The Tackle Source Panama adventure continues as we head into the third day of the trip. The topwater bite has been tough but that was soon to change...
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| We had no shortage of gear to take all challengers. They were prepped and ready daily... |
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| Not an expected encounter on the large FEED CONE popper but this foul-hooked beautiful Longfin Pompano was a welcome break of the monotony... |
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| Finally after a few days of hard casting it pays of with a big take ad before long we had this fat fish in the boat. It was a nice Cubera Snapper, what we had come for... |
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| It had smashed the FEED PIN150 popper with zero hesitation. It was lodged deep in its gob... |
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| Cuberas typically fight hard and dirty, this bruiser was a real test for the new prototype rod we were testing and it did the job without much fuss... |
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| At lunch break in the shallows we would prospect with smaller lures like the Jackson Pintail, this one found a beautifully marked Sierra Mackeral... |
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| We tried out the brand new DUO Blazin 110 lure and found a curious Orange-side Trigger on the first cast... |
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| It was a fish a cast with the DUO Blazin 110. A Yellow Snapper joins us onboard... |
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| And then another Orange-side Trigger... |
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| Next we were back to the serious jigging and an encounter with a few of these very special looking species - the Rock Snapper! This one fell for a Xesta Slippy jig... |
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| Shortly after followed by another on the light jig Major Craft Giant Killing outfit and the Evergreen Caprice Kid jig... |
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| Almaco Jacks were always present and they liked the Kanji Free Slow jigs... |
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| But the Rock Snappers were the stars... |
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| And the Silk Snappers never failed to disappoint. The Evergreen Javelin Jet nails another... |
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| Yellow Snapper on the FEED FALL jig... |
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| Another new specie of Snapper, the Spotted Snapper on the Xesta Slippy jig... |
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| This little Sierra Mackeral got snagged by a Xesta Slow Emotion Flap jig... |
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| While another juvenile Snowy Grouper comes aboard courtesy of the Jackall Knuckle soft plastic... |
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| The African Pompano is a great fighter on any tackle. Here this one gets fouled by the SFC Scout jig in its body... |
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| Another Yellow Snapper is fooled by the Jackall Knuckle plastic worked on the Saltworx Offshore casting rod in shallow water... |
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| An SFC Gawky jig finds another beautiful Rock Snapper to end the day's fishing... |
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| Early next morning and we are back on the Silk Snappers, this one on the FEED FALL jig... |
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| This tiny one reacts to the SFC Rector... |
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| In a funny twist a Sailfish takes a jig on the fall and the fight is on... |
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| Against the Evergreen High Pitch Jerker Poseidon rod it was an easy win. The Sail was revived and release after this quick pic... |
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| And it was back to Silk Snappers on FEED FALL jigs... |
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| In quick succession... |
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| The FEED FALL proved to be the perfect profile for these waters and proved their mettle even without colour... |
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| After this Silky on the SFC Gawky jig we moved on to some topwater casting... |
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| After much hard work, a nice Cubera Snapper obliges... |
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| The FCL Labo CSP stickbait is well lodged... |
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| Then things heat up in relatively shallow water with jigs. A beautifully marked Roosterfish gets everyone excited when it took a prototype jig... |
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| Very soon another one is hooked on a Shout! Cradle jig. The fish weren't huge but they fought hard for their size... |
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| Its a Rooster parade as the Xesta After Burner jig gets in on the act with another nice fish! |
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| This cute Puffer bit off more than it could chew... |
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| One more Roosterfish for good measure on the Xesta After Burner jig... |
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| Then its back to other reefies like this Spotted Snapper on the Xesta Flap jig... |
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| And a Yellow Snapper on the prototype jig... |
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| And the amazingly beautiful Rock Snapper is always a welcome catch. The FEED FALL jig was this one's downfall... |
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| The surface bite is on again with a nice Cubera Snapper which went for the FEED SLASH sinking stickbait. What a fish... |
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| And a fish we will never get tired of seeing - a big Rooster which sucked down the FCL Ebipop popper with gusto... |
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| A huge surface explosion was followed by an epic fight on the FCL Labo 81EXT popping rod... |
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| Turned out to be a huge Shark on the FCL Labo Ebipop... |
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| A quick pic for posterity before spearing it back in the water... |
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| More topwater action ensued with a nice Rock Snapper on the FEED SLASH sinking stickbait... |
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| Followed by a good Jack Crevalle on the Shout! Engra stickbait... |
