Author: Tony Pena

The best fisheries scientist in the world could not have designed a better Fish Aggregating Device or FAD than Panama’s Hannibal Bank. Located in the Gulf of Chiriqui midway between Isla Coiba (Panama’s largest island) and Isla Montuosa, Hannibal Bank has a 3,000-foot drop that’s perfect for capturing the oceanic currents that create a constant upwelling — the lifeblood that powers the food chain from plankton to marlin on a year-round basis. Slow-trolling live bait, usually black skipjack is the preferred method to catch marlin and big yellowfin tuna. The Bank holds more black marlin than blue marlin, which are…

You won’t find any golf courses, megaresorts or late-night discotechs in Piñas Bay, Panama, and that’s part of the charm. What you will find on your vacation in panama is some of the best fishing in Central America, perhaps anywhere, and one of the sport’s most treasured outposts, Tropic Star Lodge. Home to more than 250 International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world records, the productive waters off Piñas Bay attract the world’s best anglers on a regular basis and a few surprise visitors. Located on the edge of the Darien Rainforest, Tropic Star sits on a wild stretch of land…