Posts Tagged ‘ocean fishing’
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
It is hard to keep up with product developments! Emmrod is constantly updating their great compact fishing system. The Packrod series for both casting and spinning is the scene of several new innovations. It is still available as pictured on the web, but, we have upgraded both the cork and the reel seat on new models as well as added in the salt water version. The cork is now natural cork vice the manufactured cork typically seen. The reel seat has been upgraded to the Fuji Reel seats which are top of the line in quality. Finally, we have changed the construction of the end so that you can rinse the inside of the pole. Water in one end, out the other! No salt build up or negative effects. You can maintain your equipment in style! These upgrades raise the price on these items to $86 with the reels.
Stay tuned as we will get these on site ASAP. In the meantime, you can email me to order these.
More Later. Dave
Tags: compact fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Emmrod fishing systems, Emmrod Packrod, ocean fishing
Posted in Emmrod, Fishing, Fishing Equipment, Why Buy Emmrod Fishing System? | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
The Emmrod Packer is the fishing pole that got Emmrod up and running. A short ten years ago, Duane Markley adapted and upgraded a 1930’s product idea with current technology. He wanted to have a fishing pole that maintained the casting ability and benefits of a six to ten foot pole while picking up the benefits of a much shorter pole. He did it too! Ten years later, the Emmrod Packer is still selling across the country and bringing joy to fishermen and fisher women and fisher boys and fisher girls across the world!
 The Fishing Pole that got Emmrod Started What you see here, is the handle and the rod together. The rod, which is the metal end with the spring coil, fits into the handle with a quick set 1/4 turn, spring load that holds the rod firmly into place, yet lets you switch rods in just seconds.
 Emmrod 8 coil casting Rod. Perfect for pan sized fishing. Ultralight Fishing at its best! There are four basic Rods. 8, 7, 6 and 4 coil. These graduate from pan sized fish, to up to two pound fish, ten pound fish and twenty-five pound fish. If you are fishing for larger fish, you can use the double tip rods shown next.
 2 tip Emmrod Rod. Use for those lunkers up to 50 pounds! Check out the blog about Mel. He uses this tip on the Emmrod Packer along with a huge bait casting reel with a harness to catch large fish off Florida Docks. He recently brought in a 7 1/2 foot shark on they type of rig.
This is a good time to talk about reels. The Emmrod Packer uses two types of reels. The closed Face Spinning reel and the bait caster reel. Any standard reel of these varieties fit.
What sort of fish might one catch? The world is your oyster! Sharks and tarpon seem to fall to Mel’s Emmrod Packer. Bass, sunfish, trout and steelhead all end up in the frying pan.
What makes the Emmrod so great? a man asked me at a recent show. First of all, the compact nature of the rod when you prepare it for travel. It is only 12 inches long. Second, you can cast it as well as any standard fishing pole. You can also “shoot” it, hence its nickname “Dock Shooter.” It is unbreakable. It is flexible in that you use the rod designed for the weight of the fish you are hoping to catch, pan sized to shark sized! Simply put, it meets almost all capabilities of a regular pole and keeps on giving with the characteristics mentioned above. So, if you are looking for a cane pole, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a fishing pole you can cast, carry, troll with and keep in your glove compartment, you are looking at the right place.
Enjoy meandering through www.WhyBuyEmmrod.com where you can buy the Emmrod Packer, the Emmrod Kayak King, The Emmrod Mountaineer and many other fine fishing poles. Check out the WhyBuyEmmrod video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ukf-GcVeKY
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, compact fishing, dock fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Emmrod fishing systems, Fishing fun, florida fishing, Fly fishing pole, kayak king, mountainer, ocean fishing, Rainbow Trout, red snapper, The Packer
Posted in Emmrod | 21 Comments »
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Have you ever noticed how we always reach farther than we should? It is the apple on the next branch, it is the next job in line, it is casting another ten feet. We always want to reach just a tad bit farther than we can. In fact, Ms. Sommerville, my high school English teacher wrote in my senior album, “A man’s reach should always exceed his grasp.”
