A buddy and I planned a bucket-list trip to Tropic Star almost two years ago. We researched the best time to go and was told the week after the full moon during black marlin season in Feb. was a great time which, of course, was by far the most expensive time to come. In anticipation over the last 20 months, we watched every YouTube video and Big Water Adventure program and even bought the Guy Harvey book to prepare us for a trip of a lifetime. To say we were “hyped” and excited would be an understatement. The Good: The TS land operation was 5 stars. Everything was exactly as represented from the service in Panama City to the Lodge and all its amenities. We paid for an upgraded room that was Four Seasons nice. The staff was friendly, the food excellent and the dining and bar facilities all you could ever expect. We met a bunch of very nice guests and made fast friends with 7 other folks with whom we will likely fish on future trips. The Bad: The fishing was unimaginably bad, not just for us but for many others. There were only 9 black marlin caught our week between 17 boats and only 11 reportedly caught the week before. There were also a few blue marlin caught. We were told the fishing the two weeks before we arrived was not good either, but no details. Not only did we and many other boats not even see a marlin (blue or black), but the usual by-catch of sails and dorado was sorely lacking as well. Out of 5 ½ days of off-shore fishing, my fishing buddy and I caught a total of 2 sailfish and less than 10 small dorado. Some other boats did better, but we were average. Even when the “bad wind” shifted to the “good wind” mid-week, fishing did not pick up. Every day, we hit the boat with renewed hope, but it was never fulfilled. We learned from one of our new friends who is an experienced offshore angler that this was not an isolated event or week as he came for 6 days during black marlin season last year and was completely shut out of even sailfish. He returned because he desperately wanted a black marlin to complete his slam and luckily got one. There were also controllable negative issues. Our “upgraded” boat’s air conditioning did not work Day 1, was supposed to be fixed Day 2 but stopped before lunch. We were credited for the “upgrade” for the 2 days and given a larger “back-up” boat whose air worked, but that was little compensation for the heat those two days. Moreover, when we finally got one bite on Day 2, a small dorado, the reel malfunctioned from the get-go and my buddy had to bring in his first pelagic fish by hand. By Day 2, it was clear our captain and rotating mate were not getting along and after we advised Richard of the obvious conflict after Day 4, he put a new mate onboard who worked his tail off. He even had his fleet director, a wonderful fisherman named Duncan, fish with us the next day, but even though he tried his best, we only caught one sailfish. The saddest story came from a couple who became close friends. His bucket list fish was a big tuna and they had a no-fish week to rival ours. The last day, he got what was estimated as a 200 lb.+ yellowfin on shortly before the end of the normal fishing day. After fighting it for over an hour, he said the crew tightened the drag until the fish broke the line even though it was hours before dark. He was devastated and our whole group felt his and his wife’s disappointment. When I was researching this trip, I never saw a review like this one which would have at least prepared us for the possibility of what happened. I have fished off-shore at least 25 days in the past and never had any 2 or more day trips that were this bad. I truly believe RIchard, Ross and Duncan and most of the crew work very hard to make the fishing operation the best they can since it is 100% in their control where to catch bait, where to fish, how to fish and, usually, how to hook the fish, but the fish have to cooperate. My advice, contrary to Big Water Adventures Mark Davis whose catchphrase for TS I have heard many times, “Don’t believe the fishing hype.”…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.