Fishing Report - 03/07/09

Greetings From The Tropics

When we pull off the dock headed for Coiba Island we never know what to expect. Neither did our first time guests Jack Duvall, Steve Ferro, Jack Ferro, Richard Galoau, Robby Byers, Jeremy Bingham, Mike Barrett, Dave Giles and Bob Dendy. Coming from Houston, TX the crew had tons of inshore experience but where hoping to expand on their offshore knowledge.

Arriving at Paridas Island on Saturday we encountered blue water and lots of fish activity eight miles out of the river mouth. The guys threw in their Dorado lures hoping to find dinner when Bob Dendy hooked his first Black Marlin weighing in at 250 lbs. The Black made a pass on a Skipjack that Dave had just hooked before switching to a plastic in the far rigger. Congratulations Bob!

Sunday morning we arrived at Montuosa Island to find the Yellowfin Tuna on the bite. Richard and Robby led the way landing four Tuna weighting in at 100, 120, 140 and 150 lbs before calling it quits and heading back into the barge with sore backs and aching arms! Steve and Jack Ferro were also able to get redemption on the Black Marlin that had gotten away the day before by landing a 250 lb Blue Marlin. To top off the day Mike and Jeremy decided to drop chunk baits on the reefs at "Magic Hour" landing 8 Cubera Snappers with the biggest weighting in at 55 lbs.

On Monday the boats headed to Jicaron Island to see what the Tuna were up to. The bite was on and the guys found fantastic topwater action landing Tuna in the 30 - 60 lb class. Jack stayed patient while all of this was going on waiting for his shot at a Black Marlin. He would not be disappointed. Around 2 in the afternoon 3 Black Marlin came into the spread at once! They danced behind the bridled Bonito for what seemed an eternity before two of them ate. The first one (estimated at 200 lbs) wrapped the leader on its' bill and missed the hook. This action got the other fish excited and the second Marlin ate the bait 15 feet behind the propellers. Jack landed the estimated 250 lb Black Marlin in 5 minutes. Landing the fish or not, those three Marlin put on quite a show that I will not soon forget and was one of those things that you would have to see to believe!

After the Tuna bite on Monday, the guys went searching for Marlin once again at Montuosa Island and Hannibal Bank. Here Mike and Jeremy hooked a Black Marlin that stayed on top for 30 minutes putting on quite the show. The fish had come in hungry eating three Bonito and getting hooked on two rods. The Marlin was estimated to weight around 450 lbs. when the live release was made. Richard and Robby saw their fair share of Marlin with four different fish come in on separate occasions, unfortunately not one of them would make the commitment to eat.

With good offshore fishing and bottom fishing all week the guys headed to the river mouths and inshore beaches looking for Roosterfish on the final day. Things started of slow until they found the action. The guys capped off the week landing seven Roosterfish in the last few hours of the trip while fishing in the Paridas Islands. The top two fish were landed by Dave Giles and Steve Ferro coming in at 40 lbs and 50 lbs respectively.

Thanks guys for a fantastic week of fishing. We hope to see all of you fishing with Pesca Panama in the coming years.

See Ya on the Planks,
Captain Ben Floyd
Captain Jay Gustin

Fishing Tip of the Week: For years we have tried to link the quality of fishing to the moon phase. We have read the magazine articles, books and heard differing opinions. This week, with the full moon shining, we had explosive fishing landing Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Tuna on both topwater and on live bait, Cubera Snapper, Amberjack, and Grouper. Along with all that great fishing we also got to enjoy cocktail hour while basking in the light of the full moon.

PHOTOS OF THIS WEEKS FISHING:


Mike with a huge AJ!


Just a couple of Tuna brought in by Richard and Robby


Jeremy cat catches a dorado for dinner


Dave with a "Final Final" Roosterfish


Jeremy with a beautiful Roosterfish


Mike and Jeremy with a double on Cubera Snapper


Black Marlin doing a little "tail dancing"


Bob with a last light Cubera


Robby with a Broomtail Grouper caught on iron


Steve with an XL Cubera Snapper