The first time I visited Panama — at the famous Tropic Star Lodge — director of fishing Albert Batoo told me that at times the yellowfin tuna amassed so thick on bait that it was possible to motor right into the school and watch 100-pound tunas fly through the air next to the boat. Sometimes, they’d even smack the boat mid-air, he told me!
Well, this video comes not from Tropic Star, but rather Propiedad de Paradise Lodge in the western quadrant of the country — yet it’s the same sort of deal that Albert told me about.
A group of anglers aboard Top Cat came across this school of tuna decimating pods of blue runners and goggle eyes in the Gulf of Chiriqui around Isla Paridas. The bait was balled so thick that at one point, one of the crew members dipped a net in and filled the baitwell. Bam — just like that! Enjoy the video:
