Las Perlas, Panama

    Everyone was fleeing.  The mass exodus, the flight, had started just a couple of days before. The Perlas Islands were being abandoned. Winter was coming, there was no more food, and almost overnight the area became a ghost town. All had left the islands in search of more abundant food and better conditions. There might be stragglers but we had to go now, we could not wait another day. Michelle arrived from the interior on the night bus, we threw the guns in the bag, and left at 4:30, the next morning. We were going to see if there was anyone left—- and if so—- Shoot the stragglers. That was our mission and our last chance.

    When we arrived in the Perlas we could see the reports were correct. The north wind stopped, the water had warmed, the sardines were gone and so were most of the big fish. In a few days it went from walls of fish and bait, to just a very few that did not get the message yet.  We were there in search of those fish.

    The first day we got shut out. A big swell was up and in the deeper spots, the bottom was too stirred up to see, and it was too dangerous diving our favorite places close in to the rocks. But the three of us, Fabio our driver, Michelle and I, crashed out on the floor of the panga before dark, and were rejuvenated and ready to roll early the next morning.  We first went outside several miles and the only interesting thing we found was a lost channel marker buoy, weighing several tons, that was floating loose in the middle on nowhere. It would have been great for dorado but it was about one month early so no fish were underneath.  Hitting something that size at night would finish off even a big boat.

      We went back to about forty feet of water where there are rock pinnacles coming up to about 15 or 20 feet from the surface.  One can see from a long distance, the eddies and swirls of water as the current tries to squeeze through the canyons, around and over the rocks. I put Michelle in, on one of our favorite spots, one of the pinnacles most up current, as Fabio still has not learned how to put the diver in, at the right place, in a ripping current. I was in the boat and did not get to see Michelle make the kill but I saw the buoy go down and after a while, pop back up with her holding on to the buoy.  It looked like she was being towed, but then I realized it was the boat and the current rushing past her, that made it appear so. The fish had tangled in the rocks and I thought, with this current, I will probably loose another shaft and slip tip. We picked up Michelle and went up current to decide what to do.  We jumped in again, way up current, and made our dive about 100 feet in front of the buoy. We hit it right and grabbed the rocks as we neared the shooting cable. It did not look good!

    The fish had entered a cave formed by two huge rocks leaning against each other, and the exit, where the fish was trying to leave was only about 10 inches in diameter, too small for his head to pass. On top of that, a five foot shark was trying to get a bite on the two or three inches of the pargo’s nose that was sticking out of the 10 inch hole. I knew there was no way in this current, we could get back on this rock, find the fish, pull him out against the current and free the cable. I scared off the shark and we went back to the boat to decide what to do. We did not want to wait hours for the current to slack because by then the shark would have the fish. As we rested we saw the buoy moving down current and figured the fish had severed the cable on the rocks as they sometime do. We jumped in on the buoy and Michelle started pulling in the float line, and then the shooting line as we flew along in the current. Unbelievably, as she pulled up the shooting cable the fish appeared, impaled on the spear, battered but intact. Wow! Were we lucky! Possibly the shark had scared the pargo and he turned around and went back out to escape the shark. The chance of extricating the shaft and fish was one in a thousand, so whatever happened, Neptune had smiled on us again.  Michelle’s first straggler turned out to be a 50 pound pargo and another new women’s record. Fortunately a beach was only a few miles away so we went there and anchored up and swam in the fish, the scale, the camera, the stick, etc. to see if we could get in a couple of good pictures. These pargo dienton are very hard to land as they usually run through the rocks with great power tweaking the spear and cutting the shooting line. The shot was great, but we were still very lucky that Michelle landed the fish and also got our spear back. However, the blessing that Neptune had bestowed with the Pargo, was not to last, as the next Bohala she shot, ran away with the same spear and sliptip when the cable parted due to a kink or frayed spot we did not see.

    We had only one more straight spear for this gun, but the next three stragglers we encountered were not of a size to damage our gear. I got on the board with a medium bohala and then in a new place we found corbina for the first time.  I was so surprised and interested in watching the fish, that I almost waited too long. The corbina in Panama do not get big like the California corbina or white sea bass, but they seem like the same family and the flavor is wonderful.  Then Michelle put a spear in a sierra, a pretty common fish here, but slender and hard to hit.  The sierra is also a tasty fish if cooked fresh, but with the high oil content it does not seem to hold well for days in the cooler.  Both are great game fish and fun to hunt.

      The next day the wind curtailed our activities and did not allow us to get to any of the distant places. During this panga trip we covered over 300 miles, but capping seas can be dangerous in a panga. The month before, a friend of Michelle’s lost her brother in a panga accident.  Twenty seven people were packed on one panga heading for a soccer game when the wind came up and capsized the boat. Fifteen people died of exposure and 12 lived, to be picked up by a passing yacht.

      The final straggler we shot, was a nice surprise at another new spot we had not dived before. As we were being carried past a point where we had seen some bait, I saw Michelle make a drop and then extend her arms, and the gun jumped in her hands. As she was swimming for the surface I could see her tugging on the float line with all of her power, to pull a fish away from the rocks and out to deep water. Had it not been a well placed head shot she probably could not have cleared the fish from the rocks. I could see that we had another bent shaft and when I grabbed the shaft to check it out, the fish gave a snap and almost broke my wrist. I did not try that again.  Michelle had shot a small mero and definitely a straggler as they are here only in the cold water time.  With the gill rakers, and big mouth, and no tail to grab, it was a big operation getting the spear out of the mero and getting a rope through his mouth to pull him in the boat. I think I need a short gaff for these fish. It was another unexpected surprise of Neptune.  In case it was a women’s record, we then took him to a beach to get an accurate weight.  It was getting late, but we still swam everything in to the beach, took the photos and weight. The mero weighed in at 55 lbs, a small mero but a nice prize for Michelle.  The fish often seem to come out just before dark, and we would like to dive, but we need to travel and it’s much better to find shelter while we can still see.

    On the way we stopped at a village and asked the first two guys that came out in dugouts, how much they were getting for mero.  Because of Easter they were getting 1.50 lb for the fish whole. So when we asked them if they wanted the 55 lb fish, their eyes lit up at their unexpected good fortune and we were way too tired to undertake the massive fish cleaning task. We made it back to shelter after dark but the mero straggler was worth having to shower on the swimstep in the wind and make our sandwich dinner by flashlight.

      The trip back to Panama started at 5:30 AM into a stiff headwind and close together, breaking waves, and we were maxed at 8 mph. With 70 miles to go it was going to be a long tiring day. Generally two sleep on the floor while one drives and we change every half hour. But at about 55 miles to go, I heard Michelle give the engine more gas and then ten minutes later, again. At each increase in engine revs, I started to relax and appreciate the trip more, knowing we going to make it OK.  The wind had died, another unexpected, but welcome change.

    As we enjoyed flying over the glassy seas for two hours, at 25 mph, I thought about the new experiences and lessons we learned on this trip. In the ever transforming world of Neptune the lessons seem to repeat and can be applied to our daily round. 1. Change, constant change—- 2.Adapt, flow, accept—-  3. Awareness and safety—- and 4. Gratitude, to keep the channel open, for those blessings, or gifts, new sights, new adventures, constantly flowing our way.  This trip certainly was not a fish- o- rama but we had a great time and accomplished our mission to Shoot some Stragglers.  We are off to LA for now, but will return to be ready to greet the new exciting visitors that are coming our way with the big rains just starting.  Raise your hands if you will be ready for more Change————- Jellyfish—— Sea Snakes——Wahoo——Dorado——and——Sailfish.———  BAM———! 

Dix and Michelle Roper .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)    April 2009