Congratulations to Lure Fishing MNL for successfully holding a fishing tournament in Naic, Cavite on July 28, 2019! Kudos to TJ Rivera and Aaron Ayson! Congratulations to all the winners!!
I just got back from the very first fishing tournament that I ever joined in my entire 6 months of being a newbie angler, organized by Fishing Lure Manila and sponsored by Decathlon, featuring their major brands Caperlan and Just Add Water Fishing. It was just a few days prior to the event that I was able to chat to A-A-Ron (Aaron Ayson) and there was no time to really prepare. So I really had some hesitations in joining since I am coming in blindly, not knowing beforehand the type of species to catch at the venue and what lures to use. There are so many things to prep for. And as expected, I went home not winning anything, not even the Best Newbie trophy! <LOL> But you know what? Despite my frustrations, I'm glad I went! This gave me a chance to meet other anglers who are ever so willing to give advice and even share their lures! [Thank you Aaron for donating one of your minnow micro lures!] What's more is, I finally met and rub elbows with TJ Rivera of Just Add Water Fishing and especially the ever so popular blogger Mo-c Nicolas the MAD BEAR! --What a character! <LOL> If there is a trophy for Best Heckler, Mosi will win it definitely, hands down! <LOL>
Here are my key takeaways that I know for sure will up my chances of winning the next tournament that I will be joining:
1. Secret Practice - yes, at the very least, one to two visits minimum, to figure out the behavior of the species at the pond. Find out what species exist /available at the pond and the best bait to use and the equivalent artificial lure. You can do this by interviewing the caretaker(s) or security guards or the locals who live around the area. Like in Naic, what both kids and elderlies were saying is we should use real worms. But since the competition is strictly lures only, the nearest equivalent rig /setup that worked is a soft bait on a jig head. And the winner of the competition? ----Alex san who used artificial flies and was a master of fly fishing! My hunch is, most of the fish at the pond does not recognize "imported" lures.. it's like when they see the colorful lures, their first reaction could be "HUHHH? WTF is that?!" <LOL> Kidding! But seriously, do some research on what could be the usually source of food for the fishes at the pond. Though there were snakeheads, the artificial frogs used by some participants did not catch any, as far as what I know that transpired during the event... More of jig heads with soft baits worked and micro minnows / micro poppers for some lucky guys like my fishing buddy Arnold Rivera, who caught one with a micro popper he got from TJ. Agad agad, I bought one micro popper for myself and hope to get lucky with it too! But unfortunately, my rod is not setup for Super UL fishing so it was so tiring for me to keep on casting it using my bc UL rod designed for slightly heavier rigs. Oh, btw, I just bought my bait casting rod from Decathlon the day before the event, and take note, it has a two year warranty attached to it! So if mabali during use, Decathlon will replace it! The dates when you purchased any item at any Decathlon store are stored in your Decathlon transaction records using your email address as primary key. This is really awesome! Ask Kenshin Himura (RYAN) about this. Kenshin broke the bc rod he bought from Decathlon during the event and as of writing this, he just posted that his broken rod got replaced without paying anything extra. He just brought the broken rod to Decathlon branch in Dasmariñas, Cavite and it got replaced immediately.
2. Be best friends with an expert - If the fishing competition was held at Lumot Lake, I would definitely be a major contender! I have clocked so many hours already at Lake Lumot and I pretty much have a good grasp on the Largemouth Bass' behavior, fishing spots, the best rig setup to use, the bait to use and when and where they are most active at the lake. Thanks to Cyrus Capuno, Master LMB Angler, I have learned so much about catching LMBs and now I never go home without a single catch. Hindi na ako umuuwing talunan! <LOL>
3. Science the shit out of it - Again and again, my favorite line of Matt Damon in the movie The Martian. Once you are best friends with an expert angler, try to ask and investigate further the dates, time of the day, lure used when he was able to catch a fish. Plot this on a calendar and then go back and cross reference this with the times of the tides and the tide4fishing Solunar Activity table and you'll be able to discover a pattern. Again, for lake and pond fishing, tides does not occur. But the moon phase and position does, which is directly related to the tide schedules. If possible, get as many data and as far back as 6 to 12 months. This is how I was able to understand fishing at Lumot Lake and now I am gearing up and moving on to my next target specie: Snakeheads! As much as I would love to jump to the opportunity to catch saltwater mamaws, as a newbie, I think it would be best if I master one specie at a time so my tackle box won't be a mess and my purchase of equipment will be with purpose and focus. I'm telling you, fishing as a hobby can get you broke easily, there are so many options and so much equipment to buy. So why not follow my advice on trying out Largemouth Bass fishing first then level up to Snakeheads or vice versa, whichever is more accessible to you. By doing so, you'll end up with the only rod-reel combination that you need for now as an angler and a well-organized tackle box, containing only the right hooks, lures /baits needed to go fishing for LMBs or Snakeheads that can fit in a small Caperlan fishing bag.
4. Fish on days when the tide changes twice or by mid day - I don't know how to explain this, but this is one of the patterns that I have observed that worked well when deciding when to fish at Lumot Lake. So how do you apply this when joining a fishing competition? Check the tide movement schedule for the day so you know when you can start expecting strikes.
5. Learn Japanese and how to fly fish! <LOL> - I'm just kidding! Since the biggest winner of the tournament is a Japanese, Alex Maruo, maybe Fly Fishing is KEY? <grin>
As for my very first attempt to VLOG about an event, it will be up on YouTube soon.. so abang-abang muna. :D
Congratulations again, Alex Maruo san and Rowell Montaos for winning! Kudos to TJ and Aaron and thank you Decathlon and Just Add Water Fishing for the freebees!
Shoutout to Larry, Gio and Ryan! I will definitely invite you guys to go out fishing in Lumot Lake soon!
Oh, and please like my FB Page, www.facebook.com/speedboatnijojo so you can be notified immediately of any new blog, vlog, post, fishing events, product reviews and any other happenings in our community of anglers.
Cheers everyone! Tight Lines and Fish on! :D
Decathlon