TSL Expedition

A sailfi sh goes airborne.

The Pacifi c is calm in Panama but not without a lot of surge.

TROPICAL STARS IN PANAMA

A Guy Harvey Fishing Expedition

BY FRED GARTH | PHOTOS BY MATILDA LEIJON

The blue marlin was well over 300 pounds and fighting like, um, a huge blue marlin. On the other hand, my fishing buddy, Brian, was barely 200 pounds. That’s fully clothed and soaking wet. The poor dude was definitely wet; so drenched in sweat that his fishing shirt stuck like cling wrap to his skin. I was worried.

We were in Panama after all. The lush, mountainous country is only 8.5 degrees north of the equator. Steamy air is served year-round.

After 40 minutes, the marlin was still kicking Brian’s butt. We fed him refreshing bottles of cool water and words of encouragement. “You can do it, man!” “We believe in you.” “Please don’t die.”

When I could literally see blood pulsing through the veins in his neck, I had to step in. “Okay, amigo, it’s time to pass the fishing rod to Matt. I don’t think they have a defibrillator on board.”

Brian reluctantly stopped reeling, wiped his face with a fish rag, then poured an icecold Sprite down his pants. Matt hopped into the fighting chair enthusiastically. He’s a fit, 25-year-old, former college athlete. I fully expected him to reel that fish in within a few seconds, but the blue marlin was a fighter. After 30 grueling minutes, Matt had been reduced to a sweat blob, too. In a final surge of energy, he got the blue marlin to the boat and the first mate expertly released it back into the wild to fight another day.

This wildness took place 15 miles offshore of Tropic Star Lodge, a remote jungle outpost that offers, perhaps, the best billfishing in the world. Guy Harvey has been there more than 60 times. His wife thinks he has another family in Panama. He does, but it is of the billfish species. Although this was my first visit, I’ve heard Guy talk about TSL so much in the 12 years I’ve worked with him that I felt like I’d been there. As we all know, there’s nothing like the real thing.

Anticipation bubbles up during the 45-minute flight from Panama City, over the Pacific Ocean, as green islands ringed in beaches and blue water pass by below. The twin-engine prop plane practically skims the water as it touches down on the concrete landing strip. A 10-minute boat ride delivers you to cold beverages and happy faces at the resort.

The lodge was literally carved out of the jungle in 1961, when Ray Smith, a Texas oil tycoon, built his “home away from home.” Since those early days, it has grown into a perfectly manicured retreat with a lovely swimming pool, spa, five-star cuisine and two well-attended bars. Because the mountains on the mainland block the prevailing winds, the Pacific Ocean stays quite calm most of the time. That’s why the classic 28-to-31-foot Bertram Moppies, which have been fully restored and upgraded with air conditioning in the cabins, are the perfect fishing machines here. The captains and the mates are like human extensions of the vessels. “Backing down” on a fish is an art they mastered long ago but still keep practicing every day. That’s a good thing, because after the exhausted Matt/Brian tag team recovered in the cabin, it was my turn in the chair.

During five days of fishing, our group of 26 anglers caught and released many blue marlins and even more sailfish. For decades, the common-sense practice at TSL has been to release all billfish alive. That’s why the population is so healthy and abundant. Some fish are tagged with high-tech satellite tags that provide data for the conservation research being done by the Guy Harvey Research Institute and Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (see sidebar). The one species that kept eluding our happy group was The Black — the prized black marlin. Blacks are more rarely caught than blues and, therefore, are somewhat coveted. They’re the ones people chatter about at the bar after a long, salty day. Did I mention that it was my turn in the fighting chair?

We’d already had great success trolling with live bonito and teasers, and we had boated some tuna and dolphinfish that were destined for the dinner plate. Suddenly, we heard the familiar sound of a

Author Fred Garth contemplates life and big fish.

line screaming off the reel. The captain shouted, “Fish on!” I jumped in the chair and prepared for another slugfest. Just then, the fish rocketed into the blue sky.

“Negra!!!” the captain screamed. He was smiling.

I’m not fluent in Spanish but I do know that baño means bathroom, cerveza is beer and negra means black. Holy smokes. A hoss black marlin was at the end of my line. He, I mean probably she, leapt again. Oh my God! She was a monster! My first thought was that I’d probably suffer the same fate as Brian. That’s where I was wrong.

If you’ve never battled a sea beast, you should know that success depends about 80% on the captain and mate and only 20% on the angler. I’m sure some hardcore fishermen are offended by that statement, but it’s all about having a Zen master at the helm. From the flying bridge, El Capitan looks backward while keeping his hands on the throttles and backs down hard. His goal is to steer the boat in reverse, toward the fish, without swamping the vessel at the same time. Massive gushes of water pour over the transom with each oncoming wave and, hopefully, flow out quickly without dragging one of the fishermen with it. If everything works in perfect synchronicity, the angler reels in the fish faster than the boat is backing toward it. Or, in some cases, the captain has to throw the throttles forward if the sea monster starts hound dogging at the boat.

Black marlin tend to do a lot of leaping and skipjacking across the ocean surface during the first five to 10 minutes. Then, they like to dive deep. That’s bad. Instead of reeling in a fish that’s jumping in and out of the water, it’s more like trying to drag up a school bus filled with concrete. Just ask Brian. Fortunately, for me, the captain was an aficionado in black marlin behavior. To my surprise, the captain and I got the 600-pound black to the stern of the boat in less than 10 minutes. The mate released the hulk quickly, and I looked at a dismayed Brian.

“That’s the way you do it, Bubba,” I said with a hint of cockiness. Brian still hates me.

And so it was for the other six boats in our group. They all caught big fish, every day. They all had juicy stories to tell at the bar and to their children and grandchildren. Interestingly, none of the other boats had landed a black.

Guy Harvey is the consummate fishing junkie. He fished with five guests each day on the Pollyanna, a 45-foot Hatteras. Even when everyone else had retreated into the cabin for cool air and a soft place to sit, Guy was standing on the transom, keeping a vigilant eye on the ocean and scanning the horizon. His daughter Jessica, who is part woman, part fish, led a different group of anglers each day. Whenever her boat stopped, she slid into the water with a camera to film schools of baitfish, dolphins or a just-released marlin with a satellite tag in place. When their boat accidentally backed over a log one morning, Jess quickly masked up and went over the side to inspect the damage and report back to the captain. She is a Harvey, after all. One would expect no less.

Our eclectic band of anglers came in from all over the country, anxious to catch fish with Guy and Jessica Harvey. Phil Golden left his home in North Carolina with one goal. “I’ve caught marlin before,” he said, “but never with Guy Harvey.” On the last day of the trip, he caught his blue on the boat with Guy. “I guess I can die a happy man now,” he laughed. His lifelong buddy, Adam Hedbarney from Pennsylvania,

Left: Just before an early morning departure on the Pollyanna. Above: Guy Harvey CEO Steve Roden with a rock snapper.

is also an experienced billfisher. If Phil had gotten skunked, Adam was prepared to give up his turn so Phil could fulfill his dream. It’s always special to see true friendship on display.

We also had a happy contingent join us from North Carolina, led by a generous supporter of the GHOF, Jim Hill. Jim’s company, Trajector, has funded the GHOF with the goal of promoting fishing for veterans. Going fishing helps vets to recover from PTSD and other issues. For this trip, he brought along his Uncle Jack, a good ole boy with a voice as smooth and slow as honey; Keith Hewitt, a Coastal Conservation Association board member and all-around nice dude; and Bobby Cummings, one of Jim’s childhood friends, who seemed to have a permanent grin on his face the entire trip. Actually, the entire NC crowd smiled a lot. Maybe it’s a Southern thing, or it could be they were just having too much fun.

Even with limited time between fishing, eating, adult beverages and mingling, Guy set up his easel in the dining room to paint an original piece of art for our group. Each day, he put in a couple of hours on his new masterpiece. At the end of the trip, one lucky person was going to take that painting home — as long as they outbid everyone at the auction on the final night.

Tropic Star general manager Richard White, whose enthusiasm should be bottled and sold as rocket fuel to Elon Musk, ran the auction like a pro. He did have to remind the group, somewhat forcefully, that the money for the painting was needed for marine science research, conservation and education. The bidding quickly passed $10,000 with team Jim/Bobby competing against Houstonites, Robert and Sherry Wolf. When it surpassed $20,000, the bidding began to slow, and it appeared as if the painting was destined for the Wolf’s home in Texas. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Allen and Debbie Martin decided to jump into the action. When the bidding finally ended at $26,000, the Martins took the prize home to Destin, Florida, where it now hangs in Allen’s office.

Rounding out our angling tribe were Richard Denhup and Kristine Shylock from Montauk, New York, a legendary fishing town; Kaj and Carla Sorenson from Pensacola, Florida, also known for great fishing and the world’s whitest beaches; Michael and Mary Jo Balko, who represented the Florida Keys; and

COURTESY OF ALLEN WHITE

Allen Martin proudly displays the Guy Harvey original painting in his office in Florida.

