This is Part II in the series following the restoration of the Bertram 31‘ that had been ‘abandoned’ in the Diablo Spinning Club on the banks of the Panama Canal.
We found that the fighting chair was larger than most of it’s era for that size of boat. The chair had a fibreglass seat and had teak foot board, arms and backrest. It was manufactured by Lee’s Tackle Inc. of Miami, the same town as Bertram Yachts, and bore the logo with ‘Lee’s’ written on the body of a fish.
By visiting Lee’s website we learned that we have the ‘Classic Style‘ ‘Large Tuna Chair’. The large tuna chair has five horizontal members to the backrest. The chair can be seen at http://www.leetackle.com/classic.html , except ours combines a fibreglass seat with armrests of teak.
The metalwork has been polished and there is very minimal pitting and faulting to the original shiny stainless steel.
The varnish is a special “Captain’s Varnish” which has a high resistance to the strong Panamanian sun and the other weather elements encountered off-shore. It costs $64 for a quart and the restoration team will be putting 9 layers of this brushed on and then sanded, with a 10th layer added by spray-gun.
This last photo is of the chair reassembled for a photograph, it has not yet received all of it’s varnish layers, and there is one of the steel parts missing that controls the angle of the back. We have been in touch with Lee’s Tackle for help in locating this part (you can see the part missing on the view of the under-side of the chair). If you know the whereabouts of a spare one of these, then please let us know. If we don’t find a solution very soon we will have to make one.
Please share this article with the buttons below. Updates on the renovation process will follow ….
Bill Boyce has just been back to Cebaco Bay to make another episode of his series, “IGFA Saltwater Adventures” to be broadcast on the “World Fishing Network” later this year.
Here is his report …
REPORT: To my Sponsors of IGFA Saltwater Adventures, on WFN
SUBJECT: Latest TV shoot in Cebaco Bay, Panama
Hello to you all and my many thanks for your product and destination sponsorships for season 2. I just wanted to give you an update on the series and the performance of your products during these shoots. It is my way of keeping you all informed, while showing our appreciation for believing in us to bring exposure to your products and services.
PANAMA: We just returned home from two very successful filming expeditions to finish episodes 3 and 4. First stop was the secluded mother ship / sportfisher destination of Cebaco Bay, Panama. The boat sits in a very serene bay on the south side of Cebaco Island on the Pacific side of Western Panama. Our host, Hennie Marais and the awesome crew of the operation made the 6 day trip very successful even before we wetted a line. It was our second filming trip to Cebaco Bay for the series, and it was OFF THE CHARTS. We were joined by Jim Johansen and his fiance, Carmen in their quest for their first blue and black marlin.
We fished 4 full days and hooked up two large black marlin, the first snapping us off at the TUFF-Line braid / monofilament line connection (my fault, I never checked on the mates attachment of the 50 lb. mono “top-shot” to the 80 lb. TUFF-Line braid (IT should have been 100 lb. mono). They were not familiar with the extreme strength and small diameter of this superior braided line and when we set the drags to fish the 80 lb. TUFF-Line, the lighter mono line snapped as the 500 lb. black marlin took off on a torrid 200 yard grey-hounding run. The second black marlin bite just came un-buttoned after it picked up the bait and was merely “bill wrapped”. We did have amazing success on two beautiful yellowfin tuna. A 70 lb. tuna caught on a 20 – 50 lb. FOX five piece travel rod, with a EOS star drag casting reel, loaded with 50 lb. TUFF-Line braid. A great fight on film, and many on-camera vocal tributes to the MOJO line of clothing that was keeping me extremely comfortable in the Panama humidity, and shout-outs to the toughness of the line, and the durability of the rod and reel combo. On-camera mention to the NCMC (National Coalition of Marine Conservation) new WILD OCEANS Campaign was made during the fight to inform people that wild oceans like what we were experiencing in Panama is the thrust of the campaign in the U.S. to keep our fisheries in balance to achieve the same fishing opportunity results. This yellowfin was followed up with another one of 100 lbs. This one being caught and subdued quickly on the super powerful 50-80 lb. four piece stand-up FOX travel rod, and 80 lb. TUFF-Line braid. Both were caught live baiting in porpoise schools.
