Panama

Tuna Coast

Panama fishing trip

Tuna Coast

Your trip begins with a flight from your home airport to Panama City. Several airlines offer direct or connecting flights, and we’ll be happy to help you book or coordinate your travel. The flight usually takes around twelve and a half hours. On arrival, your airport transfer will take you to your hotel, where you can relax and enjoy the evening.

The following morning, after a hearty breakfast, you’ll continue to Boca Chica by private transfer. The drive to the lodge takes approximately six hours, with fantastic scenery along the way and an opportunity to stop at a supermarket to buy drinks, including alcohol. You’re welcome to bring your own drinks to the lodge, and every room has a fridge to keep them cool.

You’ll arrive at the lodge in the afternoon. After checking in, you’ll have plenty of time to prepare your tackle for the days ahead.

The Fishing in Panama

Each of your five fishing days usually begins at 7.00 am. After a hearty breakfast, you’ll head to the lodge’s private jetty and set off. Together with your guides, you’ll decide which species to target and whether to focus on inshore or offshore fishing.

Your trip takes place during the prime season for large yellowfin tuna, making the offshore seamounts and legendary Hannibal Banks especially rewarding destinations. The journey to Hannibal Banks takes around two hours from the lodge. Tuna often gather here in large numbers, offering excellent opportunities to target them with poppers and stickbaits.

To locate the tuna, your guides look for birds, dolphins and local longline fishing boats. Once tuna start feeding at the surface, it’s time to hold on as the boat moves quickly into casting range. You’ll cast your poppers and stickbaits into the feeding frenzy, with strikes often coming as soon as the lure hits the water.

When tuna aren’t feeding at the surface, the guides usually look for dolphins, which feed on the same baitfish. They’ll position the boat so you can cast around the dolphin pods to target the tuna feeding alongside them. Live baits are often deployed behind the boat as well, giving you the best chance of a catch.

The tuna can weigh anywhere from 20 to 100 kg. Marlin, sailfish and other offshore predators also patrol the banks.

Inshore Fishing in Panama

Inshore fishing is also highly productive in our area. The many islands just off the coast provide excellent conditions for cubera snapper, jacks and roosterfish. You’ll explore the coastline, targeting these species with popping tackle.

For cubera snapper, large poppers, sinking stickbaits and jerkbaits work well. Cuberas are usually found along rugged stretches of coast, where rocks provide shelter. These powerful fish demand strong tackle, so we recommend popping rods rated at least PE8.

Roosterfish also patrol the coastline, particularly the sandy bottoms along the area’s broad beaches. PE6–8 popping rods are ideal, paired with smaller poppers, stickbaits and long-casting plugs.

Alongside cuberas and roosterfish, you can catch jacks, other snapper species and grouper. Targeting jacks with PE4–6 rods and small poppers is especially exciting. Cast into a shoal and prepare for explosive surface strikes – pure adrenaline!

A fishing day lasts around ten hours, with your return to the lodge between 4.00 and 5.00 pm. Afterwards, round off the evening with a delicious dinner at the lodge’s restaurant, which serves a selection of local and international dishes.

The departure

Your journey home begins early in the morning after breakfast. Depending on your flight schedule, you’ll either travel directly to the airport or spend another night in Panama City.

The drive takes around six hours. Depending on your flight connections, you’ll arrive at your home airport the following day.

Accommodation Panama Fishing Trip

The Accommodation

During your trip, you’ll stay at Hotel Bocas del Mar, a four-star waterfront hotel with beautiful rooms, a swimming pool and an excellent restaurant.

For your overnight stay in Panama City, we’ve booked you into the four-star Riande Aeropuerto Hotel.

Tuna Coast!

Hotel Bocas del Mar****

Bocas del Mar is a modern four-star hotel right on the waterfront. Its spacious rooms each have two double beds, air conditioning, a fridge and a private terrace where you can relax.

The hotel has two large swimming pools with shaded sun loungers and sea views. Its excellent restaurant serves local and international cuisine in a welcoming setting. Dinner is available à la carte and is not included in the trip price.

Free Wi-Fi is available in the main area and in all rooms.

Catering

Meals: Breakfast included, lunch on the boat

Beverages during fishing:Water, soft drinks, and beer will be provided during fishing trips.

Beverages in the hotel: Alcoholic beverages can be paid for on site according to consumption.

Here are some sample prices for drinks and meals at Hotel Boca del Mar (2025):

Beer is $3, wine by the glass is $5, cocktails are $8, and water is $3.

Appetizers are $7 to $22, main courses are $13 to $28, and desserts are $6 to $8.

Panama City!

Riande Aeropuerto Hotel****

For your stay in Panama City, we’ve booked you into the Riande Aeropuerto Hotel, conveniently located near the airport.

The hotel offers spacious double rooms with private bathrooms, several swimming pools, two restaurants, two bars and a casino.

A hearty breakfast is included in your stay, and Wi-Fi is available.

Catering

Meals: Breakfast included

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

Your boats in Panama!

The Boats

For your fishing trips, you’ll have two Pursuit offshore centre-console boats at your disposal, measuring 29 and 31 feet. Both are powered by twin 250 hp engines.

