole at Tocumen Airport in Panama City

Sport Fishing in Panama with the Addictive Anglers

2011-12-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

Isla Paridas has survived another rainy season and we are ready for the Panama Fishing season to begin. The fishing is always great in Panama, but it gets only better from December - May.

Propiedad de Paradise is Island luxury in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with virtually everything at your fingertips. The lodge is in the Chiriqui National Marine park and offers a totalimmersion in nature with white sand beaches lined with palm trees, boat tripsto uninhabited agate beaches, kayaking into the mangroves, bird watching, whalewatching, swimming, snorkeling or world class sport fishing.

Whether you want to relax, get away from it all, or fish the HannibalBank, the lodge offers the Paradise Clubhouse with gourmet cuisine,air-conditioned casitas, free WI-FI, and unparalleled island hospitality.

But if the real reason is that you want to sport fish...this is it! Yesterday we hit the Hannibal Bank with the owners of the Addictive Angler, Jeff & Ben. The two AA anglers make fishing an experience of a lifetime...even when you are working. The fun day started out with a small wager on the weather...and the weather won. It was nasty, swells, and rainy...not our normal dry season day. With all of the weather we still had an incredible day. The fishing report will follow soon with all of the details!!

Black Marlin, Hannibal Bank - November 10,2011

2011-11-12T14:51:00.000-05:00

After listening to all the reports of Marlin being caught out on Hannibal Bank last week I finally got out there to see for myself what all the talk was about. First time customer, but no stranger to Panama fishing, Andrea Gonella and I got out to the Bank about 45 minutes before the tide change around 9 AM.
It took a little longer to get out to the Bank due to the seas being a good 2-4 feet. But the water clarity was good and there was quite a bit a bait around. We quickly put 4 nice bonitos in the tubes and began to troll a couple of them with 2 live Blue Runners out in the spread. Not ten minutes later the short bonito gets eaten! Andrea gets to the rod, opens the reel, and lets the fish eat for for seemed an eternity. He flips the lever to strike and winds down hard. A nice Black Marlin about 300# breaches the surface and makes two or three more acrobatic jumps. My mate and I bring in the other baits while the Andrea manages the Marlin that is peeling 80# mono off the 5/0 Tiagra. I begin to back down. Ten minutes later, and a few more sweet jumps, Andrea has the fish to the boat and Jorge has got the leader.
The seas continued to get rougher as the day went on and the wind started to blow. We slow trolled the liveys for a while longer around the bank. The bait was in thick but couldn't get any more takers. We proceed to set a few drifts over the high spot where I was getting a strong mark on the sonar in hopes of a Tuna or AJ. A couple of baits down, one drifting on top, and one bait up on the kite for for drifts and only managed to get a couple of strikes from small fish. It had turned off.
We decided to make a move to Isla Montuosa.The weather continued to worsen and rose to a good 6 feet. We noticed a mark of birds on the radar and went to check it out. We found a floating piece of plywood. Andrea pitches a blue runner to a big bull dorado, who enhales it, and he's tight! A few minutes later the fish is boatside, a 30#er easily, jumps and he throws the hook right before my mate can get to him with the gaff. Damn!
After that we make it to Montuosa get a few more bonitos but the weather gets too sloppy and we head back to the lodge. Even though we didn't do too well in the afternoon it paid of getting to the Bank early to get the early bite!

Black Marlin Video from Hannibal Bank and decent inshore action from last week!

2011-09-08T16:34:00.000-04:00

Anglers Jason Laskey and Andrew Lewis from south Florida fished with me last week for three days here out at Propiedad de Paradise Lodge, Isla Paridas. We had planned for three days of venturing out around Hannibal Bank and Isla Montuosa in search of the YFTs that have been hanging tough around that area for the past few months. Jose (my mate) and I spent a day catching bait before the guys arrival and managed to fill the livewell moored out in front of lodge with 4 dozen blue-runners. Shortly after the clients arrival one of the outboards starts acting up! Two trips back to Boca Chica to meet the mechanic to figure it out and we still can't get the motor stop it's intermitent sputtering. With our other boat down and awaiting new motors on order I had no choice but to fish the crippled T.O.P. Cat inshore. I couldn't risk running the 40+ miles to the bank with that issue.

