One of the most famous quotations in sports mythology and inspirational meme-world is Wayne Gretzky’s “You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.” It’s true that once an opportunity has gone by that particular window has closed. As such, I have certain regrets in my fishing career, but none of them can’t be fixed.

While I have had great fun catching many fish that were objectively ugly—giant Alaskan halibut, Potomac River catfish and Brazilian wolf fish immediately come to mind—there is something particularly gratifying about catching a species that’s all lit up with vibrant colors, the type that no camera can fully capture. Here are four that occupy my “hit list.”

Hanna and I continue to max out our retirement funds and put more away on a monthly basis so that if all goes right we’ll be done with our full-time gigs no later than the end of the decade. That’s both exceptionally exciting and a little bit daunting. Setting that rough timeline puts us on a path where we’ll need to have some plans and some envisioned deliverables.

As we fished in Panama I started to wonder if a long enough lull with a particular species qualifies you as a “born again angling virgin.” To wit, when my father and I went to Costa Rica in August of 1995, I caught both a blue marlin and several roosterfish, among other quarry, but I’ve yet to catch either of them again in the subsequent 25-plus years.

Whether your father introduced you to fishing or you brought him into the sport, there’s no better way to celebrate than by hitting the water together. As Father’s Day approaches, we recommend time in the boat, but even if you’re not able to fish together, you can still show him how much you appreciate his influence with a fishing-themed gift.

Mother’s Day is coming up this Sunday, May 9, 2021. You have no excuse to say that you didn’t know about it, junior, and while it’s the thought that counts, we find that thoughts are often improved by offering up a tangible gift. If your mother likes to fish, and especially if she travels to fish, there are lots of great options out there.

With 50 species of fish to be caught in the Gulf of Chiriqui, I still wasn’t certain I’d catch my bucket list species, but I put in my time targeting them inshore. We went inshore and targeted them. We cast, we trolled and we CAUGHT my rooster. In fact, I caught two of them.

After an epic trip to Casa Vieja Lodge in February, I’ve become a little bit more than obsessed with sailfish. We caught 37 of them, including 23 in a single day. Every one of them stripped line, jumped at least 10 times, and put on an unforgettable show of acrobatics. Even when you finally get them to the boat and subdue them, they’re still gorgeous – lit up with iridescent colors. That likely makes them both tempting and hard to tattoo.