West Coast Fishing Club Blog

    • May. 16, 2012 3:21PM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 152 views
    Panama: Wednesday Madness!
    may16th2012carlosmarlin1web

    The bite and the fun continue in Coiba.  Today we caught three marlin, including the first marlin for camera man Carlo Wein.  Carlo is an expert at capturing marlin on film, but today he tried his hand at capturing one on the rod and reel.  It turns out he's a natural.  On the photo chase boat, Captain Donar once again put out the live baits and continued his hot hand.... read more »

    • May. 15, 2012 9:32PM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 500 views
    Panama: Wide open and in super high definition
    May15th2012marlinmadness7web

    Trip 4 of the West Coast Fishing Club's Expedition Marlin has picked up where the first three weeks left off.  The fishing has been headlined by hoards of yellowfin tuna crashing about the surface on bait balls and by good sized marlin, both blacks and blues. Joining us aboard the Provider are Bob Frazier and his wife Isis fishing aboard the Sula Sula and JB and Diana... read more »

    • May. 12, 2012 12:19PM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 344 views
    Panama: First Marlin and Bottles of Rum
    may11th2012marlin9web

    If it is diesel fuel that provides the combustion to power the sport boats in their daily quest about the blue water, it is rum that lubricates the mind and body of the fisherman.  Perhaps no other beverage has been so linked to life on the high seas, linked in metaphor and fact to the characteristic swagger of the men who have spent their lives about the sea.  So it has... read more »

    • May. 11, 2012 11:02AM
    • Outpost
    • 0 comments
    • 123 views
    Outpost Caretakers Week 35 - Sweet Signs of Spring
    SONY DSC

    Clack clack clack!!! This is a sound I've heard repeatedly but it's always been associated with winter time weather. Can this sound I hear really be those frozen pellets raining down and striking the metal exhaust fan outside? This sound I hear has me looking outside to confirm with my eyes what my ears have heard. Hail! It's May 9th , spring according to my calendar.... read more »

    • May. 10, 2012 10:09AM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 206 views
    Panama:Father and Son, A big tuna, and Birthday Wishes
    may8th2012sailfish5web

    At the risk of sounding redundant, Expedition Marlin in Coiba is proceeding wonderfully.  After a week highlighted by marlin action, it has been the yellowfin tuna that is headlining trip three.  Joining us on the Provider are Ed Hume and Craig Hill fishing aboard the Abundancia, Don Drysdale and Ian Wallace aboard the Sula Sula and Hans and Seppi Kaltenegger fishing wit... read more »

    • May. 09, 2012 5:28PM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 205 views
    Mucho Grande Tuna!
    may8th2012sailfish3web

    Hello Everyone, Just a re-cap of yesterdays events. The day started off a bit slow, but Sula Sula managed to raise a sail. Unfortunalty we couldn't get it to bite the bait, but it still gave us a couple of jumps and we all screamed in excitement.  The boys on San Miguel caught a massive 200+ Yellow fin tuna. Check out the pic's below. Angler Ian Wallace reele... read more »

    • May. 08, 2012 4:23PM
    • Panama
    • 2 comments
    • 299 views
    Panama: Coiba Trip 2-- Thanksgiving, Black Marlin and Conservation
    may5th2012marlin4web

    Trip two of the West Coast Fishing Club’s Expedition Marlin was epic.  From the good friends who met aboard the Provider from Utah, Florida, Minnesota, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, to the flat seas and beautiful sunsets over the island of Coiba, the experience was really something.  Guest Rodrigo Meneses is from Nicaragua.  Growing up, he spent ten years in the states. ... read more »

    • May. 07, 2012 7:19AM
    • Panama
    • 0 comments
    • 199 views
    Tuna-tastic!
    may6th2012tuna17web

    Hello Everyone, Yesterday was a great day for tuna. The boys on the Abudancia caught 5 yellow fin tunas! All we did all day was chase birds, flying fish and tuna. Check out some of the pic's from yesterday: Rodrigo with one of his many yellow fin tuna's. and here is another one. and yet again another one! Rodrigo fighting some yellow f... read more »

    • May. 05, 2012 8:00PM
    • Panama
    • 1 comments
    • 448 views
    Panama: Marlin, Turtles and Boobies!
    may5th2012marlin9web

    ______________________________________________________ Hello Everyone, Today was another amazing day out there on the water. Coiba is truly an amazing place. The Marlin here are HUGE! Today all boats raised a couple of Marlin and everyone managed to also bring one in to the side of the boat. So over all a good day for all. Check out some of the pic's from toda... read more »

    • May. 04, 2012 7:37PM
    • Outpost
    • 1 comments
    • 148 views
    Outpost Caretakers Week 34 - Memory Lane
    SONY DSC

    In the 34 weeks we have been here this week has been by far the most uneventful and unproductive. Last Tuesday when I foolishly picked something up the wrong way I figured a day or two and I'd be back on my daily 4 mile walk, that's 36 times around the boardwalk...I was wrong. While my tolerance for standing (hunched over) and walking (slowly) has increased a bit longe... read more »