In Hawaii, this played out for me in the form of a gut wrenching need to get a bit out from the shore to go fishing. I had no hope of ever buying a boat to go fishing so I schemed about this that or the other thing. I actually obtained about 4 huge truck inner tubes and tried to figure out how to put them together in a usable raft. (Eat your heart out Steve McQueen (Papillon)) No way. Then, I got a nice little blow up boat. Success was at hand!
I carried the boat over to the beach a scant 300 feet from my house. I huffed and puffed and finally had it blown up. I think the inside part was about three feet wide and the length was maybe eight feet. I loaded all my stuff up and headed out into the little bay off my beach. Wow, theory and practice. I got out about three hundred feet from the shore and discovered this little blow up boat did not really tolerate any kind of movement. As a matter of fact, when I sat in the middle, the ends folded up over my face and the back of my head. When I moved to the back or the front, the balance of the boat would butterfly up from the unoccupied end and I felt like I was trying to “hang ten.”
Realizing this was another failed theory, I decided to head for shore. Now, it got really, really fun. It had been so easy to get out but reversing the process was not going quite so well. The little paddle was fit more for a bathtub in my house than for God’s bathtub–the Pacific Ocean. Then, the wind picked up and I hit the trade currents. The harder and faster I paddled, the further away from Maili I seemed to be going. Madly searching my tackle box, I discovered I had left my high blood pressure pills at home.
After about fifteen minutes, I believe I was nearly a 1000 feet out from the shore. Way more than I wanted to “reach.”
I was truly becoming afraid. I just could not reverse my movement. I began to search my mind for alternative options. How about abandoning everything and swimming in? How about trying to make for the eastern shore of the bay? Swimming was not really viable as it was too far. I felt the eastern shore, about a mile away, was just too far to make as I would pass the point of the Island and be out into the ocean. I checked my tackle box and was further discouraged. No Samoan Dictionary! Do Samoans speak English? Would I make it to American Samoa and not French Polynesia? Fear gripped my soul, but fortunately it also made me sit back, take a deep breath and open my eyes. God gave me the clarity to see I was working against my mother–nature that is.
I began to time my paddling with the action of the waves. I found if I took advantage of the wave action, the wave would help push me against the outward currents towards the shore. Gradually, I began to work my way back towards the shore. About 30 minutes later, I shakily drug my almost useless rubber raft up the beach, let the air out and went home.
No Tuna, Papio, Ulua, Sharks, or even a rock fish. But, I did not have to learn Samoan either! I did learn to wait on God, to watch my surroundings and work with nature rather than to fight against it. These are lessons that apply across so many aspects of life. I have tried to apply these principals in my life and sometimes I do, other times, I am looking for that Samoan Dictionary.
PS. If you ever want to read a great book about a sail boat trip from Oahu to French Polynesia, check out Nevil Shute’s “Trustee from a (or the) Toolroom. It is a great book. The journey described would have been much better had they taken along an Emmrod Gulf Master II and an Emmrod Kayak King to do their fishing along the way. They did not have the Internet, but you do! Check them out at www.whybuyemmrod.com, www.mycompactfishing.com, www.emmrodidaho.com
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, Barracuda, blue fin tuna, compact fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod Fishing System, hawaii, kayak king, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Samoa, Waianae Coast
Posted in Fishing, Fishing and Hawaii experiences | 11 Comments »
Saturday, December 12th, 2009
I find myself conflicted. I really detest fishing nets and long line fishing. On the other hand, I like cheap fish at my local stores! How do we find a middle ground? Wikipedia has a fairly good pro and con article on Long Line Fishing which I will not regurgitate here. But, the long and short of it is the various jurisdictions are working hard with the commercial fisheries to craft both product and procedures to avoid the negative aspects of Long Line Fishing yet keep it as a viable means of meeting our commercial fish production needs.
What are the primary negative aspects? From an ecological point of view, they are: Catching unwanted species of fish; catching birds–about 100,000 albatross die each year as a result of long line fishing per the Wiki article; and catching turtles. I will add one more to that. They just take too many fish. A multi mile long line with hundreds or even thousands of hooks has the capability to decimate the fish population in an area. In fairness, the law recognizes the state of the fishery and limits or raises the number of hooks permitted based on the number of fish available to catch.