Our lure sponsor, STEMSON just introduced their GIT LIT series of plastic baits that are more realistic than ANYTHING currently on the market. We couldn’t wait to wet them and see what would eat them…!!! They performed INSANELY..!!! We caught almaco jacks (a close brethren to the amberjack) snappers, jack crevelle, and a nice 15 lb. “schoolie” yellowfin tuna. In fact, we were trolling the MINI MACK right beside the most fished tuna lure in the world, a STEMSON Cedar Plug, and the MINI MACK got chewed first…!! We also caught a nice 25 lb. dorado on a 14″ STEMSON “Reflex” marlin lure that made a great dinner for all on the ship that night.
We fished inshore with the new FOX Stratos 20000 TWO-SPEED spinning reel, the worlds FIRST ever produced and it proved it’s effectiveness on a few inshore fish, a barracuda on a STEMSON popper, and a nice bluefin trevally on a STEMSON popper caught by my #1 cameraman, Daryl Van Slack at the famous Sombrero Rock.
On the last day, time was running out for Jim and Carmen on their marlin quest and they previously had three marlin bites that went un-hooked. They were fishing live tunas on the Aguja Reef, (where we had had our two previous bites) and at the top of the tide at noon on the last day, they hooked up… !! In fact they both hooked up.. the same marlin on two lines.!!! The hungry blue marlin was huge and was successfully caught and released, albeit not IGFA legal but they were both super stoked..!! Then an hour later, they called us on the radio to report a second marlin hooked up, we throttled up and slid in on that fight to get some footage. Jim did a great job on a 250 lb. black, giving us all a great show.
We fished the reef beside them and our mate, Aliso, landed a “donkey-sized” 60+ lb. almaco jack on a STEMSON Butter Flutter jig. A great trip for the sponsors gear and awesome exposure for the Cebaco Bay operation that put us on such amazing fishing.
Sincerely Tightest of Lines,
Bill Boyce
Executive Producer / Host
IGFA Saltwater Adventures
World Fishing Network
The word on the street was that there was, hidden amongst a pile of derelict boats at ‘the sheds’ down at the Diablo Spinning Club by the Panama Canal, an abandoned 31′ Bertram. We went to investigate and after some rooting around were able to locate the owner of the “Jesse” and negotiated it’s purchase. We then brought a small crane down to the yard and placed it on a trailer to transport to our base in the yard of Intercoastal Marine Inc. where we could get to work on the boat restoration.
There was a fairly comprehensive set of documents that gave insights into it’s history since it’s original purchase at Biloxi, Mississippi in 1972 by the late Mr. Lyle Morse Page, when it sailed under the name “Kap ‘n Gin II”.
The boat is a Bertram 31 Sportfisherman (SF). This is the original production model created by Bertram and Hunt. It features a cabin with a bridge. Our other Bertram 31, “Xtreme”, is of the Fly Bridge Cruiser (FBC) model, which adds the aft cabin bulkhead not present in the SF. We are calling this newcomer to the fishing fleet, “AWESOME”. The serial numbers of the Sportfisherman begin with 314 (ours is 314-1190) whereas the Fly Bridge Cruiser begin with 315.
The birth of the legendary Bertram 31 design was in the early 60’s. Powerboat racer, Dick Bertram won the Miami-Nassau Powerboat Race in eight-foot seas with thirty-knot winds in an innovative design by Ray Hunt that he called “Moppie“. Bertram demolished the competition winning the race in record time – two and a half hours ahead of the next boat. After the 1960 race, Bertram turned Moppie into a plug, a mold was cast and the first fiberglass 31 was created. The following year Bertram again won the Miami-Nassau Race, this time in a Glass Moppie, the fiberglass version of the prototype. In 1961, with the mold of the hull, “Bertram Yachts” was launched with the introduction of the Bertram 31 Sport Fisherman.
