The Right Rig Setup for Lumot Lake - 2019.07.20

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for all the positive feedback I received in my previous blog about Fishing, Camping and Boating at Lumot Lake. I so enjoyed writing about it and it gives me such pleasure to learn that other anglers are actually reading my blog <LOL>. So thank you so much for taking time in reading my stories and I hope to be able to continue doing this and go fishing, camping and boating forever.

Today’s entry is about further experimentation at Lumot Lake so we can figure out what fishing rig setup works best at the lake. By doing such experiments, this would encourage a lot of newbie anglers to enjoy their new found hobby, up their chances in catching a fish, not end the day without a single catch or at the very least, experience a nibble. So two weeks after our camping, fishing and boating trip, I decided to set another visit at the lake, just a day tour, to focus on this experiment. And I’m so glad that my fishing buddy, Cyrus Capuno, is very much excited to go back at the lake and help me conduct the test.

I decided to do the test July 20, a Saturday. And according to Garmin Fishing/Hunting Forecast App and Tides4Fishing Table for Manila, July 20 is a poor day to fish. What I am banking on is what I learned from Chinese General Merchanidize, Inc. tackle shop owner Paul, it's all about the schedule of the high tide. And according to his 2019 Calendar, it will be around 12:43pm. But lakes don't experience high tides or low tides.. yes... it's more of the influence of the moon's position at that time. So to apply this to Lumot Lake, what I came into a conclusion after going through all of Cyrus' posts and the times when he caught LMBs in the past, two hours prior to high tide is the golden hour.

Two hours prior to high tide is the golden hour.

From my place in Fort Bonifacio, to reach Bae-Los Baños Crossing takes about 2 hours, at an average speed of 80 kph with trailer boat in tow. This is about 25 minutes away from San Pablo, where my fishing buddy Cyrus Capuno lives, —so this is always our designated meeting point. Upon meeting him there, I either order take out at McDonald’s or if they have long lines at the counter and understaffed, I just hop to Jollibee which is just right next to it and order my favorite breakfast and takeout.

I targeted to leave 3AM Saturday, but ended leaving half an hour later. The cause of delay this time is I forgot to add 2T Yamaha Oil to my speedboat’s outboard engine the previous night. And since I avoid pouring oil into the Mercury OB engine’s oil reservoir when the boat is already on the water, I always do this while still parked at the garage. So off I went via SLEX and then exited at Turbina and stopped by a Shell Station located at Chipeco Ave. Ext., the diversion road I always take when passing through Calamba that cuts between Calamba’s LGU Municipal Compound and The Plaza. Since I'll be going straight to Tagaytay later that night via San Pablo-Tanuan-Talisay route to join my in-laws and family at our vacation house, I loaded up Php2,000.00 worth of SHELL’s VPOWER Diesel for my SUV and as for the speedboat, Php1,000.00 worth of FuelSave Unleaded which is enough boat fuel already to zip around Lumot Lake. My 90 hp Mercury ELPTO 2006 Two-Stroke Outboard Engine only consumes about half a liter of fuel per kilometer compared to 150 hp engines which consumes from 1.2 to 1.5 liters of fuel per km. Since Lumot Lake is not that big, 20 liters will net me 40 km of mileage which is more than enough to circumvent around the lake many times over.

We reached Lumot Lake at around 6:45AM via the more scenic Lumban-Caliraya-Lumot Lake route. Boat was on the water 7:15AM. Topher was there to assist us in launching the speedboat.

So first order of the day is to try to do a video about our game plan. I've always tried VLOGGING but, I think I better stick to writing...

The plan is, to see who gets to catch a Largemouth Bass first. Cyrus will use the Paternoster Rig, the one rig that worked wonders for him throughout the years with the hook at the middle of the leader line and the weight at the end of the leader line. And I will use the Carolina Rig, the very same setup I used when I caught my very first Largemouth Bass and nearly similar to the the jig head rig setup of Arnold Rivera that he used to catch a lot of LMBs on our very first fishing trip at the lake. The reason I prefer the Carolina Rig very much is it is less prone to entanglement. But it is only effective if by chance I get to drag my hook across a LMB nest... or at a spot where LMBs are lingering close to the lakebed when the water temperature is still below 38°C early mornings or late afternoons. By design, the Paternoster rig has more chances in catching LMBs, especially when they are hovering mid depth or above grassy lake beds when the water temperature is not too warm or if, as Cyrus would describe it, hovering at the thermocline depth where the Largemouth Bass would find it more comfortable to linger or just suspend and hover about. And, his Paternoster rig, with three feet of line from the weight to the hook, seems to zero in all the time on the average thermocline depth at Lumot Lake. And guess what? After a few cast, he caught the very first LMB for the day!

Paternoster Rig wins! First LMB catch of the day!

And as soon as I changed my rig to Paternoster, after a few cast, this happened:

And guess what the time was when I caught my very first LMB for the day? 11:45AM! I was laughing out loud so much because it satisfied our hunch that the Paternoster Rig works and the predicted time when LMBs will start biting is spot on!

