We fished three days Panama Rooster fishing here at the newly renamed Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge (formerly Propiedad de Paradise Lodge) in the Gulf of Chiriquí with traveling anglers Ross Fenn and wife Nora. Ross used to own/operate a mothership operation back in Australia and is still a nut about fishing even after all his years in the business. We had a great time, got along really well, the weather was unseasonably nice, and the fishing was pretty good!
Ross came to catch Roosterfish…and we got at least one Rooster each day. The bite wasn’t “wide open” Panama Rooster fishing so we tried some other stuff. The second day was nice. Nice weather offshore for the run to Isla Montuosa. We fished a couple of high spots there targeting Cuberas but nothing…only Rock Snappers and Jacks. We trolled the Yo-Zuris for a while and missed what must have been a big Wahoo as it nearly dumped all the line off of a Shimano Talica 25II and caught another that was about 25#s. I decided to run over to fish the west side of Coiba, as the seas were nice and calm, to try some Panama Rooster fishing and on the way spotted a big mark of birds on the radar. Sure enough..about 2 miles north of Hannibal we see a bunch of birds, Sharks, and Tunas busting wildly on a baitball!
Juan, my new mate, pitched a livey into the feed and it got immediately hammered. Juan passes the rod over to Ross who immediately clicks the bail. The drag starts screaming as the 65# braided line peels off of the Shimano Saragosa 25000 and the fight is on! Thank God a Tuna ate the bait and not a Shark! After 35 minutes of Ross putting the heat to the fish and bitching about his sore back…we put the gaff in a nice 75# Yellowfin Tuna! On the way home we stop at a couple of rocks right in front of the lodge hereon Isla Paridas and catch a small Rooster! Wahoo, Tuna, Roosterfish all in one day!! The last day we took it easy, stuck around inshore, and got the biggest Rooster of the trip for Ross that went about 45#s! Panama Rooster Fishing! Only in Panama!!!
Enjoy the pics…
Capt. Shane Jarvis