Our Best Fishing Meals of 2025
Sometimes I feel like we run a food travel service where we happen to make a few casts in between bites. Food is an important part of our travels, and while great fishing is always the priority, most of the places we visit also have exceptional eats.
Here are some of our favorites from the 2025 travel campaign.
We started the year with a group of 20 in Panama. That started with a new (to us) restaurant in Panama City – Gaucho’s Argentinean steakhouse, right around the corner from our hotel.
After that, we decamped to Isla Parida for the rest of the week, where we ate much more than we should have, unable to stop, particularly when there was tuna on the table (which was most of the time).
In March, prior to the Bassmaster Classic, I spent a few days fishing with my friend Scott on a pair of small East Texas lakes. Of course we had barbecue and tamales, but the gustatory highlight was Scott’s steak night.
At the end of April, I attended a media event at Lake Hartwell, near Anderson, SC. They fed us well, as they often do at such gatherings, but the highlight was a deep-fried honey bun wrapped in bacon, with ice cream.
At the end of May, we made visit number three to Grosse Savanne, near Lake Charles, Louisiana. Chef Matt Whitney wows us every time, and this trip might’ve topped them all. There were steaks and po boys and gumbo and etouffee.
In September, we went to Springfield, Missouri for the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Those of us on the Board of Directors had some work to do beforehand, but luckily Mike Valster kept us fortified and killed all diets with some local donuts.
After the BFHOF event was over, we visited the Yeti Open on Table Rock, where they were grilling up wagyu burgers and steaks.
Hanna wasted no time in asking for what she wanted.
And if that wasn’t enough, afterward we went out for barbecue and beer with our friends Neil Paul and John Mazurkiewicz at the Cheeky Monkey Bar.
October was back to Louisiana for a swamp photography workshop with Andy Crawford. Bottom line: If you don’t eat well in Louisiana, it’s your own fault. If you lose weight, it’s a miracle.
We closed out our fishing travel in November, with out journey up to Mag Bay for striped marlin. The captain and mate of the Caliente fed us well, somehow mustering the energy after days on the water when they never stopped moving. The highlight was our second night aboard, when we were supposed to have carne asada tacos, but they got supplemented by wahoo tacos starring a fish who’d been swimming just an hour or two earlier.
Finally, at Hotel Mar y Arena in San Carlos, we were treated to all sorts of local specialties, including chocolata clams, jumbo shrimp and various forms of sashimi.
We hope this inspires you to join us on future trips. We’ll be revisiting several of these spots in 2026 and beyond, and plan to add new fisheries/cuisines including those of Argentina and Bolivia. For now, it’s back to the gym and the treadmill.
