77 RODS, 50 SPINNING REELS, 28 ELECTRIC REELS, 6 CONVENTIONAL REELS AND OVER 700 JIGS AND TOP WATER LURES WERE ALL PART OF THE TACKLE THIS WEEKS ANGLERS BROUGHT WITH THEM. IT WAS EVIDENT THESE GUYS CAME TO FISH OR OPEN A TACKLE STORE! ROBERTS VERAS, PESCA PANAMA'S BRAZILIAN AGENT, HAD ARRANGED THE TRIP AND WAS ON HAND TO HELP COORDINATE THE GROUP. OVER HALF OF THE FOURTEEN FISHERMEN WERE REPEAT ANGLERS FOR PESCA PANAMA. IN ADDITION THEY ALSO BROUGHT ALONG TWO PROFESSIONAL VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHERS TO FILM THE ANGLING ACTION. ALONG WITH ROBERTO THERE WAS THE FOLLOWING LIST OF ANGLERS; VALDIR UEMURA, NORBERTO UEMURA AKIRA, EMIDIO MAMIZUKA, NELSON NAKADA, ADRIANO FUJITO, MICHIO KAWASAKI, SILVIO OSHIRO, NELSON NAKAMURA, JULIO SAWADA, EDSON HAYASSAKA, DIOGO LAFIANDRE, LUIS CLAUDIO PACHECO, ZACARIAS BARBOSA, OSCAR LOPES ROGO AND GERSON KATAKURA. IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT BY NOW, MOST OF THESE BRAZILIAN ANGLERS ARE OF JAPANESE DECENT.

WHEN THESE ANGLERS STARTED JIGGING IT WAS AMAZING THE AMOUNT OF FISH THEY BROUGHT TO THE BOAT! CAPTAIN MACHO'S ANGLER CAUGHT AND RELEASED 30 "REEF DONKEYS" ONE DAY ALONG WITH SEVERAL GROUPER, RED SNAPPERS AND A 200 LB HAMMERHEAD SHARK. NOW THAT IS SOME BOTTOM FISHING ACTION! BUT THIS WASN'T THE ONLY HIGHLIGHT OF THE JIGGING ACTION. ALL OF OUR CAPTAINS TURNED IN BIG CATCH RECORDS WITH A HUGE VARIETY OF SPECIES CAUGHT. A RUN DOWN OF THE SPECIES CAUGHT INCLUDES AMBERJACK AKA REEF DONKEYS, HAMMERHEAD SHARK, YELLOWFIN TUNA, JACK CREVALLE, DORADO, BLUE TREVALLE, RED SNAPPER, BROOMTAIL GROUPER, RAINBOW RUNNER, BLACK GROUPER, CUBERA SNAPPER, POMPANO, HORSE EYE JACK, ROCK SNAPPER, YELLOW SNAPPER, BARRACUDA, FORTUNE JACK, SILK SNAPPER, MULLET SNAPPER, MANGROVE SNAPPER, SPOTTED GROUPER AND ROOSTERFISH. IF IT WAS A SPECIES OF FISH LIVING ON THE BOTTOM, I THINK THEY CAUGHT IT!

POPPERS PRODUCED SOME GOOD CATCHES THIS WEEK. THE TWO CATCHES THAT STICK IN MY MIND WERE A 70 LB ROOSTERFISH AND GET THIS, A 76 POUND AMBERJACK THAT ALSO FELL FOR A POPPER. AS USUAL THE ISLAND OF JICRON AND JICARITA PROVIDED SOME OF THE BEST POPPING ACTION.

OFFSHORE THE STORY WAS TUNA, TUNA AND MORE TUNA. THOUGH A FEW YELLOWFIN WERE TAKEN ON POPPERS, THIS WEEK IT WAS THE BUTTERFLY JIGS THAT PRODUCED. ONE DAY WHILE FISHING FIVE MILES NORTH OF ISLA MONTUOSA OUR CAPTAINS ENCOUNTERED A HUGE SCHOOLS OF YELLOWFIN IN A FEEDING FRENZY. WHEN THE TALLY WAS TAKEN, OUR FOUR BOATS FISHING THE SCHOOL HAD CAUGHT AND RELEASED 107 YELLOWFIN. MOST OF THE TUNA WERE IN THE 40 LB TO 80 LB RANGE WITH THE THREE LARGEST FISH ESTIMATED AT 160, 170 AND 180 POUNDS.

FISHING IN THE SAME AREA THE FOLLOWING DAY THE CAPTAINS ENCOUNTERED ANOTHER SCHOOL OF YELLOWFIN TUNA. THE TUNA IN THIS SCHOOL WERE SMALLER THAN THE SCHOOL YESTERDAY WITH THE WEIGHTS RUNNING BETWEEN 30 LBS AND 60 LBS. THOUGH THE TUNA FISHING WAS A LITTLE SLOWER THAN THE DAY BEFORE, FIVE BOATS WERE STILL ABLE TO CATCH AND RELEASE 117 TUNA. CAPTAIN TATIN'S ANGLERS ALSO BOATED A NICE 50 LB BULL DORADO.

THIS WEEK ROBERTO WAS FIELD TESTING A PROTO TYPE JIGGING ROD THAT FIN NOR IS DEVELOPING IN BRAZIL. HE REPORTED THAT THE ROD PREFORMED WELL AND WAS DEPENDABLE.

SO LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL! THEY WERE INTO THE FISH; JIGGING, POPPING, PUMPING AND PULLING UNTIL THEY WERE POOPED.

TIGHT LINES,
CAPTAIN JULIAN JAY GUSTIN

FISHING TIP OF THE WEEK: ELECTRIC REELS CATCH FISH, LOTS OF FISH! THE ELECTRIC REELS THE BRAZILIANS WERE USING ARE THE DAIWA MEGATWIN 500 AND THE SHIMANO BEAST MASTER 3000. THERE ARE SEVERAL MAJOR DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY THESE ELECTRIC REELS ARE USED BY THE BRAZILIANS AND HOW WE USUALLY THINK OF USING ELECTRIC REELS IN THE U.S. FIRST, THE REELS ARE USED FOR JIGGING IN WATER WHERE THE DEPTH IS USUALLY LESS THAN 250 FT. SO THIS IS NOT, "DEEP DROPPING." SECONDLY, THE REELS ARE USED PRIMARILY FOR THEIR RAPID RETRIEVE RATE AND THEIR PROGRAMMED JIGGING ACTION, BOTH OF WHICH ENTICES LOTS STRIKES. LASTLY AND THE MOST IMPORTANT, AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, IS THE MAJORITY OF THE FISH CAUGHT ARE RELEASED ALIVE AND NOT KILLED, "TO FILL UP THE COOLERS." I KNOW THERE ARE ETHICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT FISHING WITH ELECTRIC REELS. BUT WHERE DOES AN ANGLER DRAW THE LINE? IS IT WITH THE USE OF A DEPTH FINDER, SIDE SCANNING SONAR, GPS, SATELLITE TEMPERATURE CHARTS? I DON'T KNOW AND I DON'T THINK IT REALLY MATTERS AS LONG AS THE MAJORITY OF THE FISH CAN BE RELEASED ALIVE! SO ENJOY YOUR FISHING USING THE NEW TECHNOLOGY. JUST REMEMBER TO RESPECT THE RESOURCE! THE DAYS OF FISHING TO FILL THE FISH BOX SHOULD BE OVER FOR ALL OF US.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: