We ended up going 7 for 8 on Marlin, caught 4 medium tuna, a couple of sails and enough dolphin to keep us fed.

Day 1

We left Panama City around dawn after the guys had dinner and a night at a hotel the night before.  The hotel is about 20 mins from the boat so it is a really easy trip.  Panama City isn’t New York, but there is plenty to do and some pretty good food to be had.

We ran about 2 hours from the marina before we put our lines in.  We had not been fishing for a while so we were scouting as we went south.  We picked at them pretty steadily with a couple of sails and some dolphin.  The highlight came when Bruce pitched a bait to a Black Marlin that came up in the spread.  To be honest, I have kind of lost track of how big which fish was…I recall it being medium sized, say 300 – 400 pounds.  When we picked up the mooring in the bay we decided that we had had a pretty good half day.  After dinner and some drinks and the requisite story telling, we hit the rack early, looking forward to Day 2.

Day 2

Day 2 started cloudy but the wind had quit a little.  Because the reef did not produce yesterday, we ran a little bit and started trolling.  We caught dinner, then we saw birds in the distance and Capt. Mike ran over to investigate.  Among 1 million birds, 100 million Bonito and a pile of porpoises we found some Yellowfin Tuna.  There were some big ones in the school, but we caught 4 30 pounders before they melee ended.  It was just like Blue Planet….so cool!

We picked up a Marlin on the way home – what a great way to end the day.

After quite a debate, dinner was decided and Capt. Mike made a great veal dish which complimented the Fleur de Cana perfectly.

Day 3

Amazing.  Four Marlin on Zane Grey Reef.  Live baiting with Bonitos.  It was going off.  We were getting bites every hour, if not more frequently.  What a great way to catch them…slow trolling with 50′s and these fish were not small!  We had to find the shoulder harness a couple of times – the gloves at least once.

The Dorado became dinner as we talked about what might have been the best Marlin fishing most of us had ever experienced.  Check out some of the pics.  Awesome fish.

Day 4

This was a half day, we had to get back to Panama City before dark.  Well, after yesterday there was no question where we were going – to the reef for live baiting.  By 11:30 am we had 2 releases and lost one right at the boat.  Wow, what a trip.

A very nice boat ride back to Marina with sunny skies and a look at the beautiful Las Perlas Islands and we were back at the dock with the driver waiting for us.  Thanks Mike, Chowie and Aurturo!  Cannot wait until next year!

Marlin 1

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 2

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 3

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 4

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 5

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 6

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Marlin 7

From Pacific 2010-09-28

Almost Marlin 8

From Pacific 2010-09-28

We woke up early Thursday and ran another 20 miles to fish down towards Pinas Bay. The first day we went 9 for 12 on Sails and caught a few nice Dolphin. Day Two we worked the Zane Grey Reef for a while, trolling live baits for Marlin while catching Yellowfins and Amberjacks with poppers cast from the bow. Later on in the day we moved offshore for a bunch more Sails, big Dolphin and an estimated 250 pound Blue Marlin. We had a great dinner on De Mako and had a few cocktails as day turned to night and recounted all of the stories from the day.  Not a bad day at all!

Friday (Day 3) was “The One”. It made the trip! Like the previous day, we started off live baiting the reef in hopes of a big Black Marlin and we got her! Captain Mike Springer, who has caught his share of big fish, estimated her to be 700 pounds. On a 50 pound outfit. Stand up! I fought her for close to three hours and we got a great jumping release. I sure was glad to have a trained professional along (Kenny the dentist) to take care of all those teeth I had ground down to nothing during the fight.

We moved offshore, caught a Sail quickly and then caught an estimated 500 pound Blue to complete the De Mako’s first ever slam! I won’t go on and on about the Blue because I was not the angler.

Day Four consisted of a bunch more big Sails and Dolphin and finished with the heart breaking loss (because I was the angler) of a 200lb class Yellowfin after a three hour battle with under-matched spinning tackle (looks like I am going shopping!!).  Overall, an amazing trip!

I am really glad Black and Blue had a great trip in Panama to make all of us anxious to return next year. De Mako is making the trip up to Los Suenos shortly so that the boat is in place to fish the Marlin run off Flamingo in September / October.   By December (hopefully November) the action should be heating up off of Los Suenos. I know we are all anxious to make it back to Costa Rica this winter.

So anxious, in fact, that the days are being booked faster than I would have expected. If you are a member and have not picked your days for this winter, I would suggest that you take a look at the calendar and start picking. If you have been waiting to join, we have a few more months before we close out the “Founding Member” category (they get first cut at scheduling days), so you might want to get in touch and become a member before that ends.

- Jason Doyle

The first leg of the trip was an overnight run from West Palm Beach to Key West.  Here is De Mako sitting in the marina in Key West.  It is worth noting how the docks look as we stopped along our way.

 The next leg was to Isle Mujeres, near Cancun.  Who did we see coming around the corner, but the old Anne Warrick…built by Sunny Briggs just before he built De Mako.  It is a small ocean!    We saw some sights.  Isle Mujeres is really ready for large scale tourism, with a HERD of tourists coming down the dock to the charter boats – the picture nearby shows the start of the stampede.  Nice place overall.  Lots to do it seemed and generally a pretty spot. 

The next stop was Roatan.  This is a really small island that belongs to Equador.  Interesting how big the commercial fishing fleet is.

The first marina we tried in Roatan.  Everything was lovely except there was no water or electricity.

This ia the fueling process at Roatan.  Honestly.

Unfortunately, it is true.  Every single person we say in San Andres was having more fun than we were.  This pair’s giggling could be heard from our speeding golf cart!

To see all the pictures, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackandbluefishing/sets/72157617648948405/

After our trip from Florida around to the Canal, our first set of members came down to try out the fishing.  While the water quality certainly wasn’t great, we all had a great time and managed to catch a Black Marlin and five Sailfish.

After the members landed, they made the 30 minute trip to the boat using a driver that I have known for years.  Before long, De Mako was out of the slip and headed to overnight in the Las Perlas islands, about 60 miles from the Marina in Panama City.  The weather was ok, calm seas but cloudy.  We had a great dinner on the boat anchored in the lee of those beautiful islands.  We went to sleep anxious for what the day would bring.

I was concerned about the fishing as I had heard that an unusual amount of green water had pushed into the fishing grounds.  The first day of fishing we certainly found this green, green (maybe coffee would be a better description) water.  We looked for the blue water but did not find it that first day.  As we moored in Pinas Bay,  we were all hoping tomorrow would be better.  After a good night’s rest we set out in rainy conditions.

The water did seem a little better today and it wasn’t long until a Black Marlin came up on the short left teaser.  Jason was on the rod and decided to pitch the 30 because the fish did not look all that big to him.  Well, on the bite, we all changed our mind.  That Black looked like a rolling Tarpon as it took the pitch going away from the boat.  After about 30 minutes, Chowie released the fish – about 300 pounds.  Take a look at the photos the members took of the fish.  Pretty work on the rod and behind the camera, I would say.

The day continued with what I would describe as pretty slow action.  We ended up catching 5 of 10 Sailfish bites.  The fish were their normal selves, putting on a show on the light 30 pound tackle.

That night, the members had a cocktail and dinner at the Tropic Star Lodge.  They said that the food and atmosphere was great.  It sure is a beautiful place.  Quiet and still, with jungle all around.

The next day we steamed back to Panama City to catch the return flight.  All in all, a great start despite difficult condiitons.

We are going again soon, so stay tuned and book your flights down!

- Capt. Mike Springer

The link is here:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106606152088836733603.0004682170ae3e0e6ac25&z=5 

As I said, when the guys have a chance to download their pictures, we will add those and lots of stories.

Speaking of stories, the first members are planning their Panama trips so we should have some interesting fishing reports pretty soon.

- Jeff Radke

We faced oddly challenging conditions for this time of the year due to green water (think of the Chicago River on St. 

Patrick’s Day – it was that bad).  We worked at it pretty hard and I am happy to report that…We put the BLACK in Black and Blue.  Our fish was about 300 – 350 pounds and ate the right rigger.  We fed her the bait on one of the 30 outfits and when we came tight and saw the first jump we all wished we had a 50.

I brought the boat back to the fish as quickly as I could and the fish cooperated by staying on top and putting on a show for all of us.  I would guess that we were able to release the fish after a 30 minute fight.  That light tackle sure lets these fish show off.

So, for the record Captain Allen…as of today, April 12, we have been waiting on you for four days to get the Bermuda Blue Marlin to finish off “Black and Blue”.

As I said, the water conditions were pretty tough and we managed only one other fish – a sailfish that provided the normal aerial display. I love these fish!

This will be the last report for a while as we are taking De Mako from Florida to Panama over the next week or so.  While the trip is long, you do get to see a lot of pretty cool spots.  So, wish us luck and I will be sure to post a trip report when I am back to a computer.

I hope the first Panama Fishing Report will follow soon after.  Have a good Easter.

- Capt. Mike Springer

I woke up this morning to find that the Easter Bunny had left me a plane ticket in my basket.  I am leaving shortly to bring the De Mako to the Pacific this week and wanted to provide a construction update on the new MAKO before I left.

Sunny and the guys have been MOVING.  The boat is pretty much painted, a major undertaking and one which was 

completed very quickly.  Thanks to all involved!  As you can see, she  is Carolina Blue – the picture makes it look darker than it really is. 

On the right is a shot of the cockpit and aft bulkhead.   All looking pretty spiffy; I hope you agree.

This delivery of the De Mako is probably the last trips before the season really gets going.

It has been great to hear from so many old friends (and new ones) about the new boat and upcoming season.  I glad to know that I am not the only one that is excited.  Give us a call and let’s get your days booked – we have a lot of fish to catch this summer!

- Capt. Allen DeSilva

PS – If you are interested, there will be a number of fishing reports covering the Pacific shenanigans of De Mako over on www.blackandbluefishing.com – check them out.

De Mako – that is the boat that will end up in the Pacific – is sitting in West Palm Beach Florida.  She had some work done to get her ready for Panama (back up generator, watermaker, satellite phone and TV, etc).  We expect that she will be ready to go shortly.  I am attending a convention of sorts this weekend as Allen DeSilva (the Club’s Bermuda captain), Mike Springer (the Club’s Pacific captain) and I descend on South Florida to meet with Jason Doyle and make sure the boat is ready for the trip.

And what a trip it is.  Florida to the Canal is a long, long way.  While Mike has plenty of experience with trips that long, most of the rest of us are more used to the 750 mile run from Bermuda to North Carolina.  I always think of crossings as being like a policeman.  You are going to be bored or scared…and you really hope it works out that you are bored. We expect De Mako will be fishing in Panama by the end of April.  I know several members have expressed an interest in trying to get down there as quickly as they can.  We are looking forward to those first fishing reports!

MAKO, the boat the Club will run in Bermuda, is probably being sanded as we speak.  Let me explain.  MAKO is being built by Sunny Briggs in North Carolina.  The new MAKO is the third boat Sunny built for Allen and me.  If you have ever watched one of these boats constructed, you know that the process is 1/2 sanding, 1/2 everything else.  Sunny, Jeff and the guys are doing a great job pushing to have her done by May 1.  She is going to be pretty!  I can’t wait to see her overboard. We will add pictures of both of the boats when we get back from the upcoming trip.
– Jeff Radke