“It’s the little things that make the difference!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed March 5, 2012
I’m writing this review from my wife’s account, because I don’t usually do reviews and don’t have an account. My experience at PBGFC was memorable enough to make me go ahead and help spread the word.
We arrived in Panama City at the International Airport and our 1st class experience began there. I have travelled quite extensively, all over the states, central and south america, europe, etc. Never have I had such VIP service as I did when we arrived in Panama City. The PBGFC rep was there to meet us when we got off the plane. We were brought to a VIP lounge where we were served drinks, and had the chance to freshen up, check email, or read the paper while they took care of getting our passports stamped and gathering our luggage. No waiting in line, no hauling our gear. 1st class.
After making our way to the regional aiport and once again getting the VIP treatment we were off to David. In David we were once again greeted by a PBGFC representative, loaded into a very comfortable van and had a few beers on the short trip to the bay. After cruising across the bay in a small boat we reached one of the most beautiful lodges I have ever been to.
Our luggage was brought to our room while we were greeted by the staff, had our drink orders taken and were presented with huge plates of delicious ahi sashimi! The staff was incredibly attentive and friendly and were so throughout our entire trip.
After a wonderful dinner and few more drinks we were ready to hit the sack. We had a really nice room with a new 50+ inch flat screen “smart tv” that was loaded with shows, movies and most importantly awesome videos that previous clients had taken of their fishing adventures. We fell asleep watching action of huge 500+ lb Marlin and I for one had some wonderful dreams!
We were awoken the next morning to some excellent Panamanian Coffee and a great cooked to order breakfast. It was time to fish.
We made our way down to the boats, were introduced to our crew and were asked what we wanted to fish for and given a run down of what had been happening out on the water. Always nice to know what has been happening and even nicer to be asked what our goals were and what WE wanted to do.
I won’t go into detail about every day on the water, but we fished two different boats with two different crews and both were outstanding. I am a boat owner myself, I have very extensive offshore fishing experience and have worked in the industry for many many years now. I can say that from the quality of gear, upkeep of boats, attitude of the crew and the hardworking nature of everyone involved, these guys are some of the best in the business.
Water temps were warmer than normal and the currents weren’t ripping through the way we wanted, all in all, it was slow fishing by Panamanian standards. This of course meant that it was still better than any other place I have visited and fished. I’ve been on enough trips to know when the Captains and Mates are at their wits end, and they certainly were. They were ready for the fish to start biting, but we all know you can’t make that happen. They pulled out everything they had in their bag of tricks and worked their tails off. When you get off a boat and don’t catch what you expect, you can’t complain if you see that your crew did everything in their power to get you the bites. I always set my expectations very high, you have to if you want to be successful right? It certainly doesn’t mean the trip wasn’t a huge success.
That being said, we still caught a ton of fish, some huge Sailfish, some huge Tuna, countless species of bottom fish in the Jack and Snapper family. We missed out on a Big Black or Big Blue Marlin, but that happens. I’ve caught enough of those personally, I just wanted to see some of the guys we were with try to tangle with a big fish and have to pass the rod off! Guess I’ll just have to get back down there and do it again.
I have and will recommend Panama Big Game Fishing Club to anyone that will listen.