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| And how about this greedy Sierra Mackeral which slashed at the FEED SLASH stickbait and got pinned... |
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| With the topwater bite slowing we could always rely on the jigging to keep busy. The Xesta Flap scores a Silk Snapper... |
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| And you know the fish are thick when a FEED FALL jig nails an Almaco Jack and Silky Snapper at once... |
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| We never had trouble finding the Silkies. They loved the FEED FALL jigs... |
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| Then occasionally we would get rewarded by some bruisers like this Cubera Snapper. Not all could be stopped but we tried our best... |
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| The FEED FALL jig seemed to be the chosen design as all the Cuberas for the trip were only landed by this jig... |
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| Of course the Silk Snappers loved the FALLs just the same... |
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| The Kanji Free Slow jig found a Yellow Snapper... |
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| And we were very lucky this FEED FALL jig wasn't snipped off by this big Sierra Mackeral... |
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| The schools of Silkies were almost everywhere. The FEED FALL pulls one from its friends... |
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| Having fun with the light Saltworx jig rod and the IMA Ro gets this Silky Snapper's attention... |
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| From the bottom, the FALL jig finds this Scorpionfish... |
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| Its another species to add to the growing list... |
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| It was never boring with the Silkies. They go hard and loved the FEED FALL jigs... |
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| The IMA Gun Peki jig also does the damage... |
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| The Triggerfish didn't want out of the action, they would attack the large jigs like the FEED FALL and occasionally one would get hooked... |
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| It was always good to pull a bigger Silky from the schools, like this FEED FALL victim... |
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| But there were many small ones to get through too. This one took an SFC Spunky jig... |
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| Beautiful Rock Snappers were always a welcome addition. The Kanji Free Slow scores... |
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| And the SFC Spunky nails a nicer Yellow Snapper... |
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| The jigging was awesome and the icing on the cake would be beautiful fish like this Rooster on the Kanji Free Slow jig and Evergreen Poseidon rod combo... |
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| The SFC Rector bounced off the bottom got a quick reaction, another Silky gets landed... |
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| Was good to have a few nice Groupers thrown into the mix. The Kanji Free Slow jig does the job... |
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| The new FEED FLINT jig in a new funky colour style shows the results... |
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| With two fish in quick succession... |
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| The afternoons were devoted to the topwater chase and whilst no monsters were encountered this big Sierra Mackeral was a nice surprise on the FEED PIN popper... |
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| Another surface explosion later the FEED Saltworx Popping rod loaded up but it turned out to be a frisky Jack Crevalle which smashed the FEED PIN popper... |
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| The last day of the trip came in a blink of an eye and the morning popping session started with a good sized Bigeye Trevally on the PIN popper. But it wasn't what we were after... |
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| So it was on to the jigging, and in the shallows the Jack Crevalles were hot on the chew. This one took an SFC Cranky jig... |
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| And it was two for two with a couple on the FEED FALL jigs... |
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| So to escape the Jacks we headed for deeper grounds and were immediately rewarded with this rare Mullet Snapper after a good fight... |
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| The FEED FALL jig is proudly pinned... |
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| There were no monster Amberjack encountered but even smaller ones were a thrill to hook. The FEED FALL jig shines again... |
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| The Silk Snappers were super aggressive even when they were juveniles... |
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| Gleaming in the light after an awesome fight is the beautiful African Pompano which fell for a FEED FALL jig... |
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| It was then joined by another which took an IMA Gun Peki jig... |
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| The IMA Gun Peki also accounted for an unidentified Trevally to add to the species list... |
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| The beautiful markings on the Spotted Snapper was hard to ignore. A nice catch on the Kanji Free Slow jig... |
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| As the jigging drew to a close it was good to pull a good one out of the Silk Snapper school. This one took an SFC Spunky jig... |
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| We dedicated the late afternoon to a surface session and found this Jack Crevalle which couldn't resist the PIN popper in the special Abalone finish... |
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| Then on the very last cast on the last day the FEED PIN popper is taken and with some quick rod work courtesy of the FEED Saltworx 83GTH popping rod a nice Cubera Snapper is in the boat... |
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| After many disappointments from the past couple of days due to thrown hooks and failed strikes this was a perfect way to end the trip. This bruiser was safely revived and released after the obligatory pictures... |
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| It was a long way home, and it was hard to leave. But plans for a return were already in place... |
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