My strong feelings are based on what I observed in Hawaii. I do not recall why, but a number of long liner boats were fishing near Guam or Samoa, I forget which, and went afoul of the government or the people there. In any case, they moved to Hawaii. They were dragging lines within legal limits; however, were not obeying local custom. Local custom, if I recall correctly said long liners had to stay at least 20 miles out; however, legally, they could be within a few, two or three? miles of the shore. They were encouraged to obey local custom but declined. There was virtually an instant decline of the fisheries within 20 miles of the coast and this was the fishery the tourist trade, local recreational and small scale commercial fishers used. I am not aware of the politics involved, but, would guess the powers that be within the local community, the business community and the ethnic Hawaiian as a subset of the local community raised such a stink the state government felt compelled to change the rules and pushed that long line fishing limit back out to the 20 mile, or perhaps even the 26 mile limit. The close in fishery almost immediately began to get better.
So as a recurring theme, we need to continue to seek that middle ground where we preserve our resources, recognize the value of all the players and consumers and determine how to meet our corporate needs as people, yet meet the needs of each of the groups involved. Total environmental fascism is clearly not the answer. Neither is fishing it all out until it is gone. God has given us huge resources and technological skill and a huge amount of ocean. Let’s see how to put it all together.
While the brilliant minds are out their figuring out how to do this, check out my Emmrod fishing system at www.mycompactfishing.com which you can access at any of the following addresses: www.emmrodfishingfun.com, www.emmrodfishing.info, www.whybuyemmrod.com, www.emmrodeastwashington.com, www.emmrodfunstore.com, www.emmrodidaho.com, www.emmrodfun.com
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, compact fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Emmrod fishing systems, Fishing fun, hawaii, long line fishing, night fishing, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Philippines. Emmrod, turtles
Posted in Emmrod, Environmental issues, Fishing, Fishing and Hawaii experiences | 4 Comments »
Friday, December 11th, 2009
I lived in the little town of Maili, Ohau Island, Hawaii from 1985 to 1992. I was gone mucht of that time on the road to South East Asia (SEA) but made time to go fishing when I was home. We lived five houses from the main highway that circled the Island, almost. On the far side of the highway was a beautiful beach and the ocean. It does not get more convenient than that!
My pole was about ten feet long and I used a large open face spinning reel. I had a large swivil at the end of the line, then put a leader with a weight on it and threw it out as far as possible, maybe a 120 feet or so. The weight would normally hang up in the rocks so you could have a good tight line that would not be thrown back up onto the beach by the wave action. When you had a hit, the lighter line attached to the weight would break and you could fight your fish. I baited my nice sized hook with a long strip of squid or eel, and put a heavy duty leader on it that was tied to a swivil type clip. After clipping the baited hook and leader to the line, it would work its way out to sea until it hit the larger swivel at the end of the line. After getting it all set I up, I placed the pole in a holder stuck in the sand, hooked a bell to the line, picked up a book, pretended to read it while I watched the girls and waited for the bell to ring.
Most of the times, the bell did not ring. Long Line fishing was in a state of flux with many long liners plying the close in waters. (See my blog on long line fishing.) Yet one day, the bell went nuts! I grabbed the pole and jerked it back with some strength. For the next 45 minutes or so, I fought something, but had no idea what it was. I just knew I was getting tired. Meanwhile a big crowd of people gathered on the top of the berm behind me waiting to see what monster I had hooked. Finally, it showed in the surf near the beach. A HUGE turtle!
No way! I can’t keep it, even though they make great soup and the shells look great in combs. But even worse, it is illegal to hurt them or do anything to them. On the other hand, if I just cut the line, it will be a death penalty for the turtle eventually. So, I just kept fighting it hoping to get close enough to use my pliers to remove the hook or at least cut the line very close to the turtle so it won’t strangle in it.
All of a sudden, there was a big wave and my line was slack. I was SO happy, the big one got away! I think everyone on the beach sighed a sigh of relief with me. Go back to the wild, lay a lot of eggs and avoid the turtle eaters in life.
