Wet Season Kayak Fishing - Panama 2019

New paddle kayak courtesy of PanaYaks

After spending a couple of months in the UK catching up with friends and family over the summer, I returned to Panama in early August and was house-sitting for a friend during the wet season until the Kayak fishing lodge opened up again in December.

Based down in Pedasi on the Pacific coast, I had a simple paddle kayak at my disposal and couple of buddies with little boats. After guiding for 5 months straight I was looking forward to getting a bit of my own fishing time in on the Pacific. It's a very satisfying feeling helping others catch the fish of their dreams but I was now certainly ready to put in a few hours on my own terms. It was very exciting!

Launching pangas from the beach in Pedasi

The waters off of Pedasi are familiar to me having fished them many times from a boat over the years. The inshore, close to home stuff with a kayak was to be a new challenge entirely. Normally, we sped past all the stuff within a few miles of the local beaches to reach other marks further off, so it was a good opportunity to get to know these unfamilar areas.

I found a spot where I could chain my kayak up and store it on the top of the nearest beach. It was always ready to go when I was. The kayak was a simple paddle yak with the design based on the famous Ocean Prowler model. It was slim and very different to the Hobies I had been using down at the lodge, not nearly as stable. But fast.

Yellowtail Snapper

The slim and fast nature of the kayak turned out to be a bonus. The waters close to the shore here are shallow and the tide rips across them at times when the coefficient is high, especially just after the full moon. This new slim kayak was just the ticket for being able to cut and glide through these swift waters. However, It was a real workout; I got fit pretty quick!

Some fierce dentistry - mind your fingers!

To the naked eye, the shoreline here is just a long sandy beach as far as the eye can see. At first glance it's featureless, but I knew there were patches of rock and reef all within a few miles of my launch point. I just had to find out where they were. The local artisanal fishing boats gave me some clues by watching where they anchored to fish with their handlines. Also, walking the beaches when a fierce tide was running gave me more clues as it was possible to see areas of turbulent water as it ripped over structure down below. It all helped.

Huge Needlefish

Installing a fishfinder and then searching out my mentally noted areas was a real education and led to the discovery of some interesting features and marks that were duly plotted up on the device. It was a slow start, but after a couple of weeks just paddling around and trolling lures I was able to map out some pretty interesting areas to fish. The added bonus was that I was picking up the odd snapper and sierra mackerel on my trolled rapalas for dinner!

King size Sierra Mackerel

Once I'd got the area reasonably well mapped out, I planned to return and put in a concerted effort with jigs and livebait. My area was pretty much in a radius of around 2.5 miles from my launch spot and this was plenty far enough in a kayak, especially as I was fishing alone most of the time. 2.5 miles sounds like a long way, however most of that was along the coast and rarely was I ever further than a mile out. It was a long, arduous run back against a strong tide though. I had to be careful and pick my marks according to the tides on a daily basis.

Safety is always a priority especially when fishing alone and with that in mind I always wore a lifejacket, carried flares, a VHF radio and a small anchor with a nice long cord stowed away. I was never fishing in more than 100 feet of water. You just never know and it pays to be prepared. If a thunder storm comes in on you fast with a stiff breeze and you get caught in a white out then you want to be safe. The weather can change fast here in the tropics.

Big Jack Crevalle

I soon discovered a spot where I could catch livebait consistently with sabikis, an area of rough ground that always had small fish near it. I was catching small blue runners, goggle-eyes and sardines, small grunts and even small bonefish. All of which were suitable. On the back of the kayak I had a bucket and small battery operated aerator. I was good to go and could keep 2 baits alive in the bucket while fishing with a third. Not a huge quantity of bait, but enough for me. I was generally fishing sessions of up to 4 hours at most anyway.

Nice little Rooster on the popper

The first livebait I ever got turned out to be very lucky and unlucky at the same time! I slipped the small blue runner on to a size 9/0 circle hook and trolled it down the coast to an area of reef I had mapped out in shallow water. As I approached the reef I could see a shoal of bait fish all spashing on the surface, being harrased by predators below and trolled down the left side of it. Just as I passed it the ratchet on my trusty shimano TLD 15 started screaming as a fish took off with the bait! Game on!

