# Rod testing trip to Panama



## ksong

I need to test rods and take pictures/videos of new Black Hole Challenger Bank spinning rods and Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch rods and I decided to choose the Panama Sport Fishing Lodge as I am very familiar with the lodge and the fishing there.

They added a new mothership in addition to the land based lodge and I plan to fish on the mother ship this time. 
Some asked me to join the trip, but I need a total freedom to test rods and take pictures/videos this time. 
If I like the operation, I might charter the boat next year as I have enough guys already.


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## hookN

Nice Mother ship vessel


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## Cudkilla

How did it go? We're headed to Cebaco next week.


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## ksong

We arrived at David at 9:00 am on May 3. 
This is the first time I flied to David with a connection flight in Panama City. 
We used to drive to domestic airport from Panama International Airport to fly to David. But you can get a connecting flight at the same International airport.
John of PSFL said we would leave from the main lodge for fishing on May 4 and the mother ship would be at Coiba Island by the time our fishing is finished.

It's been 4 - 5 years ago since I fished the PSFL. I saw the lodge is well maintained and they have more boats now.

On the first day we fished on 34' center console as the assigned 36' Cat was not ready. 








Capt Sergio found some surface action for us and we got the first tuna on FCL stickbait using 8' Black Hole Challenger Bank 801H popping rod.
Good start.


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## ksong

We released a few small tuna and went to the mother ship anchored in a bay of Coiba Island. The mother ship is more than I expected. It is much better than long range boats out of San Diego. the stateroom is very roomy with bath room like in a luxurious cruise ship.









I thought today's fishing is over, but they want more fishing and Capt Tony of the Cat was willing to accommodate us. So we went fishing again in the evening. Dannon got a bluefin trevally and missed a few solid bites. Greg hooked up a nice cubera, but it headed for the rock to break the line.







It was a long day. I took shower and watched soccer game on the satelite TV while drinking scotch. The air conditioned boat is very convenient and comfortable. The crew were great and always tried to accommodate us.


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## ksong

continued...........


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## ksong

2nd day

After full rest on the comfortable mother ship, we left for Hannival Bank early in the morning. We saw birds were working on the way out. We caught and released small tuna on poppers, but we decided to go to the Bank for big boys.

We tested 10' prototype Black Hole popping/surf rod using yft killer Heru Skipjack 120g and got an instant hit on the Bank where no boat was around. 
I watched closely how the rod perform for a nice tuna which turned out to be around 80 lb. The rod is for striped bass or tarpon, but for tuna. But it seems the rod can handle even 100 lb tuna.


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## ksong

After surface action slowed down, we decided to get live bait using sabiki rigs.
And I never saw someone catch yft on sabiki rigs before.
Here is a picture of 4 small yft along with baby bonito on one sabiki rig.



We had good tuna action with live bait and they were released.






Greg had a nice tuna on his Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch 631 rod. The rod weighs only 5.3 oz. This is the first time to test the rod for tuna and it showed incredible power even for 100 lb tuna. Greg landed the tuna within 10 minutes using about 25 lb drag.


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## ksong

John had a big tuna on 8' Black Hole Challenger Bank 801H spinning rod and fought for a while before it spit the hook just under the boat. The tuna probably was bigger than 150 lb.


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## ksong

We released a few more tuna.


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## ksong

Late in the afternoon, surface action developed again and John got the nice 70 lb yft with the same Heru Skipjack and 10' prototype Black Hole surf rod.









What a great day of fishing. I can not remember how many tuna we caught and released. It is already 4:00 pm. It is time to go to the mother ship.

But these guys are relentless. When we got closer to the Island, they wanted more fishing. 

Greg was a hot hand landed two cubera on a poppers. He used the same 8' Black Hole Challenger Bank 801H with new Saltiga 5500. All fish were released safely.


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## ksong

*3rd Day*

The another advantage of fishing on the mother ship is you can catch bait easily using sabiki rigs on the mother ship. Tons of bait stay around the boat. 
After quick catches of bait, we headed to where we had good action yesterday 
No boat was there. It didn't take long we had tuna on slowly trolled live bait and I missed two tuna on my Heru Tuna popper in 15 minutes after we started to troll slowly. 
Then John shouted " big tuna on the Tai rod !!"
The Black Hole Tai Special rod is the lightest slow pitch rod in the world. The blank weighs 1.4 oz and the complete rod weighs only 3.8 oz. 
As I landed 120 lb halibut, 40 lb AJ or 15 lb grouper with the rod, I wanted to test the rod for 50 - 100 lb tuna. But after I saw the initial run, I knew we got a wrong size of tuna. 

The tuna turned out to be about 250 lb cow and the tiny rod survived two hours pressure of the big tuna. Three anglers took a turn to fight using 30 plus lb drag. It was a miracle the tiny rod could hold the pressure for so long. Finally the big tuna was seen under the boat. Within 15 minutes we could have landed it, but it made a final desperate run while angler tried to give pressure by lifting the rod. 
And the rod got snapped ! John saw the fish and he said the monster was bigger than any cow he saw in PV. We took the cow's picture with Gopro.

It would have been a sensational catch by any standard and we had a good chance to land it. 
I told before the tiny Nano Tai rod is a wonder of rod technology after I landed over 3000 lb fish with it.











The drag was on the Full position. We must gave 30 plus lb drag. I still can not believe the rod could handle such a high drag with the enormous pulling by a cow.



Here is a picture of the big cow. You can see the knot. It should be 4 - 5 ft long and compare the size of fish behind.



The loss of cow let us down for a while and fishing became slow or we were not in a mood to fish. 
We decided to go to the mother ship early. On the way in, we saw birds working.
Everybody fought small tuna on poppers. I had t 4- 6 tuna on Heru Tuna poppers. 
We must released at least a dozen tuna and headed in.


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## ksong

*4th Day*

Today was the final day. 
We left the mother ship at 6:00 am. We were blessed with fine weather for the whole trip. 
It was flat calm and many snappers were boiling on the surface and they hit our bait constantly along with small tuna.











Tuna started to hit live bait. 
Dannon fighiting a decent tuna with Black Hole Cape Cod Slow Pitch 631 rod. After landing 100 lb tuna with the rod, I got confidence the rod can handle any tuna under 100 lb though it is only 5.3 oz. the tuna was quickly released as several other small tuna.


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## ksong

Soon after, John fought a decent tuna with 8' Black Hole Challenger Bank 801H rod. It was a pretty short fight.







Tuna bites were getting better and better and finally we had a big fish on 7'3" Black Hole Challenger Bank 731H.
Greg, Dannon and John fought the fish together. Harness lug strip for spinning rod is a big help to fight big fish.


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## ksong




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## hog

Thats some SERIOUS fish'n Kil

WoW!

Really like the idea that so many of the baits had assist hooks on them rather than Trebles as they normally are.


If you personally had do take 

1. One popper, 
2. one stick bait, 
3. one fish imitation such as baby runboh)
4. one jig besides a hammered diamond, 
5. one rod and 
6. one reel 

on one of these offshore excursions you go on. What would they be?

Also, sometime, i wish you would post detailed photos of your tackle box you take with you. I know you must have it down to a detailed small amount by now... 

Thanks in advance... 

Great Photography and videos you are putting out. Would love to see more of the actual working of the jigs and poppers rather than just the fighting if possible...

Thanks again


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## ksong

We released about 25 - 30 tuna on this trip.
Everybody on the trip wants to do it again next year and I plan to book the whole mother ship next year.


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## BullyARed

Wow! Wow! Wow!


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