This heralded the birth of the modern sports-boat, with a deep V fiberglass hull and large twin engines. The innovation was that the V continued further towards the rear rather than flattening there, which gave the ability to handle big seas in relative comfort and safety. The extra lift needed to compensate for the reduction in planing surface was provided by incorporating lifting strakes along the bottom.
The boat’s engines, a pair of 250HP Cummins diesel engines were working but in need of a major overhaul. The original engines had been a pair of gasoline engines producing 750HP (2×375HP).
The new 31′ Bertram of Cebaco Bay will be receiving loving attention for the next few months and will possibly be relaunched in May 2012. The restoration process will be documented and progress reported here and in our facebook page, so watch this space…
I just returned from my 6th fishing trip to Cebaco Bay Sportfishing Club in 4 years. Even though the bite was as slow as I have seen it, we still managed some world class fish and a lot of variety. As always the crew was super hospitable, the mothership was comfortable and clean and the captain and crew worked hard to put us on fish.
Unfortunately the wind was blowing hard the first three days, making the casting and jigging a little difficult. Bait was extremely scarce, we managed only 5 cojinuas in four days of fishing, but the ones we did get to bridle up and troll were scared real quick.
My buddy Dan stuck himself real good in the leg with a wombat popper, two troubles buried real deep and we had to make a 3 hour run back to Puerto Mutis and then to Santiago to see the doctor. One too many Panamas for Dan. We were at Roncador when he got impaled and guys this was nasty! Check pics for a better idea. Once we got Dan patched up, we headed out the next morning and I caught some nice pargos on the Adhek popper and we got some nice live bait fish. Captain Jim Wiese invited us out on his 56 Viking and we fished in style the last day. We caught a large sailfish and we jigged up some nice amberjacks on a reef off of Isla Jicarita.
Captain Jim is a super great guy and truly made a slow fishing day epic. I hope I have the pleasure of fishing with him again in the future. This trip we put together each year is truly a fishing experience. This is a first class location, staff, and all around operation. I truly feel taken care of and appreciate all that Cebaco Bay has to offer. Ill be back hopefully in July, and know to expect great things. Long live Cebaco Bay!!
Welcome back to the weekly fishing report from here on the beautiful Isla Cebaco. It has been a long hard haul over the rainy season to get things in shape for the season but we made it. The boats are in good shape with a few improvements to make your fishing experience more memorable. The Extreme, our 31 ft Bertram now has a new tuna tube system boasting 6 tubes with covers on them to minimize the saltwater overflow. The panga now has a new livewell system set up forward of the console for easier access from both forward and aft.
So to the fishing… I will go back a little to July and our new crew member/client Ron Williams. He had the good fortune of celebrating his birthday on the mothership with a reef grand slam. The big 4: Pacific Amberjack, Cubera Snapper, Rooster and Grouper. This was all in the last few hours before dark. Great fishing Ron! This could not have been achieved without your angling ability.
