Reggie (POLEDANCER’S) brother sent out the email below … all I can say is WOW! A new bar is set for what you can catch on a spinning reel! Hope you all enjoy this one as much as I did.
From: John
Subject: Xtreme Fishing at Panamasportfishinglodge
To: “AAPSFLODGE”
Date: Tuesday, April 7, 2009, 8:44 PM
TJ of OTI sent me a few rods by Wacker & Mr. Bill ,I wanted to add a little challenge to my game , " To catch a Marlin on spinning “, so I order 2 OTI Ocean Xtreme model 3101 5’.6” jigging rod , I paired it with brand new Shimano Stella 20000 and loaded it with braided 65 lb. test , fishing have been really good at the Island of Ladrones the last three weeks , but things died down Sunday and Monday so most of the other boats abandoned the area , there was not a single boat there this morning , but the condition looks really good ,(skipjack) baits was balling at the top really tight , we so a couple of big splash, we caught a few baits and rig the two spinning gears with live bait, we started trolling and within 5 minutes , a nice Black inhaled the bait and just the sound of the reel screaming was demoralizing ,I was hoping for a fish under 300lbs. with this tackle , cause I know it will be a long fight , specially we have been catching fish over 500
lbs, the last few weeks , the fish gave as a really good show ,jumping so many times, I was really surprise how the OTI rod handle this fish , I was able to pull on the fish with the rodand felt under control the whole time, In fact I was able to bring this fish in , under 23 mins. the fish is easy 400 lbs, the fish was caught and release, I am very impressed with the tackle cause I saw last Saturday another boat hooking up on a Marlin with spinning tackle and lost the fish when his rod broke,well after all the high five’s, we rerig and within a few minutes we had another fish on , this one was a tad smaller but nevertheless this tackle was in for a workout , 2 Black Marlin in one day or less than one hour, what a day , for anybody that would like
I haven’t caught anything that heavy yet, but I love my med/heavy rods that keep tension on the fish at all times, no matter how much they jump and shake their head! I can’t stand the broomsticks!
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see!</font id=“blue”>
Mark
Mako 262 Twin Yammaha F200s
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
Thats a great article, I met John when I was fishing in Boca Chica, Panama last month, I know that Winky (carl Mccants) has been catching the blacks on his Van Staal’s, 100lb yellow fin on top water poopers on spinning gear is a blast as well.
congrats I bet that was fun. I’ve wanted to try that for years, but I’ve never found a reel with a strong enough bail wire and I can’t afford the van stahls.
Maybe the pic is of the smaller one they caught. But, who cares anyway? He had a great time and posted about it so all could see. Please, just enjoy the site and be positive, at least in the reports section!!! Oh yeah, Happy Easter!!! God is good!! All the time!!
Gotta go, late for church! Can’t wait to read the response…
“Miss Amanda”
-KeyWest
-Bluewater 2020CC
-Yammy F-150Don’t believe anything you hear, and only half of what you see!</font id=“blue”>
Black Marlin are fatter and a little bit shorter in lenth than Blue Marlin, when you figure out wieght on a Black marlin you divide by 700 (instead of 800 for Blue marlin)
It’s great to see that John is having such an incredible opening season. It’s clear that the lodge is well on its way to being one of the premier fishing destinations in Central America. When we start seeing celebrity fisherman trying these techniques, we’ll be able to say we saw it here first. I’m proud to say that I was one of the first to catch a black at the lodge and in meeting John, I’m sure that he’ll continue to push the envelope and surprise us all. As always, the pictures are incredible. I wish you had posted the picture of the boat doubled up with blacks, and both of them out of the water. I don’t recall ever seeing that anywhere.
It’s too bad that there are people out there improving tackle and trying to raise the bar of sport fishing for us all to enjoy, and it’s lost on some because of the fishes estimated weight. Personally, I can’t wait to get down there again to see what happens next. Keep up the good work.
