Panama Fishing Vacation

Panama is the tiny isthmus that forms the ‘Bridge of the Americas‘ connecting North America to South America. It’s “bottleneck” geography between the two continents has blessed Panama with a rich culture, amazing wildlife, and of course world class sport fishing. Panama is home to two 1,000 mile long coastlines on two different oceans, hundreds of islands, giant mangrove and estuary systems, and world famous offshore hot spots like the Hannibal Bank, Zane Grey Reef, Isla Montuosa, and the Tuna Coast. Whether you are a seasoned angler or a novice, we will gladly custom design the perfect Panama fishing package for you. From big game offshore fishing to jigging & popping for 30+ inshore species to freshwater fishing on the Panama Canal, Panama truly is an anglers dream.

Located in Western Panama near the border of Costa Rica, the Gulf of Chiriqui offers the best all-around fishing in Panama. Out of all the best fishing lodges in Panama, the majority of them are located in this region. Anglers looking for marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna and dorado can run straight south to the famous offshore hot spots like the Hannibal Bank, Montuosa Island, and Coiba Island. The Gulf of Chiriqui shows a very gradual slope as the depth slowly increases with each mile covered. Once you hit the continental shelf about fifty miles from shore, the bottom quickly drops from a few hundred feet to a few thousand feet in an instant. This drop off creates the upwelling of nutrients that in turn kicks off the food chain, all the way up to the trophy pelagic species that we are targeting. During the season, marlin can be found patrolling the famous Hannibal Bank or circling the back side of offshore islands like Jicaron and Montuosa Island as water depths can change from 50-60 ft to several hundred feet in just a few minutes of drifting baits. We also use the Hannibal Bank as a starting point to search for the topwater yellowfin tuna action that makes Panama so famous from March through July every year. While we can find the surface boils, or “lavadoras”, there a lot of times, that bite can happen just miles from the coastline of Coiba Island all the way to the Punta Burica near the border of Costa Rica.

The inshore fishing in the Gulf of Chiriqui is arguably the best in the world. Home to over 200 islands, including the 12-island Islas Paridas Marine Reserve and the 38-island Coiba Island National Park, the underwater habitat is ideal and endless. These rocky islands and volcanic reefs provide the perfect structure for multiple species of snappers, four kinds of jacks, groupers, mackerel, amberjacks & almaco jacks, sharks, and of course, our beloved roosterfish.

With so much structure to fish, anglers will be able to choose between chucking poppers towards the rocks, casting and retrieving swim baits, jigging, chunk baiting, or slow trolling live bait based on where they are fishing and what is working that week. Since these islands lie between the mainland and the offshore fishing grounds, it makes it easy to combine inshore and offshore fishing in the same day.

Nicknamed the “Tuna Coast”, the Azuero Peninsula is Panama’s southernmost point. This 60-mile wide peninsula is remote and largely cattle country, but once you make the trek out here it literally puts you right on top of the fishing. Located just a few miles from the continental shelf, the Azuero Peninsula is one of the few places in Central America where you can just as easily fish offshore as you can inshore from a panga. Pangas, or super pangas, are the preferred boat in this region of Panama as they can easily be pulled up and launched from a beach, they can punch through the waves of river mouths, and they can quickly and easily take you to the different fishing grounds. The two main departure points for fishing trips in the Azuero Peninsula are Pedasi and Cambutal. Both quiet beach towns, with most of the young men here busy surfing if they aren’t fishing. Whether it’s jigging on the various pinnacles or casting towards the rocky coastline of the Cerro Hoya National Park, the inshore fishing here offers both quantity and quality. With no marinas, ports, or major beach towns, the commercial pressure in this part of Panama is also very light. If you love inshore fishing, light tackle battles, and chasing fish on pangas, the Azuero Peninsula should be on your list the next time you fish in Panama.

The Gulf of Panama looks like an ideal fishing destination on a map, but unfortunately the reality tells a different story. With the capital of Panama City located right on the Pacific Coast and the largest beach resorts in the country just 1.5-2 hrs away, the Gulf of Panama should be the ideal hunting grounds for any charter fishing operation. Unfortunately, due to pollution from the city, agricultural and industrial runoff from some of the most densely populated towns, and heavy pressure from the national commercial fishing fleet, the Gulf of Panama is not a great spot to spend your next fishing vacation. It would be ideal of all the business travelers in the city could run out and catch fish on a free day, but unfortunately it isn’t that easy. The run times to the offshore fishing grounds often take 2+ hrs, and from December through April there are often very strong winds coming from the north which makes your run back home long, slow, and bumpy. The Pearl Islands are the lone bright spot, as located 40 miles offshore they offer a strategic launching spot for farther offshore expeditions.

Located in the far eastern side of Panama near the border of Colombia, Piñas Bay is home to arguably the most famous fishing lodge in the world – the famous Tropic Star Lodge. Established over 60 years ago, Tropic Star Lodge is home to over 300 IGFA world records and is one of the best places on Earth to target blue and black marlin. Most of the fishing at Tropic Star Lodge is done around the Zane Grey Reef, which is another large sea mount that comes to within 150 ft of the surface. Located just a few miles from the lodge, many anglers have had marlin on the line before they finished their morning coffees. December, January, and February offer the best marlin fishing of the year, but the other months offer a great variety of fish ranging from tuna & mahi offshore to roosterfish, cubera snapper, and broomtail grouper inshore.

Located on the Western Caribbean side of Panama near the border with Costa Rica, Bocas del Toro offers the best fishing on Panama’s Caribbean Coast. This archipelago is widely popular with foreign tourists looking to snorkel, enjoy remote beaches, and revel in over-the-water accommodations. The vast system of mangroves, reefs, and a couple major river mouths also make for some pretty productive fishing. Any angler who lays eyes on this place would assume that it is teeming with tarpon and snook, but unfortunately local gill netters have taken a heavy toll on the local population. While not as productive as it’s Central American neighbors like Costa Rica or Belize, if you want to catch a tarpon in Panama this is the best place to make it happen. Other light tackle reef species like barracuda, snapper, snook, jacks, mackerel and kingfish are also available.