Year Two of the COVID-19 experience was fortunately not much different for me than Year One. While I didn’t fish nearly as much as I did in 2020, I made up for it in other ways – including a return trip to Guatemala and two rounds of popping for tuna in Panama. Most importantly, this site grew. Here are some of my 2021 highlights.

Your traveling companions can make or break the quality of an international fishing trip. We had a great group in Panama — they helped us establish a blueprint for mutual success and enjoyment.

Part of the fun of traveling to distant fishing destinations, especially ones that we’ve visited before, is living those experiences through others’ eyes. We were fortunate to be joined in Panama by Carl and Lisa Vicars. Carl saw a post that I made on Bass Boat Central, reached out, and booked two spots the next day. Making that even more impressive, it was their first time out of the country.

Dave Mansue has a storied career in law enforcement and bass fishing, but he’s also a multitasker — here’s the tale of a West Texas elk hunt he took with Denny Brauer and True Grit Outfitters.

I’ve known my friend Cindy Goldstein for (gulp) a period of nearly 40 years, since junior high school. She’s the least “fishy” person you’d ever want to meet. She doesn’t even eat fish. Oddly enough, this blog has helped us grow even closer. I may someday even convince her to join us on a fishing trip.

Dan Smith, creator of “How to Catch Any Fish,” has been to an amazing number of domestic and international “bucket list” fishing destinations. He’s caught a huge range of hard-fighting sportfish and has documented them all on his website.

Every bass angler wants to catch a 10-pounder. You don’t expect it to happen, but in the back of your mind you’re always hopeful. That’s why we go to bodies of water where big ones live and choose our lures with giants in mind. If your name is Hanna Robbins you may come up a little short, pun intended. Seven times short.

Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures provides tons of resources for the traveling angler. They have regional experts, loads of articles and advisory materials, and their emailers are always good—but their website proved to be especially useful during the pandemic. Today we catch up with founder Jim Klug.

Tiffanie Palaniuk is an integral part of the Palaniuk family fishing team — and a big part of that is her ability to tow, set up and maintain their 5th wheel camper. Here’s her story, with lots of good tips on the camping lifestyle.

The staff at Anglers Inn makes every trip special but this time they went over the top for us. They had a cake to celebrate our birthdays and we smashed our face into it at the same time and then laughed hysterically. It was also my best trip to El Salto so far from a fishing perspective and I was thrilled to share it with my sister Janet.

I’ve been fortunate to fish on some of the country’s best waters with some top pros and guides, but I always want more — here are five proven winners and the places I’d like to fish with them.

Danny Kadota is a legendary big bass hunter from Southern California who was on the water 300 days a year during that region’s heyday — but there’s a lot more to his story than that, including his exploits as a saltwater captain. Learn about how that helped his bass fishing.

On her fourth trip to Anglers Inn, Kristine Rygas and I finally got the chance to catch up on some tea and fish together. I won't bore you with our girly talk, although you might find it tantalizing, but I will share the details of our amazing morning on the water. I was thrilled to get her out of her angling comfort zone with new lures and strategies.

What inspires a gringo to move down to a Central American country, start a fishing lodge on a remote island, and build a life of nearly two decades there? Here’s Captain Shane Jarvis in his own words.

Many of the resorts we have fished have outstanding food with the signature touches of their chefs. Secluded on Isla Parida, Chef Eddie of Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, Chef Eddie only has time to do two things: fish and cook. He’s really good at both.

Elliott Stark of FishTravelEat has lived several fishing lifetimes and he’s not even 40 years old. He’s become our all-purpose sounding board for global adventures dealing with billfish, tuna and other mean salty critters.

Ray and Sandee Heredia were part of our six-person team that traveled to Panama. Making it even better not only did we get to travel together, eat and drink together, and laugh way too much, but I also got to fish with them one day, and the three of us tag-teamed a monstrous 130-pound yellowfin.

I first noticed FisheWear’s Groovy Grayling leggings when Pete and I traveled to Alaska last summer. Bear Trail Lodge had some of their colorful products in the gift shop and I became obsessed – to the point that I clicked on the website at least once a week. Here is the story of their creator.

For many serious anglers, exotic fishing travel is primarily about the fishing itself. Yes, we give lip service to the food, culture, scenery and wildlife, but the rest of those factors can’t completely make up for it if you don’t have biting fish. Of course, it helps to have people along with a positive attitude, particularly the person or people with whom you’ll be sharing a boat.

Over the first year of Half Past First Cast’s existence, some of our most popular features have been interviews with the wives of some popular bass pros. They often have a different perspective than their husbands and are willing to give up the juicy details. If you missed those interviews, check them out, and even if you caught them the first time several of them are worth a second read.