Marinduque Holy Week Eging Run

It has been two (2) years since we went home to Marinduque. This year's Holy Week we decided to go home to check our small cottage by the shore and visit my parents. It was also my chance to try some serious eging using a Kayak.

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.

Eging (Squid Fishing) in Subic

Together with my wife, kids, and our dog, we visited my father-in-law in Subic last weekend. My other agenda was also to do some eging. My goal was to visit my father in law, drop off my kids and wife, have lunch and be in the fishing spot by 1pm until 3pm -- the perfect time for eging according to the tide table.

We left Manila at around 8am, reached Subic and 10:30 and then did our visit. But then, I was requested to do some other errands, like buying a beach chair --- I was using my trusted pickup truck where the chair will fit. Anyway, after so much running around Subic, I finally was able to reach the spot at around 1:30. Not too bad. But then, the wind was howling and I have been getting a lot of wind knots on my spinning reel. After a lot of clipping line (I had to reduce the amount of braid to prevent back lashes), I was able to get some eging action.

First lure, a size 2.5 blue Yozuri lure, which was my favorite. Four or five casts later, I snagged an abandoned fishing net. Poachers! After tugging the lure to unfree it, the jags pulled from the body of the lure. It can still be salvaged, a thick coat of epoxy should fix it. I tied on a Yamashita in Pink. Size 3.0. The sink rate was about 3sec/meter which was ok. After about half a dozen casts, I got a take. It's a good sized squid, probably 250gms. I had no net at that time and when I lifted the squid, the lure pulled free and the squid fell on a rock near the water. It gave a big push by squirting water and ink and it managed to land on the water and escape.

Anyway, at least I know that pink was the color they like. Tried a few more casts and a got solid take while the jig was almost near the surface. It was a strong pull and I knew it was a bigger squid. I can hear my reel's drag clicking. By the way, when eging, you need to set the drag low so when you get a strike, and make a hook set, the jig will not rip the tentacles out from the squid. Unknown to me, there were three small kids watching me as I was eging. When I lifted the squid from the water, it made a really strong squirt of water and ink into the sky that it literally rained with blank ink. The kids ran screaming while trying to avoid getting inked. It was hilarious.

I went on with casting until 3pm and lost the pink Yamashita jig due to a snag. I also lost a JDM jig due to a snag. I plan on getting cheaper jigs so that I when I lose them, it wouldn't be too expensive.

Upgrading a Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker

I got a really good deal on a Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker from eBay. I really wanted this reel since two years ago but wasn't able to afford one. Luckily, bidding was not that aggressive so the price was kept low.

Like all Daiwa Zillions, the Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker need to have the basic upgrade to super-tune it. Among these upgrades are Carbontex Drag upgrade, worm gear bearing, and a JDM swept handle so that you can put 4 ball bearings on them. The US version has riveted paddles. This means that there is no way to remove the paddles to replace the bushings. But because the replacement handle is too expensive ($100+), it will take some time before I get to purchase one. By the way, if you will use the reel in saltwater most of the time, it is actually better to have a bushing in the paddles. If you want bearings, you need to have the ones with extra protection from salt (CRBB bearing). Those bearings are not cheap. Each will cost you Php600 each. That's Php 600 x 4pcs = 2400 or $50. For the meantime, a carbontex upgrade and worm gear bearing would do.

The Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker is the most powerful Zillion because of its gears. It has a 4.9:1 gear ratio that is built for deep diving crankbaits and heavy bottom baits/lures. I decided to get the Crazy Cranker for heavy plastic swimbaits, big spoons, madai, and tenya jigs in Saltwater. Because all Zillions are equipped with corrosion resistant bearings, using them in salt is not a problem.

The Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker Gear Set. From the size of the teeth, you will know that this reel is all about power.

Due to the slow gearing, it's a bit painful to use on top water fishing such as frog fishing and WTD lures. The solution is to get a 6.3:1 gear set and pop it in when you need it --- It's like having two reels for a price of one. For this article, I will be upgrading the gears to 6.3 and the drag washers to Carbontex. The worm gear bearing that I currently have is "geary" (not smooth) so I decided to skip this for the meantime. By the way, it's 5x8x2.5 in size in case you would like to know.

I got the JDM Zillion HLA 6.3 gear set from Plat.co.jp. Plat is my favorite online parts seller for Japanese reels. They have excellent customer service and they will go the extra mile to get what you need. I highly recommend this store.

Parts from Plat. Excuse the discoloration in the gears. I have been using this gear for a few weeks before I took the pictures.

I also got Carbontex Washers from Smoothdrag.com. Actually, this was for my TDA 4000 Spinning reel. The size was pretty close so I decided to try it for the meantime.

To get started, remove the side plates, the retainer screw, the handle nut, the handle, the drag star, the clicker assembly and the tension springs.

Then remove the three screws holding the handle-side sideplate. After doing so, pull out the big bearing near the shaft and then remove the side plate.

Next, remove the old 4.9 gear and drag assembly and the Yoke and Yoke springs. The pinion should come out together with it. Here is what I will be replacing. The felt drag washer and the powerful 4.9 gearing.

Pop in the 6.3 Gears, the carbontex washers, and then reinstall the yoke and yoke springs with the 6.3 Pinion. Once done, oil and grease the parts and then install them back on and you are done.

Now, what can I say about the Daiwa Zillion PA/PLA Crazy Cranker? Simply, amazing! It's smooth, very powerful, and it's an excellent caster. The Magforce Z brake is fantastic and I can cast against the wind without problems. The internals are top notch. The only plastic part inside is the yoke and it appears that there are no cast aluminum parts inside it, almost all are either brass or stainless steel. It's saltwater safe. So far, after a month of use, no corrosion issues.

When I am going fishing for mangrove jacks or threadfin salmon using topwater, I pop in the 6.3 gears. When I need to go bottom fishing using madai or inchiku or even big spoons, I install the 4.9 gears. No need to buy two identical reels with different gears.

I was asked earlier why I chose 6.3:1 instead of 7.3:1 gears. The 6.3:1 is a general purpose gear. Not too fast, not too slow, and most specially with enough torque. I believe that whenever you increase the gear speed, the torque of the reel goes down. I have tried the 7.1 gears from Curado and from other Daiwa reels and the torque was not for me.

Next upgrade is a Worm Gear bearing and hopefully a 4-bearing handle.