Panama bound

[SamSteele]

My son and I are heading down to Los Buzos resort in Cambutal Panama later this week. Hoping to tie into some rooster fish, mahi, cubera snapper, and maybe tuna. The place looks pretty great, although we are on a milk run down there to save some travel costs.

Stay tuned for some photos and hopefully some good stories too!

SS


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[HL_transplant]

Kayak fishing at Los Buzos or Panga fishing??

[SamSteele]

We are going in a panga as that package includes all the tackle. You need to rent any gear or bring it with for the kayak trips. I’m bringing a couple boxes of lures, but didn’t want the hassle of flying with a rod tube.

SS


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[MDR]

Please post a trip report afterward. Panama has been on my list for a while.

[HL_transplant]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

We are going in a panga as that package includes all the tackle. You need to rent any gear or bring it with for the kayak trips. I’m bringing a couple boxes of lures, but didn’t want the hassle of flying with a rod tube.

SS


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Following closely Los Buzos has been on.my list for awhile now.

[58thecat]

Awesome, talked to morris about the kayak/ pongo combo and I am setting things up. Rooster fish is on our hit list but heck just being there will be awesome.
Our plan is to travel light and rent everything there.
good luck


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[Mumbles]

It’s a ton of work if in the kayaks and not exactly the most relaxing vacation, but you will absolutely have a blast down there.
I was fortunate enough to get to Los Buzos just before the world shut down in 2020.
I wasn’t fortunate to land a Cubera or Rooster but had some big bites. Went through a ton of bait, which is a blast in and of itself to catch.
Enjoy.

[roper1]

You & the lad enjoy!!! Looking forward to the pics!!

[thorne]

Can't wait for pics!! Me and the wife have put off our usual late Nov trip down south this year as we are still getting settled in our new Cold Lake digs...but now you have me itching for the Feb trip!! Still haven't settled on a destination...so anxious to see how you make out!!

[SamSteele]

Well heavy rains had some flooding on the roads between Panama City and Los Buzos, but we made it to the resort. Looking forward to getting after it tomorrow!





Accommodations are right on the beach and the scenery is pretty idyllic.

SS


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[HL_transplant]

What's in Season right now down there for species?

[SamSteele]

Roosterfish, cubera, mahi, tuna, and potentially sailfish.

SS


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[HL_transplant]

Originally Posted by SamSteele

Roosterfish, cubera, mahi, tuna, and potentially sailfish.

SS


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Sweet. Be nice to see the pics!!!

[58thecat]

Awesome!
Can’t wait to see some pics and a write up.


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[SamSteele]

The day started with the launching of boats, a simple process involving a Massey Ferguson and a bunch of manpower.



Once launched, we made a very long run through rough seas, high winds, and downpours of rain to get further west along the coast. The coastline all along the way was stunning with waterfalls and howler monkeys punctuating the forest and rock.



My first fish was an African Pompano, which was a new species for me. It fought hard on medium spinning gear and was a lot of fun, although my sea legs were still unsteady and the big waves crosswise to the swells didn’t help.



My son hooked up to something big, but it threw the hook. I then hooked into a rock snapper.



While I was bringing in the snapper, my son hooked a roosterfish. He fought it well and had it surface about 30 feet from the boat. It was at that time that the leader knot broke. Talk about devastated! We spotted a mahi mahi near the boat shortly after but didn’t get it to bite. My son then caught his African Pompano.




We kept vertical jigging for a while, jumping spots until we finally decided to troll. My son then connected with a small shark. I followed that up with catching a plastic bag that could potentially be a record. We kept trolling and came across schools of bonito that were jumping on the surface. Light spinning gear with jigs was used and it was non stop double headers. We kept a bunch of these for bait for the coming days.

At our last stop we soaked a bonito on a bottom rig while vertical jigging. I looked about 40 feet behind the boat and spotted a black marlin cruising by. The guides scrambled to rig up the right gear but by the time they were ready it was nowhere to be seen.

By then it was time to make the long trek back to the lodge.

Day 1 done.

SS


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[fish99]

Thanks for posting please keep them coming

[livinthedream]

Awesome! Probably not the kind of weather you were expecting for Panama! Hopefully day 2 will be better and you and your son will land a bunch more species! Good luck and keep the reports and photos coming! P.S. I'm always impressed with your photos. What kind of camera and camera settings do you use. Thanks.

[thorne]

Looks awesome!! Can't wait to get back at it!! Keep the updates comming!

[58thecat]

Sitting here with a small whitetail buck poking around and I am dreaming of kayak fishing the high seas!

Hopefully day 2 you put the hammer down on rooster fish!

See they are on fire right now according to the reports!

Good luck!


