Fly - Fishing -philippines

[stevo]

I have been fly fishing for game fish here in the UK for a few years now,, My wife is from Luzon and we are going to be visiting the Becol area.. I hope to take my Rod with me and give it a go, Apparently there is Tilapia and Carp in a inland freshwater lake nearbye.. As I have only fished for game fish ,,any ideas or tips would be great. All fish will take a natural imitation or a lure if fished properly right?? Any ideas???????????:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[chief288]

Stevo

Seems I am not the only brit with problems finding info about fishing in the Philippines. Have found a few links on various websites but nothing concrete. Seems it is uncharted water. My wife tells me there are carp in the lakes and rivers, also big catfish. Certain lakes have been stocked with black and striped bass aparently, mainly in Laguna and Taal. The sea is pretty well fished by the locals but having snorkelled over there in various places the reefs were teeming with life. Charter boats seem to be thin on the ground. I think your best bet, as is mine, is to get there and ask the locals where to go.

Good luck

Chief

[rencio]

I have been fly fishing for game fish here in the UK for a few years now,, My wife is from Luzon and we are going to be visiting the Becol area.. I hope to take my Rod with me and give it a go, Apparently there is Tilapia and Carp in a inland freshwater lake nearbye.. As I have only fished for game fish ,,any ideas or tips would be great. All fish will take a natural imitation or a lure if fished properly right?? Any ideas???????????:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

Stevo, Chief.

I am from the Philippines, particularly in the Aurora Province. I am from the family of fisherman. Our place is just facing the Pacific Ocean and the folks where we live are fishers. It is true our sea is teeming with life, though i may say we still lack in fishing technologies. Our folks use improvised and probably low-quality gear and bait, yet we catch the best of fishes.

The Tilpapias and Carpas youre mentioning are fresh water fishes which i dare say is not thrilling to catch. If you're seeking for thrills in fishing, I guess I can be of help.

-rencio
Aurora Province, Philippines

[stevo]

hey ,,Rencio and Chief,, thanks for your tips,,, I have never actually tried my hand at any sea fishing,, only fished over here for trout and salmon,, I did see on a site before that pacific salmon have been caught off one of the coasts of the Phills, but cant remember where exactly.. Interested in what u say Rencio about the lakes that are stalked at Laguna.. my wife say that is just outside of Manila??? does anyone do Fly-fishing at these Lakes?? And can the Tilapia my wife told me of at her province be caught on FLY??:thumb:

[dugong]

Hi Sevo, and Chief 88
I am a fellow Brit living in the Philippines. I am also an avid fly fisherman, salt and freshwater. I am sorry to say that there is very little in the way of any developed fly fishing here, and for the most part has been a very frustrating experience for me whilste trying-you can ask the locals till you are blue in the face, but you are unlikely to uncover anything much of use-however its not all doom and gloom.
Much will depend on the timing of your visit here, certainly as far as the salwater goes, and to some extent the fresh water.
In fresh water there are certainly plenty of tilapia, and milk fish (called bangus locally) available over most of the country. There are a few places with baramundi (apahap), and carp. There are black bass in lake Calirya and lake Lumot near Manila. There is also a new lake I think is called Pandabacan where the bass are much bigger, and there is a species of carnivorous carp there that can grow quite large too.
The saltwater scene is probably a better bet. From the shore you are unlikely to find much, but if you can find an open boat you may fair better. The local boats here are outrigger canoes and are all but impossible to flyfish from, and that is what you will find allmost exclusivly here.
There is a charter operation in Siargao that is of resonable cost, but I dont think he has any fly fishing experience, but if you like to troll your in with a good chance of a fish or two.
The best place to go for advice is on the local forum:
http://http://goodcatchfishing.com/forum/index.php?sid=3ddfeac9e6d4f8c3fd9b497a87cf9b86
Here there are some real friendly guys who will be willing to give advice freely.
Earl

[sharksrus]

Hi Earl!!

Saw your post in here. I am setting up business in the Philippines and will be traveling thru out the various islands. I will be back the end of January 2007 for a few weeks and will be bringing some trolling gear with me 30's and maybe 50's. I fish the Virgin Islands, The Bahamas, Costa Rica, and life in Fort Liquordale Florida. We fish for marlin, sailfish, dolphin, tuna, wahoo. Will be spending some time fishing off Ticao and maybe Subic.....any other thoughts for sportfishing? Is fishing gear (rods and reels) sold in the Phils....wnat to do some fishing while Im there???..If anyone else has any information for me please say hello.

