[Bertram]

Hi Guys,

Eric the designer and manufacturer of Orion lures is back from a trip to Panama in the Coiba area. Him and his mate Philippe were chasing YFT as the prime traget. In between tuna they gave the shoreline a couple of hours and found monster Cuberas.


Eric the Orion man himself with a nice 40KG YFT caught on a pink LongTom. They caught plenty tuna and had fun.


Philippe with a huge Cubera that fell to a BigFoot 220. The fish wasn't weighted or measured since tuna were busting a little bit offshore and the skipper was in a hurry to chase them. It's only after looking at the pix they realized how big the beast was ! Not bad for a guy that has the reputation for chasing small fish

The French Connection strikes again !

More to follow when Eric will send me his report that I will translate and post.

Ciaooo

B

Este tema ha sido editado por Bertram: 20 February 2006 - 03:00 PM

[Ivan]

Erik is 2mt tall and that fish still looks big!!! The Cubera must be the grandmother of all the cuberas I have caught! Big, big fish. I give you more than 40kg on trust.


... and Javier, colega, now I am sure you are even happier to to to Panama in 2 months time????


The French are ahead. Now the Italians and Spaniards have to chase and match the lead....

One day, one day, we should organize a big Caranx Classic Tournament, some sort of popping and jigging 4 day for "Nations". But we will need to split France in "Northern France" and "Southern France" Great Britain will be allowed to compete as one (as fishing ain't rugby....)

The question is which team will Nicola compete for?

[medregal]

Man I'm counting the days, and some Big Foot have arrived at home....

Javier

[Bertram]

Javier,

Just a slow erratic retrieve on the Big Foot for Cuberas. A bit more faster and rythm for Gallos...this are the tricks I have obtained to work the Big Foot in Panama.
Note that the Cubera was fought on a Tokara60 and 130lbs Tuf XP...no messing around with small braids for these beasts.

Have fun amigo,

B

[medregal]

Hi Bertram

Still some weeks to go, but your tips and tricks are always welcome. I don't have rod enough to throw those bricks you do, mine's a ValleyHill Kamaja up to 170 g, so I decided to get the smallest (and I think newest, available at Nicola's) version of the BigFoot in 140 gr, still a big one. Before the fishing we arranged a weekend at Panama City, just to fraternize with the country people , so the fun is assured



Javier

[sailfish1]

Javi
I cant wait for your report and pics
oh my God when I see those pics my cardiologist is in alert
if only I had the time hummmmm!
great catches and great anglers
IVAN
I am ready to register the israeli team in the challenge

[Bertram]

Guys,

More pix from Eric.


Phil with another nice YFT. Can't keep a good man down.


Da big mama from another angle...waowwwww


Eric "Da Boss" with a fine cubera of human size.


Phil decided to catch an amberjack again on the big Foot to check how hard these fish pull compared to Gts and the likes.

Ciaooooo

B

[catalyst]

Those are some awesome fish. Congrats to Eric .

I have heard rumours that scientists in Aust think that our mangrove jack (related to the cubera i think?) can grow to over 4/50kg on our offshore reefs. Some are now being stocked in freashwater lakes....yikes, imagine running into one of those!

[Bertram]

Hi,

Eric sent me the report of this trip, it's in french...but I can sum up by saying that they were chasing tuna by looking for dolphins.
"When the dolphin ball up the sardine baits you need to overtake them at high speed and cast in front of them. The tuna are just under them a bit deeper. It's a lot of sport and fun chasing the dolphin at 25 knots and jumping from wave to wave. Then you pull the boat and need to cast quickly a couple of times...Bang ! big YFT crash on your lure and run away like an express train...When the tuna action slows down you go back along the shoreline and cast to structures and reefs. Very much like GT fishing. Big cuberas, gallos and almaco jacks lurk under there and take poppers and stick. One day, one of the Danish angler hooked up a monster tuna in the 80KG size, he fought it quickly and brought it alongside in 5 minutes, the fish was very green. The angler shouted to the skipper to gaff it. When the tuna felt the gaff it went mad and shot away with the gaff in its back...eventually after a long and hard fight the tuna was at the boat again but no more gaff...the skipper then made a loop with the anchor rope and tried to catch the tail of the tuna. The fish was going banana along the hull, slapping it's tail away and trashing water. Finally the swivel broke !!!! and the fish gained freedom...." this is a short extract from Eric' s report.

The rest is too good and contains too many secrets so I keep it to myself

Ciaooooooo

B

[juanjuan]

Nice report, great story.....
congratulations Ericv y cia

[Ivan]

I LOVE "big fish" strories!!! big fish can make anglers and crew go crazy. They are so unpredictible. I LOVE THEM.

Congrats to Erik and the boys in Panama. Definitely on my card for next year!!

Bertrand - please ask erik if the roosterfsh are there this time of the year, as I thought that the big ones were coming in only in October/November.

[Bertram]

Ivan

Eric said they saw three big roosters but didn't get a bite out of them. They only fished the shore a few hours and concentrated chasing the tuna in blue water.

Ciaoooo

B

[caranx]

I fished Panama 3 times already and I know what is all about. Thus, I never had the chance to cast at such large tunas and the Cuberas I have caught could be easily dwarfed by that big one. I believe is a fish over 40kg, a real monster for the Pacific species. From the reports I receive from Travis at Pescapanama, I know that they have already landed YFT in excess of 200lb on spinning rods and also hooked, fought and landed (released) a Black Marlin over 200lb while free casting at the Tunas with a Surface Bull....
The Coiba area, as I already said many times, is one of the best places in the world for our sport

ciao

Nicola