Capt. Jim Wiese of Cebaco Bay Sportfishing Club invited us down for
another round of fishing-this time early in the season to give us a different
perspective on this area. The Cebaco Bay is a 115’ fully air conditioned
mothership that is located in a beautiful, jungle-rimmed bay at Cebaco
Island (about 20 miles east of Coiba Island ). Sabrina and I fished on the
31’ Bertram “Extreme” for five days and then switched over to the 47’
Buddy Davis “Aguja” with the Chuck Bilter's family who wanted a little
on-the-water fishing seminar about popping, jigging, etc. We all had a fun
time with his kids, Andrew and Angela, getting totally immersed in the fishing.
We caught 19 species of fish in calm sea conditions with some refreshing
rain showers still moving through which helped make it very comfortable
for fishing. This was another full moon trip like many of mine are. Trolling
diving plugs, tuna jigs and live cojinua baits was most productive although
we caught bluefin trevally and cubera snapper on the poppers. We lost
some huge cubera on the poppers fishing 28 lbs. of drag. Punta Mariato
(western end of the Tuna Coast ) was the hot spot this trip. Blue/green
water was close to shore and even the pelagics such as yellowfin tuna
and sailfish were found in water as shallow as 40’. This area produced
dorado, tuna, trevally, roosterfish, mullet snapper, cubera, sails,
amberjack, jack crevalle and others all mixed together. We had a double
hook-up with a yellowfin tuna and mullet snapper to give you an idea of
the mix.
Marlin did not cooperate and we could not find any black skipjack in our
travels from Jicaron, Jicarita and 8 miles south along the drop-off to
Cebaco Bank, Aguja Reef, Roncador and the Tuna Coast . Not even a
puddle of these “bonito” showed. Hopefully they will show soon for you
guys wanting some marlin action. The deep jigging was also unproductive
at a number of good spots as well. But like Panama is-there always seems
to be something going on that makes for a great trip if you adapt to
what’s available and use the techniques that are best for the moment.
The season at Cebaco Bay Sportfishing Club (E-mail:
info@cebacobay.com
or call 011-507-316-4027 from the States) will run through July, 2008. We
also spent a few hours on Gatun Lake ( Panama Canal ) arranged by John
Shyne (
info@panamayachtours.com or call 011-507-6-614-1114).
The photos can’t do justice to the great time we had with the friendly,
helpful crew, great fishing, great food and beautiful scenery.
Tony Pena
“The Roving Angler”
Loading up the “Extreme” at Puerto Mutis
Bluefin trevally
Cubera snapper
Jack crevalle
Bluefin trevally almost swallowed a big GT popper
Switching to single hooks helped the release
Dorado
Christmas Day sailfish
Mate Olivio rigs a Panama belly bait
Belly bait
Schoolie yellowfin
Bloody Decks
Sail on a belly bait
Christmas turkey onboard the “ Cebaco Bay ” mothership
Sabrina with happy crew members
Amberjack
Mullet snapper (pargo lisa)
Yellowfin was a double hook-up with snapper
Barracuda
Fresh yellowfin sashimi
Pargo, pork chops, rice, beans, salad, Chilean wine followed by ice cream and cake
Foaming bait at Punta Mariato-popping time
Andrew and Angela
Chuck and Andrew
Andrew’s first sailfish
Dorado
Needs a Bloody Decks sticker
Karen’s first roosterfish
Capt. Julio of Panama Yacht Tours , Gatun Lake ( Panama Canal )
Peacock bass
Live minnows are preferred bait but small lures work well
Here come the monkeys
Capuchin monkey family
Alpha males are bold if you have fruit onboard
Turtles are a common sight
Croc asleep on shore
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