Colombia

Wild Pacific Coast!

Colombia saltwater fishing trip

Wild Pacific Coast!

Your group trip starts with a departure from your home airport. There are a bunch of airlines that fly to Medellin. KLM, Lufthansa, and Iberia offer a bunch of options with direct flights or stopovers. Depending on the connection, the flight time is up to 17 hours. Most flights go through Bogotá. Here, you’ll need to pick up your luggage and check in again at the airline counter. Your luggage might also be checked by the airline. Just let them know when you check in!

When you get to Medellin, someone from the hotel will pick you up at the airport and take you to the Hotel Diez. The journey takes about 45 minutes. When you get to the hotel, you’ll check into your rooms. The hotel is right in the middle of one of Medellin’s most popular nightlife districts. There are lots of places to eat dinner, and then you can finish the night off in one of the many bars.

Flying to the Wild Pacific Coast!

The next morning, your transfer will pick you up and take you to the domestic airport, which is about 30 minutes away. Our local contact will then help you check in for your domestic flight. This takes about 50 minutes. The domestic airport is right near Darien Lodge. When you get there, you’ll be taken to the small harbor where your boats will be waiting for you. After a 20-minute drive, you’ll reach Darien Lodge.

You’ll usually get to Darien Lodge around 9:30 in the morning. When you get to the lodge, you’ll have time to check into your rooms and get your fishing gear ready for the next few days.

After a good lunch, you’ll head out for your first fishing session on the Pacific Ocean. This is a great chance to get the hang of fishing and get comfortable with the boats.

The Fishing / Offshore

Fishing days usually start around 6:00 a.m. with a good breakfast before heading out to the Pacific around 7:00 a.m. A normal fishing day ends around 5:00 p.m.

There are different fishing options to choose from on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Your group trip is going to be during one of the best times for yellowfin tuna. So, make sure you plan for enough fishing time for tuna fishing. The tuna usually hang out close to the lodge on the outer drop-off. So, the trip to the tuna areas can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

We use poppers and stickbaits to catch the tuna. Hunting tuna feeding on the surface is an exciting activity. The casting platform on the boat is spacious enough for two or three anglers. The captains are some of the most experienced tuna anglers around, so you can count on them to take you to the best spot to cast.

When the popper or stickbait gets to the yellowfin tuna, it’s time to hang on. We’ve had days where we’ve caught up to 100 tuna per boat. Tuna can be anywhere from 5 to 100 kilograms. The average size depends on the school. In addition to popper and stick bait rods, the captains also use live bait on trolling rods. Big tuna, or even marlin, are often caught using the joker rod.

And depending on the time of year, there are also lots of sailfish, marlin, and monster dorado off the coast. We also plan private tours for you here. Depending on the time of year and what kind of fish you’re after, we’ll put together a personalized tour for you! Just give us a shout!

The Fishing / Inshore

Fishing along the coast gives you a chance to catch roosterfish, cubera, jacks, snooks, and other inshore fish. Fishing depends on the tides and the best coastal spots.

Since inshore fish species move around a lot along the coast, it’s important to plan ahead and allow plenty of time for inshore fishing. This means fishing along long stretches of coastline to find fish. From what we’ve seen, inshore fishing isn’t always a walk in the park, and you’ve got to be willing to stick with it if you want to see the payoff.

The best plan is to fish slowly along the coast. You’ll fish all kinds of spots, like rocks, bays, and sandy areas, using poppers, stickbaits, jerkbaits, and live bait. Depending on where you go, you can catch cubera snapper, roosterfish, jacks, and other fish like African pompano and amberjack.

There are also a few good spots for fishing for big snooks right near the lodge. The spots are just these big rocks right on the sandy beach. Timing is key: you’ve got to cast your bait right into the hot zone between the waves. It’s an exciting type of fishing!

The departure

On the day of departure, you’ll leave the lodge after breakfast. The drive to the small jungle airport takes about an hour. Then, you’ll fly back to Medellin, where you’ll spend another night at Hotel Diez.

The next morning, we’ll take you back to the international airport. Then, you’ll fly back to your home airport. You’ll usually arrive there the next day.

Accommodations Colombia Pacific Fishing Trip

The Accommodation

Wild Pacific Coast!

Darien Lodge

The lodge’s location is really something. Darien Lodge is one of the most exclusive fishing lodges in the region. It’s located close to the Panamanian border.

Darien Lodge was finished in April 2024 and has eight rooms with private bathrooms and verandas. All rooms have air conditioning and fans.

The lodge itself has a big common area with a bar and pool. Meals are also served here. The food is inspired by local cuisine.

You’ll get non-alcoholic beverages like soda, Gatorade, water, and beer with your trip. If you’re into cocktails and spirits, you’re welcome to pay for them separately on site.

Catering

Meals: Full Board

Beverages: Non-alcoholic drinks and beer are included; spirits, wine, and cocktails will be charged according to consumption

Medellin

Hotel Diez

We’ve booked the Hotel Diez in Medellin for your stay in Bogota. The hotel is right near Medellin’s most popular nightlife district!

The rooms each have two single beds and a private bathroom with shower and toilet. Two guests will share a room during your trip.

Breakfast is included in your package. There are several restaurants offering a variety of cuisines in the area around the hotel.

The rooms and lobby of the hotel have free Wi-Fi.

Catering

Meals: Breakfast included

Beverages: Drinks can be paid for on site according to consumption

Your boats in Colombia!

The Boats

There are various types of boats available in Colombia. The boats are between 36 and 38 feet long and have two 200 hp or two 250 hp engines.

Colombian Center Console Boats!

