This week we had Americans Chris, Roger and his son Logan join us for their first taste of what our lodge has to offer, they had a good insight of the tactics we extensively use here however they were open minded to learn more and fine tune to make the most of their trip and also get to grips with slow jigging, from the off the guys found consistent action on all methods. 

Throughout the week they found their fair share of big fish opportunities, a super unlucky moment when Chris had a huge cubera spit the hooks on the surface right beside the boat after a back breaking battle! Roger found an excellent specimen yellowtail corvina and Logan bagged a stunning cubera on the slow jig, they also had some solid frenzy action on the roosters and landed a whole host of species throughout the week, nice work guys! 

We also had Mariano’s group of 7 from Argentina, they started their trip steady but not prolific, after some minor adjustments to tackle mid-week and in combination with some solid frenzy action they ended the last few days with some quality action from lots of roosters, jacks and sierra’s! 1 boat landing 17 roosters in quick succession one afternoon. 

Lots of species for the guys throughout with the best fish going to Nacho with a quality Snook on the slow jig! 

We are now shut and reopen again in February ready for the high season, hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Year, here’s to hopefully a more positive and promising 2021 🤙🏼 

Tight lines, 

The Panafishing crew

Report - 07/12/20 

Finally our first group of clients could make it to us since the covid craziness, it was great to be back at it and seeing our customers returning to the lodge each day with fishy stories to tell. We had a few calm days but the guys had to battle with some more challenging windy conditions which didn’t make the fishing easy for them! 

Our first group was Americans Pete, Rick and Geoff, avid anglers but their first time with this style of top water and jig fishing. For their first trip these guys done very well, they returned to the lodge on their first day with 13 species already under their belt and the rest of the week followed suit! 

They ended the week on 24 species with plenty of action throughout totalling over 30 roosterfish for the week with some nice ones in mix and a Panafishing 1st - Rooster on the fly, in-fact make that 3! They had a few opportunities at big cuberas but unfortunately each time the cuberas found the better of them, gutting! 

We also had single angler Alexis join us from France this week, he managed an array of species each day but unfortunately had countless big fish opportunities but a combination of factors tackle wise and some seriously bad luck meant it just really wasn’t happening for him, lots of roosters lost and bigger Amberjacks crunching tackle. Both Kieren and Pierre joined him on separate occasions to aid some tuition and good luck which produced lots of activity and some great fish. Regardless some great lessons learnt and he’s eager for redemption come round 2!

After another series of cancellations from Europe due to travel restrictions, we are finally hosting our first group since March. I want to grab this opportunity to remind everyone that we are open for business, that the area is safe, and travelling to Panama is fairly easy. All you need is a negative COVID test, which you can actually do on arrival at the rapid testng facility, where it only costs 50 dollars and takes about 25 minutes to get the results.

Most importantly, I would like to introduce Kieren, ou new staff member. Kieren comes from the UK where he runs the succesful and acclaimed Lo Kie Adventures charter. He is a great guy and a wonderful addition to the Panafishing team. Please check out his website for some of the best fishing Europe has to offer:

www.lokieadventures.com

Kieren was eager to fish and discover the grounds, so we spent 4 days on the water last week. Overall we found fishing to be patchy, more so from the patchy water clarities we experienced from the previous poor weather through November, often having to work hard for our results in the decreased water clarity but each day we found a honey pot of activity which made for fantastic sport from a mixture of species! As the week progressed, seemingly so did the water clarity and therefore the fishing with it. Some mad action on the roosterfish, amberjack, red snapper, yellowfin tuna, Sierra mackerel and some mixed frenzies to note!

Top fish of the week both went to me with 2 big roosterfish, both putting up tremendous reel screaming fights, I also managed a nice cubera as Kieren played a rooster during an incredible top water session! The overall average stamp of roosterfish was very nice this week. On 2 separate occasions this week Kieren had 15-20+ decent roosters all chasing and competing for his popper at once, it simply doesn’t get much more hair raising as you see their iconic dorsal fins homing in on your lure whilst you try to keep your nerve to set the hooks correctly!

On another occasion Kieren had the most incredible moment both to mine and Kieren’s surprise a very large sailfish fish took a particular liking to his popper, numerous casts in a row it ambushed his lure, he really wanted it as it graced the surface behind the popper with its beak open an out the water, adrenaline through the roof as Kieren awaited the moment to commit to the strike, but unfortunately the sail never committed enough to set a hook Incredible, but incredibly frustrating at the same time.

We had our fair share of big fish opportunities through-out , one day I had a truly huge wahoo take flight with my popper out of the blue but again did not get a hook hold, in my own words “It was like a tree trunk” Kieren also had 3 cubera snapper come up and investigate his lure in one day but none committed to a strike much to his despair as is common with this frustrating species.

Day 2 we found a big shoal of feeding yellowfin tuna, out came the light rods and small poppers and the reels began to sing as they simultaneously explode at your popper with unparalleled speed.

The end of the the last day saw us find a solid shoal of quality amberjacks feeding hard on the jigs all in all it made for a happy hour of activity before we had to head back in on the tide but we could of stayed their all afternoon, countless drifts saw us hoop over into feisty fish that put up a terrific fight as they power back down to the reefy bottom, turn up the heat and let the better man win!

We ended the 4 days on I believe 19 species, some magnificent specimens, frenzy action, terrific sport and most of all some fantastic fun! We had lots and lots of fish that wasn’t pictured as we weren’t to fussed and wanted to stay in the action! Can’t wait to get back out again!