It's the day before New Year. I decided go out one last time before 2011 ends. I wanted to fish really early to catch the outgoing tide but too much beer and the cold made me want to stay in bed a little longer. My original plan of 4am fishing became 6am. Still, it was a bit dark and I was hoping the jacks would still be out playing.
Lucky me, after paddling for 15 minutes, I got a fish on my second cast and then another 5 minutes later. They were not too big but perfect for steaming. But then the locals noticed the commotion and decided to park their boats near me and started chatting. As soon as they started asking questions, the bite died down. I am not sure but the jacks seem to notice if there are people around. They are also shy when the sun started to shine.
Thinking that the fishing was over, I paddled back upstream to my launch point. On the way back, I stopped near a fallen log and casted one more time before calling it a day. It's a good thing I did, As soon as the lure touched the water, a fish slammed it. Two hours of fishing and I managed to catch 3 jacks. My last three fishes for the year.
Alex
ReplyDeleteAlex
Just spent the last 90 minutes trawling your blog. Loved the fishing reports/footage and found the reel servicing posts informative. I wish I had the confidence to service and upgrade my own reel.
Cheers,
Aussie Nick (you may not rememeber me - but you gave me a jump start on at Subic Malawayan a couple of years back)
Hi Nick,
ReplyDeleteThanks. Yup, I remember you. :-)
How are you doing? Are you back in PH?
Alex
Dear Alex,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the advice you were able to give my friend and I last year on fishing at Aling NeNe's as well as around Luzon. I am still in pursuit of an apahap on fly at aling nene's. I got a really good strike last time and was dismayed when the fish popped off after about 15 seconds or so...Never even got a glimpse of her...
However, my friend and I are now really interested in doing some fishing up in Subic and we are in desperate need of your advice. While we know that fishing there would certainly not be a numbers game, we are hoping to gain some insight from you on the best chances we might have to hook up. If I may, I have the following questions.
- What areas within Subic are best suited/most productive when it comes to kayaking and casting for mangrove jacks, talakitok, potential wild apahap, and other predatory species?
- Are fishable kayaks readily available for rent close to these areas/any types of features we should look for during this style of fishing?
- What species could we expect to encounter/what types of lures would you recommend? I know you are a fan of topwaters, but would you opt for any other styles as well, or even soft plastics?
- Do you ever move out of the estuaries and backish areas to troll with your kayak in the bay/over reefs in search of GT's or other fish? Would you recommend fishing the bay over delta and estuary areas?
I don't mean to bombard you with all of these questions. I sincerely appreciate any/all of the help you could offer us for this trip. Again, great work up here on your site and keep the posts coming. I hope this message finds you well and look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Miguel
Hi Miguel,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delayed reply. The barras in Aling Nene's pond are timid lately and refuses to bite. Small orange or fire tiger lures are the ticket if you decide to go back. Slow retrieves near the banks.
- What areas within Subic are best suited/most productive when it comes to kayaking and casting for mangrove jacks, talakitok, potential wild apahap, and other predatory species?
There are a lot of productive areas there but most of them are restricted. If you are on a kayak, Malawaan can really produce big fishes. But the timing is crucial. An incoming tide 3 days before or after the full moon/new moon is a good start. Night fishing is also the best option. Day time is not productive, unless it is a stormy weather, with muddy stained water mixing with clear seawater.
- Are fishable kayaks readily available for rent close to these areas/any types of features we should look for during this style of fishing?
In baywalk, they rent out kayaks but I am not sure if these are suited for fishing. It's far from the fishing areas but I guess you can fish near the launch point.
- What species could we expect to encounter/what types of lures would you recommend? I know you are a fan of topwaters, but would you opt for any other styles as well, or even soft plastics?
Soft plastics are effective. If you are fishing from a kayak, trolling cd11 or 14 is also effective.
- Do you ever move out of the estuaries and backish areas to troll with your kayak in the bay/over reefs in search of GT's or other fish? Would you recommend fishing the bay over delta and estuary areas?
I tried fishing malawaan, the open areas and trolled husky jerks and it was really effective. I got some m.jacks and jack crevalles. The problem is that barracudas love to whack these lures and the likelihood of losing them or getting the expensive lures destroyed is high.