We arrived early last Saturday, March 31 and I wasted no time and prepped my Kayak then went for a test eging run on a reef in front of our house just before dusk. Local fishers saw me with the rod and reel with the squid jig at the end of the line and they insisted that I should wait when it's night time. According to them, that's the only time you can catch squid. After fifteen minutes or so, I got a keeper. It was around 250gms. The local fishos were surprised with the catch. It confirms my suspicions that the squids in the area are not getting too much pressure from local fishermen. The locals, as in most parts of the country, only go after squid at night and when there is a bright moonlight. The rest of the day, they are just by-catch from nets.
The following day, I went out with my Kayak very early at around 5 in the morning. Instead of trying the reef in front of the house, I decided to venture farther north to the next reef area where there's deeper water and lots of big rocks in the bottom. It took me almost half an hour before I caught a squid. Almost the same size as yesterday's catch. I then paddled near the shore where the water was about 5 feet deep and fan casted for around another half hour. Then a solid hit. I knew at once based on the way the squid pulled, it was a biggie. I was surprised to experience a squid pulling drag. I had to tighten my drag a bit to get it near the boat. It squirted a lot of ink and the deck of my kayak was all coated in black. When I lifted it, it was huge. It was a kilo in weight give or take a few grams. It was awesome. It was my biggest squid so far. The rod was superb and the reel was perfect for the job. After landing the big one, I decided to paddle back and have some breakfast of fresh squid on grill.
The next day, I went out again in the morning but instead of going out early, I was able to paddle out to the reef at around eight in the morning. The previous spot was being combed by spear fishers so I decided to move to another spot in the south. It was not as big a reef as the ones where I caught the two squids the previous day but it was good enough for squid I guess. True enough, I got a couple nice squids. A 250 and a 200.
In the afternoon, I went out again on the same spot. It was a bit windy but the current was flowing so I figured, the squids might be active. I tried a few egi in the size 2.5 but no takers. I switched to a 3.0 in blue and got this nice moma. Its around 3/4 kg in my estimate.
After the bounty of the previous days, the squids were nowhere to be found except for a few small ones. It was when the moon was almost full and the locals said that it is the time where these critters are most active. My suspicion is that the squids have gotten their fill of prey at night and are no longer feeding in the morning.
This morning, on our way back to Manila, while waiting for the ferry to leave, I decided to do some eging in the pier. It was 4 in morning and the ferry will not leave until 6:30. I also noticed that the moon was still up and bright. I casted the lure near the waiting ferry. No followers or takers. I transferred to a well lit area in the dock and casted as far as I can on the edge of the lighted area. As soon as the lure hits the water, I got a hit. It was also big, probably half a kilo.
My fishing goal of eging in Marinduque was a success. Looking forward to the next vacation. I heard that during December, squids are considerably bigger. Some even reaching 2 kgs. Wow! That, I got to see.