I wound down and the circle hook did its job. There was a lot of resistance and the fish took off on a huge run. The fight was incredible, many long runs and shooting off in different directions. It had all the characteristics of a big Roosterfish. When the beast finally tired and lay next to the kayak I was treated to the sight of a huge Rooster that I would estimate at over 60 lbs. My first big fish from the kayak in Pedasi.....what a way to start!

African Pompano - Delicious!

I got my unhooking tools out, set up the go pro by putting the pole into one of the scupper holes and slid the fish on to my lap. All was going well, I was holding the fish as best as I could and getting some shots when the fish decided to go bat-shit crazy and start thrashing wildly in my lap. Before I knew it I was in the water, the kayak was capsized, the fish gone and I was left a little shocked.

As I gathered myself, I realised that in the excitement of catching the fish I had unleashed the camera to use it and the rod during the unhooking process. Both were gone, along with one of my lure boxes that had slid out from under the bungee cord in the yak. So, I lost all the gear, my dignity, the pics of the fish and everything.

Rock Snapper

The new kayak is much slimmer than what I was accustomed to and I just wasnt experienced enough in it. Keeping your centre of gravity spot-on is very important in this yak.......as I learnt the hard way. In all my years of kayak fishing, this is the first capsize event I've had. Its certainly made me think a little differently now.

It wasnt a great experience, but I only lost stuff that can be replaced so no great disappointment really other than having to spend a few dollars. I was OK and thats the most important thing. I also had a very valuable lesson which would stand me in good stead for the rest of my days. Every cloud has a silver lining, right?

Spotted Rose Snapper and Sierra Mackerel

From this point on, the fishing really started to improve for me. It boosted my confidence no end and with a good supply of livebait, some reliable marks and a new improved level of fitness it was all starting to fall in to place.

I tried to fish monday to friday if the weather and conditions allowed. The weekends were just too busy on the water for my liking with the tourist trade booming and many boats out whale spotting. I soon got in to the rhythms and flows of the fishing and it was very intersting to experience. Things were always changing, and fast too. Different species would come and go and there'd be occasional barren patches where it was difficult to catch. However, on the whole there was always something willing to feed.

Nice Solid Rooster on a livebait

My priority was to provide food for my wife and I. The idea was to avoid buying any meat products from the supermarkets and to live on a diet of fresh organic fish and vegetables if we could. I was mostly targeting snappers, corvina, sierra mackerel and pompano for the table. These fish are the right size and plentiful on the inshore reefs. If the fridge and freezer were looking well stocked then I'd turn my attention to trophy fishing for big roosters, cubera, grouper and amberjack. It was a good time and not once did we need to but meat. It worked out rather well.

Trigger Happy!

At times the jigging sport was incredible. Big shoals of snappers and corvina could be spotted on the sounder over the reefs, it was magical to see. The bottom 40 feet of the water column was often thick with fish. In truth, the fishing was easy when it was like this. A small 40g knife jig dropped down into the shoal and twitched a couple of times was usually all that was needed to provide a positive hook-up. Yellowtail and Spotted Rose Snapper were the most common varieties, both of which make excellent table fare! Roasted whole in the oven, they are tough to beat.

Sharks arent much of a problem.......just occasionally!

Every now and then, something truly monstrous would grab my little jig. Possibly 5 or 6 times I experieced the same thing, big fish just tearing off and making the sanctuary of the reef. Most likely big cubera, amberjack or grouper. The thing is, with the light tackle and leaders that are required to catch 'food' you stand little chance with these bigger fish. That's what the livebait is for!

The livebait continued to produce some great Roosterfish and I know I lost a couple of big Cuberas too. These fish are super tricky at the best of times and in the swift flowing, reefy, shallow areas I was fishing they certainly have the upper hand. But it was great fun trying.

Bonefish....tons of them on the sand here.

I hope to have the opportunty to try again during the wet season this year. However, right now as I sit here typing this during the Corona Virus pandemic, nobody knows quite what the future holds. These are tough and uncertain times we are living in right now. I'm in 24 hour quarantine for now, 7 days a week and it looks like this is how we'll be staying for the forseeable future. Like all the other anglers in the world right now, I'm missing being on the water. But it's for the best. Let's see how this one pans out.....

Tight lines!