All Soul's Fishing

It has been a while since our last visit to Zambales. I was longing to use my kayak and visit my old Dalag spot. Once my kids had their school break, I also filed for vacation so I can take some time off from work. It was a perfect opportunity because there was no work on election day and also on the following Monday because it was All Soul's day.

On our way, we spent the night in Olongapo to meet up with the in-laws. It was still dark when I sneaked out for some quick fish just before we start our drive to Zamba. Somewhere in the shallows in Malawaan, I noticed a big shool of fish. It appeared like a school of travallies chasing baitfish. I casted a shallow diver onto the shool and cranked. After a few casts, It was fish on. It really felt like a trevally when it pulled line. When I landed it, it wasn't a trevally but a milkfish which was fould hooked on its back. It wasn't really sporting, but heck, it's still a fish and they were nice sized too. I repeated casting into the school and managed to catch 2 more until the school swam to deeper water.

When we got to Zamba, It was already late in the afternoon. No fishing yet but I managed to scout my old Haruan spot. I was hoping that after the rains, the marsh would have recovered from the drought last summer. Unfortunately, it was still dry in most places. The marsh that was previously waist deep in water, still is practically dry with some areas where water has accumulated. I went around the spot to check if Haruans started populating the place. They have but, unfortunately, they were just still too small for my lures. I was able to hook up one about five inches. I guess that I still need another year before they mature. I hope more rains would come and submerge the marsh some more.

The next day, I went out with my kayak and did some top water fishing. It was a really relaxing trip just before daylight. Nobody around but you, your kayak, and birds of different colors and sizes. I wasn't really expecting anything to catch something because the it wasn't the right tide. Still a mangrove jack managed to snatch my lure.

Last Sunday, I went to Masinloc and kayaked near the powerplant. It has a really nice potential but it appears to be heavily fished. When I got there, there were many motorized bancas fishing the area. The bay was also littered with floating fish cages. Not wanting to spoil the trip, I decided to hug the breakwaters and try my luck on squids using squid jigs from master bong. No luck on the squids so I decided to try my trusted top water lures. Fortunately, I managed to catch a familiar quary -- another mangrove jack.

The (Lady) Fish Got Even

I wasn't able to shake off the memory of a Lady Fish's blistering run a couple of weeks back so I went for another shot at it this weekend. I was hoping to get one to bite on topwater ... hopefully something bigger.

I woke up early hoping I could get to the spot really early. Had coffee and then turned on the computer to check my mails. It was a really bad move. Instead of just checking my emails, I strayed to Filang's forum, checked what's hot in Tacklewarehouse, checked some stuff in eBay. Before I knew it, it was already past seven. Took a quick shower and left. I just grabbed the first rod that I saw from my rack. I then drove TO McDonalds and grabbed something to eat. Had my breakfast while on my way to the spot.

It was already past 8 when I started fishing. Tried my Rapala Countdown for a while but no takers. I switched to my Lucky Japeks Craft Sammy and casted as far as can. I twitched the lure thrice and then BAM! The strike was massive followed by a lightning run. It was Huge! Without blinking, I set the hook. CRACK!!! WTF, the rod broke on the 3rd guide from the top. The fish felt the hook and dashed away from me. It was really fast! Before it gets near the snags, I used my thumb on the spool to slow the fish. It got really mad and jumped really high. It was huge! bigger than my last catch. When the fish hit the water, CRACK!!!. The rod broke again from the middle part. DANG!

I was shocked and completely held on the spool. The fish jumped once more and because there is no more rod to break its tension, the hook pulled out. I was shaking. The fish owned me! DANG! Lesson learned, don't bring a knife to a gunfight! It was home made rod. I got the blank really cheap from one of the tackle shops near my place. It was no match to that fish.

I saw Millard from the other side. We both laughed at what happened. I said to myself. No way, it's still early. I need a rematch. So drove back to my house to get another rod. By 9:30, I got back and re-rigged my reel and the St. Croix rod. First cast, big strike! Unfortunately, the fish didn't hit the lure. After that, no more strikes. It was as if they disappeared all of a sudden. I stayed until 5pm. Since the last strike, we didn't get a single bite.

I just have to accept it, the fish got even.

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Update: 9/11/2010

I went to the place once more hoping to get the Lady fish to bite. But instead of a Lady Fish, I caught a Haruan on WTD lure. This explains the short strikes. They were haruans, not Lady Fishes. I will go back one of these days and see if the resident Ladies would bite.

An Unusual Catch

It was one of those days when I really wanted to go fishing. But on the last minute, I was having second thoughts. Upon waking up, I was not really excited. I was supposed to leave early but ended up leaving almost 9am and the sun was really up. So much for the early bird. The chances of getting a bite was not really high at that time of day.

Anyway, I still left and drove to the fishing spot. To make matters worse, it started to rain. Oh well, I said to myself, this trip might end early. But then, just as quickly as it started, the rain stopped and the fishes started biting. Not just ordinary fishes ... judging from the splashes, they are really big ones. A fellow angler lost one while trying to land it. Lady Fish! Big ones! Since then, everything got really interesting.

Unfortunately, the bites were short. Just a few minutes and they stopped all of a sudden. You can see some of their fins breaking the surface. I decided to wait for one to swim within casting distance. After a while, one broke surface around 30 yards from me,  I made a cast about a yard ahead of it and then cranked my Shad Rap. Hook up! The fish went berserk! It sprinted like there's not tomorrow. My reel had a hard time stopping it as it dashed straight to the piles of bamboos. When almost 60 yards of line was taken, I tightened the drag to prevent it from spooling me. Because of the tightened drag, the fish took to the air. Unfortunately, the line got caught on a floating bamboo and the fish was able to break free. It's a good thing I didn't lose the lure. Oh man!  the run was so exciting. It was like a milk fish on steroids!

After lunch, one of the guys who was with us caught one. His line wrapped around the fish's head. After a long time trying to land it, the fish was netted. A 2.5kg. Awesome!

I waited once more for something to break surface. Then I saw one surfaced on the other side. I hurriedly ran to that direction and readied my Shad Rap. When I got to the spot, it was gone. I just stood there and waited. Then just around 10 yards from me, it again broke surface. I hurriedly casted just a few feet from its head. Pow! Fish on! It was the most exciting run that I have ever endured. An 8kg Barra is no match to this freight train. Good thing I set my drag a little higher. The fish jumped a couple of times and then it lost steam. Thank god for Carbontex!

I called for one of the guys for a net. But just before the net arrived, I got so worried that I will lose the fish because I saw that my Shad Rap wasn't hooked to the fish at all! My lure snagged the double-lined heavy mono which was hooked into the fish! It was incredible! The hook held even when the fish jumped twice and sprinted for around 50 yards.

I grabbed my leader and heaved the fish into land. But before it touched land, the hook came off. I was lucky the fish was so tired. I grabbed its gills and heaved it into the bank.

A 3.8kg Lady Fish caught on lure even when it wasn't biting.