| I had the chance to go fishing on Panama's Lake | | | | his father had pulled in 75 in less than two hours. |
| Gatun recently. Located in the canal, and in fact | | | | We reached our first fishing hole and got ready. We |
| compromising much of the natural section of the | | | | had purchased 200 minnows for $16 at the pier and I |
| Panama Canal, Lake Gatun is a tropical paradise. Rich | | | | was excited to use live bait. With three poles in the |
| with wildlife, its beauty and seemingly untouched | | | | water it took less than 3 minutes before we had |
| waterways and islands are in sharp contrast with the | | | | two keepers in the boat. This continued as we |
| cargo ships, car carries, military destroyers and | | | | moved up and down one of the fingers extending |
| Panamax that are cruising through the canal. It was | | | | out from the main channel of the Canal. Along the |
| overcast when we arrived at the dock in Chames to | | | | way we saw toucans, turtles, howler monkeys, |
| board our 15 foot, 25 horsepower skiff. Our captian | | | | caymans and two full size crocs, which quickly |
| was a 15 year old Panamanian who told us that he | | | | dissuaded us from taking that much needed swim. |
| had been a skipper on Gatun for four years and | | | | With a full cooler and plenty of bait we fished all |
| knew the lake in and out. The first hour was mostly | | | | morning, pulling in about 13 fish an hour, or roughly |
| sightseeing, due in main part to the lack of power | | | | one every five minutes. We only ended up throwing |
| coming out of the flooded two-stroke hanging off | | | | back three, most were in the 1-2 pound range and |
| the back. Getting out on the water at 7am gave us | | | | though not the fighters we had heard about in the |
| a great feeling of having the whole day in front of us | | | | Amazon, the amount of fish caught made up a bit |
| and no one objected when our captain Daniel pulled | | | | for size. Definitely quantity over quality, but by the |
| up to Monkey Island and let us feed the Spider | | | | time we got back we had over 40 pounds of bass. |
| Monkeys. | | | | For ten cents a fish, Danny filleted them on the pier, |
| Lake Gatun is full of one of the best lake sport | | | | in the pouring rain and by the time we got home we |
| fishing bass in the world, the Peacock Bass. | | | | were ready for a feast. |
| Renowned in South America for its fight and size, | | | | Final thoughts on the trip: If you ever get the |
| especially on the Amazon, the Peacock Bass is a | | | | chance, go fishing on Lake Gatun in Panama. We paid |
| non-native, introduced fish to Panama. For this | | | | $70 for the boat for the morning, no limits, no |
| reason, there is no limit on the number you can take | | | | permits, great tasting fish and good times all around. |
| out of the lake. Coming from the U.S. and use to | | | | There is plenty to see and plenty to do on the canal, |
| limits and permits, this was like shooting ducks in a | | | | a fishing trip of a lifetime. |
| barrel. Danny told us that the week before he and | | | | |