Having great success on the Imakatsu Java Stick, I opted to take my chances and use the lure exclusively, switching from 1/8 oz. to 1/4 oz. jigheads. Colors used were green, brown, and pink with green, all 3.5 inches. We started at 7AM, which was quite late, and surely, we missed the morning bite, where multiple anglers were able to catch plate sized trevally. I was having trouble with my braid after the first few casts and had to retie multiple times, and right on cue, one of my friends immediately hooked up to a good sized trev. Much to my dismay, my reel still gave me problems and I had to resort to borrowing a rod and reel combo from a friend, filled with 10lb monofilament. The morning was quite productive, but in a small way. Aside from my friend who had already caught 2 good sized trevally between 1 - 2kg, we had a lot of bites from small grouper in the rocks using java sticks on 1/4 oz. heads.
The weather was very unpredictable, short blasts of heavy rain, then relentless sunlight was beating us up. We had to had an early break since we were all burning up in the sun. After a hearty lunch, my friend and I decided to trek the rocky shoreline towards a point, where we saw a commotion, a group of fish feeding on the surface. Once we reached the spot, the first few casts showed that the area had lots of potential since I saw a fish following my lure right up to my feet. I was perched on top of a rock, where I had to wade chest deep water to get to. Quickly jerking my lure after a long cast, I was finally hooked up to a quality fish! The fight was wonderful and to my surprise, a threadfin salmon of about 2kg was on the end of my line! I was really excited since it was my 1st commendable fish caught in the day, and I tried to lift it up by the line, and woe and behold, the line snapped. I had to retie hurriedly since I wanted to keep the bite going. The next cast proved to be fruitful and I caught another good sized threadfin.
Too bad I didn't have a camera with me so my friend had to make do with this shot of me on the rock I was perched on. The next few casts were also successful and I was able to land 3 threadfin on the same rock and lost another on the last cast.
The waves were getting quite rough, prompting me to get back to shore, which bummed me out since I felt that I could've caught a few more threadfin of better size. Back at the camp, we snapped a few photos and had a quick break before going back to the spot where my friend had caught the 2 trevally in the morning. Still using the java stick on a 1/4 oz. head, I kept casting at the spot where my friend caught his fish, and finally, I hooked on to a sizable treavally! After a few minutes of tense action, I was finally able to land my 1st trevally from shore! It was a good 2kg fish on 10lb monofilament.
It was a great day of fishing, and a great learning experience for me. The Java Stick proved once again that it was a great fish catcher, and I hope that it will hook me up with more fish in the future. Plans are already in the works to fish at Grande Island in Subic Bay. Stay tuned for more short fishing stories from me and my friends. I will make sure to bring my camera next time and take more photos!
