1st Filipino Angler's Group Fish-In, January 20, 2007 - Laiya, Batangas

Thirteen anglers from the Filipino Anglers' Forum http://www.mfbb.net/filipinoanglers/filipinoanglers.html set out to Laiya, Batangas for the 1st Filipino Angler's Group Fish-In Event.

Call time was 2:30am at the Shell station in The Fort. Everyone was so excited that everyone was there before 2:30am. I arrived last and just shortly after, 3 cars set out and convoy to Lipa, Batangas were we will be meeting other anglers.

We arrived too early at Lipa, we were expecting to reach Lipa by 5:00am but we were there by 4:00. It was a good time to stop over and have breakfast. I filled myself with a Tocilog and two cups of Barako Coffee.

Arriving at Laiya by 6:00am, we were able to catch a good glimpse of the sunrise. Without wasting time, all thirteen of us were getting ready. After a quick pause for a photo op, we all set sail for deep sea fishing.

I was lucky enough to be a boat buddy with JR (1st person on the left). He is an experienced angler, fishing the deep sea for a couple of years already and has joined several fishing competition. His expertise is a welcome help to a newbie angler like me.

Our boatman was Mang Gilbert. Initially, we were telling him what we wanted to do but he had this attitude problem and does things his way. We only had 6-inch ballyhoos as bait, but he insisted that we get fresh squid as bait. After getting half a kilo of squid ( actually if looked more like 1/3 kilo), we set out to the open sea.

Mang Gilbert's Dorado Fishing Technique:

On the way to our fishing spot, Mang Gilbert looked at our terminal tackle, we were basically armed with wire leaders and plugs but he quickly told us to bring out 1/0 or 3/0 hooks, swivels and thin mono. I handed over a 1/0 pioneer stainless steel hook, a 25lb mono and a 60lb swivel to Mang Gilbert and he rigged out a meter long line with a hook on one end and a swivel on the other and hooked a fresh squid on the body. He told us that he will do a slow troll around bouys and we should troll a our line around 10-15 meters out, with open spool and the line resting on our fore fingers. Once we feel a bite (the line would literally slide itself from your finger), wait for 3-5 seconds then close the spool and jerk the rod to set the hook.

The Dorado's bite:

JR had the first bite but he was over eager and closed the spool too early and failed to set the hook. But on the second bite, he was able to set the hook! The water splashed and there it was, a good sized Dorado dancing on top of the water. A short 5-10 minute fight and we boated our first catch for the day.

I didn't have luck on the 1st and 2nd bouy . The first bite came on the third bouy, I made the same mistake as what JR did, closing the spool too early and ended up losing the fish. JR was fighting a dorado that time so I quicky rigging the squid and cast it out. Just a few seconds after the bait hit the water, I felt the like tug away from my fingers. Conciously, I counted one...... two..... three.. four.. five. snaped the spool back and snaped the rod back and Boom! I saw a Dorado leap out from the water as it went back in the water, my reel was screetching hard (I forgot to set the drag hehehe.. ). I slowly increased the drag on my reel while keeping a good steady pull on the rod. The dorado did not want to give up the fight, he was still rolling and leaping. Mang Gilbert motioned me to reel it in, but I was a little hessistant since I only had a 24lb line and my rod by bent hard. I slowly pulled back and reeled in.. pulled back and reeled in and after a few minutes, Mang Gilbert gaffed a good sized dorado. Woohooo!

We went from bouy after bouy, JR landed another but no luck for me. There was this one bouy that we had so much luck. JR set a dorado and shortly after, I felt a bite! We landed two fish and circled the bouy again and again, both JR and I got a bite. I think we chanced upon a school of dorados. Cast.. bite... set... fight.. land.. cast... bite.. set.. fight.. land.. DAMN, it was dorado frenzy! There were a couple of times that I would feel a bite.. set the hook and after the initial dance of the fish, the line would go slack.. buggers! : It was almost noon time when the dorado fenzy ended, we headed back to shore for lunch. I opened the cooler and counted 9 dorados all in all. I was pondering why I lost a couple of strikes and then I noticed that JR was using a bigger sized hook, probably around 2/0 or 3/0 size. Lesson of the day, use 3/0 hooks to ensure a good set.

On the way back to shore, JR was telling me that he was intrigued on how the others fared. Upon arriving the shore, we were surprized that we landed the most number of fish and the others,unfortunately, didn't fare too well..