So to the present day… Our first guests of the dry season were Mike, Leah & Rachel from Florida Sport Fishing Magazine. Inshore, there was red hot jigging action wherever we went and at all times of the day. This is what makes Cebaco one of the top destinations in the world. Mike jigged and fought till his arms could take no more each day. Rachel eventually got the hang of things and by the week’s end was outfishing her father. We took time one calm morning to head offshore and chase tuna on poppers and looked for Rachel’s first marlin. The big tuna were there but were very scattered so it was hard to zero in on them. They would not even bite the normal tasty bonito on the downrigger. A couple of smaller yellowfin gave up their freedom with the big boys remaining wary of our offerings. I suspect they are feeding on flying fish at this time of the year. So thank you Mike & clan for your pleasant company. I know that you have become part of the Cebaco family and we look forward to your return. Week 2 saw the return of our good mate Ron Williams. This guy can’t get enough of the place. He has even offered to wash the dishes; he likes the place so much. Once again the action was hot on the reefs but the absence of our staple liveys around the boat hampered Ron’s ability to repeat his grand slam from July. We took a day out from the reefs to head offshore and hunt for larger game. The dolphins and tuna were everywhere but still reluctant to commit themselves to a hook. Never the less the waters of Cebaco did not let us down and we managed to release a nice Black Marlin for the last day of 2011. On a little side note we had this South African guy on board named Hennie who somehow snuck his way into the captains chair to claim yet another release. You definitely have to watch these guys they are very cunning. Week 3 and the livebaits are still proving hard to catch. Never the less, Paul Howse and his mates from San Diego are here for the 4th time and are fishing hard with poppers and jigs and the odd live bonito with good results. When I say good results, it is still hot compared to anywhere else in the world but just an average day here in Cebaco. They are out on the water as I write this report so hopefully they return tonight with tales of monsters shredding their gear.
So that’s about it for this week. The La Nina influence I think has delayed the start up offshore although there is action to be had. Hopefully by next report next week I will be able to report the full on action that we know will come to Cebaco.
December is a month of joy, a time for sharing and offering smiles and what better place to do that, than Cebaco Island. Intercoastal Marine Inc in conjunction with Cebaco Bay Sportfishing Club and the help of their colleagues organized a Christmas party for over 150 children in this region that included the areas of Platanares, Almacigos, Gobernadora and Jobo.
We shared fun times at a party with the children and Santa Claus delivered gifts to all that live in such a far away island. They showed their appreciation with beautiful smiles and at the end of the party they dedicated the song “Cascabel”. The teachers from the community wished everyone a Merry Christmas and a successful and Happy New Year for putting on this wonderful activity.
So it comes to light that our good friend Aristeo Canelos has been spreading wild stories around Mexico about how good the fishing is down here in Cebaco. Enough to convince his good buddy Jesus and a group of friends to come down and sample our hospitality here at Cebaco. Mother Nature being who she is decided that a good wet welcome was in order for these guys. A little south wind thrown into the mix and it was 6 very wet hombres who arrived at the mothership late afternoon.No matter these guys were here to party hard and hopefully snag a couple of monsters along the way. The plan was to head to Jicarita the next morning. As Capt Ari was away on leave it was up to this rusty Kiwi to lead the way. Having not fished a charter as captain for 5 years I was as excited as the guys. There was a feeling of high anticipation on the boat as we headed straight out from Cebaco to the shelf. A spot of lure trolling was in order to see if we couldn’t start the day with a Marlin or two. The Marlin were not playing ball but we had no trouble loading up the tuna tubes and it was off to Jicarita in search of our prey.Unfortunately things were not looking good. Not much sign of life but the water temp and color were on our side. A quick conference with the guys and it was decided we would carry on to Hannibal Bank. Somewhere along the shelf we would find some action. I must admit I was a little worried as I did not have too many more rabbits to pull out of the hat. Not 3 miles out there they were. Our trusty Dolphins. Three huge schools of them heading in the direction we had just come from. So we turned the boat round and joined the party. A couple of liveys were added to the fray and it wasn’t long before we hooked into a solid fish. 4 hours later we had 5 nice 80# plus tunas in the bag and 5 very happy anglers. This was a huge relief for a rusty Kiwi as these guys are from Mexico! The Tuna fishing in their neck of the woods is pretty hot too so it was no mean feat to show them that Panama has the goods as well. With high fives and toasts all around it was off to the mothership for a well deserved feed. Fresh Tuna and prime Panama beef were the order of the evening. Of course lots more of everything including a few tall stories in the mix. As the guys were heading out to the city the next day we planned an early run to Aguja Reef. Arriving at the reef next morning there was little sign of the Bonito action we were hoping for. So it was a little bottom fishing for the guys. A mixture of the usual suspects feasted on the liveys so once again the waters round Cebaco had produced for another group of happy anglers. Tales of the Blue Marlin bite in August-Sept were thrown into the mix as the guys were leaving for their trip back to the city. They said farewell to us with promises to return soon.
