Coco Beach - Fishing Trip

Despite the stressful experience of last night, Tapioca and I were able to sleep like a baby and woke up early feeling fully charged and ready to start another day. We had arranged a fishing trip and other water activities for our 2nd day. Fishing wasn't really the kind of activity that appeals to me except of course for Tapioca. He loves fishing. In fact, he even has a computer game for fishing. I thought it was boring. When he found out it's being offered at the resort, he did all he can to convince me. Seeing all the excitement on his face, I knew I have to oblige. After all, this is going to be his chance to do the real thing.

We met up with Chito, the boatman who'd assisted us for the said activity. As early as 5am, the sky was already bright and the sun was out in the horizon. Perfect day for fishing.

The view was gorgeous. The morning breeze was fresh and salty. We were in a private boat. Just me and Tapioca and of course, our boatman. He brought us to the open sea where we see nothing but water. It was like we're on the edge of the world. If you look at some of the photos I might say parang infinity pool lang ang drama. When we can no longer see any island it became scary. For one thing, I do not know how to swim. Second thing, I couldn't find any life vest in the boat. I told Chito about my concerns and he showed me where the life vests were. He didn't really recommend to put one on kasi maiinitan daw ako. Also the water was calm so there's nothing to worry.

We saw other small fishing boats in the area. Pretty much it's the place where the locals catch fish to bring to their families. These fishermen uses traditional technique for fishing. No nets or anything high-tech. What they have were nylon fishing lines rolled on a piece of bamboo, fishing hooks at the end with some baits. Exactly the same thing we're using on the trip. Tapioca said it's more easy than using a fishing rod especially for beginners.

It took us quite some time before we're able to caught some fish. It's because we were chatting most of the time and before we knew it the fishes already ate the baits without getting hooked. So we decided to get down to business and focus on the task at hand. No more chikahan.

Chito was the first one who was able to caught a fish. Then he got another one. Tapioca and I were getting impatient. Those damn fish kept eating our baits but for some reason nakakawala sila. Para tuloy kaming nagpa-feeding program. We became more vigilant and thought of a way to catch those fish. Tapioca and I constantly check the bait just to be sure if its still intact or nakain na ng mautak na isda. The moment we felt something bit the line, we immediately pulled it out para di na makawala pa.

. . . hermit crabs

These babies are what we used as baits. It was amazing how Chito takes them out of their shells.

Finally, we were able to catch some fish. Between Tapioca and I, he was the first one to catch a fish.

See how proud and happy he was after the first catch? After he caught his first, I got something biting on my line, too. My turn.

Surprise, surprise! I caught not one but two fish in one line :-) Yeah he maybe the first one to caught a fish but I got two-in-one. Lucky me! When we already got the hang of it and learned the right technique, timing naman we ran out of bait. Pasaway kasi yung mga isda. Nautakan kami.



Now we have to go back to the resort and get more baits. However, it's not going to be the hermit crabs. It will take us forever just to get a lot of those. Chito went to the kitchen of the resort and asked for more bait. They have given him tiger prawns. Social! Naku po, hindi na pwede ang fish feeding program. Mahal ang bait.

Once we have the baits, Chito brought us to a different area to fish. It was somewhere closer to the resort. As soon as we dropped our lines, we felt the fish biting. It's like ang dami nila at nag-aagawan. Ang saya. I was able to caught lapu-lapu, bisugo and more but I forgot their names. I caught most of the big fish (yabang). We already caught a lot of fish and Tapioca wanted to stop na. I was like Noooo! Let's fish some more. I'm so good at it I think I can do this as a profession *joke*. Who said fishing is boring? Oops, I did. Now I'm taking it back. I highly recommend this activity.

tiger fish . . .

Chito caught this tiger fish. He said it's edible. Just like the rest of our catch, they were all edible. We can cook them all for lunch later. I love tiger fish. I used to see them a lot back in the days when I still do scuba diving. They're so pretty to look at. Actually, all of the fish we caught were all good looking. I don't think I wanted to eat them :-(

. . . our catch 

In less than two hours, we caught this much fish. Not bad. Tapioca shared my sentiments about them. We didn't want to eat them. We're just after the fun of trying to catch some fish. We ended up giving all the fish to Chito. Perhaps it would be much better to order something from the Coco Beach's menu for lunch or have room service again. Still, it's too early to think about lunch. We haven't had breakfast yet.