THE GREENER PASTURES OF PANAMA! Part One

Tackle Source goes round the globe to Central America. Panama to be precise, to fish the Tuna Coast on the Panafishing sportfishers. It would take us 3 days over land and sea to arrive but the experience would make up for it as it turned out to be a week to remember...

After the long travels it was good to finally see the sea...

Each morning we would be transported from the lodge to the beach to board our vessels...

The guys were pumped and ready to go...

We would load on the tender which would ferry us to the waiting centre consoles...

The boats would then gun up and down the coast to prospective spots, then be back by the evening for an awesome dinner at the lodge...

First fish after a few drops with the jig is an African Pompano on the FEED FALL jig...

Working the bottom with an Evergreen Caprice jig finds this Grouper...

Most of the species were new to us. This Silk Snapper was omnipresent throughout the trip but were much fun to catch. This one fell for a FEED FLINT jig...

For this trip we had new prototype FEED rods to punish, and punish them we did...

The Jack Crevalles are the gangsters of the reefs. They go hard and loved the baitfish profile of the FEED FALL jig...

Silk Snappers were found in schools and the Evergreen Caprice jig picked this one up...

We loved the fluidity of the new FEED slow pitch rods...

Another Silk Snapper hits the deck courtesy of a FEED FALL jigs...

The harder, more stubborn fights often resulted in pesky Jack Crevalles. This is a big boy on the Evergreen Caprice jig...

This hulk of a fish turned out to be a rare Mullet Snapper which took the Evergreen Caprice and took a long time to boat. It is an awesome fish to look at!

Flipping the FEED FALL jig off the bottom gets it slammed hard by this angry Cubera Snapper. They were the species we had travelled to Panama to target and this was the first to the boat...

The Silk Snappers were in big schools and were willing. This one took the Kanji Free Slow jig and put up a fight...

We get plenty of action with the prototype rods and they were worked hard...

Another African Pompano courtesy of the FEED FALL jig...

Here's a bigger specimen of the Silk Snapper. It went hard...

Panama is home to a myriad of Groupe species and here's another one on the FEED FALL jig...

Hanging amongst the bait schools we found Skipjack Tuna throughout the trip. The Kanji Free Slow jig accounts for a tandem...

Below those bait schools we would find the Silk Snappers with the FEED FALLs...

Almost every drift we would encounter these schools. Here the SFC Abyss picks up another...

Some were bigger than others. This one fell for the Evergreen Javelin Jet jig...

And the SFC Gawky finds another...

Working the new Evergreen Caprice Edge jig through a bait school finds this Amberjack out on a hunt...

They were mixed in amongst some big Silk Snappers...

We had at our disposal some new FEED FLINT weights and colours to play with and they proved successful. Another big Silk Snapper finds itself onboard...

Another FEED FLINT jig victim is this fat Almaco Jack...

This curious fish is a Golden-eyed Tilefish and it wasn't shy to attack the FLINT jig which was almost as big as itself...

Meanwhile this baby Amberjack liked the Evergreen Caprice jig...

Then it was back to Silk Snappers on the FEED FLINT jig...

And big ones too, like this one on the Evergreen Caprice...

We were excited to get into the different and new species on the drops. This nice Grouper took the FEED FLINT jig and looked great for the photo...

And how about this beautiful looking Bass from the bottom on the Evergreen Caprice jig?

All this while the crimson brigade kept obliging, especially on the FEED FLINT jigs...

This beautiful next capture is a juvenile Snowy Grouper on the FEED FLINT...

We were surprised to find this Bigeye in relatively shallow water on the Sea Floor Control Cranky jig...

Then we found a patch of Groupers, this one on an Evergreen Caprice jig...

Followed by another on the Shout! Shab Shab jig...

In the late afternoon we tried our hand at a topwater bite and while the action was slow we eventually got one big hit which was followed by a monumental fight on the FEED Saltworx GT popping stick...

When he fish got to the boat we were both in shock and awe at the sight of this behemoth of a Roosterfish. It had taken the FCL Labo Ebipop and fought a truly hard fight before being tamed. This is a fantastic fish-of-a-lifetime capture!

Working the surface with a DUO Aomasa Pencil also found this Jack Crevalle but it was no match for the FEED Saltworx Offshore spin stick...

We barely had the chance to go light but when we did there were willing critters like this Yellow Snapper on the Evergreen Caprice Kid jig...

By day two we were ready to take on all comers. With all the new gear we had at our disposal the excitement was hard to contain...

The new FEED FLINT design in a lighter weight scores with a nice Grouper to start the day...

The Evergreen Caprice Edge jig finds a frisky Bonito...

And then another surprise Bigeye gets pinned by the FEED FLINT...

Then we get rewarded a little deeper down with this big Silk Snapper on an FCL labo SL jig...

A hard fight on the Evergreen Poseidon High Pitch Jerker rod reveals a foul-hooked Amberjack which got snagged when it swiped at the Xesta Slow Emotion jig...

Going slow on the bottom with the SFC Rector almost guarantees a demersal. And here another Grouper hits the deck...

We shared the grounds with many a friendly local fisherman...

There were obviously plenty of Silk Snappers to go around, and in fact with our jigs like the Evergreen Caprice we were putting more fish in the boat...

Another case of excessive greed with this Golden-eyed Tilefish on the Caprice jig...

Followed by a small Grouper on the FEED FALL jig...

Packs of Jack Crevalles would occasional bust though the schools too. Evergreen Caprice would do the trick again...

The new range of FEED slow pitch rods will have a model to cover every need and we were happy to put them through their paces...

To pit them against brutes like this Cubera Snapper on the FEED FALL was terribly satisfying...

Another big take and a strong fight sees this magnificent looking Broomtail Grouper in the boat after it took the Xesta Slow Emotion jig...

The Silk Snappers were always around to make sure the action was consistent. The FEED FALL jig continued to score...

Smaller Silk Snapper but just as fun...

Keeping with the FEED FALL jig and it finds this hungry Almaco Jack...

Followed by an even better one on the SFC Gawky...

More small Silk Snappers on the FEED FALL jig...

And another beautiful Golden-eyed Tilefish on the FALL jig...

While switching spots we ran into a big pod of Dolphins charging bait fish. This usually meant Tuna weren't far and the first few casts were immediately rewarded with stellar hook ups. A few big ones were lost after long hard runs but this Yellowfin Tuna was finally boated courtesy of the FCL Labo CSP stickbait cast with the FCL Labo 81EXT popping stick...

The next few hook ups came hard and fast and we were lucky to stay connected after those lost fish. This YFT slammed a prototype FEED popper and found itself in the boat in no time courtesy of a new popping rod prototype we were testing...

Some fish took longer to get to the boat, this fight was back breaking...

And all because the FCL Labo Ebipop was hooked on the body of this YFT...

The chase continued and the fish continued to come aboard. The Prototype FEED Popper scores again...

Another one at the gaff, prototype FEED popper hooked well in its jaws...

There were no hesitation in the takes as shown by this YFT with the FCL Labo CSP stickbait deep in its gob...

Yet another FEED prototype victim...

One last YFT in the boat and we left the school biting to target other fish...

A big FEED SLASH sinking stickbait cast towards the shallows of the rocks was rewarded by this unconventional capture. This beauty is identified as a Hawkfish and it displayed some awesome markings...

Meanwhile, a smaller FCL Labo Ebipop is nailed in the shallows by this angry Jack Crevalle. It was a good workout on the FEED Saltworx Offshore Casting rod...

As another day drew to a close, the anticipation of the days ahead just grew...

We had some new prototype popping rods that were to be put to good use and we couldn't wait...

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