Jessica Harvey leads the pack of fishing “finatics” down the dock.

Lewis Clemmens and Bolette Anderson from Dallas. Everyone was able to fish at least one day with Guy and one day with Jessica, not to mention spending quality time with the gracious Harveys during cocktail hours, dinner and just lounging by the pool.

The GHOF team, including the aforementioned Brian Rowland and Matt Raine, was enhanced with Guy’s CEO, Steven Roden, who is trying his hardest to catch up with Guy on the Tropic Star visits. Oddsmakers are betting against him. President of the GHOF and life of the party, Patxi Pastor, who is a fisherman-in-training, kept everyone laughing and even caught a few fish along the way. We also were honored to fish with Travis Phipps, a super-energetic digital internet guru, who is helping to build a GHOF membership program. Stay tuned for more information on how to join that amazing program.

In the end, and as the expression goes, fun was had by all. More importantly, the trip ensured that the billfish population in Panama is more protected than ever, and the funds raised by the expedition were devoted toward marine science research and education. Many thanks to everyone who came, especially the Martins who won the auction, the Wolfs and Sorensens, who also donated generously to the GHOF, and to Jim Hill for his devotion to the greater good.

Oh, I almost forgot, as it turns out, the only black marlin caught that week was from our boat and reeled in by yours truly. I give all the credit to El Capitan and the first mate. All I really did was turn the reel.

Lush islands off of Panama’s Pacific Coast viewed during the airplane trip to Tropic Star Lodge.

Tropic Star Lodge general manager Richard White (center) jokes with Guy Harvey (right) and Fred Garth.

WHY GUY HARVEY EXPEDITIONS?

FISHING IS A HARVEY FAMILY TRADITION, beginning with Guy’s parents and grandparents in their homeland of Jamaica. Guy has been able to turn his love of angling, along with his art, apparel and other branded products, into a way to fund scientific studies and save our seas. For more than a decade, the GHOF has supported scientific research that generates relevant data. That data can then be used to write laws that protect fisheries from exploitation. The Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) has played a major role in fishery research with more than 140 scientific papers published.

One of their aspiring scientists, who has already published a number of papers, is Ryan Logan. A doctoral candidate at NSU and researcher with the Guy Harvey Research Institute, Ryan has spent many days at Tropic Star Lodge for his research on billfish. One night before dinner, Ryan gave a presentation to our group about his research. We crowded into the room with anxious anticipation. Our anglers were about to be among the first people ever to see video footage from a marlin cam — a small camera that had been attached to blue marlin and sailfish in Panama.

Ryan built and assembled the tag, which contains the tiny video camera. During a threemonth trip to Tropic Star Lodge in 2018–19, Ryan tagged 10 blue marlin and nine sailfish with the video camera tag. Each fish recorded roughly 12 hours of point-of-view footage of what they were seeing. The footage allowed Ryan to peer into the daily lives of these elusive fish.

Not only does the camera record video, but other sensors on the tag can determine how deep and how fast the fish is swimming, in addition to water temperature, oxygen concentration and the fish’s activity level — think FitBit or AppleWatch activity trackers. Then, after two to three days, the tag is designed to detach from the fish, float to the surface and send a location to the satellites. Because the tags collect a massive amount of video and other data, they cannot transmit that data through the satellite system. Therefore, Ryan must physically go out in a boat and retrieve the tag floating in the ocean, which, due to the high mobility of these fish, can be 60 miles or more from where the fish was originally tagged!

Ryan is using the information gathered from these tags to determine at least two key factors. First, how long does it take these fish to physically recover from the catch-andrelease process? Marlin can repeatedly launch themselves clear out of the water during a fight. After such an exhausting event, what is the timeline to return to normal activity? Second, tracking their fine-scale behaviors that no one has ever been able to examine before, such as social interactions, hunting patterns and energy use. Ryan’s research is just one of many projects that GHOF funds support with the overarching goal of protecting and preserving our oceans. These GH Expeditions are a great tool for raising money for research through once-in-a-lifetime fishing experiences with Guy and Jessica.

Special thanks to Hannis and Matilda, the onsite photographers at TSL, who shot the amazing images, and to Keishmer Hermoso, who captured video footage of the event.

A sailfish is being tracked through Ryan Logan’s self-built pointof-view tagging device.

The tag was made partly utilizing a 3D printer by Doctoral candidate Ryan Logan.