The latest from Cebaco. Our friends on the “MY WAY” are back in town bringing with them as usual plenty of fresh Tuna for the boys. Added to that some Dorado and Snapper just for a little change. Capt Carlos informed me they had 2 Marlin bites 18 miles out in front of Cebaco as they were coming in. One Blue Marlin which they fought for 40mins only to drop it and a Black Marlin that came into the lures but decided that what was on offer was not good enough. So it looks like things are heating up again here at Cebaco.
Until the next report
Ciao and tight lines
Capt. Tim
info@cebacobay.com
Although we haven’t bothered any of our inshore monsters in the last month here’s a little tidbit for all you avid inshore guys. While taking a 5 min break from the mundane office work I was leaning on the rail of Cebaco observing the Cojinuas (Jacks) and Rainbow runners attacking a school of juvenile Ballyhoo when out of nowhere a 70LB Roosterfish crashed the party leaving a very stunned Cojinua flapping on the surface. He then turned and inhaled it with mouth fully opened. Wow! What a sight from directly above. Discovery Channel stuff. Sea birds must see this sort of action every day. Are we destined to come back in the next life as a baitfish? I hope not. I had pause to watch our Ballyhoo nursery being attacked by two 50lb plussnappers the other night in the lights of the ship.
So, to more important stuff. A phone call from Hennie Marais and the scramble was on. He had run into and old friend in Panama City the night before and obviously the food and wine had taken its toll. His friend Ron could not resist the idea of a couple of days fishing at Isla Jicarita. So it was “please could you stop everything you are doing on Cebaco and prepare things for an overnight trip. If there is anything we are good at here on the mothership it’s a scramble. Needless to say, by the time Hennie and Ron arrived that evening the crew was lined up to pipe them aboard. Ron was very keen to learn what the action would be like out there the next day so we sat down for some of Panamas finest BBQ steak and talked about fishing. The next day dawned and Marlin and big Tuna were on our minds. The seas were calm so it was off to the drop off east of Jicarita. The plan was simple. We would pull up at the 100ftm and troll artificials and the Marlin would just appear out of nowhere. Dolphins and Tuna would be found in great numbers. The best laid plans of mice and men. An hour of nothing had us scratching our heads in dismay. Beautiful colored water, massive upwellings but no life. Not even a bird to be seen. A quick pow wow and it was up lines and off to the ever reliable Hannibal Bank. One thing you cannot do in this game is make a definite prediction. The ever reliable proved to be as dead as everywhere else. Several large Tuna were spotted crashing the surface but even these proved immune to our tasty offerings. So it was off back to Jicarita in the hope of finding the Dolphins. Dead!! For want of a better description. So our final act for the day was a little visit to a couple of rocks for a spot of bottom fishing. The pressure was on to fulfill our predictions to Ron. He was beginning to look a little sideways at us. Well, as a foil to the dead water offshore, the rocks were firing. Cuberas, Jacks and Bojalas (Pacific Amberjack). They were hungry. A little bonito action inspired Capt Ari to slow troll some liveys around the pinnacles. Two Dorado and two Sailfish later and a couple more vicious strikes made everyone happy. The inshore had saved the day for us. It is a brave person who uses anything but heavy tackle round these pinnacles as there is also the chance of a Black Marlin in the mix. Pretty hard to beat folks. Panama does it again!! We spent the night anchored in our favorite cove at Jicarita and headed offshore the next morning. Again the the sea was dead. Where were our ever reliable Tunas? We picked up and headed east back to Cebaco Reef. This is a spot on the shelf about 20 miles directly out of Cebaco Bay. Late afternoon and we finally found the Dolphin and Tuna. One problem. We only had one livey left. It did not go to waste as we soon had Ron hooked up to a nice Tuna. The gaff went in and we had fresh fish for dinner. It was late afternoon so we pointed the pointy end towards home in anticipation of another pleasant evening aboard the mothership. Although the fishing was not up to our usual high standards it was still good enough to wet Ron’s appetite to return with a few buddies and fish the waters of Cebaco Bay. In fact as I speak we are planning to take our boats to the Perlas Islands in August/Sept. for the hot Blue Marlin bite and Ron is leading the charge and booking a prime spot. So get on the blower folks. Give Hennie or Mike a call in the office in the city and book a slot and a good shot at bagging yourself a nice Blue Marlin. This is the traditional Blue marlin bite in Panama.
