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Fishing Report
Our 2006 Season is filling up fast. Don't get left at the dock!
Call Bonnie in Orlando for availability- 800-682-3424.
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Hennie & Ursula Marais manage to keep you in fish stories. |
Dec 11 - 16
This week was a very exciting one here at Tropic Star Lodge. We weighed a few monster Tuna and we had a few Grand Slams. There was a great show filmed here for ESPN 2. The title of the show is called "Wanna go Fish?"
The concept for the show is fantastic. The crew selects a guest for a fishing trip of a lifetime. The crew selects someone randomly in a public place. The guest must clear his or her weekend schedule within five minutes with only two phone calls. If they can do this, then they rush to pack a few things and head for the airport. Tropic Star was happy to make one lucky guest’s dreams come true.
There were 184 Sails caught this week and 112 Dorado as well. 8 Black Marlin and 6 Blue Marlin were tagged. Most anglers fished a half week only.
Chris Welch and Brian Packish fished aboard Miss England with Captain Gustavo. They had an outstanding week. Miss England tagged 3 Black Marlin and 2 Blue Marlin along with 19 Sails. 14 Dorado and 2 Tuna hit the dock as well. I must mention that one Tuna weighed 271 lbs! That is tough to beat.
Nestor Jaramillo headed to Pinas with a crew of fiends to have some fun and fish. These guys had a ball. A few anglers stayed in the same boat and a few moved around. Edward Padilla, Andrew Faris, Mark Rethlake, Mark Stimestead, Marshall Everson and Brian Erickson came down and posted the following numbers. 35 Sails, 18 Dorado, 1 Black Marlin, 4 Tuna. One Tuna was roughly 180 Pounds. That Tuna was tamed by Brian Erickson the last day of the tournament and gave him the lead. Several of these guests saw Marlin but one thing or another kept them from getting a hand on the leader. One crew lost one after fighting an extended period of time. They said it was a heart breaker.
Margot Vincent brought her son Eric down to Piñas to fish. She is a regular guest and loves to fish here. They Fished with Candelo aboard the Miss Australia. They had a blast with 25 sails and 23 Dorado. Eric caught his first Black Marlin and then his first Blue Marlin. That put him in the Grand Slam bracket unless you think he let his mom catch all 25 Sails. Add 6 Tuna, Margot weighed one in at 197 lbs, add 4 Snapper and I think it is fair to say that they had a great week with Candelo and mate Alexi.
Allen Ball and Mark Spirtis had marlin on the brain when they got here. They were first timers and when they left they assured me that I would see them real soon. Both caught their first Marlin here. Allen caught the Black and Mark caught the Blue. I had the pleasure of fishing with these two when they tagged the Black. The fish ate late and it hit an orange crush mold craft super chugger right of the first wave of the boat. The fight was quick and to the point. Once tagged and released I had a brief moment underwater snapping a few underwater shots of their released Black Marlin. The fish looked to be in great condition. The only thing that was unfortunate is that it was extremely overcast, so the picture is not as clear as I had hoped. Next time. Guys, you are going to have to come back and do it all over again. Don’t forget about the kids fishing for free this summer.
Allen Ball and Mark Spirtis danced with some Sails and a few dozen Dorado so they also got a Grand Slam for the week.
William Norton Jr. Brought his son William Norton III down to see what this place had to offer. They fished hard and had a ball with the Sails and non stop Dorado action. These two were looking for Marlin and had a brush with 2-Marlin their last day, but it was not in the cards. They did happen to put some sashimi on the deck. Mr. Norton Jr. Tamed a 138 Yellowfin with no trouble at all. That fish ate an orange Mold Craft Super Chugger as well.
Phil Vaughns came south with Janet Maxwell and these two were serious about catching some fish. The Black Marlin and Blue Marlin came fairly easily for Mr Phil. The 2 Yellow Fin Tuna were not as cooperative. The first fish was 248 lbs. The second one was 268 lbs. Both fish were caught in roughly two hours on stand up grear that Phil brought down himself. They also caught 30 Sails and 14 Dorado. These two were busy. By my count, that makes it a Grand Slam for the week. I had the pleasure of fishing with these two the day they caught the 268 Yellow Fin.
Dominik Porcelli and Roy Minton came south from Cincinnati. They fished with Maso aboard the Miss Spain. They were busy aboard Miss Spain. She had 18 Dorado, 16 Sails, 4 Snapper, 2 Amberjack, 1 Blue Marlin and 2 Blacks. Roy hammered a 48 lb Cubera Snapper and both anglers tag teamed a Black Marlin. She ate both baits.
The guys from the show, Wanna Go Fish came with great attitudes. They selected a singer from Atlanta named Leon Daniel. Leon was working at the new aquarium in Hotlanta. The next thing Leon knew, he was on his first fishing trip and it happened to be in Panama.
He was ecstatic when he released his first Sail. Another sail was released and then Leon battled a 300 lb Black Marlin. The fish broke free at the boat but it gave Leon something to sing about. Host Matt Eastman caught his first Sail as well.
By the second day Leon was a seasoned angler and was releasing his own fish, setting his own hooks and rigging his own baits. I was happy to see a rookie its come so far so fast. The final tally for two days was 8 Sails, a great battle with a Black Marlin and a 50 lb Dorado. Congrats Leon! Great show guys!
Christopher Dinwiddie
Dock Master
Previous 2005 Season Fishing Reports:
Previous 2004 Season Fishing Reports:
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