Panama Fishing Report - BIG Cuberas and Tunas! - September 7-9, 2012

Although the "rainy season" here in Panama is supposed to be in full swing it sure does not seem like it. The weather has been unseasonably nice with little rain and sunshine and the seas have been smooth. Don't get me wrong...we have had a few inclement days but at least it was nice for our fishermen last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Friday I loaded up the livewell with Blue Runners I'd caught the day before and picked up Doug Mead in Boca Chica for an inshore day charter. He was hoping to catch his first Roosterfish. We got what he was looking for right off the bat with a small Rooster at Isla Paridas but the rest of the day was pretty slow. We did get a couple of decent Mullet Snappers at Isla Ladrones and missed an unusual amount of fish due to some bad luck with pulled hooks and break offs on the rocks. We saw a bunch of Humpback whales all around Isla Ladrones and got some good photos as well.

Saturday morning I picked up had a group of anglers from Panama City for a two day trip. Saverio, Bob, Paulo, and Greg otherwise known as Thor, Aquaman, The Green Lantern, and Captain America. It was a little rough so went directly to Isla Montuosa the first day and much to our dismay it was dead. No bait, no activity, nothing. I decided to head in the direction of Isla Ladrones because the day before I'd heard that friends of mine had found the Tunas in that direction. We ran around searching for the Tunas and found some birds working with some Porpoises. I noticed some good marks on the sonar with the Porpoises but the Tunas just did not want to eat our baits! We ended up dropping some baits down on a deep seamount near Isla Ladrones and Greg caught a monster Cubera Snapper and Saverio a nice Mullet Snapper. Pretty slow the first day.

Sunday morning the seas were nice so we shot directly to Hannibal Bank. As we pulled up to the high spot around 8:30am, much to my dismay, there was a long line drifting directly over the top of the bank. I had to manuver around and avoid trolling our Bonitio rigs over the longline not to tangle in it. We tried for a good half an hour to catch a few Bonitos for baits but they were scarce and wanted nothing to do with our rigs. We put the jigs down as well, in hopes of getting a Bonito, but no luck. I moved to another high spot that was close and the mark on the sounder was enormous! As soon as we put a Blue Runner down.......BAM! Inhaled by a big Cubera! The Green Lantern (Paulo) managed to get he fish to the boat for a photo and then it was released to fight another day. We missed a few more bites after drifting over the mark a few more times and finally Saverio puts the hook into a BIG Yellowfin Tuna and the fight is on! The Mighty Thor (Saverio) fought the fish for a good hour before relinquishing the rod to Aquaman (Bob) who took another 30 minutes before the fish was gaffed. The superhero duo did a great job tag teaming a 150# Tuna on a light tackle setup with 50# braided line. Not a bad couple of days here in the middle of the rainy season in Panama!

Captain Shane Jarvis

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Panama Fishing Report - Tunas, Dorados, and Mucho Action! - July 25 and 26, 2012

Dennis Roark and Victor Maddens flew in from Panama City and joined me for two day trip charter out of the marina just south of the David airport. The three days prior I had been out and the action was pretty slow so I wasn't too pumped up for the next two days.  These guys showed up in good spirits and brought their good karma with them because from the get go the weather was perfect and the action was solid for two days!
We ran strait to Isla Parida both mornings and and found the blue runners which, even though the fishing hasn't been great, have been thick the past couple of weeks. We shot directly out to Isla Ladrones on the first day to do a drive by, on the way to Isla Montuosa, to see if there was any activity. Big marks on the sonar and lots of birds we were going to give it a shot. Right off the bat once we put down some liveys it was solid action! Mullet Snappers were stacked up on Bajo Ocho, a seamount south of Isla Ladrones. Drift after drift we couldn't even get all three baits set out before one would get tagged. Caught a few and then I noticed a nice mark of birds on the radar about two miles out. We run out to the spot and we're into birds diving, Porpoises working, and a solid mark of bait on the sonar. We set out a few baits and within minutes we are in Tunas and Dorados! Solid action from then on out! We end up with 3 nice Yellowfin Tunas, a dozen Dorado with the biggest about 25 pounds, a Blue Trevalle, a Rainbow Runner, and who know how many Mullet Snappers for the day!
The next day pretty much went like the first. The action is at Ladrones so why run somewhere else? We caught a few more Mullet Snapper and Dorados right on the high spot at Bajo Ocho and then the Tunas showed up there in close and were hammering bait right on the surface. Another day of bait after bait getting eaten with constant action! The weather was perfect again and the guys had a great time. Enjoy the pics..........