Despite the fact that just about all of our Panama fishing experiences will be new to me, I am compulsively goal-oriented. I go into every trip hoping to achieve certain things, and this journey is no exception. Here are five things I want to do during our week in Central America.

Because so much of our dream travel takes place overseas, we sometimes may give the impression that we don’t enjoy domestic fishing, or that it’s not “exotic” enough for our tastes. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, one of the highlights of our year is a now-annual trip to Springfield, Missouri.

I have a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out) so it’s lucky that Anglers Inn provides the only “Combo” that matters at this stage of my life: Two similar but distinct lakes that both offer great service and great food, but which can fish differently on any given day.

From the moment you drive through the gates of Casa Vieja Lodge, step out of the van and receive the “Drink of the Day,” you know that the food and libationss are going to be great. That first taste of the amazing local ingredients in your glass are just the “teaser” for everything you’ll be served daily, on land and water.

When we talk about fishing tourism in Brazil, most anglers from outside the country soon envision the tucunaré-açu (Amazon peacock bass), a spectacular fish, able to generate merciless attacks on our surface lures, very strong and also extraordinarily beautiful. They’re not the only option.

During our trip to Casa Vieja Lodge in Guatemala, which exceeded all expectations, Hanna and I caught the billfish bug. Unfortunately, it’s a tad bit more expensive than catching, say, the crappie bug, so we’ll have to choose our future locations surgically.

I’d heard about Grosse Savanne’s bass fishing before I ever visited, notably from people like James Overstreet, who asked bluntly, “Why should I go all the way to Mexico when I can drive four hours down the road to Grosse Savanne and catch 100 bass a day, every day?” I’ve been around the block enough times to know that few things in fishing are ever as promised, but Grosse Savanne lived up to the hype.

While floating down the Chobe River we came across one of the most amazing wildlife sights — you have to see it to believe it. It wasn’t even the most unbelievable part of our three-week trip to Africa.

If you’re traveling to catch a new species, unless you’re exclusively a trophy hunter and you’re willing to blank, go someplace where you’re going to get a lot of bites. That may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how often travelers disregard it. They’ll go to a fishery that has “some” smallmouths or “some” muskies and target those lesser fish, rather than either targeting the predominant species or going someplace that actually has numbers. Then they’re surprised that they don’t succeed.

We’re headed to famous Lake El Salto in June of 2021 for an offshore slugfest — and there are rooms available if you want to join us.

Twenty five years ago, when I first went to Alaska, I did not own any Gore-Tex. I might not have even known what it was. This, my friends, is hard for even me to believe. I had some crappy discount hiking shoes, a sieve-like rain jacket. Even if I’d been aware of better gear, I would not have been able to afford it. Despite those deficiencies, over the course of a month with two friends I had the time of my life.

This Thanksgiving Pete and I were supposed to drive to Chicago to cook, eat, relax, eat and eat again on a long overdue visit to see family and friends. We were scheduled to be in Mexico from November 14 to 21, but that wouldn’t give us time to quarantine or get a COVID test, so we made the decision to not make the drive. This will be my fifty-third (!) Thanksgiving and for each and every one I have been thankful to be surrounded by close family and friends.

I figure I’ve been to approximately 25 countries, but my niece, who is almost 15, has likely been to at least as many, probably more. Most of her earliest memories came while living in Tokyo, she spent last summer at Oxford, and she’s made it her goal to visit every country on earth (good luck with North Korea, Yemen and a few others). That may not happen in the post-COVID-19 world, but she’s off to a damn good start.

If you’re flying to an epic fishing trip, in most circumstances you’ll have to check a bag at some point. While TSA does provide some vague guidance allowing for hooks to be in your carry-on luggage, ultimately the US government, foreign governments and individual airlines will interpret the regulations differently. Also, remember that TSA has the final word in America, but when you’re on foreign soil you’re playing by a whole different set of rules.

Well over 80 percent of Anglers Inn’s business consists of repeat customers. In our trips down there we see many of the same people over and over and over again, some of whom have been coming for over 20 or 30 years and visit up to five times per year. So if before you depart you’ve already decided that you want to return, you should start preparing ASAP. Prime dates get booked up quickly, and particularly in the era of COVID lots of rescheduling filled them up ever earlier than usual for 2021.

You don’t need to go fishing for a vacation to be great. Yes, it’s true. While we are classic “maximizers,” trying to eke out every bit of fishing time that we can, occasionally we make non-fishing detours, or entire trips where we don’t make a cast – and we enjoy them.

In some respects it’s probably a good thing I haven’t returned – the baggage fees, let alone the credit card bills, might be enormous – but just writing this and reliving the experience has me anxious to hop on a big ANA or JAL jet and make the trip. I don’t technically need more tackle, and a lot of the more “exotic” gear is readily available stateside, but I still feel a compulsion to make another pilgrimage.

I want everyone – and especially women – to be cautious, but I also want them to have a chance to experience the great fishing at Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos. I’ve been visiting Anglers Inn properties since 2009, and while there have been a few women in our groups, historically they were mostly or entirely male, except for me. Back in June of 2017 I decided that listening to all the men jibber jabber about all the fish they caught, how they caught them and how many beers they drank was getting old -- we needed some more lady anglers in the mix.

Potential guests often ask us which lake they should visit, or whether they should go to both. There’s no hard-and-fast rule. People assume that El Salto is the “big fish lake” and Picachos is the “numbers lake” but we’ve seen weeks where that has been reversed. The single best numbers day we’ve ever had was at El Salto, and Hanna’s PB to date is the 9-12 that she caught at Picachos.

Have you ever seen someone waltzing onto an airplane with just a paperback book, a small tablet, or perhaps nothing at all? I’ve always wanted to be that guy, someone who travels light and doesn’t seem to miss anything, but the truth is I will never be that guy. I’m an overpreparer, a true belt-and-suspenders type.