Long Overdue Kayak Upgrade

I love my Ocean Kayak Scrambler 11. It served me well and I really enjoyed fishing with it. But the time has come to venture out to open water. Although I can fish the Scrambler in the ocean, it takes a bit of effort  when the water is not calm.

So I sold it with all the accessories and got my self a new kayak-- An Ocean Kayak Prowler 13.

To make it a more able fishing machine for open water, I also bought a Garmin Echo 500c Fishfinder. I have not tried fishing with it. I still don't have a decent paddle. I am eyeing a 220cm paddle with a slim Carbon shaft. Aside from that, I still need to make a few paddle and rod leashes and an anchor trolley.

My goal is to use this kayak for madai, inchiku, and light jigs.I hope the fishfinder can help me with this.

It already has a couple flush mount rod holder.

The fish finder is ready but I have not installed it yet. I got me a 12v 7.2Ah SLA battery. Still need to glue the transducer into the scupper for transducers - a nice feature of this kayak model.

The bow storage is huge. I can fit camping gear inside.

Summer Time is Eging Time (Squid Fishing)

Summer in the Philippines has a somewhat negative effect in fishing from my experience. Predators that regularly patrol coastal areas seem to avoid the coast and stay in deeper waters. Perhaps to get out of the heat or probably they are extra wary because in most areas the water is clearer than usual during summer.
Because fishing seems to slow down during summer, the alternative is to chase after other readily available targets such as squids.
Squids are abundant in the country and has no special season. They are mostly caught by coastal fishermen using line and home made lures. They usually drag the lure from their boat while paddling slowly. In almost every area where squid fishing is practiced, fishermen go after them at night -- particularly when the moon is bright. They are not aware that they can just as easily be caught during day time --- but with a bit special gear and technique.
In a recent trip to the north, fishing for coastal predators was extremely slow. It's a good thing I also brought my eging outfit with a bunch of squid lures. I an hour or so, I managed to catch four good sized squids. One of them is more than half a kilo. I only managed to take pics of 2.

Testing K'S Labo and Daiwa Sol on Barramundi

This afternoon, I went to the School of Fish  fishing pond North of Manila to test a bass rodthat I recently acquired. The rod is KS Labo Lakeforce Stage 604MH. My intention was to know how sensitive the rod was -- in preparation for a future Bass  trip. The rod was perfect for my Daiwa Sol.

I arrived at the pond at around 2:30pm. I actually wished that I could fish for the whole day but that was my only available free time.

Anyway, my luck picked up on that day. The pond residents were very eager to play that day. After a few hours, I was able to land 3 barras.

Barra 1. Around 2kgs




Barra 2. Around 3.5 my guestimate


Barra 3. Should reach around 3kg 


All Barramundis were released with no more than minor scars and bruised egos. 

The rod and reel were perfect and I was more than happy with their performance. The rod was very sensitive. I was able to feel every bump  and taps from the pesky tilapias on my jerkbait. To be honest, I never had a more sensitive rod than this. I believe the rod will be a winner in bottom contact fishing (t-rigs) for Bass. I can't wait for my next bass trip -- on a kayak.