As if I needed to get any more excited for our upcoming return to Sport Fish Panama Island Lodge, every time I turn on the Google machine it seems to taunt me with another reminder about how excited I am. While I’ve already acquired four new items that will accompany me, I keep discovering new clothing that brings to mind both the epic offshore and inshore fisheries that await me.

When I interviewed FisheWear founder Linda Leary a few months back, she hinted that despite the fact that she lives in a state with no reproducing population of bass, my beloved largemouth was the next fish on her design schedule. Well, she’s brought out a new “Basstacular” collection and it exceeds expectations.

We’ve already told you how to spruce up your look with billfish-themed shirts, shorts and neckties. Now we’ll help you complete the look with matching socks.

If you’d told me 20 years ago that fishing would become a huge part of my life I would’ve laughed, but it has. It has been integral to boosting my confidence and my skill set. The memories we’ve made and the artifacts we’ve collected are the evidence of lives well-lived….and we want you to join us.

I’ve repeatedly made it clear that fishing the flats for giant trevally with big poppers is at the top of the top of my list of bucket list experiences. Until then (or perhaps never) I will not be getting a GT tattoo, nor will I be spending a thousand bucks apiece on high-quality popping rods and reels – but a hat might be a more reasonable expenditure.

Sometimes a simple photo is the best way to memorialize your great fishing adventure. The Robbins household is loaded with simple framed pics, and my home office in particular is running out of wall space. In many cases, a plain frame is the best way to display them, but with a little bit of effort it’s possible to spruce things up with something special.

I’ve worn a tie for more hours than many of you have been alive. I’m neither proud nor ashamed of that fact – it’s the price I’ve paid to earn certain things I want, like Japanese crankbaits and trips to the Amazon.

I am now a complete yellowfin tuna obsessive, twitchy over how long it’s going to take to get back and chase them again. They’re that cool, not least of all because they go crazy on the surface, corralling bait and tearing up the water. Since we’ve gotten back I’ve dug deep into every tackle, gear and location rabbit hole I can find, and I’ve also explored the lighter side of these marvelous fish.

The lede to Monte Burke’s “Lords of the Fly” is that tarpon are a fish that have befuddled everyone from Hall of Fame ballpayers to gangsters to business titans to dilletantes since the time of Michelangelo, if not earlier. The more significant message, however, is that the fish don’t give a fuck who you are. If they had middle fingers to give, they’d shoot two of them in all of their suitors’ directions.

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.

I typically don’t eat desserts but I always save room for tres leches cake when I am fishing at Anglers Inn. “Tres Leches,” which means “Three Milks,” is a rich, fluffy creation found in just about every Mexican restaurant. Tres Leches is a celebration cake, a must have during birthdays, graduations and even weddings – or to celebrate lobina grande. Here’s how I made it at home.

Two years ago I shipped home 50 pounds of incredible halibut from Alaska, and on last year’s trip back we checked through two boxes of salmon as luggage coming home. We use it to stock our freezer, bribe our friends, and remind us of good times in faraway places. For my money, though, there’s no fish as good as sushi-grade tuna.

At this point in time, all of the pictures and fishy art may be what’s holding our house together. Between actual photographs, canvas prints, fiberglass fish reproductions and other knickknacks, our walls floweth over. Still, we keep having more great adventures that we want to memorialize.

While they’re not necessarily big in our home waters of the bass fishing world, as we’ve delved more and more into saltwater fishing we’ve seen an increasing number of anglers on the boat in boardshorts. The billfish “critter shorts” that you wear to dinner may be stylish, but you don’t want to get them covered in the blood of a gaffed yellowfin.

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.

For most American anglers peacock bass are a logical stepping-off point into the Amazon. They’re certainly a worthy adversary, but the WWF estimates that there are 3,000+ species of fish in the Amazon region, so if peacocks are the only thing you catch you are not even scratching the surface of the region’s potential. As demonstrated by the “Fishes of Amazonia” poster by Ray Troll, there are all sorts of exotic creatures to catch.

In case you’re not a member of the country club set or a lacrosse bro, you might not be aware that “critter shorts” are an actual category of clothing. As the name suggests, they are shorts (often, but not exclusively khaki) with repeating sequences of animals or objects across them.

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.

We’ve gone twice to Casa Vieja Lodge to target sailfish (and perhaps marlin), but one nice aspect of the fishery is that there are various other species to catch, whether intentionally or unintentionally. If you’re fortunate to catch a mahi or tuna in the morning, you can eat it minutes later.