Hello Folks, December 06 was our busiest December since we have been in operation. We had a last minute no show that unfortunately shut out the last week in December for two other interested parties. We all took advantage of the break before things pick up this month. We have not fished much in December in the past so the month was full of surprises. The water was very clear and blue close to shore and the seas were calm. We had an occasional rain shower, usually in the afternoon on our way back home. Our traditional live baits were plentiful but almost impossible to catch in the clear water. We caught hundreds of pan size snappers in the 1/2 to 5 pound range on sibiki rigs while fishing for baits. The waters were teaming with lots of Wahoo, Cubera Snappers, Colorado Snappers, big Dorado's and Trevally but we caught surprisingly few Tuna. Also surprisingly absent were the Roosterfish and Amberjack. By accident, we caught two Black Marlin in the 300-400 lb range. The first Marlin was caught in the second week by Steve Lachenauer, Dan Terry and his son Dan and the second, a week later by Jim Tryon. I hope everyone has a great new year................Tom www.panamasportsman.com/December2006.htm Tommy Giles Rio Negro Sport Fishing Club www.panamasportsman.com 011-507-6-646-0529

JUPITER, Fla. -- A Jupiter man has received instant name recognition in the spearfishing world thanks to a 480-pound catch. Robert Arrington now holds the world record for the largest marlin ever caught with a spear gun. Arrington's underwater adventure 25 miles of the coast of Panama was captured on videotape. The 30-year-old is an avid free diver and spear fisherman. He said he jumped in the water to film and what came next left him and the spearfishing world in awe. "All of a sudden I hear the rush of all the bait coming up," Arrington said. "I tucked my feet and the video down, so I'm looking. The first thing I see is the marlin's tail." Arrington shared his video with the media and described the events. "After the fifth pass, here he comes. You can see I push my gun forward just like I would spear anything else," he said. "I'm looking at this fish going, 'Wow.'" It took four people to hoist in the monster catch. "This is a very special fish," Arrington said. "I'll remember this the rest of my life. I probably won't spear another one but always remember this one." The marlin was 11 feet long and weighed 480 pounds. It doubled the old blue marlin spearfishing record, which weighed in only at 278 pounds. Editor's Comment: I've been notified that spearfishing for billfish in Panama is illegal. Since there is videotape evidence of this crime Mr. Arrington should be arrested on the spot. The sport fishing industry practices "catch and release." Hopefully, his "world record" will be quashed because he broke the law to do it.

By Tom Giles - Hello Folks, We successfully completed the Magoo Overhaul Project and installed our new 4-stroke outboards with 14 days to spare before our first guests arrived on 13 November. The Magoo is performing very well but we are still needing to properly size our propellers. We fished a total of 6 days in November. Jim Clary, Mark Fleming, Jim & Tom Kelly were our first guests this season. Although we were still in rainy season, the weather held out reasonably well for us. Baits were made easy their first day but slowed down during their visit. They caught several nice amberjacks, Wahoo and lots of yellow-fin tunas. They were followed by Jaime Chen and Juan Lataste, from Panama City, who fished with us for one day. The weather was perfect and they filled their cooler with lots of tuna, Wahoo and snapper. Our final guests in November were the Kat family from the Panama Canal Area, who brought with them a great thanksgiving dinner. We fished and went sight seeing the following day. Meg and Tan Kat caught some very large Wahoo, the largest weighing about 90 pounds. We also introduced the girls to our style of popping. They caught several nice blue-fin trevally and lost some snapper and a roosterfish. (more)

VLADIVOSTOK, November 20 (Itar-Tass) - One Panamanian and three Russian ships have been detained in the Sea of Japan for illegal crab catches. The public relations group of the Russian FSB border guard department for the Primorsky (Maritime) territory told Itar-Tass on Monday that border guards have detained for violation of catch rules the Pavel Butov fishing trawler from Vladivostok, the Vasily Teplov fishing seiner (of Nakhodka port) and RP-5336 motor boat. Inspecting the Pavel Butov trawler border guards found 800 crab traps on board. The vessel put out to sea without a corresponding permission, its technical control equipment was switched off and four crewmembers had no documents. On board the Vasily Teplov seiner border guards found over 1,000 illegally caught crabs and on board the RP-5336 boat - 160 kilogrammes of crab bait. The border guard department pointed out that the Panamanian vessel - the Forward fishing trawler-refrigerator was detained when it entered Russian territorial waters without prior notification. According to the department, the crew intended to catch crab in the Russian territory. Border guards found on board six tonnes of bait and over 600 crab traps. There was no fishing and ship documentation on board. All the four vessels have been escorted to Nakhodka port on Monday for investigation.