That’s all for now as I have to get back the daily duties here on the mothership
You could call this column a Captains Log but it’s not. It’s just a collection of idle thoughts from an old seadog. This story is though, about a log. Obviously it ended it’s first life by, fortuitously for us, falling into a river. Having washed down and out to sea it took on it’s second life as a home for small, vulnerable sea creatures. True to mother nature’s form she deemed that it now become a 5 star restaurant for larger travelers on the oceans highway. Enter the story. Humans.
Sunday morning dawned, no wind, calm seas, as it had been for the last week. The boys on Cebaco Bay were hungry for some fresh fish. A crew training day was in order. We needed to hone our skills, especially for our new mates. Loading the 31 Bertram with water and sodas for what was going to be a couple of hours fishing, off we went. I had volunteered to be the client for the day. Little did we know what was in store for us. A simple run to Aguja Reef, bit of training for Pierre and Martin, catch some food and back home for lunch. Yeah right! The beautiful seas were false comfort for there was absolutely no sign of life anywhere. Agua was less than active although we did manage to jig up a couple of small Pacific Amberjacks and a nice sized Tripletail. The Bonito were hard to come by so we spent the next hour trolling a couple of Cojinoas(Goggle Eyes) in the hope of a Marlin. I really needed my 2 new mates to experience proper leaderman techniques for a Marlin or big Tuna. So it was with this in mind we headed for the 100ftm line outside Aguja. With no sign of life anywhere, it was a splash ½ mile to starboard that attracted our attention. Capt Narcisco wheeled the 31 Bertram towards where the splash had been. One bird and a splash that’s all. To our surprise there was a log. Log of the day as it turned out. It was loaded with small triggerfish and amberjacks. The deck immediately becomes a hive of activity with Narcisco furiously barking instructions to the crew. “ Live baits and hurry up about it you guys”. As the designated client I casually grabbed a jigging rod just to avoid the adrenaline and frantic action surrounding me. I dropped the line down and at 100ft I stopped and cranked. Bang! The rod doubled over and line started disappearing at a great rate . At 200yds the fish decided to stop and give me a real workout. This was a big Tuna. With full drag on the small Shimano the fish was going nowhere but at the same time neither was I. This stalemate lasted for 10 minutes until another Tuna hit my line. Bust off! Damn. Meanwhile with 2 liveys in the water the sea erupted around us. 100-200lb Tunas going crazy over the Triggerfish. Right next to the boat . What a sight! I quickly grabbed one of the 50’s with a livey and waited. Adenaline by this stage was dictating every action aboard. The bait by this time had decided that the log was not a good place to hang out but the 31 Bertram was. 100-200lb missiles flying, boiling, darting everywhere you looked. But hey something wasn’t right. Our liveys were being totally ignored. But wait! All of a sudden my line started peeling at an alarming rate. Giving the fish about 50yds I pushed the drag up only to come up empty. The same was happening to Pierre on the other side. These Tuna were grabbing our baits and no matter how much line we fed them they were spitting them back. What was going on? We were getting totally mauled baits back every time. The bite marks revealed that there was obviously smaller 60lbers down there and the bigger Tunas were concentrating on the Triggerfish and Pacific Amberjacks. As I retrieved a mauled Cojinoa the leader was ripped from my hands as two 150lbers crashed my dead bait, Wow! In all my time I don’t think I’ve had as much adrenaline flowing as this. For Pierre and Martin this was baptism by fire. Leaving the boys to the liveys I grabbed the jig rod again. 2 cranks and I’m in again only this time it’s a Bonito. Bang my rod doubles over and then nothing. Tunas were stealing my fish off the jig. Every 15 minutes or so the big Tunas were coming to the surface for several minutes of insane feeding then disappearing to the depths to cool off. It was getting hard to predict just where they would show again so I rigged a popper to cast to the boil ups. This proved to be a fool s errand as every time I hooked up I got busted. These Tuna were too big for light weight stuff. I was been cut off by another Tuna. 2 lost poppers were enough. So it was back to our liveys and a much needed break to clean the tackle up and re rig for the next round.
