Panama means "the place of abundant fish”
The variety of the biotopes and the consecutive profusion of sea life allow a large number of fishing techniques, from popper and jigging fishing action on the rocks to the tracking of black marlin and big yellowfin tunas in Montuosa and Hannibal Bank.
The inshore fishing takes place on the shoals around the islands, the banks or submarine plateaus towards the continental slope, on the continental margin within a 40 miles limit of the coast.
Drop the down rigger deep and get ready to fight. The surrounding banks around Isla Montuosa, Ladrones or Parida Islands harbor record trophy fishes. Because of the diversity of the species and their size, there is every hope of really outstanding fishing. Here you will expect to be challenged by the famous Cubera snapper, the grouper, and above all the magnificent roosterfish. These fish reach record weights, with 20kg plus specimens being frequent.
One thing is sure, these fish attack with force, set your line and strike !
The commonly used techniques at Oliver’s fishing Panama are the popper casting and the jigging. Fishing live baits is also rewarding. Here, top technique combined with capacity of adaptation are a guarantee of your success. Any technique may be productive in precise circumstances.
Fresh waters flowing to the Chiriqui Gulf create a complex estuary system, a maze of mangroves between volcanic rocks. These brackish waters host profusion of forage species from mullet to shrimp, essential to the marine life, which in turn attract snooks and red snappers.
These are caught with small poppers, swimming baits and bucktail jigs. So, do not forget to bring a 20 pounds spinning rod, the reels filled with a 30 pounds braid, with a variety of small lures. |
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LIVE BAIT FISHING
With Oliver Fishing Panama, the preferred techniques are the popper or the jigging. But quite often, the big game is hooked with a drifting live bait (big amberjacks, roosterfishes, Cubera snappers). So, it is profitable to catch some live baitfishes in the morning, it does not take up much time and it may be highly rewarding.
This technique may be practiced between two sessions of popper or jigging, just to struggle an other fish during a deserved rest! The live baits are fished with small sabiky #6 hooks. |
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In Panama, you can fish all year long. The local fish like snappers, roosterfish, are here all the time.
For billfish, best season is from november to july, and big tuna fishing starts from February to august.
Oliver Fishing Panama is closed in September and October, due to the very strong rain season. |
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WHAT ARE THE OPPONENTS YOU’LL HAVE TO CHALLENGE IN THE PANAMA WATERS ! |
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The big snappers
The monster cuberas (pargo Dienton) |
The strength of this fish is terrible ; it can burst out the strongest equipment. The cubera is fished in any water depth in the upper 200m, with poppers or jigs.
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It is important to have a good 80 pounds spinning rod, with a braided line of the same strength if you want to extract the big specimen from the rocks. The use of big poppers around 150 grams is necessary to attract the red snappers from their deep rocky shelter.
The biggest cuberas of the Chiriquí gulf reach 50 kg.
You can also catch 4 other species of snappers, the mulet sapper, the yellow tail snapper, the Colorado snapper, and the rockero.
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Snapper colorado and Snapper mulet |
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The amberjack (average weight 15kg) |
The jigging technique is the most productive for this bottom feeding fish. The weight of jigs varies from 150 to 300 grams, depending on the depth of the position.
The amberjack sometimes rises on poppers. Fast and full of fighting spirit, it lives in schools around the rocky structures and the sea-mounds, occasionally entering coastal bays.
This species is quite common in the Panama waters.
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The roosterfish (average weight 15kg)
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This is the emblematic fish of this Pacific zone. Olivier Peche Panama gives you the best opportunities to try to catch it.
The Roosterfish inhabits shallow inshore areas. It is lured with poppers and live baits. Adrenaline will surge through your nervous system during its memorable attacks and fightings, punctuated by skips and powerful rushes and runs.
Panama waters are home to record roosterfishes, maybe among the biggest of the Central American Pacific. |
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The groupers (average weight 20kg)
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The grouper is a typical demersal fish (bottom feeding fish) occurring from mangrove area to over hard bottom of the continental shelf and the slope.
It is lured with jigs or with bottom bait. The most common species is the “broomtail grouper”.
This combative fish can reach 60kg.
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Different species of sharks live on chiriqui waters, bull shark, bronze shark.
Sometimes, they attack poppers !
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The Snooks |
Numerous in mangroves and estuary systems, this superb sport fish demands a perfect fishing technique with very light tackle.
During the fight (fly fishing or light tackle casting), the leaps are fantastic.
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The Jacks |
Numerous and playful, they delight the fisherman equipped with a popper.
Four species can be found : the hyppos, the caninus, the blue dots and the bigeyes trevally.
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Big Tunas |
The big yellowfin tunas are the strongest fish you can catch in Panama. We use to look for dolphin groups to find tunas.
Most of the time, we find them in Montuosa and Hannibal Bank, casting popper or fishing with live baits.
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Marlins |
The 3 species of marlin are present, black, blue and stripped. But the black marlin is the most popular in Montuosa and Hannibal bank, one of the greatest spots in the world to fish a black marlin.
We use lures or live bonito to catch it.
They can weight up to 800 pounds, but most of them are from 300 to 500 pounds.
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We use to fish sailfish from december to may.
Panama is known to have the biggest sailfish in the world. Every year, we catch sails around 150 pounds.
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Wahoos and Maymay |
Wahoo and maymay are abundant on the end of the rain season, in november and december.
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Rainbows runners, barracudas and aguras
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