Valenzuela Fishing

Fishing buddy and motorcycle enthusiast Obetrj of the Filipino Anglers and Motorcycle Philippines forum caught his second barra yesterday. Here’s a blow by blow of his report, mirrored from www.filipinoanglers.org.

After the 7.73 kilo apahap of Alex and the 3 kilo apahap of mine last week, we decided to go back today at Aline Nene’s pond to hunt for the bigger ones. Alex and I arrived almost the same time at the pond around 1pm, started casting here and there, but because of the wind blowing like crazy, casting properly is difficult. time passed, still nothing, at around 5pm, we decided to call it quits, just before packing, we saw another angler reeling in an apahap, but maybe because the hook is not properly set, it got away, so we decided to give another try before packing up, Alex facing the main pond, while i tried my luck on the right side, after a dozen casts, BAM! FISH ON!

When we saw the fish jumped out of the water, we almost realized it’s size, so i fought it nice and slowly, it ran i think 6-10 times, causing the calcutta’s drag so scream silently (music to my ears), after fighting it for 5+ minutes, landed! 8-kilo apahap!

@Alex - we’ll get the bigger ones next time!

Below is a trip report from two fellow forumers at FilipinoAnglers.org, obetrj at hibiki: The day was not planned for a fishing trip for me cause my son is going on a camping trip, and must be accompanied by my wife. Wifey texted me at 12:00 to fetch them because my son is not feeling well. An idea came up on my mind, hehe, immediately texted Alex and Bien if they’re going to Coloong, Alex responded, so i packed my gears and went there. Rigged my other rod for bangus and tilapia….. nothing. Then Alex went to “the spot” and started casting, after a few casts, BAM! fish on! immediately picked up my “salok” then took video and pics of the fight, after a few minutes of playing and fighting, landed, 7.3 kilos apahap.: Alex’s gear are almost new, new rod, reel and lure! Alex in Action:

The bent treble hook on his lure:

After his catch, he was repeatedly telling me “batuhan mo na, andyan pa mga apahap! So i casted repeatedly with a rattle trap where Alex caught his fish , after a few casts, BAM! fish on! after a minute or so, landed, 3 kilos apahap!, my very first fish on lure! using the Calcutta from Bong.

My catch:

The lure:

Will definitely come back next time and hunt for the bigger ones!

I created this petition to give recreational anglers a voice in promoting Catch and Release and the seeding of payponds with more gamefish. Let your voice be heard, click the link below and feel free to pass the word to your other angler friends!

Catch and Release Fishing is not yet popular in the Philippines, whether in private payponds or in the wild. This petition seeks to hear the voice of anglers who fish payponds and would like to release the fish they catch. This prevents the depletion of the current fish stock and ensures the long term sustainability of recreational fishing in these areas, for the mutual benefit of anglers and pond owners alike.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SeedCatchandRelease

Big ones have been recently caught at Aling Nene’s pond, rivaling the catches from Kap Larry’s. 16.5 kg and 13 kg respectively. I imagine that these specimens must have been the local elders and thugs in the pond waters.