We took it easy and fished near the lodge here at Isla Paridas archipelago the first day and went 2 for 4 on Roosters and caught a few Horse-eye Jacks. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at an anchored shrimp boat and traded a 12 pack of Panama beer and 5 cigarettes for about 20 lbs of shrimp! Not a bad deal. The second day we putted out to Isla Ladrones. Upon arrival at “Bajo Ocho” (an under water sea mount just south of the island) we come up on a Black Marlin going nuts and thrashing/feeding topwater on a huge school of Rainbow Runners! We toss a live blue-runner to him but he won’t eat. He’s too fixated on the Rainbows. We try and catch a Rainbow, to no avail, and also have a problem getting Bonitos. Me move on to “La Finckita” another small mount near Ladrones and find a great mark on the sounder and drop our baits. Bam! 50# Amberjack on a live runner. Next drift we catch another on a Jig. We end up getting a few more average AJ’s after a couple of more drifts and not a bad day after all. On the way in we see a free jumping Humpback Whale and 5 or 6 more before we get back to the lodge. The whales are here in full force now.

The last day, due to my engine issue, I arranged with a friend of mine Capt. Lou to take us out to Hannibal Bank. Lou’s got a pretty nice 37’ Strike w/twin diesels and a tuna tower so we went out to Hannibal in style. An hour and a half later we arrive and don’t have any problem catching Bonitos. We fill all four tuna tubes up within 15 minutes. Jose and I bridle up two bonitos and run them out on the flat lines. One short and one long. After slow trolling our baits for a few minutes we see some small YFT’s busting the surface and decide to run a couple bridled Blue-runners out on the riggers to see if we can pick one up. Expecting a big YFT or Marlin, we only had wind-ons on the 5/0 setups with 80# mono that we were fishing with bonitos. We had the blue runners out on 3/0 setups with 50# mono and no wind-ons! As I’m letting out my runner on the port rigger it gets eaten. I let him eat, eat, eat, eat and then flip the lever drag to strike on the small 3/0 Tiagra. The line goes tight and pops down off the outrigger clip. I wind hard and gently raise the rod tip to let the 10/0 circle hook do it’s job. As I come tight on him we realize it’s not a tuna but a big Black Marlin! He just had to eat the one set-up without a wind on. I hand the rod to Jason and the fight is on! A couple of dozen spectacular jumps and an hour and fifteen minutes later he makes his last jump and lands on/cuts the line. If we would have had a rig with a wind-on we technically would have had a catch because we had him within 15 feet of the transom on a number of occasions. Anyway it’s always a great thing to see, it was Jason’s first fight with a Black Marlin, and I got some good footage. After that we got a couple small YFTs then decided to move to Isla Montuosa. Once at Montuosa we set up and drifted our liveys directly over a couple of high-spots on the reef. A nice Blue Trevalle, Mullet Snapper, and decent size Cubera wound up the day and we headed back to the lodge. Thanks to Jason and Andrew for being such good sports even with the engine issue. And special thanks to Lou for getting us out there on the last day of the guy’s trip and putting us on the fish.

Link to Video of Jason fighting Black Marlin....................

Recent Guest's Report from PDP!

2011-07-16T20:04:00.000-04:00

Jay Warner recently posted this to Bloodydeck's forum...............

"Alright folks, we just got settled back here in the States after our summer adventure in Panama. Thanks to BD for having such an information packed fishing forum. I have been able to have succesfull trips all over the world thanks to the captains and reports posted on here.

