While some friends have been wowed by our tales and pictures of our initial trip to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, others who I know would love it have been oddly resistant. Here are their primary excuses and my responses. The long and the short of it — you need to go!

If you’re like me, you already get way too much email: Work emails, chain letters from friends, unsolicited messages promising Russian brides and harder boners. No matter how many times you avoid them or press “unsubscribe” they always seem to return, and each annoying email brings two friends with it.

When we returned from Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge in April, I was generally on a high, but a tad bit depressed because I did not land a roosterfish. Others in our group had accomplished that task, including the petite redheaded woman I live with. I’d caught roosters in Costa Rica in 1995, but that felt like it was so far in the past as not to count.

I’ve now been to South America four times but I’ve never left the friendly confines of Brazil. I went to Rio de Janeiro as a teenager (no fishing), and over the past decade I’ve been to the Rio Negro region twice, along with an exceptional trip to Rio Juruena. That needs to change. Here are five more that are currently at the top of my list.

Planning a fishing trip to Asia is a daunting task, not only because there seems to be less information available about Asian fisheries, but also because of the time, distance and expense in getting to them. We’re simply more aware of the bucket list options closer to home and more able to take advantage of them. Here are four that I want to try when I retire.

I’ve been fortunate to land fish in 25 states, and Hanna and I have traveled to numerous countries and multiple continents in pursuit of finned glory. That leaves a lot of water and species left to cover. Of course, it also leaves us with a bit of a conundrum – do we return to proven venues or seek out new options, with the possibility that they won’t be quite as good. I hope that we’ll be able to find that balance going forward.

In the Gulf of Chiriquí where Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge is located, there are as many as fifty species of sportfish to be caught. If you read my blog about goals prior to the trip my five targets were as follows: yellowfin tuna, marlin, roosterfish, blue trevally and wahoo. The tuna were plentiful and the hardest-fighting fish I have ever caught.

Heading back to Casa Vieja this year we weren’t sure we’d get the same kind of air show we experienced in 2020, but true to form each one of our 44 sailfish jumped multiple times. It’s something you have see to believe — and then you need to see it again and again.

We’ve amassed enough material about our trips to Casa Vieja Lodge that we figured it was time to put it all on one page --- so check out our constantly-evolving body of work about one of the happiest places on earth.

Prior to heading to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge I outlined five primary goals for the trip, and I’m only semi-proud to say that I accomplished four out of five. In baseball, that .800 batting average would put me in the Hall of Fame, but in this particular case it left me a little dejected.

Pete and I, along with six of our friends, leave for Panama next Tuesday. We’re finally headed to the legendary Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge. Of course, Pete is a planner and I like to wing it, so until a few days ago I had done no thorough research on this destination. I knew that we’d be chasing yellowfin tuna, but I didn’t know if that was the only game in town.

Despite the fact that just about all of our Panama fishing experiences will be new to me, I am compulsively goal-oriented. I go into every trip hoping to achieve certain things, and this journey is no exception. Here are five things I want to do during our week in Central America.

When we talk about fishing tourism in Brazil, most anglers from outside the country soon envision the tucunaré-açu (Amazon peacock bass), a spectacular fish, able to generate merciless attacks on our surface lures, very strong and also extraordinarily beautiful. They’re not the only option.

I’m typically not one to make resolutions but I am very goal-oriented. I also love checklists. I love the satisfaction of crossing off “to do’s” and I will do something that isn’t written on the checklist, then write it down just to check it off. In 2021, I’m accelerating my dreams.

The fight was amazing. They jump and jump and when you think you finally have worn them down, they take off, ripping drag, and you have to reel them in all over again.