Valenzuela Fishing

In the “olden” days (well, when I was a still a kid), fishing used to have the reputation of being a sport for the rich. Rod and reels were considered “imported” items which the common Filipino cannot afford. Fishing tackle is a lot more affordable now, thanks to the influx of cheaper products from asian tackle makers. However, the common Juan dela Cruz may still have to save up to be able to buy brand new equipment. In comes online forums, surplus shops and e-trading to the rescue.

If you are new to the sport and want to get a bargain, try to visit local fishing forums such as www.filipinoanglers.org. They usually have a trading post section where anglers sell off their gear at reasonable prices. You might even end up meeting new friends.

Japanese and Australian Surplus shops also carry “vintage” fishing tackle that you can still use. As long as you are patient enough to dig into the pile so to speak, you might find a gem or two. In fact, just along McArthur Highway, there are 3 surplus shops that occassionally sell these items. The first one is right after PureGold to your left. About 500 meters after that are the other two surplus shops.

Lastly, you can also get good deals from e-trading sites like ebay and sulit.com. Just use the search feature of the site to look for items you are looking for. Make a bid or a buy it now offer, but note that the downside is that you can’t really hold the item for inspection prior to buying. So it is best to contact the seller for details about the condition of his product. Also take into account the additional shipping charges that you may incur.

Fishing rods and reels nowadays are not as expensive as before. The tackleshops I listed in a previous article will definitely have something that fits your budget and need.

So what is a practical setup for Valenzuela fishing? I would say that for beginners, any 6-12 lb combo would be good enough. Any setup heavier than that is overkill. As long as you can fit around 150+ yards of line on the spool, you are good to go.

What I usually use for pond fishing are the following:

1) 10 lb braided line, on an Okuma Eclipz 30 reel, 6.5 ft Tica Intruder rod for casting lures for barramundi. The thin diameter of the braided line gives me greater casting distance and line durability too.
2) 10 lb mono line, on a size 2500 Daiwa Sweepfire reel, on a 6 ft 8 lb cheapo rod for bangus and tilapia fishing. Actually, I would prefer putting 8 lb line on this setup but I still have large spools of 10 and 12 lb mono which I need to use. Mono is not a collectible item, they may loose their knot and line strength, especially if exposed to sunlight and heat.
3) 6 lb line on a size 1500 Daiwa Regal reel on a 4 lb Shakespeare rod that’s really flimsy. I use this setup when I want more challenge in catching fish, primarily bangus. Its my smallest set up and I love it when the reel screams. The flimsy rod is actually just for fun. It would match better with a sturdier, fast action tipped rod.
4) A telescopic Shakespeare Firebird combo. 7 ft rod, loaded with 12 lb mono. The very first fishing rod and reel that I owned, bought at Toby’s 4 years ago. Even though I had no idea what fishing was really about back then, I bought the kit since I wanted it. Up to now, I still use it and is actually what I lend to friends who are first timers in fishing. I consider it my lucky set up for fishing Valenzuela ponds and it has proven to be an effective fish catching machine.

The above are just references. The setup that fits your need and budget will definitely vary. Even the cheap telescopic “krak krak” reels sold in the streets work, but don’t expect them to last long. They are called “krak krak” due to the sound their gear makes after a few uses. If you want to go all the way, invest in more expensive ones, with those flashy finishes, metal construction, space age drag materials, lotsa bearings and other bling blings. But bear in mind that fish don’t really care about the price tag on your gear.

Responsible Catch and Release in Pond Fishing

You wanted to help in conserving the fishery. You caught a small barramundi and decided to release it back. You haphazardly get the hook off of its mouth and quickly toss it back to the pond with the hope that it will grow bigger to fight another day. But did you do it right?

Did you even bother to check if the fish had a fighting chance?

Catch and Release in pond fishing is a fairly new concept for local anglers. The current mindset is “as long as I return it, it will live”. This article provides guidelines to dispell this misconception and ensure that the released fish survives.

On fighting the fish and landing it
When fighting a fish which you intend to release, it is best to minimize the stress that you are causing it. Having a hook in its lip is torture enough. Don’t unnecessarily tire out the fish just to enjoy the fight. Try to land the fish as safely and as stress free as you can. Use appropriate tackle and bring the fish in quickly to reduce exhaustion. Using tackle that is too light and playing the fish to exhaustion depletes the fish’s energy reserves and can cause mortality.

When landing the fish, avoid slamming it unto the boat or the pond’s bank. Use a specially designed Catch and Release net with a small cloth mesh to prevent the fish scales from being damaged.

Handling the fish
Minimize harming the fish further when handling it. Wet your hands or gloves or use a wet non abrasive towel before touching the fish to prevent scraping off its protective mucous or slime. Carefully hold the fish to avoid dropping it. If you can, you may hold it by the lip with additional support to the body. Do not hold large fish vertically by the lower jaw. In a study, 50 of 50 barramundi died after being held this way.

Avoid touching the gills as much as possible. Know the best way to handle the fish species you are targeting and have release equipment ready. Using release tools is safer for the fish and for you.

Unhooking
Once the fish has been secured, you can then remove the hooks. There are many devices for removing hooks from fish. Commercial dehookers, forceps and long nosed pliers can be found in most tackle shops.

Debarbing your hooks will greatly make this experience easier for you and the fish. Pinch the hook barb using a long nosed plier or you can just file it off. If the fish has been gut hooked, don’t force yourself to be an instant surgeon and operate on the fish. It will stand a better chance if you just cut off the line as short as possible and leave the hook on. The fish’s digestive system will eventually break it down (with the exception of stainless and other special coated hooks). This is a lot better than trying to dehook the fish and ripping its guts out. Don’t think twice about losing your gamakatsu or mustad hook over causing the fish to die with your attempts to retrieve the hook.

To minimize gut hooking in the first place, it helps to learn to strike the fish right. Furthermore, using circle hooks makes a lot of difference. Avoid using kahle hooks, they are sometimes sold as circles because they also set themselves, but only true circle hooks are suitable if you want the fish to survive. Furthermore, most studies on circle hooks show that hooks with no offset are more effective in hooking the jaw than those with an offset.

For lures, you may also debarb the treble hooks or replace them with single hooks to make unhooking easier.

Venting
Venting only becomes necessary for fish caught in deep waters (25 meters or more). The procedure involves piercing the swim bladder to deflate it. You don’t have to vent fish in any of the ponds in Valenzuela as the water is usually below 2 meters.

Releasing
Leaving the fish in the water during release is best, especially for bigger ones that may be hard to handle by yourself. If the fish is in good shape, merely hold it headfirst into the current or open water. If it is severely lethargic, hold the bottom jaw agape and gently move the fish forward or do a figure 8 movement. This will revive the fish by promoting water to flow over the gills. Continue until the fish is able to swim unassisted. Severely exhausted fish may require several minutes to revive. Some fish will swim a short distance, become disoriented, sink to the bottom and die, so be observant.

You may also use a specially designed Catch Release net with a small cloth mesh to prevent the fish scales from being damaged.

Sources: http://www.flseagrant.org/program_areas/fisheries/venting/
http://www.sciencedaily.com
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu
http://www.prohoists.com

with valuable inputs from the ff forumers from www.filipinoanglers.org:
J.P., Steelrainbow, Oz, and Bravo3

Basic Apahap Lure Fishing

1)    Your usual bangus or tilapia fishing setup can be used to catch Apahap (Barramundi). Note, however, that since barramundi can grow big, a more beefier setup that you can cast well with is recommended. Furthermore, to prevent cut offs due to snags or  the sharp gill plates of this gamefish, it is recommended to use a “leader” which is thicker than your main line. Usually, 1 foot of 15-30 lbs line is enough. However, you can make it longer and/or thicker for added durability but this may affect the swimming action of your lure.

2)    You can tie the main line to leader using the line to leader knot:

3)    To tie you artificial lure to your leader, the Rapala knot is recommended as this allows your lure to move freely:

4) Cast your lure to spots where you think there is fish. Retrieve your lure to impart action to it, resembling an injured or fleeing baitfish. To vary the action of your lure, you may slow down or speed up your retrieve, twitch or sweep your rod, or point your rod tip higher or lower.

