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