Hooked on Panama - Aqua Adventures
By: Tony Pena
Panama- Punta Burica is the peninsula that separates Panama and Costa Rica. The new Hooked on Panama Lodge is located near untapped fishing areas due to its remoteness. Capt. Dan Peavy and partners are excited about fishing the Humps on the Costa Rica side south of Golfo Dulce, the deep reefs off Burica as well as the 1,000 fathom shelf just 3 miles in front of the lodge. Sabrina and I fished 5 days on one of their custom, diesel powered gameboats and had a great time sampling what this new place has to offer. Sailfish, yellowfin tuna and dorado were thick.
Captains Oliver Martinez Lopez and Victor Atencio Martinez are an experienced crew from Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica and love the bait and switch using ballyhoo for sailfish. We'd tease the sails with Mold Craft Softheads and then drop back a ballyhoo to get a hookup. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I finally suggested just using the softheads on a light drag setting. When the fish hits they like to swallow softheads which coincides with moving the drag to strike for a better hookup percentage than with a tight drag.
The hump, a series of three high spots between 8 and 22 miles from Burica (and about 50 miles from Golfito) are easily reached and had good spots of yellowfin. Casting poppers or Butterfly jigging near dolphin is a hot method for tuna in the 30 to 100 pound class if you prefer light tackle, otherwise trolling is a standard practice. Connie Hudson, whose husband Rex makes the custom boats for the lodge, hooked up a yellowfin on the troll while I got a popper (Yo-Zuri Sashimi) fish from the bow for a good double. We also released 6 sailfish in this area. Since we were also looking for marlin with only one raised, we fished Isla Ladrones and Isla Montuosa where we ran into more dorado and sails. Black dolphin chewed our live black skipjack baits which made fishing the best spots problematic. We had a great time anyways.
The Hooked on Panama Lodge is very comfortable with a friendly staff, large pool and spa, 3,000 sq. ft. main lodge with restaurant (great food), bar and game room with big screen satellite TV. After a long day of fishing it was great to see the Charger/Colts playoff game in such a remote place. There are 10 large cabins with AC, TV and private decks with a view of the ocean. The gameboats are fun to fish on with good casting room, 30 knot speed and soft riding. Re-fueling and freshwater washdowns are done from a retired shrimp boat anchored off the beach. Live bait is kept in a floating pen tethered to the shrimper. Kayakers that want a thrill can take one of the lodge kayaks, fitted with live wells, out to the 1,000 fathom drop-off only a short 2 to 3 mile paddle from shore for pelagics such as yellowfin and sailfish. All-in-all it is a well thought out operation where a family could have a great vacation. Check Aqua Adventures Panama for details.
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