Valenzuela Fishing

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3 reels: 2 Ryobis, 1 Shimano P1,500.

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Windy and cold day yesterday but the group still pushed through with the mini tourney and cookout. Although there were several “indyans” in the sign up sheet (raise your hands gentlemen ), we still shared good company . First to arrive were hibiki, me and obetrj. We occupied the prime tilapia spot and used obets doughbait which looked like maja blanca. It was difficult watching for bites and casting against the wind. Later on, hibiki and me decided to row the boat to one of the lily clumps in the middle of the pond. Its was a feat that could rival fear factor. The wind was howling like crazy and we were having a hard time to get the boat to move forward. I was rowing with the oversized paddle and hibiki used the smaller one to steer to boat. Patience, some lean muscle and stored fat around my waist line eventually paid and we finally made it to the clump of lilies. I tied the boat to one of the bamboo poles and hibiki and I started to cast with the wind on our back…

I first tied on a Berkeley swimbait and casted towards to corner of the pond. It seemed that the pond in the middle is deeper than I imagined, perhaps, 15-20 feet so I experimented with depth. I retrieved the lure in close to the bottom and in midwater. Got a short strike which caused my reel and myself to scream some bad words…Changed out the lure since from experience, the swimbait with its hook in the middle of the meaty body has a lower hookup percentage. I then tied on a modified rattle trap (trebles replaced with double hooks) and also got another short tsug tsug strike. Downsized further to a spinnerbait and again got a short strike. It was frustrating indeed to get strikes with no hookups. It was lunchtime already so Hibiki and I decided to go back to the cottage where Obet has been trying his luck.

We waited for Apostle and built up an appetite. I brought bicol express and laing, obet his kaldereta (he cooked this himself, yum) and hibiki brought the drinks. As soon as Apostle arrived with is barbeque, we cleared the table to finally get to eat the food we brought. Apostle and rechelle made up for lost time and started casting so we, the original 3, decided to go ahead and feed! The fish weren’t on feeding mode, we were.

After lunch, we chilled out, drank some beer and tried to get some tilapia instead. Just in time, Camote with his kids arrived. I was concentrating on my line and was interviewing Camote on what his tilapia tricks were when BONG arrived. I then tied on a spinnerbait which camots gave me that day and tried my luck casting around the pond. No bites still. I asked Hibiki if he fancied getting on the stainless canoe so we can check the barra pond, but since it was too windy, we scrapped the idea. After a million casts, one by one, we eventually called it quits and headed back to the cottage. Over beer and coffee, we exchanged stories of dalag hunts, trolling expeditions, threadfin salmon, Manila Bay in the early 90s and showbiz chikka.

It was a cold, windy and unproductive day. The elusive barra stayed true to its name… but the company of fellow filang forumers was all good… and they lived happily ever after.

THE END…

We went to Coloong last Saturday. First, we went to Aling Nenes to try the barra pond. However, since the wind was blowing really hard, Jaime and I struggled in paddling the boat with just one oar. Midway through the pond, we called it quits and casted from the boat and then from one of the nearby planks. I got about 3 tentative strikes as I reeled my spinnerbaits in midwater. It seems that the fishes were just bumping my lure. We then decided to head to kapitans since Arnold was going to meet earl there. I casted my swimbaits to the usual hot spots but no bites. I noticed that there were lots of dead bangus, almost 3/4 to 1 Kg each, floating. It was an ominous sign. Fish kill? (I later talked to Kaps and he said that the pond was recently harvested, which explains why some of the fishes turned up dead)

Arnold, Cris, Jaime and later Earl went around the pond and the kalawaan to try their luck. Nada. I walked around the pond too and there was minimal activity. I saw a fish making a huge splash a few meters from me, perhaps feeding on the small fishes near the bank… and that was it. No one got a hookup casting for barra and haruan. Even those that were targetting tilapia were having a hard time too, some even got zero. It was a hard fishing day to say the least. And as Dowie puts it, we hoped to be heroes and came home zero.

Ahh fishing. Its a hobby for those who persist on getting even or getting even better.