Finally, after all this time, I get to try out my ultra-cheapo telescopic fishing rod from divisoria. We found out that one of our students, Tonichi was really into nature and fishing and that he knows a fish pond that allows fishing where their fish can grow up to 8kilos. So off we went to Apalit into a gated fence that had no sign, when we entered, there were vast fish ponds and a small area for the hatchlings and collection.

This place was definitely roughing it. The hut we went to had tons of plastic bottles under it and we were under very direct sunlight. But the big fishes were just right in front of us as we picked to fish in the pond right beside the hut.

After an hour or so, someone had their first catch. My brother caught this mammoth of a fish after 2 hours of trying to get on it. Right before lunch, everyone had caught a sizable panggasius or two, except, m (this was also why everyone already had a beer or two but since i havent had a catch yet, i didnt drink yet). Mig’s P120 rod like mine broke after he caught this monster panggasius before lunch.

I decided to help prepare the food.

My bro packed 2 US chuck steaks that were really big. I began chopping the tomatoes, onions and some of the calamansi for the dip. The boys started a fire to start grilling some of the fish we caught, a hito (catfish) we bought from the hatchery and the 2 steaks. The steaks were marinated at home using bagoong balayan and meat tenderizer.

Lunch was lovely and everyone decided to use their hands to eat. We had some hot rice, grilled eggplant, tomatoes, onions, grilled catfish, the chuck steaks and the panggasius which we all found a bit muddy tasting. The steaks were perfect and the bagoong balayan used in the marinade really made a huge difference in the flavor of the steak.

After lunch, everyone got fishing again.

The skies began to change and this very cold gusts of wind hit us. The boys were still at it but us girls decided to stay in the hut.

Before we knew it the guys outside were fishing in the rain, until they all ran inside after a lightning hit.

After a few minutes of rain and it began to mellow down, we decided to give it a go since there was so much activity in the water. Tonichi taught me how to do bandit fishing in another overpopulated pond and i caught my first fish within 5 minutes…by the tail!

After everything my clothes and slippers were just full of mud but this experience was wonderful since we actually caught a lot of fish that day. Even if we threw a lot of them back, the adrenalin rush was well worth it and of course something we got addicted to, our little fishing gang was formed and now we’re hoping to find another good destination.