Panama Fishing
Monthly Reports
 Panama means "the place of abundant fish” - but it
is so much more, as you will discover in this travelogue. Forget the
negative legacy of volcano-face Manual Noriega and get to know the
positive aspects of Panama – an amazing country with something for
everyone. Journey with us as we explore a cross section of Panama from the
steamy lowlands of the Pacific coast near David to the refreshing coolness
of the highlands in Boquete. Panama is inspirational. I discovered
this in 2005 when my sister Melissa and I fished the Gulf of Montijo on
the Azuero Peninsula for five remarkable days. Now I returned with my
stepson, Nate, for three days of coastal fishing with the Panama Gig
Game Fishing Club. My wife, Johanna, was stateside fulfilling some
commitments and would be joining us after we were finished fishing. Which
you should know never happens. Our twelve-day trip was divided into visits
to both Pacific coastal and Cordillera Central portions of the Chiriqui
Province. The first six days were split between Isla Boca Brava and Isla
Boca Chica on the Pacific Ocean’s Gulf of Chiriqui, home to the Chiriqui
National Marine Park. Next we traveled to Boquete in the Chiriqui
Highlands, twenty-four miles north of the Pacific for another 6 days.
Within the territorial area of Panama there are more than 1,600 islands,
over 500 rivers run through the country, more than half of Panama is still
forested, there are two oceans separated by 50 miles with more species of
birds, butterflies and fish imaginable - and it never gets cold. If these
facts interest you, also consider a country the size of North Carolina,
with one-third the population, possessing boundless beauty and you’ll
begin to see why Panama is the crown jewel of Central America.
Click to view travelogue and photos
 Marlin
fishing stayed good with eight groups catching 19 marlin - 16 blacks, two
blues and one striped marlin - not many stripes here.
Yellow fin here in good numbers but fish up
to 100lb – a lot of fun on surface poppers. We should be seeing the 200lb
plus tuna here any day - this is the time of year for them.
We also had large dolphin in good numbers and
decent catches of wahoo - both better than normal -also mullet snapper,
cubera snapper, amber jack, rooster fish, sailfish and blue jacks rounded
things out.
Water has been blue, in the low 80s so all
looks good heading into March. Also the sharks that we where catching last
month that are not normally here I think are salmon sharks - included a
picture of one on this report. Capt. Lee
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Report & More Photos
January 2008: Marlin fishing this month has been
the best anyone has seen. Through Jan. 27th, with still 4
fishing days left -we fished 8 groups and have caught 30 marlin so
far. Also a lot of large dolphin, mullet snapper, cubera
snapper, sailfish and have caught 17 tuna over 100 lb. with the
biggest at 240lb. We also had a lot of sharks here for two weeks. I
am waiting to get a photo back from Trevor Gowdy - he was filming
here and caught a 12 footer around 600lb. Most were around 150lb -
captains called them Needle sharks - look a lot like a Mako but are
brown - not blue. So am interested to get them identified. Never
have caught them here before and last 5 days have not caught another
one. Also had a big blow the first week - could not fish for two
days but it laid right down after that. Captain Lee Campbell
Lee,
It was truly a great experience to fish with you and your crews, I
look forward to a return trip. I take the XXL in a T shirt and will
wear it with pride knowing that I have fished with one of the great
Panamanian big game fishing camps, so thank you again for a great
experience. Very Truly Yours, Steven R. Rothenberger
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Report & More Photos
 November
- December 2007: Fishing last two weeks in November had good
inshore action - large cubera snapper - rooster fish and except for two
slow days good off shore. Lots of yellow fin tuna, wahoo, larger
dolphin and three black marlin. Weather was more rainy than usual
but no problem for fishing. I Do not book trips in October - worst month
here for weather.
December was the same-only better and with sailfish starting to turn up -
multiple strikes common - two blue marlin and four black marlin.
Also large yellow fin -over 100 lb. are here already. We have
schools of smaller yellow fin all year but the big ones start showing up
in January with March and April the best months for large yellow fin and
May the best month for the shear numbers of yellow fin. Last time
they showed up early - first week in January - it was a big year here for
large tuna so off to a good start for them. Captain Lee Campbell
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Report & More Photos
 September
2007: I was lucky enough to spend four days on the water at
Panama Big Game this September taking pictures for New Jersey boys Ron Torkas and Joe Ozalas.
Wahoo to 50 lbs. were everywhere. I lost count early on. Small yellow fin
tuna were hitting on top water—exciting action! Lots of small dorado,
yellow snapper, blue jack, bonito, and rainbow runners kept the boys busy
with too many jack and houndfish to keep track of. Oh yeah, we ran into a
couple of Marlin too.
We fished four full days with Captain Tati and mate Eddie in a 31'
Bertram. Most of the time we fished near pinnacles in the area of Montuosa
but also visited Islas Secas for roosterfish and Los Ladrones for snapper.