I do think, if I had been using my Emmrod Packer, with a bait casting reel and a gulf master tip, I would likely have been able to land it. So, I guess we just need to be happy they were not invented at that time! But, if you are going to fish for some large fish, read the earlier story on Mel and look at some of the heavy duty options on my website which can be reached at any of these addresses:
www.mycompactfishing.com, www.Emmrodfishingfun.com, www.emmrodfishing.info, www.whybuyemmrod.com, www.emmrodeastwashington.com, www.emmrodfunstore.com, www.emmrodidaho.com, www.emmrodfun.com
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, Barracuda, compact fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Emmrod fishing systems, Fishing fun, kayak king, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Philippines. Emmrod
Posted in Environmental issues, Fishing, Fishing Equipment, Fishing and Hawaii experiences | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 11th, 2009
When we first moved to Hawaii in 1985, we lived temporarily in a condominium on the far west end of Oahu Island. We were about a half mile from the end of the road. Where the road ended was about a mile walk from the northwest tip of Oahu and not that far from the big wave surf beaches of the North Shore. But, this story is not about surfing. My only story about that involved a brief stop in Oahu in 1969. I stopped for a day or two on the way back from high school in Manila to live with my uncle, aunt and cousin in Birmingham, Alabama. One stop was at Waikiki to hang out with some of my classmates who had also stopped there. I borrowed a surf board from a guy. Saw the wave coming, climbed on the board, the wave arrived, the wave went, and the board sank. Story of my life!
This is about fishing. I really did not have a clue about HOW to fish for anything, but, I found a likely spot, went out about 8 pm, and fished for an hour or two. The only thing I managed to get was a snarly Morey eel. Dude was NOT a lady! It was ugly as sin. I had heard these could be skinned and cut into long strips which were great for Ulua fishing. This is a big eyed Jack that weighs over ten pounds if I recall correctly. Mostly we saw the babies which were Papio. So, I kept it.
By the time I got home, I was really tired. Instead of taking time to clean it, I just put it in a sauce pan, put the lid on it and stuck it in the fridge. I headed towards bed but got to worrying. My wife gets up way before I do. I did not think she would be filled with joy and thanksgiving at her husband’s great hunting prowess. Also, my wife is from Thailand and most things that look like snakes from that part of the world are not something with which normal people want anything to do. I went back and wrote a note and taped it to the pot lid.
IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS POT, YOU WON’T GET THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS SCARED OUT OF YOU!
I think she actually opened it. Due to the warning, she was not scared. On the other hand, she was not impressed with “Today’s Catch.”
I did skin it and use it to try to catch some fish. Caught some little ones, but nothing to write home about.
As a point of interest, due to the coral and rock and lava on the ocean floor, you could not put the hook on the end of the line and the weight up higher. We would put a large swivil on the line with the leader above the swivil and capabile of sliding up and down the line a bit. Then, we would put a lighter line below the swivil with a weight at the end. We expected to loose the weight as that would catch in the rocks and the weight leader would break letting you recover your hook and any fish that might be on it. If the weight was above the hook, you would likely loose the entire rig and most importantly, the fish. At times, you would cast out and set the weight in the rocks, then, hook the leader with the bait on the line and let it float down to the swivil. Typically, we would park the pole in a holder in the sand of the beach, put a bell on the pole, sit down and read a book, cook or sleep until the bell rang.
To use the Emmrod fishing system like I used to fish, I would use the Gulf Master or the Gulf Master II. You can check these out at www.MyCompactFishing.com or www.WhyBuyEmmrod.com
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, big eyed jack, compact fishing, dock fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod Fishing System, Emmrod fishing systems, Fishing fun, hawaii, Makaha Hawaii, morey eel, night fishing, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Papio, waianae Hawaii
Posted in Fishing, Fishing Equipment, Fishing and Hawaii experiences | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
My last duty station in the military was at Barbers Point, Hawaii. In 1987 and a bit of 1988, I worked part time as a night watchman on a dry dock just outside of Barbers point. In and of itself, there are quite a few interesting stories to tell about that. This dry dock was involved in making the decorations depicting bomb strikes on the vessles used to film “Winds of War.” That was neat to see. Then, there was the huge sailboat we had in the dock for about six months while we cleaned it up and fixed the break in the keel which was caused by not blocking it correctly. At least, that is what the owners said. Then, there were other boats that came and went including a submarine which was also used in the movie.
