26kg Sailfish

We’re just back from Siargao after the Fishing competition. 41 anglers from 11 countries competed in this years tournament despite the unseasonlly unpleasant weather. The last day was virtually a wash-out & the days fishing was abandoned at midday; despite the weather several boats managed to get out for a few hours in the morning & add a few fish to their bag. During the first two days fishing was fairly consistent with several double & triple hook-ups on Sailfish & additional catches of Dorado,  Mackerel, Barracuda & a nice Trevaly to make up the bags. Most people seemed fairly happy with the day although there were stories,some absolutely hilarious, of tackle failures, boatmen errors &  boat defects. The unsinkable banca which didn’t sink but filled with water, the triple strike where the bancero circled back on & ran over the lines without ever slowing down,a certain local make of swivel which kept breaking, losing the angler several fish on the first day until he managed to beg some others from another angler. I lost count of the fish caught & even the number finally weighed in but would guess at about 40 Sailfish,20 Dorado,15 Mackerel/Wahoo, 1 trevaly & several other fish, total around 100 fish for the 2 1/2 days fishing.Weights were generally down on previous years with the top Sailfish coming in at 27kg (I think last years Sail was 52kg; there was also a Marlin at 58kg). This year 3 or 4 anglers lost what they believed to be Marlin. Overall a good show & lots of fun; one for next years diary.

I came to the Philippines about 9 years ago with the aim of setting up a Sportfishing charter business. The result was Blue Sky – operating for the past 6 years from Cebu City. Good years they were, too, as Cebu is definitely a good place to hang one’s hat. But – big but – I came here to fish, and the truth is that the waters around Cebu are not as productive as they once were, between the local fishermen and commercial operators stocks have become depleted and results are iffy at best. More and more often of late I have found myself dissuading potential customers when I felt the timing was less than promising. Also happening more frequently in the past couple of years were my trips to Siargao to go after the big boys – marlin, swordfish and others – found in the Pacific. The idea for a fishing camp on Siargao Island took hold and I decided to move to the town of Pilar because of its deep water & ready-made infrastructure; it is also the home of Siargao fishing legend, Junior Gonzales & his wife Jean, who run a fishing lodge on the river estuary.