Fishing Report - 05/09/09

GREETING FROM THE TROPICS

We had a great group of anglers fishing with us this week. First up are the "Game On" Kayak Fishing Team. The anglers consisted of Jim Sammons (La Jolla Kayak Fishing Adventures) out La Jolla, Paul Lebowitz (Kayak Fishing Editor for Western Outdoor News) out of San Diego, Ken Whiting and Will Richardson (Heliconia Press) of Ottawa.

This would be the first time these kayakers will introduce their art of fishing to these bountiful waters. Hang on boys! Also with us is long time friend of Pesca Panama, Danny Jackson along with his son Corby Jackson. Representing Orange County, CA. brothers Rick Hutchinson, Thomas Hutchinson, Gerry Hutchinson, and friends Darin Odowd, Don Bowen, John Million, Mike Ameal, from New Orleans, Frank Baughman and yours truly Ricky Zuniga.

Out of the gates, the kayakers set the bar pretty high, catching and releasing 8 Roosters, a Cubera and a Jack. Us stand up boys weren’t going to take this laying down! Team Tito bagged 2 Yellowfin and 8 Dorado's for Danny and Corby. Team Lucho gaffed 2 Yellowfin, 1 Leopard Grouper, 1 Jack and 1 Rooster for Tommy, Frank and Ricky. Team Kili boated 5 Yellowfin, 1 Rooster and 1 Jack for Don, Mike and John. Team Carlos not to be out done finished the day with 4 Yellowfin, 1 weighing in at 80 Lbs. for Rick, Darin and Gerry.

The next day, the consensus was, lets' fish the Hannibal Bank! Team Carlos produced a 80 lb. Yellowfin on the bank and a Rooster in the Secas Islands. Team Tito raises a Rooster and some Jacks at the Secas. Team Kili bags some Jacks, a Rooster, a Yellow Snapper and some Red Snappers. Team Lucho manages a Rooster and a Cubera. Our Yack team gets to the bank fairly late in the day and it paid off. Jim, Ken and Paul slide the kayaks in place, start to soak a bait and it was "Game On"! Jim plays a Yellowfin Tuna for about an hour, sees color and then realizes what he's dealing with. He gets it to leader hits it with a gaff and it was like someone had thrown a M80 next to Jim. The Yellowfin threw it into high gear and he was gone, gaff and all! Jim was back in the saddle again for a fight that would last for another 2 1/2 hours. It was quite honestly an inspiration to see this anglers face filled with emotions, ranging from excitement, agony, then laughter when he was being heckled by his fellow yakers. The sun was starting to set and both Yellowfin and Jim were getting tired. Jim started to retrieve some of his line back, the Yellowfin started his small circles below. Perseverance paid off, our fish of the hour finally came back to leader and with 2 gaffs later, they pulled him over to the chase boat. Jim takes out a 120 lb. Yellowfin fishing from a kayak on Hannibal Bank! As far as we know this will be the largest Yellowfin fought and leadered from a kayak. Our hats off to you Jim, what an accomplishment! Needless to say Team Yak was the last boat to come in tired and hungry. A shower, a drink, some dinner and it was lights out for these bad boys.

Time to fish again, oh darn! Team Lucho starts off with a Silk Snapper, 2 Yellow Snapper and a nice Hoo for Darin. I know what's on the menu tonight! Team Carlos manages 2 Cuberra's, 3 Silk Snappers, 2 AJ's, Blue Trevally and a Mullet Snapper. Team Tito whacks 4 Silk Snappers, Blue Trevally, Cubera, Red Snapper and a Shark to liven things up for Danny and Corby. Team Kili manages some Groupers, Pompano, Yellow Snappers and an Albacore (as it's known here) for Don, Mike and John. Team Yak, a little tired from the day before, didn't stop them from getting 3 Cuberas, 3 Rainbow Runners, 6 Yellow Snappers, 3 Blue Trevallys and 2 Sharks.

Team Tito ran across what looked like a pallet which was host to bait stacked up and Yellowfin on the chew! Danny and Corby managed to take out 8, largest tipping in around 70 lbs. They also bagged a Cubera, an AJ, 2 Groupers and some Blue Trevally's. Team Lucho ran to Jicarita where they found a lot of big Jacks. They also bagged a Cubera and some Yellow Snappers. While there they decided to make more bait and yours truly had a sabiki rig on, started to pull up some baits and it was instant bendo! Something picked up the baits and kept me bent over for more than an hour before rocking me! Fish 1 / Ricky 0.

Team Carlos Leadered 10 Jacks, a Grouper, a Cubera, Yellow & Red Snappers and the biggest Rainbow Runner I've ever seen. Team Kili landed more Yellowfin, Groupers, Yellow & Red Snappers, Blue Trevally's and 3 Sharks. Some more great catches were Don, Mike and John with a great catch of 6 Hoo's in the 40 - 60 Lb class using Mirro-Lures in Blue Chrome and Orange Stripe. Gerry, Frank and yours truly came across a floating log loaded Dodo's. We threw some Sashimi's first until they wouldn't hit anymore. So we switched to Ringed Super Mutu with strips of Bonita and we were back in the game. We came away with 18 Dodo's ranging from 8 - 30 Lbs. Too much fun!!

TIGHT LINE,
RICKY ZUNIGA AND CAPTAIN JAY GUSTIN

RICKY ZUNIGA'S FISHING TIP OF THE WEEK: We all have our special lure or lures we carry with us. Do yourself a favor when down here. Bring extras you will loose them!