Private Sport Fishing – 27ft Proline | South Pearl Islands

Typical day long fishing day, patience, patience...

Dedicated crew who tried hard to find some fish. Only one mai-mai, but a sizable one (6kg) which provided a good photo with my grandson

Response from the operator: Thank you for your honest feedback and for choosing us for your trip. We’re always looking to improve, and your comments help us do just that. Hope to have you aboard again soon!

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Fishing charter

Great guides and fisherman. I would highly recommend Miguel. They also did a great job of getting to know myself and the friend I was with .

Response from the operator: Tight lines and big smiles! That’s what we love to see! Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to another trip together!

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The unforgettable experience food does not

Sailor Moises and Captain Alfredo EXCELLENT!!! We fish a lot!! The negative point has to do with the Food Service, I ordered one thing and it was totally different and it was not practical to eat on board.. for that Service we were told 162 dollars and it was not worth

Response from the operator: Lamentamos que su experiencia no haya cumplido con sus expectativas al 100 %. Agradecemos sus comentarios y los tendremos en cuenta para realizar los ajustes necesarios. Nuestro objetivo es brindar siempre el mejor servicio a todos nuestros clientes.

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Best charter in Panama

Another awesome day fishing with Gem Charters. I booked the 8 hour Pearl Island trip and it did not disappoint. We hooked up times and landed 12. Bonitos, albacore tuna, jack carvel and even a small shark. The captain, Miguel and his partner Moses were great and made you feel like you were fishing with your best friends. They both speak excellent English and made the trip very memorable. During the trip Moses fillet one of the tunas and made us ceviche, it was delicious. Can’t wait for my next trip to Panama to fish with them again.

Response from the operator: Thank you so much for your review! We're thrilled to hear you had an unforgettable experience. We hope to see you again soon on another adventure with us!

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A trip for the family and kids, not if you want to catch fish

I found GEM Charter Fishing online. There isnt really a ton of fishing charter info available in Central America on the internet like there is in North America so I opted to go with a larger outfit with more reviews and this fit the description. They had several hundred reviews and matched my price point. I laid out my expectations very clearly in my email. I was coming to Panama specifically to fish, I would be the only fisherman, but my wife would accompany me. I made it very clear that my goal was to catch fish. I did not want to swim, I did not want to snorkel. I didnt want to drink beer on a boat. I wanted to catch fish. I wrote out the fish I wanted to chase and what my expectations were. I did a fair amount of research and set my expectations accordingly. The outfit responded that they understood and we set a date and deposit. The plan was to drive out to sea to the Pearl Islands and fish. Im not familiar with Panama fishing, im from Oregon so I dont know where to fish, so I followed their advice. We would do an 8 hour fishing trip. This trip was a life dream of mine. I am not a rich thrill seeker. Im a working class person who saved up for a year in order to go ocean fishing, We planned a trip to Panama explicitly for this fishing trip. We paid for some extra amenities for a morning pickup from our hotel and lunch, the amenities were overpriced but we didnt want to plan ahead and wanted to focus on having a good time. (Really? $55 per person for lunch? Fine, its vacation and I didnt want to pack cold sandwiches) We got there at 6am and spoke with the crew, only one spoke some english, but that no problem. I am fluent in spanish. I laid out the exact same expectations with them before we left dock. I did NOT want to swim or snorkel, I wanted to catch fish, nothing else. I really wanted to chase Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin or Roosterfish, and if we foujnd a Sailfish, that would be a dream come true. but I wanted to fish on my reel plain and simple. the crew said no problem and that we would go with our plan of fishing off the Pearl Islands. I didnt know at the start, but the Pearl Islands are TWO HOURS boat drive away from the marina, so half of my fishing trip was spent not fishing, just riding in a boat which is NOT comfortable at all, the boat is going very fast through medium size waves without good seating arrangements, you are literally hanging on to the guard rails and bouncing around the entire time. Going to the Pearl islands was frankly was a huge waste of time. the only reason you would fish there is if there is no fishing ANYWHERE else, which was not the case I learned later. I can surmise that the real reason we went to the Pearl Islands is because they are an exlcusive island chain with private beaches and resorts on them. They cant be reached by the general public. While talking to the crew, they mentioned that they do this trip every single day to this area, usually taking families with children out, usually for swimming and snorkeling, not always fishing. Once we arrived at the Islands, we began trolling for the fish I mentioned off an ocean dropoff about a mile long where these fish are caught, unfortunately, there just didnt seem to be fish at this specific dropoff. We saw plenty of good signs (birds diving for bait fish, larger fish pushing bait up to the surface, etc) but couldnt get on the fish. we tried this area for about 90 minutes. At this point, I could tell the crew was getting nervous, so they decided to change strategies. we would handcast for fish off the reefs/coast with lures. At this point we were close to the beaches and other tourists who were on yachts and swimming nearby on the beaches. The casting fishing was pretty clearly not going to work, but im not the expert. 20 minutes later, they asked we wanted to stop and swim while they prepared lunch, we said no, we didnt care about swimming, but I guess they had to drop anchor in order to prepare lunch. Ill be honest, this is where frustration really set it. We had to pay Michelin star prices for generic lunch and then it just cuts into my fishing time? which is already cut in half due to how far we had to travel to get here? This was not what I wanted, and they knew it. They tried to make a show of the private beach we were on and that celebrities came out, but I frankly did not care. 40 minutes later, after i told them to stop early, we packed up lunch early and they said we would do more fishing. At this point, we were 5 hours and 40 minutes into the 8 hour fishing trip, and we still had 2 hours of driving to do because we had to get back. The crew put the boat into high speed and we started literally racing back to the coast. They didnt say what the plan was, but it seemed like we would try fishing close to land and the dock and try and get on some fish then afterward we would not have a long drive to the dock. We raced back to about 3/4ths of a mile from the marina, eventually trailing behind a small Yacht. it seemed like we were riding the yacht's wake to pass and move on, but then we just stopped in their wake, and then the crew threw out lines for trolling again. the spot made absolutely no sense at at all. we were not on a drop-off there was no signs of birds/bait nearby. the spot clearly just chosen bc it was about 1 mile from the marina and they wanted to make it seem like we would try for something before going in... We tried trolling for 30 mins with no luck, then without a word at all. they just packed everything up and we went back to the marina. no communication at all. they knew I was upset, but couldnt be bothered. Its pretty clear that this setup is not a dedicated fishing outfit, but a boating/snorkeling outfit for families. they didnt choose the Pearl Islands to put me on the fish, they chose it because it had private beaches that most Americans and their families would like. It was very clear that they do the same route/trip everyday and that most people bring their kids along so they do it to entertain them. I spent a great deal of money on this trip and it felt totally wasted. They knew what I wanted and just didnt listen to me at all. It literally felt I took $2000 USD and flushed it down the drain. 5 hours of 8 were not even spent trying to catch fish. Do not go with this company if your goal is to catch fish. Because they are just gonna take you snorkeling, whether you want to do not.

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