After contacting PSFL, Chad and Pesca who all gave me great information we chose to fish with Shane Jarvis/fishpanamatoday.com, and stay at his Island lodge Propiedad de Paradise. Our first trip out with Shane was a day charter leaving from his home port of Pedegral. We managed to make bait quickly and headed to Hannibal Bank for the day where we put the screws to a few YFT up to 80 lbs. Man if the average down there is what we were catching, I can't imagine what the season must be like. I hear it is off the the charts during April and May. After a long day on the water we headed to the Casa and came back the next day to Pedegral to pick some fresh Tuna that Steve had clean and waiting on us. These guys provide first class service.

Our next trip out with Shane was to his Island Lodge for 5 days. We were picked up at Boca Chica where we took a quick 20 minute ride out to the island. Once we arrived it was like being a King for the next few days. They took us to shore, showed us our rooms and told us to relax that they had it covered. As expected we were all a little apprehensive about staying on an Island in the middle of no where but I'm here to tell you this place was incredible. Shane has it all figured out, our villa had 4 bunks and a master suit, a unique outdoor shower with all the hot water you could wish for, a nice Sony flat screen, a Wii for the kids and an A/C that will literally freeze you to death if you set it to low and forget about it. By the time we had finished our inspection our luggage was delivered to us and supper was being prepared. Seeing as how the lodge is Ocean front at low tide it became a play ground for the kids, they can walk a quarter mile out on the rock sea bed and discover all sorts of creatures hiding in the pools of water. There imagination's were running wild. In the mean time Chef Steve prepared supper, fixed our plates for us and served us in style. We turned in early so we could be well rested for a day of fish slaying the next morning.

The next day we headed to Isla Montousa where we worked hard for a Black Marlin but couldn't get any love from them. So we switched over to shallower water and picked a nice fat Cubera and my wifes all time best YFT. Headed back to the hill where we ate Cubera for supper that night and rested well. We took the next day off and enjoyed the serenity of the Island. Next day out we tried to raise a Marlin again at Montousa with no luck. Flew the kite for a while and picked up a mixed bag of creatures doing that. The highlight of the day for my Wife and kids was a school of porpoise who hung around the front of the boat for about and hour, jumping and splashing them as they tried to feed them bread to keep them around. They also were talking Dolphin to them which I'm sure kept them near the boat, the Dolphin language almost caused the guys to join the porpoise in the water. Back to the lodge for an unreal supper of fresh YFT and macaroni/cheese to die for.

Shane and his crew have got it figured out. The lodge is the closest to all the popular fishing grounds like Hannibal and Montousa. There World Cat 33 makes for a quick comfy ride out and when you are tired from a long day on the water it is nice to only have an hour run to get home. These guys can outlast the most seasoned fishermen and are capable of backing it down a few notches to make it enjoyable for a family like us. So I would highly recommend Shane and his lodge Propiedad de Paradise.

I'll get more pictures up later. For some reason I am picture upload illiterate."

View ther original post on Bloodydeck's forum at http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/costa-rica-panama/341493-you-need-fish-panama-today.html.

Good Day on Hannibal Bank! - June 29th 2011

2011-07-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

Greetings from Isla Paridas! The LaSala family has been with us for a couple of days of fishing, fun, and adventure here in Panama. Before our trip yesterday out to Hannibal Bank the weather was looking a little grey from the porch of the lodge overlooking the Pacific. After passing through a couple of rain storms the clouds cleared, the sea calmed and the hour and a half ride in the T.O.P. Cat to the Bank was nice.

Once we arrived we put the bonito rigs down and trolled a couple of feathers in hope of catching a few to put in the tuna tubes. After a few minutes of passing over the high spots on the Bank it was evident that we were going to have a tough time getting bonitos. They have been pretty scarce the past couple of weeks at the bank so I decided to just go with the blue runners and goggle-eyes we imported from the live well at the lodge.

Not enough wind to fly the kite. So after passing over a massive mark on the Furuno I calculated our drift. My mate Johnny and I put two baits down (one gog, one runner) and two on top to see what happens. And Bam! Not two minutes into the drift the gog on top gets eaten. As Johnny is handing the rod to Mike LaSala.....Boom! The runner on the down get slammed! Mike's Dad John in on! Double Header! After twenty minutes of running the boat in circles, yelling at eachother, and passing rods over and under to avoid entanglement we gaff to nice YFTs.

Three or four more drifts passing over the "parte seca" with the huge red biomass showing on the chart produced Yellowfins, another YFT, Amberjack, and a nice Dog Snapper as well. What a good day! Enjoy the pics....................

Check out our Facebook page for more reports and pictures from Isla Paridas, Panama!

Long time............no posts. Fishing's been good!

2011-05-09T19:42:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We've really had our hands full.....But the past few weeks of fishing have been nothing less than phenomenal here around Isla Paridas in the Gulf of Chiriqui! Large numbers of Yellowfin Tuna have been hanging around Hannibal Bank and Isla Montuosa and the bite has been off the hook! Propiedad de Paradise's clients were witness to one of natures most intense encounters. Multiple feeding frenzys as the fish, birds, and porpoises moved through the gulf devouring any bait that stood in their way. Bait holding on any floating logs or debris was the scene of mass chaos as the gang of three desimated the huddling blue runners, goggle eyes, sardines, and triggerfish upon sight. Casting poppers, dropping jigs, bridled runners and bonitos were all virtually automatic as we followed the birds and dolphin with the tunas in tow. Also had some nice Dorados, Roosters, and Sailfish. We haven't wired a Marlin in three weeks but have had more than a dozen shots and have seen even more. Enjoy the pics.....

Captain Shane

Couples Retreat - Panama Fishing Paradise

2010-11-17T13:56:00.000-05:00

Video of one of Dr. Alves's marlins.

2010-08-03T16:59:00.000-04:00

Dr. Alves's Marlin

2010-08-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

A few quick pictures of one of the marlin's off Isla Montuosa two weeks ago.

Father's Day Charter

2010-06-22T11:23:00.001-04:00

Propiedad de Paradise welcomed Kirk Floek, his wife Susam (not Susan), and Susam's Dad Rodolfo for a special Father's Day offshore.

The crew went 3 for 5 out on the Hannibal Bank, missing a Big Black Marlin in the begining of the day but managed to to boat 3 monster tunas the biggest being easily 240 lbs. Amazingly, aft...er a two and half hour fight, Rodolfo caught the big yelllowfin on a 3/0 setup! It was the biggest fish he's ever caught. What a great Father's Day gift.

It's Guest Blog Sunday featuring Jackie Ralston

2010-05-15T18:12:00.000-04:00

Panama – Wow, what a country!!!! For nature lovers, like my family, there are endless options easily accessed by car, boat and plane in just a short amount of time.

Let’s start with water. A one hour flight from Panama City to David, 45 minute taxi ride to the water and 15 minutes by boat brings you to a breathtaking paradise….your private island eco-lodge called Propiedad de Paradise. It sure is paradise – solar powered energy provides light and air conditioning to provide perfect comfort while enjoying Nature’s offerings – white sand beach, turquoise water, brilliantly colored birds in the nearby trees, turtles swimming lazily in view, kayaking, sunsets and of course easy access to what for many is the main event – fishing. Both inshore and offshore offered by Capt. Shane Jarvis who is a total pro in knowing where to find the fish that will send you home telling TALL tales, that this time…..will be true!!! Just look at the website for the amazing photos of sport fish catches. After an exciting day on the water you return to comfort and a simply delicious dinner. This destination is one that adventurous travelers looking for comfort and privacy search the world ….well, let me tell you …..here it is. Sssshhhh…let’s keep it our secret.