    • May. 04, 2012 7:03PM
    • Corporate Report
    • 0 comments
    • 84 views
    Panama: Donar's got Sonar!
    may4thmarlin2012donar9web

    The Abundancia is a 37' Strike captained by Donar.  Donar's abilities in enticing fish to bite and understanding how and what to do with a fish on the leader, led to his reputation as perhaps the best mate in West Coast Fishing Club's Panama operation.  This experience, the practice of discerning the shape of a fish as it rises from within the water column to engulf a bo... read more »

    • May. 03, 2012 7:17PM
    • Corporate Report
    • 0 comments
    • 100 views
    Panama: Jose's found his Cuervo!
    may3rd2012mauimaui10web

    The Sula Sula is a species of bird endemic to the Pearl Islands.  It is also a yellow hulled, classically lined 40 foot Gamefisherman Captained by Jose Gongora.  The Sula Sula today caught two marlin, a black of 400 in the morning and a monstrosity of an 800 pound black marlin released in the afternoon by angler Joe Friederichs.  In the two days before this, the boat re... read more »

    • May. 02, 2012 8:09PM
    • Panama
    • 2 comments
    • 413 views
    Panama: And the Marlin Continue!
    may2nd2012marlinfrenzy14web

    Northern Panama is a world all it's own.  With three boats on the water, the West Coast Fishing Club is combing the waters around Coiba National Park like a well organized search party.  Today it was Captain Jose and the Sula Sula that put angler Joe Friederichs onto a big blue.  The fish ate a live bait on a down rigger and fought by sounding.  As it didn't surface fo... read more »

    • May. 02, 2012 12:10AM
    • Corporate Report
    • 0 comments
    • 142 views
    See who joined the WCFC team!

    Elliott Stark is from Buda, Texas. He joins West Coast Fishing Club as General Manager and Director of Fishing and Conservation of its Panama operation. Elliott has a Master’s Degree in Marine Affairs and Policy and for the past four years has worked for The Billfish Foundation.  At TBF, Elliott wrote for a variety of scientific and sport fishing media; has been a regul... read more »

  • Panama: Day of firsts!
    may1st2012marlinpics2web

    The more we fish, the more the mystique of this place seems to be justified.   Today was the first full day of fishing for guests of Trip 2 of Expedition Marlin.  Day one brought with it a nice black for Dave Bell on the San Miguel.  In marlin fishing, as with many things in life, if given enough time the distribution of fish amongst boats fishing seems usually to settl... read more »

    • Apr. 30, 2012 8:51PM
    • Panama
    • 2 comments
    • 562 views
    Coiba 700 pound Black Marlin
    april30th2012arriving12web

    The story of how the Provider made it's way to Coiba has been interrupted...  The story is to continue, unabated and full of detail, but something more pressing has arisen in the waters of northern Panama. It is the black marlin.  The waters surround Coiba and the Hannibal Bank are full of life-- dolphins, manta rays jumping most everywhere you look, yellowfin tuna t... read more »

    • Apr. 28, 2012 7:33PM
    • Panama
    • 3 comments
    • 271 views
    Adventure in Panama
    The Pacific Provider in Coiba

    Provisioning and Departure: By Elliott Stark The Pacific Provider is currently anchored in Coiba National Park in Panama, here is the story of how we got here… The opportunity to join West Coast Fishing Club as General Manager and Assistant General Manager of the Pacific Provider was an incredible honor for myself and Alexandra.  I am a Texas boy and she grew up i... read more »

    • Apr. 27, 2012 11:16AM
    • Outpost
    • 0 comments
    • 184 views
    Outpost Caretakers Week 33 - Still Waiting
    SONY DSC

    The weather this week has been anything but “springlike”. Cold mornings, rainy afternoons and windy evenings have been the norm although there was one evening that hinted at things to come. I know it can be nice, I've seen the evidence in Ken's summertime blog. Guides wearing t-shirts while out on the water tell me it must get warm here ...eventually...and the fish... read more »

    • Apr. 20, 2012 12:15PM
    • Outpost
    • 2 comments
    • 358 views
    Outpost Caretakers Week - A Peek into the Past
    SONY DSC

    For the last couple of years Mike and I have called the 'Outpost' in Port Louis our home but there is evidence that we, WCFC, are not the first to have found this little bay a welcoming area. I have tried to find any reference to whom they might have been in the books we have here but have come up empty. I wonder how they came to be here, what type of dwelling did they... read more »

    • Apr. 13, 2012 12:22PM
    • Outpost
    • 0 comments
    • 324 views
    Outpost Caretakers Week 31 ~ Re-Freshed
    SONY DSC

    We had the Easter Bunny, of sorts, visit us this past holiday weekend. He left behind eggs although they weren't of the chocolate variety. We didn't mind, in fact we were quite ecstatic with plain old regular chicken eggs. This particular Easter Bunny also left behind lots of 'rabbit food', lettuce, carrots, celery, cucumbers, apples, oranges and bananas to name just a... read more »