July 2017 – Fishing with Our Buddies, Bucket List Marlin, Tunas, and Wild Bill!!!

July tends to be a great month to fish here in the Gulf of Chiriqui and July 2017 was no exception! Cooler water this time of year and concentrations of bait fish offshore at Hannibal Bank/Isla Montuosa area attract Marlin and Tuna to come in and feed. The lodge hosted three groups during this month and had success with live baiting Marlin at Hannibal Bank, good days with Tunas, and excellent “meat” fishing for Snowy Grouper.

The Maynard Group

Our first group in July was the Maynard family on their third return visit. John and his sons Rooney, Bobby, and Tyler came back for Tuna action. The Tunas weren’t at full strength during their week, though they did catch some good flurries of action on smaller 20-40 pound Tunas with multiple double and triple headers.

The group also targeted Snowy Grouper at 500-700 foot deep drop spots. They caught plenty of Snowys up to 25 pounds. The lodge uses a Hooker Electric 80 wide with 3 pound lead for easier retrieval from these depths rather than hand-jigging. Chef Erick prepared magnificent dishes with the fresh Tuna and Grouper catches, including Lobster ceviche.

While the Tuna bite was slower than the previous two months, the Maynard clan understood fishing’s unpredictability and appreciated both good and challenging days.

Ozzy, Wild Bill, and Mark

After attending the ICAST show, the lodge hosted Ozzy Delgado from Grundens, Bill Wichrowski from the Discovery Channel show “Deadliest Catch,” and Mark McKensie from the Bonnier group. Ozzy wanted to check a Black Marlin off his bucket list.

The first day yielded a few shots at Black Marlin but missed them all. On the way in, they found a good school of Yellowfin Tunas and caught several nice ones. Days two and three also struck out on Black Marlin attempts.

By day four around 2 pm, the captain expressed concern after missing four bites on Black Marlin with nothing to show. They were seeing Marlin all around—busting baits on the surface, visible on sounder, and other boats had hooked fish—but luck remained elusive.

Finally, another Black ate a live bridled Bonito. Bill settled into the stand up harness with an Accurate 80 wide and fought the fish—over 400 pounds—for about 20 minutes, bringing it boat side. However, when the mate Juan was wiring the fish, the 200# fluorocarbon leader snapped. No photos were captured, but it was still a good catch.

At 4 pm, they had one last live Bonito remaining. This particular fish had previously been hooked, as evidenced by a rusted hook and Hoochi still in its mouth when caught—which they considered lucky.

Within two minutes of being bridled to a 12/0 Mustad Demon Perfect circle hook, it was eaten! Ozzy and the clicker screamed as line peeled off the reel. Another Black Marlin! The fish did a series of wild jumps, peeling considerable line. Ozzy worked the fish with great technique as they backed down. After a couple more jumps boat side, Ozzy had control.

The team tagged the fish and removed the hook from the corner of its mouth. Ozzy’s Black Marlin measured 109 inches and weighed a conservative 450 pounds. After a short video and photos while reviving the fish, it swam away with good color and vitality.

Jay’s Family

The final group was Jay and his family, returning clients who had fished with the lodge five or six times. They fished offshore for two days looking for Tunas with the whole family and really connected with them! Two straight days of solid action followed.

The timing was perfect to find and fish a large area of Yellowfin Tunas that local commercial fishermen were working. The family encountered real exciting action in areas where Tunas were frenzied on baitballs.

Jay’s 12-year-old son Max strapped into the stand up harness and fought like a champion to catch his first Yellowfin Tuna, well over 100 pounds! The entire family got into the action and caught some big Tunas. This was the first time Jay witnessed Tunas boiling and feeding like this during previous fishing occasions.