Next to the mountains – a little speck of a village just north of Penenome is home to Posada Ecologica also know as Cerro La Vieja. You will find yourself surrounded by Mountains, hilly landscapes, distant ocean views and cooler temperatures. We feel the need to visit several times a year as the property abounds with lush tropical gardens attracting the showy birds Panama is famous for. You could go hiking, but you can also sit on the terrace, drink famous Panamanian coffee and take award winning photographs of Blue Motmots, Red legged honey creepers, Hummingbirds, Chachalacas ETC!!!!! Secret destination #2!

Meanwhile back in Panama city…..the beginning and the end of almost everyone’s itinerary. You can stay in hotel categories of all descriptions while choosing to dine at world class restaurants ….choose your cuisine style. View ruins of the old old city or wander the old city now, a UNESCO world heritage site, soon a Frank Gehry bio-diversity museum will be open and in between sneak a walk on the Pipeline road……a destination that attracts birders from all over the world, but also a great place to see Monkeys and Sloths.

So in case I need to spell it out for you….give yourself enough time to DO IT ALL. Have fun. Jackie Ralston

A Tale of Two Panama Fishing Lodges - (Mostly a tale of one)

2010-04-28T19:53:00.001-04:00

About eight months ago, I receive an email from a Jim Kimball, introducing himself as the owner/operator of Tranquilo Bay in Bocas Del Toro, Panama. He congratulated us on opening a new fishing lodge on the Pacific side, and invited us to visit and share the trials, tribulations, and follies of construction on a remote island. We drove from David to the port of Almirante on the Atlantic side last week to take the water taxi to Bocas del Toro. The following pictures reflect the flavor of this community , which is slowly returning to the earth in the form of rust.

View Full Album

The water taxi to Bocas takes about 15 minutes, and is a welcome ride out of Almirante, past the port and across the bay. Bocas del Toro reminds me of early Key West. Very early Key West.

Jim met us at Starfish Coffee with two of his guides (both botanists) and we were off for the 10 mile trip to Isla Bastimentos on which his lodge is located.

Jim and Jay, his partner have lived on the island for 10 years constructing, and now operating for the last 5, this most impressive facility. Their story is best explained on the Tranquilo Bay web site.

Frankly we had a great time trading stories (they have a lot more than we do) and listening to how they managed to put this very well thought out, and extremely well appointed lodge together. Here are a few pictures…..

I know you probably were not interested in their generator house, how they store potable water, but we were, and after all this is my blog.

Both Jim and Jay are excellent anglers, and apparently the tarpon fishing in this location is equal to or better than Costa Rica. There will be more on this subject as we are working on a unique Panama fishing adventure that will utilize the unique features and locations of both our lodges.

An Allbum with no fishing pictures!

2010-04-26T18:12:00.002-04:00

We had a very nice couple from Corvallis, Oregon stay with us for four days in late March. They were working their way home after a voyage to Tahiti. John and Gretchen took many pictures as they hiked, and canoed around the island. As you can see, all of these are better than the ones I post, so no need to reply to this post with that comment.

An Album by John & Gretchen

Dad caught the big one in Chiriquí!

2010-04-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

I can't even begin to best this article, so just follow this link:
http://www.focuspublicationsint.com/New_Site/Visitor16-16/sixth.html#Top

Sometimes there is a lot to be said for not saying a lot......

"we traded these delicacies for an exquisite homemade meal, drinks and good company"

2010-04-19T10:34:00.005-04:00

I had forgotten this nice event until Nancy reminded me of it over the weekend. I think this occurred on February 6th and the 7th.

Late in the day on the 6th we were at the table on the front deck, and watched as a sailboat came from the south and anchored off Isla Gamez. We watched their inflatable depart their vessel and went back to our cocktails. About an hour later, four young nice looking people come walking up the path from the beach.

After introducing themselves (Brad, Chad, Tyler, and Nikki) related that they were on a trip around the world, and could they buy some rum. Its hard to beat a trip around the world story, so we gave them what little was left from the prior weeks fishing charter, and off they went promising to return the next evening for dinner.