Hello Folks, We've had two events that have had a major impact on our operation. First was the passing of my sister Lucie two weeks ago after a year loge struggle with Pancreatic cancer. Anyone who has been a guests at our lodge, most likely had some contact with Lucie in coordination their visit. Lucie and I were able to transition Lucie's daughter Stephanie to take over as our stateside agent. Stephanie's contact information is now posted on the website. Second, was an incident that resulted in substantial damage to the Magoo. In mid-June, the Magoo was moored overnight in our anchorage, ready for the next day of fishing. The following morning we found the Magoo capsized with the transom, t-top and console ripped off. We recovered the hull by emptying 4 scuba tanks of air inside the hull while many volunteers lifted and Alex pulled with the tractor. Fortunately, the hull was undamaged and lost the old engines. The 4-stroke engines were safely stored in our workshop. Turns out that in combination with a very large swell and a major squall, our safe anchorage turned into a high energy surf zone. WE also found out the `14 other boats were lost or badly damaged up and down the coast that evening. Starting on 1 August after my return from Florida, Alex, Bones and I started our Magoo overhaul project. (more)

Panama's Mariime Authority (AMP) said they would apply fines up to $100,000 against any person or company related to the discovery of hundreds of sharks fould killed over the weekend for their fins in Veraguas. The Director of Marine and Coastal Resources of the AMP, George Novey, said that "hundreds of sharks" were found without fins in the mouth of the Torio river, district of Mariato. Rafael Aguirre, Director of Marine Resources of Veraguas, said that shark finning is prohibited unless the entire animal is taken to the fish market for the meat as well as the fins. If not, then fishermen have to return the sharks to the ocean. (Editor's Comment: Shark Finning has been going on in Veraguas for months if not years. I reported on this practice in this article back in November of 2005. The locals in the area know exactly what's going on but they have to live in the area and are concerned for their safety. There are millions of dollars in play due to the demand for sharkfins worldwide.)

Last week Jim Dertien sent me some pictures taken from his boat the "Cheers" in the Gulf of Panama. They were out for a day of fishing and ran into about seven groups of humpback whales (http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20060701162619394). He had plans to take his family and a group of friends out on Saturday and invited us along. We had a great time, met some fantastic people, spent some time accompanied by a pod of dolphins, and caught a bunch of fish. I was hoping for some better pictures - the weather wasn't cooperating from a photography point of view. It was grey and overcast for much of the time which makes for kinda dull photos with low contrast. I still managed to get some fairly interesting shots. Jim and Karen were wonderful hosts.

Ok, so here's a plan. A good friend of your's comes down to Panama for a visit. As a matter of fact he comes down once a year just to drink beer, hang out, and fish. So you drive out to Pedasi and hire a 20-foot panga to take you out for a few days (cheap.) The fishing is pretty good but not great. Then, as you're heading back, slowly puttering back toward shore you decide to throw out a lure and troll, just in case. You don't expect to catch anything because no one has every caught anything worth remember in that area (according to the guide.) Then, WHAM! (see photo below)

While whales can be seen in waters off of the Panamanian coast in almost any month of the year, Humpbacks are usually numerous from now till September. The charter boat CHEERS took a group of friends out for a day of fishing and had a whale of a trip on Wednesday. While the dorado and sailfish were about the whales provided most of the days entertainment. We spotted seven groups of Humpbacks with 5 adults in one pod alone. We saw leaps, 360s, fining, splashing and blowing from the deck and flybridge. From the CHEERS we have seen Humpback, Sei, and Pilot whales so far this year along with the school after school of Dolphin. Charley Eitzen took these wonderful pictures on a recent outing with his family along with Jim Dertien and family. (If you're interested in chartering the CHEERS contact Jim at 6671-5428 or dertien@orbi.net)

The Panamanian National Maritime Service (SMN) impounded two fishing boats, the Tabor and the Andrea M. for fishing in a prohibited zone in the Bay of Panama. The SMN Pacific Service inspected the boats and found the boats did not have either a crew listing or fishing permits. Both fishing boats are owned by Promarina, based out of Puerto Caimito in La Chorrera. The case was handed over to the National Maritime Authority (AMN) that will investigate both boats to determine responsibilities. Fishing is prohibited in the area between Flamenco Island and the mouth of the Tapia river. In addition, the capital municipality prohibits the fishing in the bay of Panama. According to the law, the Promarina company can be fined $1,000 and the boats captains licenses will be cancelled. The boats will remain under the control of the SMN until the AMP finishes their investigations. All crew members were released.