Poor Ron and Joe hardly had time to fish for Marlin with all the wahoo
action. "No more wahoo!" was the final decision. This cleared the decks
for serious marlin battles. Early on day three, we arrived at Montuosa,
quickly landed five bonito for bait and dropped them over with a couple of
live blue runners for variety. Joe hooked up with a marlin almost
immediately, fought for about 45 minutes and released a black weighing in
the 350 lbs. neighborhood. We had barely recovered when Ron hooked another
black. After about a half hour fighting the marlin in the pouring rain,
Ron released his black, also running about 350 lbs. We spent the rest of
the day bottom bumping for huge snapper and casting surface plugs for
tuna. Not bad for the off-season. Check out the picture of Ron with his
Rooster...Click For Full Article
Again July and August are two of the best months to fish here.
We only had 2 groups this year though. Always a pleasure to have Howard
Chong with us - fished 3 days in July - his fifth time here. Had a very
good day inshore with wahoo, jacks, sierra mackerel and rooster fish -
action all day. Next two days fishing offshore the highlight was a black
marlin each day with nice catches of wahoo, yellow fin tuna caught on
spinning with surface poppers, cubera snapper and dolphin.Next group was
the Everett family-always enjoy family groups the best... Captain Lee
Campbell...Here I am back in the water taxi from Pedregal Marina to
Isla Boca Brava, home of the Panama Big Game Fishing Club. This will be my
fifth time there and during the one hour boat ride out to the island I
anticipate seeing the head honcho and my buddy, Capt. Lee Campbell and the
crew that makes up this outfit. I can taste the first Pina Colada
already...Now – the reason I go there – Marlin. I picked up one each of
the two days out there in the 350# class on live bait. No backing down on
these babies for me. It’s strictly “mano-a-mano” on 80# test so you can
expect to be in the chair around 45 minutes per fish. ...Aloha, Howard
Chong, Jr. Honolulu, Hawaii
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One of the translations for the word Panama is variety. Whoever
originated this translation must certainly have been a fisherman. After
broad experiences in Central and South America, it must be said that for
variety, Panama ranks among the best that the hemisphere has to offer.
This was my third trip to the Panama Big Game Fishing Club, and sixth
overall to the country... So if you are interested in one of the most interesting places available
for variety big game fishing, then consider the Panama Big Game Fishing
Club. It is run by professional fishermen and is staffed by some of the
friendliest people imaginable. It's the place to be. El Capitan Mike Love
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 May
- June 2007 Tuna
fishing with surface poppers was all you wanted but smaller fish running
from 10 to 80 lb. The first week in May we got some tuna over 100 lbs. and
a few over 200 lbs. Black Marlin still good with 4 out of 5 groups
catching a black. Fair wahoo action but they will pick up with
August being the first real strong month for them. Had a few sails and
some smaller dorado (dolphin) also. Inshore action was very good with
snapper, rooster fish, sierra mackerel, blue jack and amber jack in good
numbers. Capt. Lee Campbell...There is something about tracking fish by sight that activates the
adrenalin flow like nothing else. We had hot and cold moments on the trip
but the image of two and three hundred pound yellow fin tuna hurling
themselves airborne, intent on murder or adultery upon anything in their
path…baby it’s just too much... Riley Love - May 2007
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 April
2007 - We had very good inshore fishing all month, rooster fish, cubera
snapper, mullet snapper, amber jack, broom tail grouper, blue jack and
wahoo. The off shore was a little slow the first of the month but yellow
fin tuna and marlin came on strong...
Lee,
I want to thank both you and your staff for a wonderful fishing trip. You
operate a first class lodge. Everything was great from the time I stepped
off the plane in Panama City and met by your representative, to the time I
stepped back on the plane at the end of the week. The food was excellent,
even though there was too much to eat. The open bar was a pleasant treat.
It was all the little details that you and your staff pay attention too
that made the trip so enjoyable...Click
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March 2007 - We started off with a group coming to us from Germany:
blue marlin, black marlin, sailfish, yellow fin tuna, 1 over 250 lbs.,
cuberra snapper, rock snapper, yellow snapper, mullet snapper, wahoo,
amber jack and dorado - was about as good as it can get....
Hello Lee, We all thank you for the first class
service we enjoyed, the very-very-very good food and the excellent drinks
and the great fishing. It was wonderful ! I never caught so many big-game
fishes before and the 250 pound yellow fin tuna on last Friday was a
fantastic closing...
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 February
2007 - The first three weeks were not as strong as January, water
temperature was up to 87 but we got plenty of sailfish, mullet snapper,
cubera snapper, dorado and 4 out of 5 groups got marlins. 5 blacks total
but had to work hard for all. The last week really got going with the
water temperature back to 84. Yellow fin tuna were in with a lot of
smaller fish but got two over 200 lbs. Sailfish still good and the last
group added 1 blue marlin plus concentrated on catching inshore for 2 days
and had good catches of mullet snapper, cubera snapper, all kind of jacks
and double digit sierra mackerel. So all looks good heading into March. -
Captain Lee Campbell
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 January
2007 -
January
was a great month with 4 out of five groups catching Marlin.6 blue
marlin, 3 black marlin allot of sailfish most over 100 lb., dorado,
mullet snapper and cubrea snapper and a few wahoo but they are
finishing up.
Capt. Lee Campbell
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