2 hrs of insane action and we only had one Tuna in the box. It was about this time that my old brain tells me that with no action happening Pierre suddenly starting losing line on his livey .Giving it plenty of line I took the rod and pushed up the drag. Immediately we greeted with the sight of a Blue Marlin rampaging towards the horizon. With the boat backing up fast I pushed the drag up to sunset. The fish only looked to be around 400lb so I figured we could stop it and get it to the boat for a quick release. Wrong! As it turned out the circle hook was hooked in its gill plate so it took just on an hour of full drag to finally turn the fish and get it along side. I was now a very tired puppy after 4 hrs in this oceanic gymnasium. Highly recommended for all you 50 plus guys and girls out there. Anyway to cut the lies short we had a visit from a huge school of dolphins and tuna late in the afternoon. Our liveys were ignored, the remaining Triggerfish were wisely sticking to the Bertram’s hull so after a time the predators cruised off into the distance. Normally we would have been following those Tuna like crazy but no one had any energy left so we upped lines and headed for the barn and a much needed feed. So, Ho Hum folks. Just another days fishing in paradise. Not quite. I would say only one word describes it……INSANE!!! The guys received a month’s training in one day . I’m sure it will be something they’ll never forget. For me, all I can say is that it reaffirms our plans for the future. The fishing at this time of the year with all the natural drift lines is awesome.
I rendezvoused with my fishing buddy Aristeo Canelos from Culiacan, Mexico at Puerto Mutis on May 14 for the scenic 1.5 hour boat transfer to Cebaco Bay (about 25 miles east of Isla Coiba). It was Canelos’ first trip to Cebaco. “Well, what do you want to fish for?” was my first question. “Tuna” he replied. Just my luck. I had tuna coming out of my ears but I guess you can never have enough. “We’ll get to those”, I said, “but Cebaco is known for its extreme variety of popping and jigging action so we should have a good week”.
That afternoon we received a weather forecast from Capt. Tim Hetherington, the operations manager from New Zealand, and it wasn’t good. “There’s a big southern swell with wind approaching and expected to last a couple of days. Then a broader storm front is expected but with smaller swells”. If it gets really bad anglers can always fish the lee side of Cebaco or other areas that have produced on previous trips. For the next couple of days that’s what we did, catching roosterfish, cubera snapper and bluefin trevally while rain fell but with the swells cut off by the island and rocky points. We were very comfortable on the “Extreme”, a 31’ Bertram that has a roomy cabin to stay dry in as well as air conditioning when the tropical sun starts to burn.
