At the end of this year we had unusually warm water temperatures while sportfishing panama’s Tuna Coast. Typically they are in the low 80’s whereas this year it was consistently 86-88 degrees during the 2nd part of December. From what I understand this is in part because of the El Nino phenomenon. The north winds which are typical for dry season have been slight and minimal. These constant and consistent north winds during dry season is what cycles the cool water to the surface dropping water temperatures. Fishing with the warm waters this month around Cebaco Island, Tuna Coast and Coiba Island has been a tad slow. The fish were there and visible just not wanting live bait or lures. They almost seemed lethargic. We spent much of our time trolling live bait as slow as possible while throwing poppers from the bow and stern. We saw huge schools of Jack Crevalle, Barracuda, Dorado and sailfish all wanting to play but not go on the all-out attack. We managed to tease several sailfish right up next to the boat. They were going back and forth hitting the ballyhoo but just not attacking. This went on for more than fifteen minutes. The Jack Crevalle seemed to act weird as well. We normally catch them on almost every cast. With the warm temperatures they just seemed lazy. We still managed to land a few here and there. Although the bite wasn’t red hot the marine life was abundant all around us from Cebaco Island up the Tuna Coast and all the way to Coiba Island. Huge schools of Porpoise along with huge schools of Bonita and football yellowfins were everywhere. It is starting to look very promising for 2016 and the Large Yellowfin Tuna will be arriving soon here on Panama’s Tuna Coast. Cheers Captain Ahah – El Rio Negro Sport fishing Lodge
