This week Tropic Star Lodge was the venue for the hosted the Whistle Shop Big Game Fishing Classic, hosted by Nancy Valle. For those of you who are unaware, Nancy is the daughter of Ray Smith, the original owner of the lodge, who envisioned and built this fishing paradise back in 1961. Back then it was called Club de Pesca de Panama and off course I felt privileged to sit and talk with Nancy on evenings as she described how it was back in the “good ole days”. What’s amazing is that not much has changed since then. The fishing today is as good as it was in the old days, if not better. We have better boats, tackle, and modern electronics that allow us to take our guests further offshore to the drop off and beyond in search of other quarry, namely Blue Marlin. To my knowledge, back in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s anglers only fished “the reef”, a tiny seamount located just 6 miles from the lodge. His majesty the Black Marlin showed up there in great numbers from around December through April so there was no need to go further. The Blues show up offshore (12 to 25 miles) from around June and the fishing gets better and better till we close in September.

Getting back to the Whistle Stop Tournament, the fishing was a little slower than last year’s but all in all it went well. The anglers released 7 Marlin and 35 Sailfish over the 3 days fishing. The dorados and yellowfin tunas were also there to pick up the slack at times when the billfish bite slowed.  David Rau and Bret Feldes released their first Black Marlin on this trip. Lauren Mere, who is just 12 years old, released her first Blue Marlin estimated at 400 lbs and her first Striped Marlin around 200 lbs. Bret Feldes, Will Fastabend, John Johnson, Michael Stutes, Derrick Rau, David Rau, Trent Mere, and Richard Guinn all released their first Pacific Sailfish.

Bryan Desomeaux, 15 years old, caught a monster Yellowfin Tuna, weighing in at 176 lbs. Bear in mind that the current IGFA record (Junior Angler) stands at 190.5 lbs. A great catch for a junior angler.

Albert Battoo
DOCKMASTER