Signature Trip
Tuna fishing
There are times our guests physically can't catch any more tuna. Time to go inshore.
The yellowfin fishing here can be incredible. We catch lots and lots of them — and some true giants, like a 290-pounder in February 2025, among many others.
There are days our guests simply can't physically catch any more tuna (time to go inshore!). Sometimes that's because we catch so many; sometimes it's because we tangle with one big fish. We catch them in a variety of ways.
The tuna frenzy
Perhaps the most exciting spectacle in all of fishing.
The Gulf of Chiriquí is the home of the tuna frenzy. A frenzy happens when tuna stack a school of bait on the surface and crash out of the water to eat it, creating whitewater and mayhem. When it happens — especially when the bait is hanging on floating structure — it's often instant hookups.
There are times we have more rods hooked to tuna than we have anglers on the boat. You can toss a live bait into the mix or throw poppers around it. It is incredible.
Running with porpoise
A yellowfin on a popper — everyone should feel it once.
Targeting schools of tuna traveling with pods of porpoise is another great way to catch them. It means running and running to put the boat at the leading edge of the porpoises. Anglers cast poppers and stick baits from the bow, while from the cockpit we deploy live blue runners or bonito.
A yellowfin on a popper is a sight everyone should experience at least once. There's nothing like the explosion and that first run. Epic.
Live bait & chunking
No better bait for big tuna than live bonito.
There may be no better bait for big tuna than live bonito. We sometimes hang into big fish while live baiting for marlin, and we'll deploy bonito when fishing porpoise schools too. Bonito doesn't just catch big yellowfin and marlin — it takes sailfish, big dorado, and even big roosterfish and cubera inshore.
We also have a good relationship with the local commercial fleet — we'll bring them spare parts or trade beer for sardines, and in return they call us in on a hot tuna bite. When that happens, we nose up to the commercial vessel and cast live blue runners into the school, or pull off a bit and deploy chunks of sardine. After a few handfuls of chum, we drop chunks with hooks in them. We've caught many really big yellowfin this way — it's highly effective, and getting called to the action saves a lot of time running and looking across the ocean.
In the spread
Yellowfin at the lodge
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