Return they did! They brought oysters, two wonderful fish, coconuts, and a couple of lobsters. We had a great meal and even better conversation listening to their adventure to date and plans for the months to follow.

Their Panama Island blog is: http://sailbrokencompass.blogspot.com/2010/02/pamama-islands.html

Their website is: http://www.sailbrokencompass.com/

We wish them well and will continue to follow their progress. Great kids on a great adventure!

Picking up the T.O.P. Cat in Costa Rica

2010-04-17T17:47:00.000-04:00

I have been going back through some older photos that I have taken as we continued to equip our lodge on Isla Parida.

We drove from David on November 24 to Golfito, Costa Rica as the T.O.P. Cat was to arrive the following day from Ft. Lauderdale. I had never been to Golfito, and as you can see from the pictures, it is somewhat less glamorous than I had anticipated.

Paperwork was completed the following day and we were transported out to pick up our World Cat. Back to the Banana Bay Marina late in the day, we remained overnight, and left the following morning for Isla Parida.

A beautiful 90 or so mile trip on Thanksgiving Day.

Fish Cleaning Station

2009-12-04T19:51:00.000-05:00

We started the work on Monday to build a new structure for cleaning fish, permanent location for our grill, and smoker which is on the way.Pictures that follow, more or less detail the 4 days that it took Steve and I to complete. We decided initially to put some extra effort into detailing so as to keep a consistent standard with the rest of the lodge. We were fortunate to have enough of the roofing material left over from the recent re-roof of the lodge to keep a consistent look.
We will fish next week!

Thanksgiving has come and gone.

2009-12-01T19:19:00.000-05:00

Rainy season has come to an end with the passing of November. We hope that the thanksgiving holiday was a special one for all, while most of us were enjoying the holiday state side the crew of Propiedad de Paradise was making final preparations for our first full year in operation. On November 23rd the Top Cat our 33 foot World Cat Tournament Edition arrived in Golfito , Costa Rica, we spent a wonderful day bringing her the 90 plus miles back to the Island. The Pacific ocean was calm and very clear as it is most of the time here in Central America, we trolled for a while and caught some nice dolphin. While trolling we spotted several Pacific Sail fish in the area, the trip was approximately 4 hours from Golfito to Isla Parida and we enjoyed every minute of it. Thursday November 25th Thanksgiving day we had a great meal with our good friends at Gone Fishing Panama what a great way to spend Thanksgiving with good friends great food and a great view of the Pacific Ocean. The next few weeks we will spend doing annual maintenance on the Lodge and completing some new projects such as building a new fish cleaning station. Please do not think that it has all been work the pictures below show the World Cat leaving sunny South Florida, some of the fish we caught in the trip from Golfito.

Sometimes you just get lucky!

2009-09-13T19:07:00.000-04:00

On Saturday August the 29 we had a fairly bad storm blow in from the east late in the afternoon. This was the first time we had brought our supply & fuel barge to the island and had not tested the mooring. We spent two hours on the beach making sure it was riding well and would not pull the mooring. Everything fine, storm passed, and we left at dusk for the house.
Sunday morning, walked to the beach, looked out and no barge. Not a great way to start the day! Looked down from the overlook to find the Burro del Mar washed up on the rocky part of our beach. A closer inspection reveled a lot of scraped off bottom paint, a few dents in the bottom and side, but no impact on the engines or props.
We waited till the tide began to rise (we have about a 16 foot normal tide), levered it around & off the rocks, and floated it to open water. No leaks, no major damage, and this day was looking much better. We think that one of the underwater lines just came untied.

Sometimes you just get lucky!

