Yeti hopper soft-sided cooler for bringing tuna home from Panama

Historically, each new fishing trip has an opportunity or perhaps an excuse to go a little bit crazy at Tackle Warehouse. Even though I keep about 80 pounds of tackle at Anglers Inn in Mexico, loaded down with enough of the basics to easily get me through a weeklong trip, I invariably bring down a substantial amount more – both staples that I’m sure I’ll run out of and new things to try.

As I expand into other species and techniques, however, I sometimes don’t need to bring anything. When Keith Combs and I went to Alaska in 2019, his sponsors at Shimano outfitted us with a number of high-end rods and reels to use. When Hanna and I went back last year, though, I brought exactly zero tackle. Same with our two trips to Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala for sailfish – nothing we already owned was applicable and we had no idea what to buy, anyway.

That doesn’t mean that those trips aren’t an opportunity to shop. You can buy new clothes, new camera gear, new luggage. For our upcoming trip to Panama, my compulsive consumerism led me to acquire three new items that I intend to put to the test.

Yeti Hopper M30 Soft Cooler

While our bass fishing travels have been catch-and-release only, our other trips have proven to be a great opportunity to restock the freezer. In 2019 I sent home 50 pounds of halibut from Seward, Alaska. Last year we brought home 96 pounds of King and Sockeye salmon from Bristol Bay. We gave some of it away and ate a bunch, but while we were at El Salto for two weeks over Thanksgiving our refrigerator crapped out. We came home to find nearly 30 pounds of salmon ruined (and a house that smelled awful). In Panama we’ll have a chance to bring home what is probably my favorite fish of all to eat – yellowfin tuna. I’m not taking any chances with it spoiling, so I’ve acquired a soft-sided cooler from Yeti to carry it on the return flight home. It’s not only heavy-duty, but also leak-resistant and puncture-resistant. I’m sure the tuna will taste best in its native country, but the Yeti will enable me to recall the trip with my tastebuds even after we get home.

AFTCO Captain’s Lounge Button Down Shirt

I actually purchased this tuna-patterned shirt last year, but since I hadn’t already caught yellowfin, I felt like I would’ve been a total poser to wear it out. I have quite a few of AFTCO’s button-downs because they are comfortable, true-fitting and of the highest quality. This one will get broken in for my first wardrobe change after my first tuna. It looks like it’ll be equally at home on the water or at the bar, and because it’s machine-washable the wasabi stains should not be long-lasting.

Zhiyun Gimbal Stabilizer

As our website has matured, we’ve realized that we need to produce more video content. Some potential travel friends would prefer to receive our thoughts in a non-written format. Unfortunately, we’re not Millennials, so technology is an uphill climb for us. Complicating that, a bouncing boat makes for choppy footage, so we’re trying to up our game with a gimbal stabilizer that’ll improve our footage and allow us to take some creative shots. As I said previously, one of my main goals on this trip is taking some great videos. Here’s to hoping that the next one you see from us consists of acres of rampaging tuna.