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[SNAPFisher]

Praying for calmer seas for you guys. Those pics are the definition on "choppy seas". Good on you guys for toughing it out and making the best of it. Good luck!

[SamSteele]

Day 2 started off the same as day 1, aside from some stiffness and bruises from the day before.

We headed to the spot that we ended the previous day, hoping that we could start to connect on the misses from earlier. The rain had passed and the winds were lighter at 25-30 kph. Still far from calm, but noticeably better from the 40-45 kph the previous day.

Unfortunately we couldn’t seem to buy a bite. My son caught a small red snapper and I caught a blue runner that we used as live bait. No takers. We spent most of the morning jumping spots until the captain suggested that we try trolling for mahi, marlin, and look for tuna in the deep water. I have always said that you do what the captain suggests, so we went with it. We trolled for a couple hours with nothing to show for it but spotting some flying fish, sea turtles, bonito jumping, and some dolphins. Spirits were sinking low, to say the least.

The captain then said we would go jig a bit close to the lodge on the way home. We were all for it after sitting and watching trolling rods. He pulled us up into some really dirty water and I figured there was no chance that we would catch a thing in that dirty water. 80 gram butterfly jigs in chocolate milk? Not likely.

Welp, I was wrong and this is why you hire guides I guess.



Shortly after I let this one go my son connected. And fought it for 30 seconds before it tossed the hook again. We tried a couple more passes and I actually connected again on the last drop of the day, but it didn’t stay hooked either.

Tomorrow is another day and we will be focusing on getting my son his fish.

At least I didn’t need to post a sunset picture, the universal sign of a skunk day.

SS


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[SamSteele]

Originally Posted by livinthedream

P.S. I'm always impressed with your photos. What kind of camera and camera settings do you use. Thanks.

Usually an iPhone or a GoPro. In this case, an iPhone.

SS


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[AlbertanGP]

Looks like a great time. Those saltwater fish are missiles.

[58thecat]

I hope you did the rooster call!!!
Mandatory after catching one.

I am in a deer stand or I would let one
Rip!


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[SamSteele]

Day 3 started 30 min later due to the tides, but otherwise was the same. The only difference was we had a single target for the day, having my son catch his first rooster!

We started off at the place where I caught mine the previous day and fished there for a bit with no success. We picked up and moved to a new location and got a bonito, a small big-eyed jack, and a small rock snapper. The bonito and jack became bait and the snapper went back. Things were pretty slow so we moved again, this time to a spot where we had tossed poppers up along the rocks yesterday.

We were almost done our first drift when my son saw a rooster chase his lure up. He opened the bail and dropped quickly and when he closed the bail it was on! The rooster cleared the surface a couple times and put up a good fight for its size. We snapped some photos, released it, and gave high fives all around.



We kept fishing that spot and I had another small rooster chase me to the boat and then peeled off and didn’t return. After a couple more passes we headed to our last spot of the day.



We got to the final spot of the day and my son hooked up almost immediately and it was BIG! He fought it for quite some time and all of a sudden it was gone. He reeled in his line to find that whoever rigged the rod had tied onto the wrong point and the split ring broke, leaving the lure tied to his line but the assist hooks weren’t there anymore.



I hooked up to something big right after that and had the same thing happen. The guide was really upset with his crew and their inattention to details. My son and I brushed it off and kept fishing.

On our next reset I had a hit in the first few cranks while reeling up but didn’t connect so I opened the bail right away, dropped, and started again. Same thing happened so I repeated. This time I hooked something and it worked me over like I haven’t experienced before! Long peeling runs with no quit. It had me thinking it was a shark, but it kept bulldogging me which a shark wouldn’t do. I finally got it up to the surface and saw that it was a GIANT roosterfish! I was only about halfway through the fight by this time and it took all I had to get it back to the boat a second time. We finally landed it, a 48.5” rooster.



It turns out that I had hooked a big-eye jack and the rooster inhaled it, getting one of the assist hooks in its mouth and the whole jack down its throat. We were able to get the hook out and get it released.



We did one more pass and my son hooked up to another one. He was able to get it up to the boat and I was actually able to grab it for him. Kind of a special father-son moment for us!



After that we were at the end of our fishing time. Nothing g left but a long ride back to the resort where massages and u limited cold beer awaited.




Day 3 done.

SS


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[58thecat]

Epic!


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[AlbertanGP]

Awesome trip with the best possible company.

[roper1]

Doesn't get much better!! Big water, hard fighting fish, and a cold couple to finish the day.......with your son. Awesome job Dad!

[tirebob]

Awesome trip!! Nothing like southern salt water fishing...

[dryflyguy]

Gorgeous fish! Can't wait to do a trip like this with my boys when they get older