The best time to fish in Panama, month by month

The question we get most on WhatsApp is always the same: when is the best time to fish in Panama? The short answer is that it fishes year round. The useful answer is that each season rewards something different, and picking the wrong month can mean a rough day chasing a species that is somewhere else entirely.

The two seasons that decide everything

Panama has two seasons and both fish well, in very different ways.

Dry season, December to April. The northerly wind sets in, the sea wakes up flat most days and visibility is the best of the year. This is the comfortable season: the one you choose with family, with anyone prone to seasickness, or when you want photos with turquoise water. Panama Bay and the run to Taboga see a lot of Spanish mackerel and jack.

Green season, May to November. It rains, usually in the afternoon, and the sea moves more. In exchange the water turns noticeably more productive: nutrients come in, bait comes in, and behind the bait comes everything else. The best mahi mahi and tuna days of the year usually fall in this window.

Plainly: if you want comfort and postcards, come in the dry season. If you want to fish seriously, the green season gives you more.

Calendar by species

• Mahi mahi. Best window is May to October, when the water warms and bait shows on the surface. It is the most consistent target on the full day in the Pearl Islands.
• Tuna. Around all year, but the big schools concentrate between June and November. The birds mark the position before the sonar does.
• Roosterfish. The signature species of the Panamanian Pacific. Best December to April, close to structure and island beaches.
• Snapper. Year round over structure and shallows. A reliable target when the open water is not cooperating.
• Spanish mackerel and jack. The regulars of Panama Bay, more present in the dry season.
• Marlin and sailfish. They exist, but they are a target for water further out than a one day trip from the city covers. If someone promises you marlin in the bay, be skeptical.

July to October: the months that are not only about fishing

Between July and October something happens that has nothing to do with a hook. Southern hemisphere humpback whales come up from Antarctica and Patagonia into the Gulf of Panama to calve and raise their young. Panama is one of very few places on earth where northern and southern populations both gather.

In those months plenty of groups book to fish and end up asking to detour twenty minutes because a blow appeared on the horizon. If you are visiting in that window, look directly at the full day whale watching trip.

What the captain checks besides the calendar

The month tells you what is likely. The day tells you what is possible. Before every trip, three things get checked:

• The tide. It matters more than the clock. Tide changes concentrate the activity.
• The wind. A strong northerly in the dry season can chop up the open water even under a perfect sky.
• The bait. If there is bait on the surface, there is a predator underneath. It is the signal that carries the most weight.

That is why the route is confirmed the morning of the trip and not two weeks before. If conditions do not hold, the plan changes or the date moves at no cost.

So when should I come?

If you have to pick one month with no other context: March for the most comfortable sea, and September if you want strong fishing and whales on the same trip. Any other month works too, it just changes what you will find.

Message us with your dates and we will tell you honestly what to expect from that specific month, even if the answer is that another one suits you better.