The original time of departure I had in mind was 4AM. But being with CALARBARZON Anglers changed all that! Arnold Rivera, master angler for so many years already, moved our departure time to 2AM, Saturday! I say huwhaaaaaat?! And the first 2 from the CALABARZON Anglers Club who confirmed in joining the Saturday expedition were Dennis Santos and Fortune Precilla, another certified angling addict.
Everyone was on time! The trio were at my place around quarter to two! After transferring all their fishing gears to the speedboat, including a cooler per angler, which now I am beginning to understand as standard equipment among anglers, we left 2AM on the dot! First stop was Petron SLEX, fueled up and bought ice, drinks and snacks. Usually I would pass by a meat vendor along the way to buy pork belly but this time I had it bought the day before our trip, a kilo of it, plus a kilo of longaniza! Unhealthy, I know, but super yummy and perfect for grilling for such expeditions. We had breakfast around Victoria town around 4AM, at a carinderia where we all had Tapsilog, Dennis' treat! Thanks Dennis! Then continuing on, we had to make a stop at Pagsanjan town to buy rice. Tune, bought 6 cups, his treat this time. Thanks Tune! No rice yet available from Andok's, so Tune bought from a nearby carenderia. Touchdown at Lake Lumot 5:45AM.
Live Shrimp Bait - just forget it!
Yes, forget the live shrimps! Artificial worms worked well for us in this trip! Upon arrival, my contact Rey failed to produce the live shrimps I ordered. The alternate source is from Mang Eli, the caretaker of the rest house of a former governor. Speedboat was on the water quarter to six and while waiting for Mang Eli to gather live shrimps, the gang started fishing already at the spot in front of the rest house, the area is towards the south west of the boat ramp. First catch of the day was by Arnold! But the first fish he caught came loose! Bummer! He was using a green artificial worm and told the team that he's getting more inquiries using it than the live bait. Then in mid sentence while explaining his technique, Arnold yelled, "Fish on!" and finally caught another one!
Dennis, Tune and I tried the live shrimps, but no luck so far. So after about half an hour, I suggested we try another spot and went back to the boat ramp area where the Lucky Fish Finder unit I use kept beeping and indicated that there are fishes in the area. But after 20 minutes of trying, no bite.
The wind and current was picking up, so next logical step would be to look for areas that are not affected by the current and the wind. I went straight to what I think is Sundang Island where I parked last time and cooked and had lunch on the speedboat. And that's where Arnold, again, caught another fish! After half an hour, we decided to move again and tried another spot, venturing into the interior parts east of the lake. Fish on! Another fish caught by, you guessed it, Arnold! Dennis, Tune and Arnold were really out heckling each other already and laughing out loud.
As for me, I was feeling hungry and suggested that we start looking for an island to grill our lunch. As we went around the lake passing through different openings between islets, we passed a shallow part where I had to trim up the outboard engine to get through. After passing through that shallow channel, the fish finder indicated that there were lots of fish in that area. What we saw where lots of fish cages and locals feeding the fishes kept on these cages. That fish feeding activity may have attracted these fishes spotted under the speedboat. We also saw a dog swimming across the shallow channel and thought at first it was just crossing to the next island. But when it suddenly turned around and dipped its head under, we were shocked to see this dog, as its head emerged from the water, with a big fish in its mouth! The dog actually went hunting and caught a big fish with its mouth! "Buti pa yung aso nakakahuli ng isda!" Not sure if it was Dennis or Tune who said this <LOL>.
When we finally saw an ideal island to park the speedboat, with ample space to picnic and trees providing shade, and no people around, I beached the speedboat. Tune helped me dropped the 7 kilo anchor at the stern and tied the bow of the speedboat to a stick he stuck into the mud. We unloaded our cooking stuffs and coolers and started grilling. After having a hearty lunch, we cleaned up, packed up, left the island with no traces behind, and brought our trash with us. It was really windy already around that time.
So, we decided to head back east of Lake Lumot to look for more inlets and cul-de-sacs, areas that are unaffected by the strong wind and current. Venturing farther, we found a quiet spot where we decided to anchor to keep the boat still. And then again, Arnold caught two more fishes and made his total catch for the day to six! We stayed there till 5:30PM before calling it a day.
On our way back, we had dinner at Lucidel's. Tindahan ng Itlog ni Kuya, located after the town of Victoria, was closed already around 7:45PM! WTF!? I was longing to have another go of their duck meal combo! Anyway, Lucidel's served lutong bahay meals and we ordered Sisig, Nilagang Baka, Tortang Talong and Chicken BBQ and a pitcher of cucumber juice. Solve na solve ang tropa!
Back on the road, I was feeling sleepy and decided to stop by at Total Gas station to grab something to munch on plus a drink to wake me up. We were back in Fort Bonifacio around 10:45PM. Ang Saya-saya! Everyone had a fun day! Kahit na si Arnold lang ang may nahuli at maraming nahuli noong araw na iyon, happy pa din kami nila Dennis and Tune. We'll have our sweet revenge soon when we plan another trip and go back to Lumot Lake with the right equipment.
'Can't wait for Monday when the tackle shops open to try different UL rods and check what 1000 size of reels are available!
Key takeaways fom this trip:
1. The right equipment is KEY! The right equipment for fishing large mouth bass (LMB) are rods that are super sensitive! ULs! Ultralight rods! Ideal fishing reel should be light, a 1000 series will do perfectly with a 6 lbs. braided line and 8 lbs. floro carbon line (invisible to the fish), #1 size worm hooks and Zoom Creepy Crawler Tail Green Pumpkin that are both available at Chinese Merchandise in Ermita.
2. Live small shrimp baits does not work at this time of the year. The locals of Lumot Lake would insist live shrimp is the right bait, but from what I heard, December is more ideal for fishing in Lumot Lake, spawning season. Could be LMB are more aggressive in December? I have yet to verify this. What's for sure is ZOOM brand type of artificial worm worked well as proven by Arnold and his fishing techniques!
3. Bring live worms next time. The team would like to check our chances with using live worms next time and maybe catch Tilapiya.
4. Wind, current and temperature all have an effect on the fish's behavior. Most of spots where Arnold caught fish are areas where the fish finder indicated fishes hovering on the bottom of the lake and at depths ranging between 12 to 24 feet.
5. The times Arnold caught the fish were between 6AM to 9AM and around 4pm. I will take down more specific data next time in terms of length of fish, time caught, depth and location in future fishing trips.
6. Reeling style should not be continuous, but more of slow jerks, try to feel first if there are any fishes in the area and get them interested to check the bait. Try three to four times before moving to a different parts of the fishing spot. If after 15 minutes you have not experienced any inquiries yet, move on to the next spot.
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Until the next blog, Fish-on! :-)