Pargo in Panama – Hard Fighting and Great on the Plate
We’ve always relished the variety of inshore species available to us at Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, but generally we’ve focused on the roosterfish and cubera snapper. Both fight hard and both get released. But there’s another option on the table that often ends up on our plate: What the Panamanians generally refer to simply as “pargo,” but which is more formally called the Mexican barred snapper.
We’ve caught a few in the past, but on our May 2026 trip they seemed to increase in number and in size. We didn’t weigh them, but perhaps we should have, because after the fact I found out that the world record is just over 21 pounds.
Our friend Dan Smith has a good explanation of how and where to catch them at “How to Catch Any Fish.”
We hadn’t considered a mount, but they’re actually quite pretty. If we catch a giant on a future trip we’ve noticed the following replica examples:
We made a vow that there would be no more anniversary gifts, but if you’re going to break your vows a piece of fishing artwork is a good way to do it.