Fishing in Santa Catalina

Written by Kevin Rowe
www.UncoverPanama.com
Santa Catalina is located on the Pacific Coast of Veraguas providence. Best known for incredible surfing and diving, Santa Catalina attracts surfers and divers from all over the globe. It is most comparable to Oahu’s own Sunset Beach. The aquatic life along Isla Coiba is not short of amazing.

Enough about surfing and diving! I traveled to Santa Catalina to go fishing. I have heard many fishing tales of endless catches on fishing trips in this area.  So my wife, son and I embarked on a road trip to the beautiful island town of Santa Catalina. I live in the Cocle Provence, approximately a 4 hour drive to Santa Catalina. That is if you don’t stop at Santiago for last-minute shopping (Santiago is the third largest city in Panama). 

From Santiago we headed south to the city of Sona. The scenery along the way was incredible; rolling hills, green pastors and grazing cattle as far as the eye can see. It reminded me a bit of my home in Idaho, USA. With the exception of all of the palm trees, not many palm trees in Idaho. 

My family and I reached Sona just in time for lunch. We came upon a roadside open BBQ stand, with two items on the menu: chicken or pork. Both cook on a 55 gallon drum barrel.  My wife had the chicken. My son and I had the pork. The food was good and the price was even better.

On the road again, next stop Santa Catalina! Arriving at our destination, we soon discovered that Santa Catalina is a small-island town consisting of a local market and a few small hotels and hostels. We previously made reservations at hotel Sol y Mar. A vehicle with four-wheel drive is needed it to get up the hill to the living cabins. Sol y Mar (Sun and Ocean) is on the edge of town. Cabins include air-conditioning, cable TV and exquisite sea views.

Now to the fishing! Up at 6:00 am to pack a lunch for our fishing trip, we headed to the beach where Capitan David was ready and waiting for us. On the boat we headed towards the Isla Coiba. Just a half-mile offshore the water turned to a deep royal blue. It was a perfect day, plenty of sunshine, no wind and flat calm waters. Trolling along, the scenery is breathtaking.
Just an hour into the fishing trip, we spotted dolphins playing and following along side the boat. Typically when you find dolphins, you will find fish, but keeping up with the dolphins is difficult they can disappear in the blink of an eye. After fishing for about an hour and not having much luck . . . not even a bite. Another hour passes; again nothing! Then we spot the dolphins jumping just in front of us along accompanied by Amberjacks. WHAM! Both polls strike and the reels start singing. We run to the back of the boat and start reeling in the fish.

Finally land both fish, each Amberjacks weighing around 20 lbs. All excited we quickly get our pole back in the water, looking for the dolphins again. They are no where to be found. Back to trolling, watching for the dolphins that were never seen again. No more fish that day, but as the old saying goes, “the worst day of fishing is still better than any day working.”