My first barramundi from Kapitan’s pond

Trip report made: Mar 17, 2008
I scored a barramundi and guess where?

Today’s monday and I had the place all for myself… Its my mini vacation. Got there at around 8 AM. Set up my usual rods: 6lb line on my favorite lite rod, a shakespeare exterra aka my flimsy stik and 10 lb setup on a telescopic. After an hour, got a bite on the telescopic. This one is a veteran, its my very first rod but it still amazes me how this old reliable has been holding up. Landed a bangus which was almost a kilo…waiting waiting… then another bite, this time on the flimsy. This rod is my favorite. It always bows down to its opponent….bending almost to a U shape.. zzziiiitt zziiitt..must be a bigger one..fought the fish, loosened the drag since I did not have to worry about crossing other people’s lines anyway..Bad karma, eventually lost the fish..hehe

So I got bored, waiting waiting. .nothing was biting. Two other anglers came and fished and they werent getting any bites either. So I decided to throw some spinners. This one is a DIY, inspired by Bong’s samples. Casted here and there…no bites. Here and there, fancasting, no bites. Went to a shady part and casted. Retrieved the line while contemplating about world peace. Then I noticed some unusual bubbles on the water. I thought, might be a fish so I casted past it and retrieved..retrieved ..until the spinner was on the spot where the bubbles were..no bites? So I paused, walked a few meters and used my rod to drag my spinner across the spot.

BOOM!

Fish on! It was a barramuni beybeh! I saw its fins and then it headshakes. Splash. It caught the attention of the two other anglers. “Ang laki nyan a! May net ka” one of them said. I replied ” Wala ho e, kayo meron?” “Wala din e”..hehehe. Ok lang. I will just tire it out. The fish took line again and jumped a few more times..I just enjoyed the moment, waiting for it to tire. When it was almost at the bank, I decided to land it. I was afraid the headshakes may have damaged my 15lb leader. So carefully, I raised the fish by the hooK….

It shook its head in defiance.

Then splash. Paksyet. Lost it. I was trembling from the rush. I looked at my DIY Spinner…The arm was straightened and the hook gap has opened too.

With a vengeance, I fancasted again. No more takers. So I rested, got back to my bangus and tilapia set up and rebaited. Got bored again. Last 30 mins, I said to myself. Need to get some sleep for work later. So I changed out the hook and grub on my spinner and just reused the arm and bent it back to shape. Fan casted, then retrieved while reflecting about the essence of life on earth…..

ZZZZZZZZZIITTTTTTTTT. Got another one! Bigger too. Haha. Round two and I wanted to win this one. Still no net. Good thing I had my pail with me. With the help of the two other anglers, we were able to land the fish by leading it on to the bucket! Hehe. Improvised and it worked.

See pics below:
Top spinner with bent hook. Second spinner landed the fish.

80 Proof. 2.25 Kg

And all of the above happened at kapitans! I told you there’s apahap there. Project Coloong has not even started yet.

The above catch is dedicated to Chaos of http://www.filipinoanglers.org, who had earlier hooked up an apahap on a flylined biya. I was on the same area, near the trees. 8)