DaParson's Fishing Adventures

The fishing was pretty slow - not many bites or bumps. We did catch Snook up to about 10lbs. But the story of the day was the "One that got away." Towards the end of the day, I hooked a massive Snook. After fighting the fish for about 20-25 minutes, he wrapped me around a log on the flat along the channel and the braided line snapped when we tried to free it. The guide estimated the fish to be over 50lbs - my guess was about 45lbs. It was the size of a good Bull Red - but put on a great arial display - on jump which was caught on film. I also put a pic here of the Corvina - they look like a cross between a trout and a red - but they are huge. We didn't fish for them - never have - but might during the future. We also fished Lake Gatun for Peacock Bass. This is the second time I have fished for these fish on this lake - most of them are small schoolies - and this time was not different. We caught about 50 fish in about 2.5 hours. We also had a great encounter w...

We were able to fish for some Peacock Bass on Lake Gatun - but also had an encounter with a few of the Monkeys. The Peacock Bass Video will be later ... but here are the Monkeys!

The family and I went on a Cruise that ported in Progresso and Cozumel. The recent strong northers had reached both places. Progresso was totally blown out so there was no fishing there. Cozumel was a high of 67 degrees - strong winds from the north and 4-6 ft waves with some larger swells thrown in. We chartered 3 Hermanos - they told us up front it would be a difficult day of fishing and offered us a chance to cancel - but we headed out. We caught one 20-25lb Rock Grouper, a small bonita and some needlefish - not much - but still better than shopping. (smile) Also, February is off season - so it was iffy from the get go. I would highly recommend 3 Hermanos Fishing Charters. The cost was $350.00 for 1/2 day with up to 6 on the boat. The boat and fishing equippment was top notch. Basically, they trolled up and down the island in 500ft of water with a 5 or 6 bait spread. Two man crew was very attentive. Click here for a link to their website . Here is a video of the trip:

Just some thoughts after preaching a 17 year old LPHS Senior's Funeral.

This is a video I compiled of local damage from Hurricane Ike. Some pictures are my own while many came from www.tpics.com. I have attached a couple of songs that have deep meaning.

My nephew, Dillon Jacoby, was home from the Coast Guard for a couple of days, so my friend Jerry Thompson - and his daughter Tash - loaded up the "Top Kat" and took us out to the North Jetty looking for some Big Pulls. It wasn't long before Cole and Dillon were locked into pull after pull fighting 3-4 foot Atlantic Sharpnose Shark. During the day, we caught several Reds, Black Drum, Sheephead, Shark and the catch of the day, a Pilot Fish. Special thanks for Jerry for allowing us such a great day on the water! Here is a video of the trip: This is the first Pilot Fish we have ever picked up at the Jetty. Jerry played the part of Captain Hard Head ... and Dewey vowed to retain his title on the next trip out! (grin)

Dewey and I headed out this morning to chase a dream. With the wind laying down, we scouted a couple of areas for Tarpon. We couldn't find them at all - so we headed back to the Jetty and dropped a few lines for a while. Unfortunately, we caught the end of a tide and there will next to no tidal movement. Even with that, we caught 1 nice Bull Red, some shark, and then several gaftop, hardhead and croaker. We were surprised that there wasn't more action - but when the tide slacks off - so does most everything else. Water was mixed and temperature was 82 degrees. We fished honey hole.

Here is the link to the 2008 Panama Mission Trip Blog: Click Here This blog contains videos, pictures and details of the Mission Trip to Ali Gandi, Atchitupu and Mamitupu.

Here is a video of the fishing both in the Pacific and Carribean. We were able to so some fishing while we were in the Kuna Yalla in Panama. We stayed on the island of Ali Ghandi working there and also on two close islands, Atchitupu and Mamitupu. Each time we went from island to island we trolled. Honestly, I trolled a Red/White Feather Jig till the feathers almost fell off. Probably 12-15 miles of total trolling. On the other rod I used a Blue/White Rapalla, Red/White Rapalla and Red/White Cedar Plug. Those were the main trolling baits. I also used everything else in my tackle box to no avail. The water around the islands - from island to island - varies from just a few inches deep to 30 foot. However, I also trolled up to 5 or 6 miles off shore in water (guessing) approaching 1,000 ft. And I NEVER HAD A HIT!!!! I was stunned. This is my 4th trip to the islands. On previous trips I have seen tons of showering baitfish between islands but this time I just saw it once. I...

On the first half of my Panama Trip, the weather didn't cooperate very much. Rather than fishing two full days in Pedasi and Frailes Rock - we were blown off the water by storms the first day and then only fished the afternoon - and again lightening storms forced us off the water. So we really fished about 1 full day rather than two. Be that as it may, we had a good day fishing the South Frailes Rock. It was late in the day when we ran into schools of Yellow Fin Tuna. Each pass we were able to have double hook ups. Most of the Tuna were in the 20-30 lb. range. We also picked up a few small Durado, Skip Jack Tuna, Sierra, and Bonita. We did not get to go after Rooster Fish - which was disappointing. But with the rain and lightening, there wasn't much we could do about it all. The area around the Frailes is one of the more beautiful spots I have been. There are pristine beaches, great fishing and wonderful people both in Pedasi and the Frailes. I texted my wife and to...

Here is a video of the trip: We headed out of Freeport with stops at the VA Fogg, West 21s, and Steeple Rock on the day. The Sun Rise was beautiful and the ride on Jerry's Cat was smooth and steady. We were chased from a couple of spots by Thunderstorms popping up - this one had a little more personality with the Water Spout. It was beautiful ... at a distance. Dewey Jr. was the best fishermen on the day catching a pair of kings, several nice snapper and this small rock grouper. I picked up this undersized ling - it was fun seeing him "stalked" and then watching him take the bait - (Red & White Feather Jig). Jerry and Roland were great on the boat taking care of the fish. It was a great day. We ended up with 4 limits of Snapper, 3 Kings, Trigger Fish, undersized Ling, Amberjack and Rock Grouper.

Dewey, Wayne, John Rayborn and I headed out to the Jetty to see what we could catch. It has been a good while since we have been out, but today was really a great day. Wind laid down, waves were all but non-existent, water was about 85 degrees and there really wasn't much of ab outgoing tide. We started out to the right of the Jetty Pole at the end, moved to the Cement Ship and then ended up at the Moon Rock. We caught various croaker, whiting, hardheads and about half-a-dozen shark. None of the shark were of significant size. We went out in Wayne's Boat, it is running great and Wayne is like a proud poppa! One note - the moon was about full last night - could have had an effect on the bite - plus prime spots at the end were filled with boats.

For the past 11 years my family has been spending a week at Surfside Beach in Surfside - near Freeport. This year we rented the White House from Beach Resort Services . It was our first time to rent from them and they did an outstanding job in every single phase. Not only will we use them again, but I would highly recommend them to anyone without equivocation! Sitting next to a beach fire is one of my favorite things to do at Surfside. The next night, we found out there was a burn ban in effect and we weren't able to build any more beach fires - but we were able to ejoy this one. The surf was very sandy due to the high winds - but we did catch a number of whiting, rat reds, small drum and piggy perch. We used 1/4 Silver Spoon tipped with dead shrimp. The boys did alot of wrestling. We had a great week with the Baileys! Christopher gets into the fish catching too! I was the target of this massive water balloon assault! We fished along the old pilings innfront of our beachh...