After catching and losing one LMB each, at around 12:45PM we decided to take a break and have our lunch. So from our fishing spot near a glamping resort, where in my previous blog, Cydney was able to catch a decent size LMB, we headed to Holon area, the same area where we camped two weeks ago.

Upon reaching Holon area, we dropped anchor and had our lunch. For our lunch, Cyrus cooked menudo, brought rice and made salted egg ensalada on the spot! Winner! We stayed on the boat and used my butane burner to reheat the food. Now this is what makes fishing a real pleasurable experience, enjoying a sumptuous meal at the lake.

Cyrus was very determined to prove that there is no such thing as a "Poor Day to go out fishing" at Lumot Lake even further. I was surprised to find out that he brought with him his float tube! I could not believe that all these stuffs he brought fit in just one backpack! Around 2pm, after having our lunch, he requested to be dropped-off at the shore near the ruins of what used to be a vacation house. Under a tree shade, he prepped his float tube and told me to come back for him after two hours. So off I went to check out my other fishing spots around Lake Lumot. It seemed that I am unable to land another one that afternoon. The Poternoster rig I have on my rod kept on twisting. So around 4:15pm, I went back to Holon to check on Cyrus and to my astonishment, this is what greeted me:

A Largemouth Bass and a Mud Fish!

So unbelievable! But now it's definitely confirmed! It's the Cyrus scrotum effect! He really catches more fish using his float tube! The way it works is he wears fins for propulsion, gets into the float tube and positions himself at a starting point that would allow him to drift with the current parallel to the shoreline. Instead of the usual twitching the rod and reel-in action when on a boat, all he does is twitch his rod and no need to reel-in the line since his float tube is already moving. And as of writing this blog, I am still wondering and amazed how he was able to fit all these fishing stuffs in one backpack! While I, on the other hand, what I usually bring is not much <sarcasm>... it's just a 17-footer speedboat lang naman!... and with it, I only managed to catch just one LMB that day! Dafuq, right?! Nasaan ang hustisya doon? <LOL>

Around 4:45PM we called it a day. Went back to the ramp, got the boat back to the trailer with the help of the whole barangay! <chuckle> Yes, everyone who was there helped, and I'm really grateful to have found a fishing venue where pure hospitality and bayanihan still exists.

Back on the road, this time, I took the Pagsanjan-Cavinti route, which brings us to pass through the cemetery in Cavinti then out to the main road that has been recently widened and paved. When passing through the arch at Pagsanjan, I usually pass through the center opening to be on the safe side. Pagsanjan has so many restaurants along the road. I think dining is the thing out here since most of the restos we passed by were full. And you can see so many people through the large glass windows looking so happy and busy eating. I would love to try these restos out, but there are no space long enough to park with a trailer boat in tow. We had our dinner at Lugaw Queen instead, at Pila where I can usually find a good spot to park.

After Pila, instead of passing through the dreaded Los Baños crossing and Pansol Saturday night traffic, we took a detour to Calauan which took us straight to San Pablo where I dropped off Cyrus. I then headed to Tanauan through Gov. Malvar St. which surprisingly lead me across Startoll and onto Talisay-Tanuan Road. After passing Balai Isabel and reaching Laeuna de Taal Lake Club, I made a right turn to Ligaya Dr. which leads up to Tagaytay-Calamba Road, to an area near the Picnic Grove. It was a pleasant drive all the way from San Pablo to Talisay. But the drive up Ligaya Dr. was nerve-wracking. It was my first time to tow my speeedboat through stiff inclines. It's like doing The Lion incline at Kennon Road 4 or 5 times uphill. My fear was that my Pajero's 3.2 DiD engine would suddenly shudder and quit midway through one of the very steep inclines with a 17-footer speedboat in tow. With air-con off, I stayed on first gear when doing the stiff inclines and it was quite a relief when I finally reached Tagaytay. Ambiant temperature outside was now at 25°C. I finally got to our vacation house around 10PM. I was so dead tired, relieved to arrive safe and happy. What a day!

My takeaways from this trip:

1. Paternoster works but if it gets tangled up whenever you cast, it won't be as effective. So finding the right Paternoster setup that does not get tangled-up during a cast is key.

2. With the right rig setup, there is no such thing as a poor fishing day at Lumot Lake!

3. You may have noticed that I did not mention anything about what bait we used. Cyrus used an artificial worm that has blue and red coloring, while I used the one with green coloring. Figuring out what the best worm color to use will be one of our future topics.

4. It would be interesting to note that the first bites we experienced was 2 hours on the dot prior to the high tide time 12:43PM as indicated on Chinese General Merchandising, Inc. calendar! A pattern that I have been seeing since my very first catch of LMB this year. It could be just coincidental... but so far consistent.

5. Cyrus Capuno's Scrotum effect using his float tube to go fishing with is so confirmed!<LOL>