High-end Fishing Boats!

Offshore Persuit

Both centre-console boats have ample room for four anglers, with space to fish from the bow and stern.

Each boat has tuna tubes, a live-bait tank, 12-inch Garmin fish finders and chartplotters, and Garmin radar to help locate flocks of birds.

High-quality hire tackle is available on both boats, including trolling, spinning, popping and jigging rods.

Both boats also carry radios and safety equipment, including first aid kits, life jackets and lifebuoys.

You need this fishing tackle in Panama!

Tackle Talk

For fishing in Panama, you’ll need four rod setups. For roosterfish inshore, use rods rated PE6–8. Lighter PE4–6 rods are suitable for jacks and smaller species, while powerful cubera snapper call for PE8 rods.

For targeting tuna with spinning tackle, bring a rod rated PE10–12.

Smaller poppers, stickbaits, plugs and skipping lures are the main choices for inshore fishing.

Tackle hire included!

Our local partners provide high-quality tackle on board, including trolling, popping and jigging rods. If you need to borrow a rod, hire is included at no extra charge.

You need these fishing baits in Panama!

Popper / Stickbaits

A wide variety of lures work well for inshore fishing, but surface fishing offers some of the most exciting action. We use poppers up to 160–200 mm long. Good options include the Halco Roosta Popper, FCL Epipop, Rapala Xplode 130, Yo-Zuri Mac Popper 130 and Tackle House Feed Popper 150. Bring a selection of sizes.

Skipping lures worked quickly across the surface are also highly effective. Suitable options include the GT Icecream, Xorus Asturie 130, Nomad Dartwing 165 and Roberts Ranger 130.

Both sinking and floating stickbaits produce good results. We recommend the Tailwalk GUNZ 160 S & F, Hybrida J1 Tropic, Sakura Mr. Joe 120S, Rapala Longcast Stickbaits, Sebile Magic Swimmer and Samson Lures Tweak Baits.

Pack a good selection of natural colours, such as blue/silver, bonito patterns and blue/white. Roosterfish also respond well to pink, so include a few lures with prominent pink markings or an all-pink finish.

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

Popper / Stickbaits

For tuna popping, choose poppers with smaller cups. The Halco Haymaker 195 and River2Sea Dumbbell Pop have proved effective, while the 160 mm Yo-Zuri Mag Popper is another excellent option.

Fast-sinking stickbaits and long-casting plugs also work well. The Tackle House Britt and Flitz are good choices for tuna. The HOWK Tunastick 150 is a heavy stickbait that offers excellent casting distance, while the 160 mm Tailwalk GUNZ is a more affordable alternative.

The best lines and leaders for Panama!

Leader & Main Line

For inshore lure fishing, use leaders rated at 40–175 lb. For offshore fishing, step up to 200–240 lb leaders. When fishing with live bait, use 40–60 lb fluorocarbon.

Choose high-quality leader material from brands such as Fishermen, Varivas, Nomad or Climax.

Your main line should be a high-performance PE braid. For inshore fishing, use PE6 (65 lb), stepping up to PE8 (80 lb) when targeting cubera snapper. For offshore tuna fishing, use at least PE10 (100 lb).

For jacks, braid rated at 40–60 lb is suitable. Good options include Gosen Diver X8, Daiwa J-Braid X8, JB Line One and other high-performance braids.

Terminal Tackle

Hooks & Terminal Tackle

There’s no room for compromise when it comes to popping hooks. Please bring only BKK GT-Rex hooks in sizes 3/0–5/0. For smaller poppers, use sizes 1/0–4/0.

For jigging, we recommend VMC Jigging Assist Hooks (7264 BN) in sizes 8/0–13/0. Remember to bring rubber octopus skirts for your assist hooks.

Split rings and solid rings for popping should have a minimum breaking strain of 220 lb. Heavy-duty solid rings in sizes #7.5–#9 and split rings in sizes #10–#11 are good choices.

For bait-and-switch fishing, use circle hooks, such as Gamakatsu Octopus Circle hooks in sizes 6/0–8/0 and Mustad Demon Perfect Circle hooks in sizes 10/0–12/0 for marlin.

Helpful tools for your fishing trip!

Other fishing equipment

We recommend bringing a good pair of split-ring pliers. The hPa Game Plier is a reliable choice, allowing you to open even heavy-duty split rings with ease.

A waterproof boat bag is also worth bringing. Zeck Fishing offers some excellent options, including the Tackle Container Pro and Tackle Container Pro Catfish.

As you’ll often be jigging and popping for several hours at a time, we recommend packing a good pair of gloves.

Panama can get very hot, so bring UV-protective shirts, a sun hat and SPF 50 sunscreen. Our Expeditions UV shirts are available to order directly from us.

Good polarised sunglasses are essential for fishing. We recommend gloryfy unbreakable sunglasses, which combine polarised lenses with exceptionally durable frames.

Take a closer look at the gloryfy unbreakable range of polarised fishing sunglasses here: Polarized Sunglasses for Anglers!