Revisiting Irving's Pond

We revisited Irving's pond this weekend. We had a small bet on who can catch the biggest Haruan from 7am-11am. Winner take's all. The initial pot was 200 per person. Unfortunately, only 5 of us was able to join.

Anyway, even though there were only 5 of us, we went on and fished for half a day. The bite was really slow that day. Obet, Alan, and Irving decided to go for Tilapia's instead. Me and Gil went on fishing. Just a couple of minutes before 11am, Gil landed the winning Haruan -- actually the only fish caught during the contest period. It was a 2.15kg beauty. It could be one of the fishes caught during the previous tournament.

After some photos and a few minutes of fishing, we had lunch and tried out some fly fishing.

I really had a hard time with the fly. The line keeps getting tangled on some brush on the ground. I should have gotten myself a stripping basket or a pail. After countless snags on the ground, I decided to quit and go back to BC fishing for Haruan. But despite the snags, I really enjoyed casting the fly rod. It must be the sound of the fly line zipping back and forth that's really captivating.

At around 3pm, I finally was able to catch a Haruan. It was a 1.8kg.

All fishes were released.

As always, Irving was a generous host. He had his staff prepare our lunch and drinks. He even gave me a lip grip as a gift. That's the floating lip grip that we are using in the photos. Those things are really awesome. Very light and doesn't have parts that will rust. Plus, it floats. The grip is 10x better than those metal grips that I have tried. The "teeth" doesn't injure the fish. I highly recommend it. Thanks again, Irving.

Another Quickie in Coloong

At around 8am, I went to Aling Nene's Pond to try my luck on their Haruans and Barras. No luck on either one. I wanted to stay but there were not enough casting areas because there were a lot of anglers fishing for bangus.

It was still early (10am) and I still wanted to fish so I decided to transfer to Kapitan Larry's to try the lawak once more.

After getting off the ferry, I immediately casted and got a nice reward on my first spot. It's a fat 1.3kg Haruan. It made a hard strike on my Ayu swimbait with blade.

I went on and casted around the banks using the same lure. I got another one. This time it was a smaller specimen. Less than a kilo, give or take. I really wanted a Barra but I was distracted by the Haruans. Maybe on my next trip, I will focus on the Barra. Now I know for sure that there are still barras there because one of the anglers that morning got a hookup on an estimated 5kg barra. Before they were able to net it, it snapped their line. Sayang!

Just before 1pm, I decided to call it a day.

Quick Fix in Coloong

Our trip to Lakeshore did not push through. Even the planned recon trip somewhere in Pampanga, around 50 kms from Manila did not push through. It's a Sunday and I had nowhere to go. I just couldn't let the day pass without wetting my line.

So I decided to go to Valenzuela. At first, the plan was to check out Tagalag. I have been hearing a lot about Barramundis on one of the ponds and a rumored catch of Toman's on one of the rivers there. IT was almost 9am when I hurriedly drove to the said location. Alas, when I got there, all the waters around Tagalag are "owned", meaning every inch of water is now staked and bounded by nets. There not a single free area where I can cast without paying. When I got to Llenado's Pond. I was politely turned away. I was told that their stocks are quite small and it's a waste of time fishing there. So, the rumor about Barramundis and Tomans, are really rumors.  

So, no choice but to go to Kapitan Larry's to pass the time. I can't let a good fishing visa go to waste. 

I was not expecting to catch anything there. I was told the week before that they electro-fished the area to rid them of Haruans. Barras are also gone due to the Ondoy flooding. Still, I thought the river on the edge of the ponds may hold something promising.

When I got there, there was not much anglers around. The worst part is there was not a single bite for the next two hours or so. Instead of fishing the pond, I targeted the river on the edge of the pond. Nada! Then I saw a couple of boats rigged for electro fishing. They were electrocuting the damn stretch of the river. It's bad enough that the river is polluted, they even made it worse by doing illegal fishing.  @%#$@%#^!


Anyway, when the ferryboat passed by my spot, I signaled the pilot to fetch me on his next trip. While waiting, I went back to casting. This time, I casted on the pond's edge. After around 30 or 40 casts, I got one. It was a mad Haruan and it made several jumps before I got to land it. It swallowed my pogy with spinner. A very lucky fish, considering the electrocutioners combed the pond the week before. This 1.1kg fish deserved to be free.