By the third day and with improving sea conditions Canelos was anxious for tuna. I suggested to Capt. Hetherington that we go to the Hannibal Bank based on the volume of fish that were there the previous week. He felt that Isla Jicarita could also hold some fish so we decided to try that closer spot first. An hour and 20 minutes later the “Extreme” arrived on a low, calm swell, sea temp at 82 degrees and green-clean with a few birds flying to the southwest-our heading as well. We started trolling a spread of MoldCraft Softhead lures while searching for the elusive tuna. Hetherington was serving as mate while Capt. Narcisco Santos ran the boat. Within 20 minutes Santos made a quick turn and fired up the twin Yanmar diesels. He saw something and sure enough we arrived in an area about four miles south of Jicarita loaded with spotted dolphin and diving birds. You could almost taste the tuna underneath. Canelos was nailed on his first cast with an ugly red and black OTI popper placed between two dolphin. The schoolie 25-pounder was quickly released (as were most of the fish we caught) while Santos stayed with the tuna for the next few hours. We caught nine yellowfin tuna from 20- to 50-pounds on poppers and didn’t count the fish taken trolling or with the live cojinua (green jacks) we had in the baitwell.
By mid-afternoon something strange happened. Fleet boats from mothership and land-based operations arrived telling us there was nothing showing at either Isla Montuosa or Hannibal and they were forced to make the long 70 mile run, in some cases, south to Jicarita. We were the only show in town. “Check out the big brain on Tim!” I said. “Good call on Jicarita! We could have wasted a lot of time for no fish if you had taken my advice and gone to Hannibal” I said. The low-key Kiwi just smiled.
As the weather improved we were able to fish my favorite area- the westerly Tuna Coast with its rugged Cerro de Hoya mountain range and untouched coastline. We used three methods simultaneously – popping and slow trollinglive bait alongside swimming plugs such as the reliable red/white Mirrolure. The live bait is caught by the crew from the 115’ Cebaco Bay mothership so a constant supply is available everyday which saves valuable fishing time. The Tuna Coast was not at its peak due to the strong currents and swells but we still had good action with small roosterfish, cubera snapper to 45-pounds, bluefin trevally, African pompano, pargo prieto, yellowfin tuna, greenbar snapper, rainbow runner, sierra mackerel and other species.
Back on the mothership we watched construction taking place on the lodge buildings going up on the idyllic shoreline of Cebaco Bay that will provide first class accommodations for anglers in the near future. The beach bar is already completed (someone has their priorities right) as well as the restroom and workers quarters. The mothership is far from roughing it in the meantime, with full air conditioning, great food served up by chef Casildo Martinez such as fresh tuna and snapper, lobster, grilled beef, fresh fruit smoothies anytime, fine spirits and wine, big screen DVD and a hard-working, attentive crew. The 47’ Buddy Davis“Legend” is the queen of the fleet followed by the “Extreme”, 32’ Luhrs, 23’ Boston Whaler and two 27’ center console pangas with more boats to be added as the lodge expands. Manager Hennie Marais recognizes the great inshore fishing found in this virgin territory and wants to develop a small boat light tackle fishery for those popping and jigging anglers to complement the offshore yacht fleet. Contact or view their website at www.cebacobay.com
Well, what do you think of Cebaco, Aristeo? “This is a great place and it’s exciting to fish such a remote part of Panama. The fish act like they’ve never seen a lure before. We ARE coming back, right?”
This is Part II in the series following the restoration of the Bertram 31‘ that had been ‘abandoned’ in the Diablo Spinning Club on the banks of the Panama Canal.
for that size of boat. The chair had a fibreglass seat and had teak foot board, arms and backrest. It was manufactured by Lee’s Tackle Inc. of Miami, the same town as Bertram Yachts, and bore the logo with ‘Lee’s’ written on the body of a fish.
This last photo is of the chair reassembled for a photograph, it has not yet received all of it’s varnish layers, and there is one of the steel parts missing that controls the angle of the back. We have been in touch with Lee’s Tackle for help in locating this part (you can see the part missing on the view of the under-side of the chair). If you know the whereabouts of a spare one of these, then please let us know. If we don’t find a solution very soon we will have to make one.
