Panama Tuna Fishing Packages

The yellow-fin tuna fishing in Panama is one of the sport fishing industry’s worst kept secrets. For decades, anglers have known about not only the quality of the tuna action but also it’s consistency. While no one can guarantee fish, chances are if you are fishing offshore in Panama in the spring or summer you are going to run into one of the favorite sights of any saltwater angler – the beautiful chaos that is a feeding school of yellow-fin tuna boiling at the surface. Local Panamanians call this a “lavadora”, which means washing machine.

Panama is the thin strip of land that connects Central America to South America. Being an isthmus, Panama has been blessed with long coastlines on two different oceans, each one about 1,000 miles long. Due to migratory patterns, major ocean currents, and incredible quantities of bait fish all the best tuna fishing in Panama is found on our Pacific Coast. The three main destinations where we do our tuna fishing are:

1) Gulf of Chiriqui
This area in Western Panama from Coiba Island to the border with Costa Rica. It is also home to some of Panama’s best and most famous fishing spots like the Hannibal Bak, Isla Montuosa, and Coiba Island itself. When anglers dream about tossing poppers into a school of hundreds of feeding tuna or catchign a 200 lb cow, this is the place to be.

2) Azuero Peninsula 
Nicknamed the ‘Tuna Coast’, the Azuero Peninsula juts out into the Pacific and puts anglers right on the continental shelf. This area is known for it’s inshore fishing on pangas and center consoles, but when the school of tuna are just five miles off the coast it’s a no brainer.

3) Piñas Bay
Home to the famous Tropic Star Lodge, this is the farthest east fishing outpost in Panama. While it’s known for the incredibl marlin fishing, during the green season months they see plenty of yellow-fin tuna as well.

Panama’s peak tuna fishing starts in mid March at the end of the dry season and is at it’s very best from April through July. Panama has two weather seasons: the dry season (December through April) and the green season (May through November). Most years, the tuna start to show up around March, though they are smaller in size. The numbers – and size – of the fish increase in April and peak at the start of green season in May and June before tapering back down again in July and August. According to Captain Kerry Leggett, owner/operator of Come Fish Panama in Boca Chica, the peak tuna season runs from March to August.

“In March and April we see the tuna in big numbers again, though they are typically smaller (50-100 lbs). The months of May/June/July is when catch our cow tuna (200-300 lbs). We catch them at a record pace in May and June. In July and August the tuna are still there, but we have less anglers fishing for them as they don’t want to deal with the rainy season.“

However, Panama’s S-shaped Pacific Coast is over 1,000 miles long so different parts of the country have slightly different seasons. One month may feature acres-wide tuna boils in part of the country while another may experience strong winds or heavy rains. Below is a Panama fishing calendar to give you a general idea, but keep in mind this is not exact science and can vary year to year slightly. Knowing when AND where to go for the tuna fishing you want to experience is of the utmost importance, so once you contact us we’ll work with you to build the perfect customized itinerary to put you in the right spot at the right time.

There are several different ways to fish for tuna in Panama. Based on sea conditions, or more likely whatever the tuna are feeding on, one method may prove to be more productive than another. You may not believe it until you experience it for yourself, but even during those chaotic, boiling feeding frenzies the tuna can be incredibly honed in on a specific bait and if you aren’t working with something similar you won’t get bit. There are days where our captains are running down tuna all afternoon only to return home empty handed, then there are other days where we catch so many we start releasing them after we’ve secured enough to take home. Tuna fishing, just like any other kind of sport fishing, is never a guarantee so it’s important to be flexible with your fishing techniques and choice of baits or lures. Below are the most popular and effective ways that we catch tuna in Panama:

More often than not, our anglers want to know what to do with all the tuna they plan on catching on their fishing vacation to Panama. There are a lot of options, but the fastest and freshest way to enjoy your recently caught tuna would be fresh sashimi right on the boat. Not every boat will do this, but most of our higher end fishing boats in Panama will have soy sauce on the boat for this very reason. If you stay at a fishing lodge in Panama, you should expect that most of what you catch will be given to the lodge to feed not only your own group but also the other guests and staff. In peak tuna season it’s quite possible there will be more than enough to go around, but you should assume most of the tuna is ‘communal’ fish rather than your very own. If you stay at one of our boutique hotels on your fishing trip to Panama, the fish is yours (apart from what you share with the boat crew) but they will be glad to cook it for you for dinner however you like.

If you catch so much tuna that you have enough to bring home, which is very common, the answer is “YES” you are allowed to bring fish home with you. There is no dry ice or shipping company in Panama that will send it back to your doorstep, so the only way to bring it home is to do it yourself. You can bring down a soft sided, leak proof cooler or you can buy inexpensive Coleman plastic coolers once you are in Panama.  Simply freeze your fish solid, wrap it in newspaper, and then pack your cooler full of ice and it should stay completely frozen until you reach home. It’s best to check with your individual airline before you travel to Panama to be clear on their rules and regulations.