Historically, June has been a very good month to visit for the perfect mix of variety, action and some shots at some big ones. This year was no different and although we did not host many guests, the fishing really delivered each time !
Incredible numbers of small yellowfin tunas were found inshore, as close as 5 minutes away from the anchorage.

First are the pictures from regular guests Gerard and Bernard, who visited us from France for 6 days of fishing. A lot of credit to this guys who did not give up on anything despite some serious health issues. Because of that and sadly, this was the last trip for Bernard. The good thing is that he was really happy about his trip - as he told me, the trip was considered a success after the first 3 casts, which got hime 1 rooster, 1 needlfish and 1 lost rooster - and I could not be more happy that he "retires" in style and after a good ultimate adventure. this guy has been fishing all over the world for 40 years so when he tells you he had a blast, that really means something ! Well done guys !

Next was Michael who returned to the Panafishing lodge after his February adventure, this time with his son and 3 of his mates. It was really nice to have the next generation of anglers having good times on the water and at the lodge. The fishing was consistent and varied.

Finally, I wanted to share the pictures of 2 sessions I had with the girls that worked this season with us in the kitchen and at the bar. It may put a smile on the face of some of you to see that the Panafishettes actually can fish ! Andres, if you ever read that, let me tell you that Lea almost cried when she lost your lure - the now famed "SEXY ANDRE" - to a cubera.

Here are the pictures from our Brazilian friends that came on 2 boats for 4 and 5 days of fishing at the end of May. The trip came out really well: calm seas, nice weather, and more important: lots of fishing action on poppers and jigs ! The not-so-wet season is a very good time for variety, as the tunas kick in and the deep jigging spots become more accessible. Also available are dorado and wahoo, although we usually don't target those.

First group in May was Martine and Jean-Pierre, who visit us from France every year. They were very unlucky with the big ones this year, losing 4 big cuberas and 2 huge roosters. The best action was had on the silk snappers, as 3 days in a row they left the spot after catching over 20 red snappers between 10 and 30 pounds, and releasing most of them. A notable catch was Martine's huge Colorado snapper, which was way over the 20.4 pounds all tackle record.

Below, Jean-Pierre is posing with a big snook caught by a local fisherman. We don't target them, but there is some real big snooks around. We also saw lots of tarpons rolling close to the lodge. Every year we see more and more, and May seems to be the best time for those. I wen trying for them a couple of times, but they did not want my stickbaits these times. There was lots of fish though, and I am positive there was fish over 200 pounds in the lot. Never seen tarpons that big before, despite having spent 2 months fishing in the Keys. Hopefully one day we'll have it figured out because it is rather silly to have those fish around and hardly ever catch one...

Next was our new friends Steve and Matt from the UK. Both the popping and the jigging were unusually slow during there stay, with very low numbers. Fortunately, they got a few big ones which made the trip, including an impressive beast of a roosterfish. Well done guys !

Then end of April has been up and down. Once again, what started as a rather slow week for some Germans guests ended up real good when some big roosters and some good cuberas started to show. The Tuna Coast of Panama sees a lot of influences from various currents, sea temperature and weather changes, so the fishing is ever-changing and a slow day can always be followed by an excellent one (or vice-versa, unfortunately !).

The very end of the month was less spectacular, and we experienced one (if not the) most difficult week of the season. Even when it is very tough, there is always some moments of activity with jacks, amberjacks or smaller fish, and there might be a few nice fish every now and then. The highlights was 2 big cuberas (caught almost one after the other by the same angler) and 2 nice roosters, and a hammerhead shark. We are also seeing more and more tuna and dorados as the wet season settle, and there has been a few big wahoo biting the poppers and stickbait, which were all lost. We are looking forward to have one to the boat as the average size on these wahoos is huge, maybe 60 pounds.

Early April, we had the pleasure to host a group of very friendly English guys. The week was pretty average: it does get much better and sadly it also get worse. Strong swells for the first half made the inshore fishing difficult, so the guys mostly had fun on small tunas, silk snappers, amberjack and groupers. A lot of jigging, as always when the water nearshore is stirred up by large waves. When the swell died the roosters started to show, but most were biting short. Some good fun on jack crevalle was also had by the group. Overall, a pretty decent amount of fish, but not so many big ones, although various were lost. Interestingly, the guys got to fought a goliath grouper for about 25 minutes before the leader hit a rock. Our captain says it is definitely the biggets fish he's seen on speed-jigging gear and believe the fish had to be over 400 pounds. Given the experience he has reeling in groupers up to 100 pounds, we won't argue with him on that one.

Fish of the week was a beauty of an Almaco jack, caught by Jason and weighted on the beach at 100 pounds. Unfortunately the brave thing fought to exhaustion and could not be released. What a fish !

Here are the pictures from the 2 groups we hosted recently. As usual, ALL fish were caught on artificials. We don't have a final count, but jack crevalle and silk snappers were biting in HUGE numbers. To give an idea, one boat caught 29 silk snappers in a couple of hours, all on jig and with multiple double and triple hookups.

It was nice to host a team of German anglers for 6 days of fishing the Tuna Coast. First 2 days were average, as a massive swell battered the shoreline and clouded the water. Roosterfish started to show on day 3, and were plentiful on the 3 last days, with hundreds of followers. The fish were often biting short, so final count is 29 roosters to the boat, and another 20 or so lost during the fight. These were mostly small fish as is the norm in this season: more but smaller roosterfish.
As usual, a good variety of fish were taken, 100% on artificials, as we like it here. Action on popper has vastly improved since the wind came down after a crazy month of February.

We hosted 2 groups at the end of February. Here are the pictures from the first group: Rachel and Michael who visited us from the US. The lovely couple was not really familiar with the techniques and relatively heavy gear we use over here but they did really well. They will be back in june for some more action !
Meanwhile, the second group had an up and down week but got some monster roosterfish and amberjack, and many of them. The report will come in about a month, as a fishing magazine will be using the pictures first.

3rd group of the season were 3 French that fished with us for 4 days and, besides the usual reliable action on jack crevale and big eye jacks, sierras, small tunas and snappers, very few outstanding fish were caught: one nice rooster and 3 good bluefin trevally were pretty much the only standout fish they caught.

Then, things got a lot better, with lots of action and variety for the 4th group of the season led by dedicated roosterfish anglers Tommy and Jorgen. This is the 7th trip at the Panafishing lodge for those guys, and as you can see, rooster fish has gotten under their skins !

A lot of roosterfish were released, way too many to post all pictures here. Some really big fish were lost.

I trust this report is a good illustration of the variety we get on the Tuna Coast of Panama, where 10-12 species a day is not only feasible but quite standard.

As always, all fish were caught on artificials and 95% of them released.

Next report will be at the end of January !