A Rod Snapping Good Time In PANAMA

**tunaddiction** · 03-27-2010 07:47 PM

This post is a little late, but it is worth the post. Went back to the Panama Sportfishing Lodge March 9th through the 14th. Traveled with my father Chuck, my two brothers Brain and Chas, and a friend of ours Mark aka sparky. It was Sparky's first trip to the lodge so we were pretty excited for him. After almost 20 hours of travel we made it to the lodge at 8:30 pm and were of course greeted with a fine dinner. The tuna and filet were out of this world. Cooked to perfection. Things were as usual at the lodge. Great accomodations, service, and food. John really does a great job of running a first class joint. We immediately went down to the docks to check out the new boats and were impressed with the set ups of the both new marlago's. The rails on the front would make a great set up for the popping we had planned. After a long day of travel we hit the sheets in our air conditioning with great anticipation of the days to come.

As usual I could not sleep due to the excitment. We Woke by 5:45 am and with the usual breakfast fixings, off on the boat by 6:30. Things were a bit stormy this morning with some rain, but up hear in New England we fish in much worse so it was no problem for us. The "Crazy Popper" ran at 35 mph the entire way there with no issues and a very comfortable ride. We quickly picked up bait at Montosa. Although bait was easy to come by Marlin were not. We saw some sailfish jump but no takes on 5 hours on the troll. After no luck we picked up and headed over to Ladrones where Macho had heard of some tuna action. When we got there the sun came out, the birds were diving, and much more life. We started popping and within a few minutes Brian was hooked up to a nice little Yellow Fin Tuna. Fish put up a good fight but was no problem for the Stella. Fish was gaffed and brought in at an estimated 80 lb's. Couple minutes later, my father chuck picks up a nice Mahi on the popper, 20 lb's. After some more casting and some Yellow Fin Tuna the dropped a couple of our poppers it was time to call it a day. That night, Macho had heard from his brother that there were some more tuna over at Punta Hermosa so it was decided that tomorrow we would fish Hannibal and if any Yellow Fin Tuna where spotted at PH we would make the short run there.

The next morning started the same hard rain. Very unusual this time of year but we were here to fish not tan. Hannibal was slow this day. We saw the guys on Karma hook up to a Marlin but that was about it. We did pick up a nice little 15-20 lb Mullet Snapper however. Macho and Gravin talked and they decided Montosa would be our next destination. Well it was slow on the Yellow Fin Tuna and Marlin again here but we did pick up a nice 30-35 lb Cubera in one of Macho's "spots." So a frustrated Macho, not knowing why nothing was biting, decided to call it quits for the day around 4:30. He said hopefully we would see something on the way in. Well on the way in doing 40 mph I spotted some surface action about 6 miles out from Montusa. We ran to them and TUNA. Even though we did not get any. It was some action. I hooked into one but within 10 seconds he dropped the bait. This just added to the frustration. But home we went with plans to fish Montusa again the next day.

Friday came and boy was it a day to rememeber. We again had Macho with us and today the sun had no where to hide. 95 degrees and sunny all day. So aboard the Crazy Popper we went and off to Montosa. When we got there things almost immediately looked good. Macho took us to one of his trusty fishing holes and the action was crazy. Tuna breaking everywhere. First sparky hooks up on a popper but the fish straightens out the split ring. SHIT he says. Then almost immediately after that my brother and I hook up at the same time on the front of the boat. Reals are screaming and poles are bent big time. I saw my fish hit the popper and estimate it was around 150. Brain did not see his but we knew it was BIG. So while trying to fight two fish at once our lines cross and things are a mess. For the sake of the trip we decided one fish is better than none so we use my pole to untangle around his and free his line up. In the process my fish drops the bait but Brian's is still hooked and hooked good. His fish hit a a nice Shibuki. John had told us this lure would work today and boy did we make it work.

This fish was a pig. Myself and Sparky were telling Brain to real it in fast so we could hook some more fish. What we did not know is that this fish would take us into an over 2 hour battle in the 95 degree blazing sun. After about 20 minutes Brain had to pass the pole and then the merry go round of fighting the fish began. Brian, Sparky, Me, Chuck, Chas, and even Gravin the mate got in on the action. I have never seen a fish so not determined to be caught. That tuna never let up even for a second. He kept us out in 180 feet of water the whole time and whenever we tried to let up and rest, he rested faster. We made 4 rounds through the fish. The Stella was SMOKING for about an hour and the smell of the metal permeated the air. INSANE. We had the drag set fairly tight but this fish pulled out line no problem. Only one point we had a shot to land this fish. He came to the surface about 100 feet away for a second and then dove back down to the depths of hell where he came from. Macho estimated an easy 250 lb's. 250's on stand up spinning gear, that is f***in crazy. We Blue Fin Tuna fish up here and these big Yellow Fin Tuna put them to shame. If there were Yellow Fin Tuna that grew to the Size of Blue Fin Tuna they would never be caught. So Brain got back on the reel and Sparky and him determined it was now or never. So they started palming the reel and cranking on that pole. It seemed if is this might be it until ....... BOOOM. The pool explodes in half and the fish is gone. You could hear a pin drop around the world. In my mind I am thinking, we just lost the fish of a lifetime. SHIT!!! The boat was silent for a good 5 minutes and then... Lets find some more. There was not much we could have done. Sometimes you come across a fish that is just a demon and is not going to give up. Well we found him, fought him valiantly, and neither of us won. We spent the rest of the afternoon chasing tuna and with many hook ups and drops, more than I can count, I finally got a nice little 35-40 lb tuna to the boat. It was not the fish we were looking for but it was a tuna. An unforgettable day. Back to the lodge we went. Our story had spread and people had come to the lodge asking if we were the ones that had the pole explode on us. We agreed and then said all said, " Must have been some battle!" We it was and I will never forget it for as long as I fish.

The last day of the trip came and went. We again saw plenty of fish out at Montosa but nothing biting on any lures we threw at them. We even spotted some nice mahi on a log. They wanted nothing to do with any lure or cut up bonita we could throw at them. We did pull on a nice Jack and another mullet snapper. But we came here for tuna and marlin.

Although we did not do as well as we wanted. I guarantee we hooked into more tuna then any one on the water those days, at least 30, but just could not close. Marlin fishing was slow but all the boats seemed to experience the same problem. Overall we had a blast. Got our fair share of some tuna, a cubera, a couple snappers, and mahi and we will be back sooner than we think to avenge the loss of the one that got away.

Enjoy the pics fellas,

Kevin