Most accomplished big game anglers agree the best place on the planet to chase and catch blue and black marlins in August and September is the Pacific Ocean, from the Perlas Islands just off Panama City, Panama, south to the Zane Grey Reef at Pinas Bay.

To put anglers in the right spot at the right time, Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts has added Panama’s most exclusive mothership fishing operation, Panama Yacht and Fishing Charters (PYFC) to its system of unique fishing lodges. Based at Flamenco Marina in Panama City, the four-boat fleet is operated by Hennie Marais, considered one of most respected sport fishing outfitters and lodge operators in Central America.

Guy Harvey Outpost co-founders Guy Harvey and Bill Shedd, both trustees of the prestigious International Game Fish Association (IGFA) are no strangers to Panama big game sportfishing. Having just returned from a week long mothership expedition, Shedd, also the owner of tackle manufacturing giant AFTCO, comments, “this Outpost is the ultimate fishing experience, offering the freedom to fish where, when and how you and your friends wish. It’s no excuses fishing by day and luxury relaxation by night.”

Anglers, according to Marais, will enjoy a customized fishing experience like no other in Central America. Parties up to 12 will eat and sleep in the air-conditioned comfort of a 98-foot luxury Knight & Carver yacht, then head out to the billfish grounds aboard a 66-foot Buddy Davis sportfisher or a 37-foot Strike—or both. Rounding out the fleet is an 18 ft. Mitzi flats skiff, ideal for fishing the many mangrove shorelines throughout Panama.

“You go out at 6:00 to 6:30 in the morning. You fish for live bait. When you get to the bait grounds, it’s just acres of bonitos and skipjacks,” Marais said. “Often before you get all your live baits out, you have a black marlin. And you’re not getting beat up by the sea conditions. You fish till you’re out of live bait, then troll lures or dead baits for sailfish and blue marlin. There’s a good opportunity for a grand slam.”

For the non-anglers who want to explore remote island jungles or those who prefer to fish close to shore for roosterfish or Cubera snapper, there’s the Mitzi skiff, kayaks, personal watercraft, stand-up paddleboards and a fully-equipped scuba diving center.

“The big game fishing off Panama is legendary, but the entire country is one big adventure,” comments Guy Harvey, Outpost Chairman Mark Ellert.  “This Outpost delivers not just fishing stories, but memories of a unique adventure that will last a lifetime.”

In January and February in the Las Perlas and Pinas waters are prime for black marlin, tuna, dorado (mahi), wahoo and roosterfish. April through June usually find the mothership plying the Pacific waters around the remote Isla de Coiba, a World Heritage Site in the Gulf of Chiriqui where yellowfin tuna are abundant.  Other options throughout the year are the Bocas Del Toro and  Gulf of San Blas regions in Panama’s Caribbean Sea for family snorkeling and inshore and reef fishing.