El Bizcocho & La Sardina

The two boats, El Bizcocho and La Sardina, were specially built for fishing on the Colombian Pacific coast. The boats are 36 feet long and have a 3.7-meter-long casting platform with a railing at the bow. This offers space for up to three anglers. Both boats have two 200 hp engines.

The boats are equipped with echo sounders, chart plotters, and radio equipment and have a bait fish tank.

Centre Console Boot!

Syrius Star

The Syrius Star is a 38-foot center console boat built in America. It has two 250 hp engines, tuna tubes, a bait fish tank, and the latest sonar technology and chart plotter.

The boat has its own casting platform at the bow and two fold-down outriggers for trolling for marlin, sailfish, and other species.

You need this fishing gear in Colombia!

Tackle Talk

For Colombia, you’ll need four rod setups. If you’re going to fish inshore for roosterfish, you’ll need to use PE 6-8 rods. For jacks and smaller fish species, you can fish with lighter rods of PE 4-6.

Cuberas are some of the strongest fighters around. PE8 rods are the way to go!

If you’re going to fish for tuna with a spinning rod, you’ll want to bring a PE 10-12.

When it comes to inshore fishing, the go-to lures are usually smaller poppers, stick baits, wobblers, and skip baits.

Rental Equipment Available!

Our local partners have top-notch fishing equipment on the boats. We’ve got trolling rods, popper, and jigging rods too. Rods are available to rent for USD 100 per week.

You need these fishing baits in Colombia!

Popper / Stickbaits

Various lures are used for inshore fishing. The most exciting type of fishing is surface fishing. Here, poppers up to 160-200 mm are used. Popular poppers include Halco Roosta Popper, FCL Epipop, Rapala Xplode 130, Yozui Mac Popper 130, and Tackle House Feed Popper 150. It is recommended to bring a variety of sizes.

Skipbaits are also very effective. Any skipbaits that can be moved quickly on the surface, such as the GT Icecream, are suitable.

Stickbaits and wobblers are also very effective. You can fish with sinking and floating versions. We recommend the Tailwalk GUNZ 160 S&F, Hybrida J1 Tropic, DUO Rough Trail, Tackle House Minnow K, Rapala X-Rap Long Cast, and HOWK Tunastick 150.

You should have a good selection of natural colors (blue/silver, bonito, blue/white). Roosterfish also love pink lures, so make sure your lures have a good amount of pink or are completely pink.

These are the fishing lures you need for tuna in Colombia!

Popper / Stickbaits

For popper fishing for tuna, you need poppers with small heads. The Halco Haymaker 195 or River2Sea Dumbbell Pop have proven themselves in the past! Another very good popper is the Yozuri Mag Popper in 160 mm!

Fast-sinking stickbaits and long-cast wobblers also work well. The Tacklehouse Britt or Flitz are good tuna lures. The HOWK Tunastick 150 is a heavy stickbait that allows for long casting distances! Slightly cheaper stickbaits are the Tailwalk GUNZ in 160 mm!

The best lines and leaders for Colombia!

Leader & Main Line

For inshore spin fishing, leaders between 40-175 lbs are used. For offshore fishing, you need leaders between 200-240 lbs. For fishing with live bait, you should use 40-60 lbs fluorocarbon!

Make sure you use high-quality leaders, such as those from Fishermen, Varivas, Nomad, or Climax.

The main lines should be high-performance PE lines. A PE6 (65 lbs breaking strain) is the minimum for inshore fishing. For cuberas, you need a PE8 (80 lbs breaking strain)!

For offshore fishing for tuna, you need at least a PE10 (100 lbs breaking strain).

For fishing for jacks, lines between 40-60 lbs are sufficient. Good lines include Gosen Diver x8, Daiwa J-Braid x8, JB Line One, or other high-performance lines!

Terminal Tackle

Hooks & Terminal Tackle

You shouldn’t compromise on this. Just bring BKK brand hooks, please. You should bring GT-Rex hooks in sizes 3/0 – 5/0! If you’re going for smaller poppers, you’ll need a 1/0 – 4/0 BKK GT-Rex.

For jigging, we suggest using VMC hooks (Jigging Assist Hook 7264 BN) in sizes 8/0 – 13/0. And for the assist hooks, don’t forget the rubber octopuses!

Pop rings should be able to hold at least 220 lbs. Super Heavy Duty split and solid rings (solid rings #7.5 – #9) (split rings #10 – #11) are a good choice here.

When it comes to bait-and-switch hooks, you’ll want to use circle hooks, like Gamakatsu Octopus in 6/0 – 8/0 and Mustad Demon Perfect Circle Hook in 10/0 – 12/0 for marlin.

Helpful tools for your fishing trip

Other fishing equipment

It’s usually a good idea to bring a good pair of split ring pliers. We’d suggest the hPa Game Plier split ring pliers. These tools make it a breeze to open even the strongest split rings.

It’s also a good idea to have a good waterproof boat bag. Zeck Fishing has some great bags. We’d suggest the Tackle Container Pro or the Tackle Container Pro Catfish.

Since you’ll often be fishing for several hours at a time, we suggest bringing a pair of good gloves.

Since it can get pretty hot in Colombia, we suggest wearing UV protection shirts, a sun hat, and SPF 50 sunscreen! You can order our expedition UV shirts directly from us!

Good polarized sunglasses are essential for fishing. We recommend glasses from gloryfy unbreakable. The best polarized sunglasses for anglers currently available are also indestructible!

You can take a closer look at the gloryfy unbreakable polarized sunglasses for anglers here: Polarized Sunglasses for Anglers!