Florida Sportfishing Magazine

2009-09-01T18:52:00.000-04:00

Greetings all, I hope all is well, here is a link to a PDF file of the article in Florida Sport Fishing Magazine about Propiedad de Paradise. I went and purchased several copies of the magazine and I must say that the article looks much better in print. have a look but go out and purchase a copy of the magazine, the photos really come to life!! Once again thank you Steve Dougherty for your hard work. ( click on Propiedad de Paradise article under Magazine Cover)

Propiedad de Paradise Article

Completed Pictures of Lodge

2009-08-30T18:16:00.000-04:00

Greetings, now that you know how Propiedad de Paradise came about it only makes sense to show you a few pictures of the lodge now that it is finished. Most of these photos were taken during our last trip as you can see in some of them we spent a lot of hours preparing the lodge for clients, Bruce and Capt Ben Espinoza traded in their fishing poles for paint brushes, they painted and re-varnished the whole guest house. Capt Shane Jarvis and his trusty side kicks Billo and Bernabe put the final touches on the outside of the lodge and the Rancho (beach house) for the arrival of our guests. I was busy taking care of house keeping duties to prepare for thier arrival, a practice that I would prefer that my wife would not know about. Two weeks later the lodge was ready for our first guests Bart Suanders, Allen Savage, Edward Torres and Phil Kroyman. Capt Ben Espinoza will post a fishing report showing you the success they had on there trip as well as the week we spent with our friend Steve Dougherty, until than wishing you tight lines wherever you are fishing.

The birth of Propiedad de Paradise Lodge Big Game and Tuna Fishing

2009-07-28T11:17:00.000-04:00

My name is Cecil Broderick and the purpose of this blog is to keep avid fishermen and those with a sense of adventure informed about the goings on at Propiedad de Paradise owned and operated by my friends and partners Bruce Jarvis and Nancy Reagan. Before I can tell you what has been going on at the lodge I must fill you in on some of the background that brought us to this beautiful Island called Isla Parida and the lodge we now call Propiedad de Paradise. Approximately six years ago Nancy Reagan was in Panama with her sister doing some exploring of the mountainous region near and around Boquete looking for property to purchase and build a retirement home for herself and Bruce (boy are we way off course from that original idea) they walked into one of the many coffee shops, as Boquete is the main coffee region in Panama and met the owners of the cafe Dexter and his wife. Nancy asked them if they new of any property for sale that she and her husband could build a retirement home on, Dexter who was building a home on an island for a friend offered to take them out to see the island and the other available properties on it, Nancy fell in love with the island and chose a beautiful spot overlooking the pacific ocean and all of its glory. Construction began a year or so later on the property and a beautiful compound consisting of a main house and a guest house with decking in front of both houses all built from native woods and other local materials powered by solar power and a generator, the perfect retirement home. (not so fast)

In July of 2008 now that the house was complete Bruce, Nancy, my wife Cindy and I, as well as eleven other friends ventured to Panama to see this amazing home that Bruce and Nancy had built, about three days into our trip is when the formal idea of a fishing lodge began to take shape over a large bottle of rum on the front deck overlooking the ocean and the rest is a little bit fuzzy-- but I think that is where Propiedad de Paradise Fishing Lodge was born. The next year would see the plan go into effect with the building of a supply barge and obtaining all the needed equipment and paper work to open as a fishing lodge in Panama.

Welcome to Propiedad de Paradise, ground zero for Panama big game fishing and tuna fishing charters. This exotic sport fishing lodge is located off the northern coast of Panama on Isla Parida. Situated in the heart of the Chiriquí Marine Sanctuary and approximately 12-miles offshore from the second largest city in Panama. With its prime location just offshore of the rugged Pacific coastline, Propiedad de Paradise is situated near unique bottom contours and currents that provide the perfect arena for highly prized big game fish and tuna to flourish.

2009-07-26T21:25:00.000-04:00

For over 4 years, we have been building a fishing lodge off the Panama
coast of Panama for friends and family. This July, friends descended on our little place of Paradise to fish, eat copious amounts of tuna, wahoo, and smoked fish. This inaugural fishing trip will start the lodge availability for the best fishing in the world. The action never ceases as you will see from future photos and fishing reports.