After lunch, everyone was eager to set out to sea again. JR decided that we go trolling, which Mang Gilbert agreed to. From the boat dock, we set up our trolling lure with wire leaders. JR had a CD15 Rapala and I had a Storm Deep Thunder 15. We trolled towards Locoloco Pt and beyond.. admiring the great view of the widestretch beach front while waiting for a bite. I was telling JR that I'm happy even to watch an experienced angler fight it out with a real game fish. Past Locoloco Pt., JR's reel started to scream. Mang Gilbert shouted.. ISDA! ISDA! JR immediately pulled out his rod from the holder and reeled it in. The lure was running deep into the water and we couldn't see it nor a fish. When the lure eventually appeared, no fish. It could have been just a snag or a big one that got away. :( Mang Gilbert steered the bangka and trolled the other way around. I was wary that my line or my rod will break because even while trolling, my 8-ft Pioneer ULUA rod was really bent over and my Tica Streamstar LT4500 reel was set at 1 click below 100% drag and it was a great time to change lures. I rigged two plastic squid with a 3oz diving sinker. I can almost hear my tackle say thank you to me.. hehehe. We trolled towards the other side of Siguyan bay and still no luck. On our third pass, I changed lures again and used a smaller plug, a "Sucker" Storm Deep Thunder 11.

Landing the Trevally:

Trolling is a very anxious way of fishing, you can troll for hours and not get any bite. After getting bored and it seemed that trolling was not in any way productive and I was tempted to tell JR that we'll try jigging or bottom fishing instead. The humming of the bangka's motor and the up-down motion of the sea is very condusive to sleep. I was dozing off in the bangka, near Malagundi Pt, I was awoke with the voice of Mang Gilbert and JR shouting "ISDA, ISDA!" At first, I looked at JR's reel to see if it was running. It wasn't and when I looked at my reel, it was the one screaming. I took hold of the rod and I didn't know what to do.. do I reel it in? increase the drag? what? Instinct told me to let it run a little while slowly pulling the rod back and see if I can reel it in. I was too eager to land the fish and few minutes later, I decided to increase the drag and slowly reel it in. The rod was heavy when I pulled it back, pushed forward while reeling in, pull back, push forward reel in. After several push-pull-reel, the fish surfaced and it was a trevally! Mang Gilbert exclaimed "talakitok... talakitok!" When he landed the fish, it was a good sized one and my grin was bigger than ever.

A HUGE WAHOO!

After that adrenalin rush, we went back trolling again and JR changed his lure to smaller one, a rapalla CD11. It was again, a long troll... The sun was already near the horizon when my reel screamed again. I had a hard time getting the rod off the holder and as it was really heavy, I almost lost my footing in doing so. Again, I let it run for while then pulled-pushed-reel in. A few meters from the boat, it appeared.. A HUGE WAHOO! (actually it was not that huge, a 8lb one, but to me it was.. hehehe). I had a hard time controlling the fish, it was moving left and right of the boat and under it. Mang Gilbert was looking after the line so that it doesn't get snagged the propeller and lose the fish. The fish suddenly swam towards the front of the boat. JR was nearer to the rear of the boat asked for the rod. He literally dunked the rod underwater to control the fish. Many thanks to JR for the help, if not for his instinct, I would have lost the fish. Finally we landed the fish... hehehe.. my biggest catch ever, an 8lb WAHOO ( ok, I mentioned it already earlier.. sorry) or should I say our biggest catch since it took alot help from JR. Thanks again Bro!

A Bill fish? In your dreams bro.

After that 2nd adrenaline rush, Mang Gilbert decided to call it a day. Since we were still in the deep, we still had our trolling lures out. We noticed that my rod suddenly went slack and there was a short scream at the reel then it stopped. We all though it was just a snag or something and didn't mind it at all. We continued to troll for a few minutes when Mang Gilbert told us to reel in our lures since we were nearing shallow water already. I reeled in my lure and I noticed that it was heavy. A fish? Nah.. it wasn't my birthday that day to get too lucky. Although while reeling in, I noticed that it suddenly it went light. Ok, no fish.

While reading the net, I read something about Bill Fishes and Sail fishes. One website mentioned that when trolling for bill fish or sail fish, be observant of the rod and reel for a quick slack and short scream. When it does, one should set the hook by tugging the rod hard. Bill fishes are known to hit the fish first with their bill before lunging forward and swallowing the prey. After swallowing the prey, they don't usually swim back to the opposite direction and continue on swimming in the same direction.

Could I have gotten a bite from a bill fish? I guess I'll never know now. Better go back to Laiya and try my luck again. hehehe.. 2nd round gentlemen?

My catch for the day, an 8-lb Wahoo and a 3-lb trevally ( With Eric Acosta in the picture) and a couple of juvenile Dorados.