Panama – another day in paradise

On our last full day to fish in Panama we looked to repeat the success we had the day before. We set out our bait lines and went to work jigging. James got in on the action early with a nice almaco jack. It wasn’t long before we were all catching fish.

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

As the bite eased off in that area we made our way toward the other side of the island, splitting up to fish different spots. I really wanted to catch a rooster so I headed straight for the area where Jim caught his. It didn’t take long before I was hooked up and I got another chance to yell “Fish on!” on the VHF, which has got to be one of the greatest feelings in the world when you’re on the water.

(photo: Will Richardson)

Not a rooster, but still very cool to add another new species on the trip – African pompano. We continued to work the jigs and troll our live bait and fish continued to hit. Jim got into a few different species on the day and I caught a houndfish that made my last one look like a baby.

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

Jim had a very cool moment as he jigged up an almaco jack, brought it to the boat and was showing it off to the camera and at that moment his live bait rod goes taught. He hurries up, unhooks the jack, tosses it in the water and goes to work on the other rod and ends up catching a really nice pargo that gave him a good fight.

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson) 

When the bite wore off we got the itch to paddle out into the blue and see if anything was lurking offshore. We got into formation, 3 kayaks wide and formed the “Wall of Death” as dubbed by WIll, trolling our live baits behind us, hoping that someones reel would start singing. It was a slow paddle as we ended up heading upcurrent chasing surface activity in the distance. After awhile with no action we called it off and headed back toward the island. It gave us a chance to just enjoy a nice leisurely paddle in a beautiful place. We had worked so hard to catch fish that week that it was nice to sit back and take it all in.

(photo: WIll Richardson)

(photo: Will Richardson)

Our time at Bahia Honda was winding down with only another half day to fish. It was bittersweet as I was sad to see it come to an end, but happy I would be home soon and see my little girl. Thankfully I wasn’t completely out of touch with home while away. Jim and Will had a DeLorme inReach unit that allowed us to text or email our loved ones whenever we needed to. I believe they were even able to update the shows Facebook page while we were there and anyone following along could keep track of where we were at by viewing this website. I know my wife was thrilled to death that we had one of these with us. It really provided that extra piece of mind knowing we were okay while we were off the grid. That night we were treated with another fantastic sunset which proved to be the cherry on top of what was another day in paradise.

(photo: Will Richardson)