Page 2 - Tropic Star Newsletter 2018.indd

Enhancements to the swimming pool and bar area impressed ev- eryone and definitely improved our guests’ experience. Our accom- modations also received upgrades to make them more comfortable and complement the beautiful surrounding jungle. It was great to see how “wowed” everyone was with all the work Tropic Star put into the lodge for the new season. The positive comments meant a lot to the whole team.
On the second evening of the tournament we hosted a dock party previewing the newly remodeled Bertram 31’. Miss Scandia was unveiled to an impressed audience. We received many rave remarks and are very happy that we will have the next few refurbished Bertram 31’ in the water by this season. The upgraded 31’s are a work of love and we can’t
wait for you to try them first-hand.
The response that we have gotten
from both returning guests and new
guests about the Bertram upgrades
has been encouraging. We are very
proud of our in-house team for pro-
ducing such an incredible fishing
boat.
From the tournament onward it was open season for Marlin, Sailfish and Dorado. Our season kicked off well with the first of many Grand Slams record- ed hot on the heels of the tourna- ment. For the season, we released more than 25 Grand Slams with one captain achieving three in a single week. December through to the middle of February we released an average of 50 Marlin per week with some weeks getting right
up to the 80 Marlin mark. Our new first billfish “plank walk” at the end of the dock had loads of action. Guests who released their first billfish walked the plank for their celebratory plunge.
The inshore season kicked off in March when the cooler water arrived bringing larges numbers of Sardines along with it. Anglers had a blast casting into the rocks and releasing heaps of fish with our new inshore tackle. Techniques included using jerk baits, poppers and jigging to rack up the species count; but live bait was still favored for the trophy-sized fish. The bite was going off and it made for great fishing during our annual Roosterfish tour- nament which is held each May. The tournament was loads of fun with great camaraderie and an incredible Roosterfish bite. As the season progressed, the inshore bite continued into the summer hol- idays. With the start of summer up north, the Sailfish arrived which provided fantastic opportunities for the younger billfish anglers to pick up a rod.
Summer is a fun time of year at the Lodge when we’re joined by families and have the joy of making memories with spe- cial first catches by our guests– especially when our kids’ club pro- gram launches and we get loads of junior anglers coming down to experience big game fishing. The afternoon showers that start around June also bring the current lines offshore with floating de- bris that washes out from the jungles in South America providing the perfect place to target larger gamefish such as Blue Marlin and Dorado. The rains also bring in shoals of Blue Runner which the Yellowfin Tuna annihilate in their exciting feeding frenzies.
Conservation is an integral part of our operation and a cause we work endlessly on, in an effort to make our fishery and the worlds’ oceans more sustainable for the future. In Panama, Tropic Star Lodge was instrumental in making Roosterfish 100% catch and release for the entire country. We are also proud to have elevated our work with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. We are conducting Shark and Ray research, continuing to satellite tag Roosterfish and billfish. There have been fantastic results and we look forward to our progress in 2019.
This season has been a memorable one for many reasons and largely because of our passionate guests and sponsors that have kept us as the premier fishing lodge. A big thank you to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation for all that they do world-wide. We are so excited to
move forward with our work this next year. Thank you to Huk for equipping our captains with great foul weath- er gear as well as the UV protection shirts. Costa Del Mar for their incred- ible kick plastic campaign helping save our seas and greatly assisting our captains spot more fish with their incredible lenses.
Rods by Drew amazes us every season with the incredible work they produce providing us with custom rods like no other for targeting world records of every species. Thanks to King Sailfish Mounts for letting us re- lease the fish of our dreams and being able to own mounts made to show off back home. Thank you to Yeti for supplying us with the best coolers in the business and to Taylor Offshore Dredges for helping us tease up more billfish than ever before. Buck Knives
supplies our crews with all our fillet knives and Starbrite Cleaning Products help us in our conservation efforts with their biodegradable cleaning products. A special thank you goes out to Bertram Yachts.
We can’t wait to see what 2019 will bring. We know that the future is bright with our passionate staff and guests and all the enthusiasm our junior anglers bring to the lodge reminding us how im- portant and incredible our oceans are sustained for future generations.
My wife Mallory & I are very excited to see everyone in the new season and happy to announce that we will be expecting a little junior angler in May.
Tight lines and fair seas, Capt. Rich
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