21 February 2023 / 4 Comments

Fishing in the Philippines - with a Filipino family

Writer: Helena Bergström

We have now tried fishing in the Philippines, together with the Filipino family that we got to know through our friends Micke and Julia. It was a fantastic day at sea, and at the same time we learnt a lot about how to fish in the Philippines.

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Nice morning on Malapascua

It had rained for several days in a row and when we finally decided to go fishing, we were greeted by a beautiful morning here on the island of Malapascua. We had breakfast and walked down to Bounty Beach, where the family would pick us up in their boat Dotche II. The sea was glassy and we could see various small boats moving in and out along the beach.

Malapascua

Out with the boat Dotche II

After a short wait, the boat Dotche II arrived with a crew of three: Hildem, Hildem's sister Gilsam and Gilsam's husband Aldrin. Dotche II, by the way, is the family's smaller boat. Their larger boat, named Dotche without any numbers after it, is the one that now preparing for our boat trip.

Ombord på Dotche II
Hildem on board the Dotche II

We then headed out from the beach, the engine roaring. Gilsam pointed out various islands to us, such as the island of Cebu where the Cebu City and the island of Leyte where lots of fruit and vegetables are grown.

Dotche II

It was a warm and lovely day and we enjoyed being at sea and feeling the fresh breezes on our skin. As we looked out, we saw the occasional dive boat and - jumping above the surface of the water - large spearfish, or "marlin" as they are called in English. Awesome to see!

Helena och Peter FREEDOMtravel
Julia och Micke Malapascua
Ombord på båten utanför Malapascua

Fishing in the Philippines - with a rod

After a short boat trip our captain Hildem stopped at a suitable place and it was time to start fishing. Peter brought a rod he borrowed from his brother and Micke brought a rod he bought in Cebu City. They also had a number of different lures to test with.

Fiske på Filippinerna

The sea is really deep in some places and Peter sent his line down to a depth of 130 metres.

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Fiske på Filippinerna
Hildem tried fishing with Peter's fishing rod

Fishing in the Philippines - the way Filipinos do it

Our Filipino friends are experienced fishermen, but they fish in a completely different way to Europe, which was fascinating to learn about. Mr Aldrin, who is the most experienced and dedicated fisherman in the group, demonstrated how he lowers his line into the sea without using a fishing rod.

He lowers the line with his hands, and at the bottom there is a weight in the form of a piece of rebar and five hooks, each with a bait, in the form of small fish that they catch by laying out fine-mesh nets at night.

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Fiske på Filippinerna

Gilsam also demonstrated, and let Julia try it out. The line is wound on a polystyrene reel and is fed down and up from the sea, using only their hands. This means that if they get a bite, the whole fish has to be pulled up by hand, by pulling the line with just their hands. Some fish, such as tuna or spearfish, can also be extremely large and heavy.

"Don't your hands hurt?" we asked. Our friends laughed a little and told us that yes, you can. One trick they use is to put some kind of powder on their hands. But gloves? No, that's "not compatible" they said.

Fiske på Filippinerna
Gilsam shows Julia how to fish with a line rolled up on a polystyrene reel.

Our friends used small fish as bait. And yes, we also borrowed these, to complement our shiny lures from the angling shop.

Fiske på Filippinerna - bete

Lunch at sea

The lake sucks, as it is known, and we had promised to bring lunch for everyone. In the morning, we each ordered a portion of fried rice at our regular restaurant here on Malapascua, KB-Merk Barbeque, and got this in a styrofoam box together with plastic cutlery. We were very satisfied! Both we and our Filipino friends appreciated this dish.

Fried rice

How was our fishing in the Philippines?

But what about our fishing in the Philippines? Well, we can say without exaggeration that Aldrin was the hero of the day. Although most of the fish he pulled up were relatively small, a total of seven fish were caught, and he pulled them up without a rod.

In addition, Micke pulled up a small, small fish. We can conclude that the Filipino family knows how to fish here and that we have a lot to learn.

Fiske på Filippinerna
Aldrin with one of the fish that he pulled up.

Finish with grilled fish

When it was time to go back to Malapascua, the sky opened up and the eastern rain over us. We were totally soaked by the time we got to shore, and happily accepted the invitation to join Aldrin and Gilsam for grilled fish.

Aldrin grilled the fish in their small garden, while Gilsam served coffee.

Fiske på Filippinerna - fångsten

Then it was time for grilled fish, which was served in the traditional way with rice and some soya. Was the fish good? Very! We think that the larger red fish was a red snapper and this was perhaps a little extra good, but also others that we tried tasted very good. This bodes well for further fishing in the Philippines. Now we just have to learn how to get a bite!

Fiske på Filippinerna - grillad fisk

Do you like to fish? Have you been fishing in any other country, where they fish differently than we do in Sweden?

More to do in Malapascua and the Philippines

Malapascua is a fantastic island with beautiful beaches and good swimming opportunities, snorkelling and scuba diving, including to see thresher sharks. To get there from Cebu to Malapascua take a boat from Maya New Port at the northern end of Cebu Island. Here you will find tips on Malapascua and below you'll find even more inspiration and tips for the Philippines.

Our top tips for the Philippines. Click on the image!

You might also like:

From Cebu City to Malapascua Island in the Philippines Inauguration of Philippine boat with whole roasted pigs Preparing for a boat trip - an adventure in the Philippines Departure with Dotche - now the boat trip in the Philippines begins Båtturer i El Nido Palawan FilippinernaBoat trips in El Nido - fabulous islands in Palawan, Philippines Journey from Coron to Boracay in the Philippines - 3 boats and 1 bus.
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FREEDOMtravel Avslut
21 February 2023 6:00
Philippines
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  1. BP says:

    Yes, you. Wonder how the fishermen in the Stockholm archipelago would react if they saw the Filipino fishing gear - hahaha:-) Probably like the Filipino fishermen reacted to the Swedish gear:-)
    Guess your Filipino friends make a living from fishing and/or tourists who want to go on fishing trips like you do. It's fun in any case. Oh hopefully there are small restaurants even during the island trip - if you do not get any fish;-)

    21 February 2023 - 19:10

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    • Comment by post author

      Helena says:

      Right? 😉 The family works mostly with tourism today. Gilsam for example is a diving instructor and Hildem runs Malapascua Budget Tours, with boat trips and snorkelling for tourists. And they have a beach bar too.

      21 February 2023 - 23:35

      Reply

  2. bmlarsreseblogg says:

    This post and the question of fishing in other countries reminds me of the days I spent with a family way out in the jungles of Ecuador. There they dammed up a small stream and anaesthetised the fish with crushed barabasco roots (I think it was called) so we could catch the puny little fish.
    We caught bigger fish when we were three girls on a fishing boat off the coast of Tanzania. The boat was full of rugged men and when we got out and the water became shallow again, they put out nets and then we all stood up to our waists in water and hauled in the nets. What a cool catch we got and in the evening the chef at our hostel got to fry some fish for us that we got from our fishing trip.
    Thank you for this post with great pictures. It was a nice look back at my previous trips!

    21 February 2023 - 22:51

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