Want to know more about fishing in general? Visit my home forum and join the discussions by clicking the picture below:

For tilapia, I usually use live earthworms and dough bait made up of 50% purina and 50% flour. The earthworms can be purchased from the kids and some adults waiting near the entrance to Kapitan’s pond. From experience, that worms from “Boy Bulate”, a 30-40 year old worm vendor who goes around on a bicycle, are better than the worms that kids sell. They are firmer, fatter and last longer. They sell for 20 pesos a cup.

For bangus, aside from doughbait, I also use kropek (local prawn crackers), oishi, chiz curls, and other fish or prawn flavored starch based snacks. Since they are crunchy out of the bag, they may be hard to put on the hook. A few nights before your trip, open up the package and expose it to air and moisture. This will make fish cracker absorb a bit of water making it “makunat” and easier to put on the hook. I sometimes rub or sprinkle leftover oil from canned tuna to accelerate the process and for additional scent and flavor.

Fatty chicken skin works wonders too especially if you don’t want to rebait as often. Even bait stealers and picky eater will have a hard time taking away this bait for free. Just slice the chicken skin, preferably the oilier parts, into bait sized pieces and mix it with garlic and some salt. Leave it out in the sun to “cook”. Leftovers can be left in the freezer for the next trip.

For lures, targetting barramundi, I have most luck with spinner baits, jerk baits, grubs, minnow type lures and swimbaits. I tie them on a 20 - 30 lb monofilament leader to guard against the abrasion from the barramundis sharp gill plates.

1) Spinnerbaits

2) Grubs

3) Swimbaits

4) Minnow Lures

5) Softplastic jerkbait Shads
[img]http://www.bassassassin.com/bass-fishing-lures/plugins/phpthumb/phpThumb.php?src=http://www.bassassassin.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/SA22335.jpg&bg=ffffff&far=C&w=100&h=150[/img]

Making masa is something like making adobo. People have different variants for it… some make it really simple, others put a lot of other ingredients. But the major component would be flour or bread to make it dough-like and stay on the hook.

If you wet some bread and continously knead it, you will have the very basic masa.
Or by just mixing flour, water and some oil, you will have the standard masa.
You can then add other ingredients like fish pellets, purina feeds, stale bread, flavorings, chocolate, vanilla, salt and the list goes on.

Your objective is to come up with a dough like mixture that would smell and taste interesting to fish. 50/50 flour + other ingredients works for me. I just add more flour and water (do this little by little) to get the right consistency to make it stick to the hook and not dissolve in water.

When you run out of masa, you can reach into your picnic basket for dough bait substitutes. Trim off the sides from your sliced bread and just fold it several times into small squares. Press it to compact it further and make it stay on the hook.

I have been living in Valenzuela since 1986. Admittedly, it’s not a first class municipality like Makati yet. It doesn’t have high rise buildings, flyovers nor an MRT system.

In fact, Valenzuela has been loosely classified as an “industrial / residential area”. Most people still think that its part of the province of Bulacan. In reality, Valenzuela is one of Manila’s younger cities and is very much part of the urban metropolis.

This identity crisis is actually Valenzuela’s hidden charm. While warehouses and factories abound in Valenzuela, very few people know that it also nestles what can be considered the best urban fishing spots within Metro Manila. Valenzuela is a unique mix of urban industrialization and rustic rural relaxation.

The barangays of Coloong and Tagalag are both gifted with numerous private ponds. As one drives through its narrow streets, it is hard not to notice that most houses have ponds instead of backyards! And those are just the small ones. Drive further and you’d eventually see even bigger ponds that seem to stretch as far as your eyes can see.

Allow me to let Google Earth and Wikimapia do the describing. Click on the link or the pic below:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=14.7231304&lon=120.9468985&z=15&l=0&m=a&v=2

Valenzuela is my hometown and I am cordially inviting you to pack your rod and reel and try fishing here! Come on, its just within an hours drive from Manila!

[polldaddy poll=1035889]