Thanks

Richard

[dugong]

Hi Richard,
You'll be fine here with trolling gear. 30lb is about as high as most people use here. CD14, and 18 Rapalas are the norm. best seems to be blue mackerel pattern. You can use these anywhere here !
Trolling dead baits is probabably the best if you can rig your own, and have a fresh supply where you are fishing from. Your most likely catch would be wahoo or narrow barred spanish mackerel, both average about 7-8 kg.
There are some giant trevally that can go up to about 30 plus kilos if your lucky, and some of the places will have the odd sailfish about still.
Its quite rare for most of the boats here to fish with anyone who has much experience. You will almost certainly be restricted to the local outrigger canoes in most locations-the sports boats that are here, and they are few are very expensive, and really only expect you to go island hoping.
Best if you give me a private message with more details about what you want, and I can be less general about things for you.
Happy new year.
Earl.

[chief288]

Gents,

Thanks for all the advice on fishing in the philippines. I have given up on the idea of taking my fly fishing gear and will probably stick with plugs and lures and a travel spinning rod. Any advice as to what lures to bring with me would be garetefully received.

It seems that sport/pleasure fishing in the philippines is an unexploited industry :idea: with tourism on the rise there it is something that will need to be addressed, and something myself and my wife are now looking into as a viable business prospect for the near future :thumb:

Cheers

Chief

[Dale]

Some great advice for a newb to flyfishing, especially as I'm off to the phillipines soon :D

dugong, your link is broken :-/

Thanks folks!


DiyDale

Kitchens (http://www.nationalkitchens.co.uk)

[Makubwa]

Make sure you go prepared, take imitation fry etc make sure you take trace. i think you will just have to see what bites.

[edandtessiepontin]

I am a Brit. married to a Philippina and now permanently resident here. I live in Bulacan and find the local rivers very polluted. Does anyone know of a lake or reasonably clean stretch of water within 50 miles of Tabang. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks, Teddy P.

[juancito]

Ted, are you having any luck on fishing?

I"m leaving in a week or so and I'll be bringing an 8 wt fly rod, with some wire leader just in case I do any saltwater fishing...

I've found a link on some lakes and such

http://www.psdn.org.ph/wetlands/philwetlands.htm

...but no real info for fly fishing...I hate going in blind but at least I have got the address of two tackle shops in Manila who may be of some help. later on I'll be in Mindinao...any ideas on where to go?

John

[Nonong]

To correct some obvious errors.....

First, there is no striped bass in the Philippines. I know of only 3 lakes stocked with Largemouth Bass. These are: Lakes Caliraya and Lumot located above Lumban, Laguna province and Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija province. Pantabangan has a huge area and is seen by me as a near future producer of lunkers and hawgs.

Snake murrel (dalag), a smaller relative of the snakehead of Thailand abound in freshwater areas. This can be taken on fly just like bass.

Taal lake has an evolved species of saltwater jack that adapted to the freshwater of the lake. They are called maliputo. No reports yet of anglers taking this fish on rod and reel.

Indo-Pacific Permit can be found in isolated sea grass, nearshore and inshore. No reports of this taken on fly.

No reports of sailfish and other pelagics being taken by fly.

No reports of Giant Trevally taken by fly. Reef/seagrass/estuarine areas abound and can be considered a good fly venue for different species. A lot of isolated beach area exists in Luzon alone.

The banca is still the boat used by most enthusiasts. It would be hard to stand and fly cast on the smaller ones but the bigger ones is a can do. A fly line stripping basket should be brought as the bamboo deck has slats that can hang/damage line. Some boats have wooden plywood decks. Problem is the outrigger bamboo pontoons on both port and starboard sides pose a barrier. The only way you can gaff a fish is 2 points.... the bow or the stern..... this is done by oar manuevering the boat's bow or stern near the fish.

Power sport fishing boats are sparsely distributed in yacht clubs, beach resorts that can afford them and charter resorts in areas like Palawan. There are no refuelling areas like stateside...... cept yacht clubs. Most refuelling is done by hand. No launch ramps cept some yacht clubs or maybe resort areas which by the way, can be counted in your fingers. Most launches are trailer beachside or man handling the boat down to the water.

As far as i know.... there have been no exploratory fly fishing done in even the large rivers like the Cagayan which harbors big freshwater fish.

Still virgin and unexplored. :)

[Nonong]

Some more corrections to statements in error:

Last i heard, there is no Pacific Salmon fishery in the Philippine Islands.

There is no Fort Liquordale in the U.S. of A. Its called Fort Lauderdale, Florida. :)

[juancito]

Much appreciated, a wealth of information in your post! I hope I can one day repay the favor....I leave the states on Monday....

John

[juancito]

Ever been there after sunset?

john