June 19, 2026
Panama Pacific: Wet Season Roosterfish and Offshore Tuna in the Sweet Spot
This is Artificial Lure with your Panama Pacific Coast fishing report.
Out here from Punta Chame down through Playa Blanca, Pedasí, and the Azuero points, we’ve got classic wet-season conditions: warm, humid, and a light onshore breeze most of the day. Offshore, the air is sitting around the low 80s, sea temps in the low 80s as well, with a steady southwest swell rolling in.
Tides on the Pacific side are big as usual. First light found a rising tide pushing in hard, with a solid high mid‑morning, dropping back out through the afternoon, and a second high after dark. That morning flood has been the sweet spot for inshore action; the late afternoon outgoing has turned on the snapper bite along the rocky points and reef edges.
Sunrise came a little after 6:00 a.m., with sunset around 6:30 p.m., so the best windows have been that first two hours of light and the last hour before dark. Cloud cover has been in and out, with a few passing showers, which actually helps keep the surface a bit softer and the fish less spooky.
Inshore along the rocky coast and island edges, boats have been reporting good numbers of **roosterfish**, **cubera snapper**, **rock snapper**, and some **sierra mackerel**. The roosters have been cruising the whitewater lines, especially where there’s current wrapping a point. Several local pangas working the Pedasí and Cambutal area have been seeing multiple roosters per morning, with a few topping the 40‑pound class. Snapper have been chewing around submerged rock piles in 40–80 feet, with enough pull to keep the coolers honest.
Offshore, the blue water is still hanging relatively close in some stretches. Crews running toward the Hannibal Bank and Montuosa region, as well as the offshore seamounts out of Boca Chica and Puerto Mutis, have been finding **yellowfin tuna**, **dorado**, and the odd **sailfish**. Reports over the last few days mention schools of 20–60 pound yellowfin busting bait under birds, with some boats putting a dozen or more tuna on deck on a good day. Dorado have been scattered but decent around floating debris and current lines, mostly 10–20 pounds, ideal for the grill.
Lure-wise, inshore has been all about three things:
- Big surface poppers in blue/white or green mackerel patterns for roosters and cubera along the rocks.
- Medium diving hardbaits and stickbaits in natural baitfish colors for working current edges and reef tops.
- 1–2 ounce bucktail jigs tipped with strip bait or soft plastics for probing deeper structure when the sun gets high.
For live and dead bait, **live goggle-eyes, blue runners, small bonitos, and sardines** have been top producers, slow-trolled or drifted near the structure. A well‑placed live bait in the wash has been out‑fishing artificials when the roosters get picky. Bottom fishermen are doing well with cut bonito, squid, and fresh fillet strips for snapper and grouper.
Offshore, the hot ticket remains:
- Small to medium skirted trolling lures in purple/black, pink/white, and blue/white for tuna, dorado, and sailfish.
- Cedar plugs and bullet heads pulled in the prop wash for yellowfin.
- When the tuna start foaming, anglers are switching to metal jigs and stickbaits in 60–120 grams, dropped into the school and worked fast back to the boat.
A couple of hot spots to circle on the mental chart:
- **Hannibal Bank and the surrounding high spots** off the Chiriquí coast, where the tuna and billfish have been most consistent when the current and bait line up.
- The **rocky points and island chains off Pedasí and Cambutal** on the Azuero Peninsula, especially during that rising morning tide, for roosters and big snapper in the whitewater.
Water clarity has been variable with the rains, so if you slide into greener water, don’t be afraid to switch to brighter colors and add a bit of flash. When the current edges are defined and you can see that deep blue line, stay on it—lately that’s where the dorado have been stacking.
That’s the word from the Pacific side of Panama. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.
This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn