
This was indeed the ultimate fishing trip. We caught 14
different species of fish:
Black Marlin, Sailfish, Bonita, Mackerel, Albacore, Roosterfish, Jacks, Puffer,
Dolphin, Snapper, Cerrano, Shark, Grouper and AmberJack. We also saw huge Manta
Rays, Porpoises and Sea Turtles.
See below for more!
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This is the aerial view of Pinas Bay - home of The Tropic
Star Lodge, 35 miles north of the Columbian Border on the Pacific Coast
of Panama.
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Welcome to The Tropic
Star - a little morsel of paradise on the Southern most Pacific
coast of Panama. The comfortable lodge was a welcome sight after 9 hours
of fishing each day.
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From our rooms, we enjoyed some of the best views at the
Lodge.About 20 other guests joined us, mostly from the US and Panama. |
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The fleet consists of nine refurbished Bertram 31's - all
the same except for their colors. These boats are fast and fun, even if
their hull dates are circa 1960. |
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Wake up was at 5:30 am every day - they bring hot coffee
to your room. Here's the pier just before dawn as seen from the porch.
You can just feel the bite coming on. |
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Black Marlin are common on the Reef nearby. This 500
pounder was one of our best catches of the week! The Tropic Star boasts
170 World Records. |
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This Black Marlin was caught by John Keagy -
his first Marlin ever! |
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Marlin are great fighters. This is another shot of our 500
pounder. All of the Bill Fish are released. The other types of fish make
great sashimi, ceviche, and dinner! |
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The pier at the Lodge. We even tried our hand at fishing
for bait at night from this. Departure time each day from here was
6:30am sharp! |
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Boats were named for countries and a few places. This is
The Tropic Star, on its way out for another great day. The rocks in this
shot are all along the coast and provided some incredible rock fishing
for many kinds of excellent fish. |
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Catching Dorado (Dolphin) is great fun. This large one hit
one of the plastic lures we were using to troll for Marlin. One dorado
John caught on a spinning rod jumped 28 times before finally giving up. |
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Catching a Dorado on a Fly line is one of the exciting
ways to catch fish! Dorado often swim in schools so we even had a few
double hookups. |
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The boys from New Jersey, as their business card reads,
Don't Fuck Around. Here's Frank giving out a few orders to the crew.
Notice how the First Mate enjoys having these guests on board! |
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The village that is a short boat ride away supports the
Lodge. Over 80 staff members help keep things running. When they're not
hard at work, they hang out at the local pub, shown here. |
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The Panama coastline is beautiful. Clear water, calm seas
and excellent rocks and sun make for a fun time trolling with Plugs for
all types of fish. |
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Hennie, the Lodge's manager, has a pet parakeet who joined
us each morning for breakfast. |
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The trill of catching a huge fish lasts for quite some
time after. Here's a picture of Pete who just happened to catch a Marlin
AND a Sailfish by himself while out on the boat without his friends. He
had both fish to the boat and successfully released them in 6
minutes. |
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Rock fishing yields many different kinds of fish. Our
first attempt netted Mackarel, Roosterfish, Albacore, Snapper, Amber
Jack, Jack, and Cerrano. Adding that to the Dorado, Bonita, and Sail
caught earlier in the morning we had quite a day. |
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Catching your first Rooster fish is a whole 'nother level
of excitement. Here we were trolling for a Rooster along a nice white
beach using live bait we'd just caught. This rooster put up a good fight
and then even gave us the bait back, still alive, to fish for another
one! |
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Catching anything on a Fly Rod is exciting. But catching a
Sailfish on a Fly Rod is the ultimate thrill. Here John is using a 13
wt. Sage lent to us by Dave at World Waters. |
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Getting a bill fish up to the boat can be dangerous,
especially since the technique at The Tropic Star is to get to the fish
right away, just in case it might be their 171st world record. John
appears to be savoring the moment well here! |
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Sail Fish can be a great fight, sometimes jumping out of
the water many times before finally tiring. This is a shot of the one I
caught on a Fly Rod! |
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On one day we took a canoe trip up the local river to an
indian village. This is just a few of the happy children we amused with
the instant delight you can experience with a digital camera. |
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If you would like copies of any of the above photos, please
either cut and paste it from here or let me know which one you'd like and I'll
upload it to www.ofoto.com where you can
order prints.
Anyone want to go fishing?