The Experience is back for 2027.
April 22-27, 2027
18 Spots
3 and a half days fishing.
$7,500 per angler
Part tournament, part showcase of Panama. Part brand experience. All party.
Fish with some of our favorite industry partners. Gear packs worth writing home about. The chance to win some great prizes.
We’ve even opened up a Calcutta, and if you feel like betting, you might take home a bag of cash. Then there’s the hosted rum tasting, the hand-rolled cigars, happy hour at the beach bar, and two sushi extravaganzas… and more.
BOOK YOUR SPOT IN THE EXPERIENCE
All of this and we’ve timed the event to coincide with what is often some of the best tuna fishing we have all year. It’s the Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge Experience 2027. And it all takes place in the Gulf of Chiriquí, home of the tuna frenzy. Here’s a bit about what you can expect.
BRAND EXPERIENCES- Our Sponsors
The 2027 Experience is presented by Grundens. They’re sending down a couple of ambassadors and some of the latest and greatest from the 2027 lineup.
Our friends from HOWK Rods are coming all the way from Spain.
The two men behind the brand, Luis Bonet and Vicente Chirivella, will be on hand to discuss what goes into making the rods that are taking the sportfishing world by storm. If you haven’t used them, spoiler alert, you can high-stick tuna on a HOWK rod without snapping it. These things are magic!
Yo-Zuri will be here—with gear packs in hand.
Simrad is coming in force.
YETI is sponsoring the Experience, too. You’ll leave with a Hopper soft cooler full of vacuum sealed tuna that you helped catch.
And don’t be surprised if you hear an update from Costa and Mustad.
AMBASSASORS
One of our favorite aspects of the Experience is the opportunity to fish with and get to know some of our favorite people from the sportfishing landscape.
The 2027 might change a bit here and there, but it will look quite a bit like this:
Jack Vitek, Marlin Magazine. Editor-in-Chief
Mat Jackson and the CEO, Grundens
Luis Bonet and Vicente Chirivella, HOWK
Alex De Santos, SIMRAD. Head of Latin America
Chris Bishop, Yo-Zuri. VP of Marketing North America
Pete Robbins, the most prolific writer in fishing
Elliott Stark, author of The Book on Travel Fishing
Not only will you get the chance to fish with our industry friends, but each will give a talk on what goes into the brand and provide some context on their relationship with Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge.
They all love to fish. They all do and make some really cool stuff. We like hanging out with each of them and bet that you will too.
A SHOWCASE OF PANAMA
The Gulf of Chiriquí is a special place. The United Nations recognizes it as a World Heritage Site and it’s a Panamanian National Park.
Panama is home to a rich and storied culture. The Experience provides the occasion to showcase all of this. While we can’t reveal all of the secrets just yet, here’s a bit about what you can expect.
Rum Tasting Hosted by Abuelo Rum
Rum is a drink that originated in the New World. The Spanish brought sugar cane, the precursor for all rum, on their second voyage.
Panama has a long, proud rum culture. Abuelo is the country’s most iconic rum brand. We’re bringing out an expert to host a curated tasting. He explains the options, the process, the best options for cocktails, and pours them tall.
We schedule his tasting early in the week so we can drink the extra bottles later!
Cigar Rolling
Not many things go better with offshore fishing than a cigar on the porch at the lodge. We know a guy…. And we’re having him come out for the Experience.
BOOK YOUR SPOT IN THE EXPERIENCE
His cigars are great. He knows all about them and loves to talk about what he makes. And if you wonder why they go so well with a glass of 12-year-old rum, it might be that he ages his tobacco leaf wrappers in rum barrels.
Tuna Extravaganza
Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge is home of the tuna frenzy. This makes for great fishing, but it also makes dinner time exciting.
Sushi night at the lodge is an all-time favorite. In terms of culinary expression, sushi night— mountains of rolls, piles of sashimi, and towers of poke—is the most fun. Picture handmade, chef-created sushi platters that are large enough that it takes two chefs to carry them.
At the Experience, we’re gonna do it twice!
Kick Off Dinner in Panama City
You’ll fly into Panama City on April 22. Our guys will meet you, escort you through customs and take you to the JW Marriott, perhaps the nicest hotel in Panama City.
Around 4:00 Shane and an ambassador or two will meet you at the poolside bar on the 32nd floor. We’ll make sure the bartender isn’t lonely for a while, before taking our chartered bus to the welcome dinner.
Last year our friends at Magoo’s Fish Tacos were awaiting us with 20 margaritas in hand. We expect more of the same.
The Format- What to Expect
The schedule for the Experience looks like this:
April 22– meet in Panama City at the JW Marriott. Kick Off Dinner
April 23– our team will pick you up at the Marriott and take you to the airport. We’ll fly up to David and shuttle our way to the island. We’ll fish a half day, chasing roosterfish and cubera.
April 24, 25– full days of fishing. In the evening, we’ll have a Brand Experience, Cultural Showcase, happy hour, and dinner.
April 26– full day of fishing. In the evening, we’ll have a Brand Experience and the awards dinner. We’ll give away some prizes and a few bags full of cash.
April 27- depart the island. Fly from David to Panama City. Return to the real world—YETI Hopper full of tuna in hand.
Here’s what to expect:
Three and a half days of fishing. We’ll fish three anglers per boat, plus an ambassador or two. Experience anglers will fish in teams of three. Teams will rotate from boat to boat, fishing with different captains and ambassadors each day.
We’ll have prizes for the biggest tuna, the most billfish points, longest roosterfish and cubera snapper. Our sponsors have some additional prizes lined up. If you feel like wagering, you might bring back a bag of cash. If you don’t, that’s ok too…
We’ll put you on perhaps the most diverse and accessible combination of inshore and offshore fishing in Central America. We’ll give you the chance to win some great prizes—all at the height of tuna season.
You’ll meet some fun people and personally experience a few of the things that make this part of the world so special. Oh, and we’ll have a professional videographer here to document it all.
18 spots. They won’t last.
BOOK YOUR SPOT IN THE EXPERIENCE
No pressure. But we’d love to see you at The Experience 2027.