Now, those things are neat, but not the reason why you take a low paying night time job. You take it because these little man made bays off the ocean are prime breeding areas for all kinds of fish. On top of that, you have a huge spotlight at your disposal to draw the fish to the good ol’ fishing hole. We had so much fun fishing there.
I have tried to recall and look up names of fish we frequently caught and have struggled on both accounts. There was a large eyed Jack we called Papio. I think when it got over five or ten pounds we called it ulua. What we caught off the end of the dock was Papio. These were a nice silver fish that tasted great. When they hit, the really fought and were great fun to catch. They tended to school with a reddish colored fish whose name I could not locate. It too tasted quite nice. If you caught an eight inch fish of either type, we figured they were pretty big. Then, there was the Oio. This is a Ladyfish or Bonefish. These were really fun. They looked a bit like Walleyes and were typically 18 to 24 inches long. You cleaned these fish by “Spooning” them. To do this you cut off the tail about an inch into the fish. Then, you took a large spoonand gradually worked the meat out the cut end of the fish. It would squirt out like toothpast. Then, you took the bowlful of meat and mixed it up with eggs and other spices and vegetables and made deep fried meatballs from it.
My FAVORITE fish to catch was the Hammerheads. They were about two feet long and fought like crazy. It would take about 20 minutes to land each one. The interesting thing about these fish was they stunk to heaven. But, if you gutted them and let them hang in the water overnight, they cleaned right up and you had some very good meet with no bones. MMM MMM MMM! If you ever fish for hammerheads, be very careful of their teeth and skin. The first one I caught sliced me like a razor and the skin is like an 80 grit sandpaper so handle with care.
I just wish I had had my Emmrod fishing poles back then. It would have been so easy to put all my gear in a little bucket and have it convenient to go fishing. The packer to bring in those guys you caught with bait and the kayak king to go after the Oio and Hammerheads by spinning. Yes sir, if the opportunity to get a job on a dry dock presents itself, jump for it!
I am going to put in a word of caution. I am not sure how healthy these fish were. Who knows what kind of impact those rusting hulks we cleaned up had on the water in there. But, my last kid was born after we ate a lot of these fish and I was not able to sell him to the circus. On the contrary, he has his Mother’s good looks, His father’s wife’s intelligence, graduated from Whitworth University summa cum laude and is now teaching English for the Japanese Government in Japan.
Check out the Emmrod fishing system at www.MyCompactFishing.com, www.Emmrodfishingfun.com, www.emmrodfishing.info.
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, dry dock, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod fishing systems, Fishing fun, hawaii, night fishing, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Philippines. Emmrod
Posted in Emmrod, Environmental issues, Fishing, Fishing Equipment, Fishing and Hawaii experiences | 2 Comments »
Saturday, December 5th, 2009
As I have meandered through the world and through my life one of the great mysteries I have noticed is how much resiliance God has built into his creation. Don’t weed your garden and in very short order, it is over run. Don’t plant a field and in ten years it has 5 to 15 foot trees all over it and in 20 it is a forest. Don’t fish an area and in a year or two it is full of fish. Even an empty pond, if it has enough water, will end up with fish brought in by fish eating birds like herons and storks. And Randy, don’t hunt Montana for a year and you will get a huge one later!
In some third world areas famous for slash and burn farming practices, a technique encouraged on the local citizenry is to create fields surrounded by a strip of trees. In the case I read not too long ago, the trees provided habitat for birds and lizards the people ate. Without the trees, they lost a major food source. With the trees in place, they kept habitat for other foods and seed trees to replenish the worn out soil with seeds and it seemed to me the remaining trees kept the soil from washing or blowing away thus they could farm longer.
I lived for a while on the Waianae Coast of Oahu, Hawaii. It always bothered me to watch fishermen with fine mesh throw nets taking all the little fish along the shore. Those are what fed the bigger fish which in turn fed even the bigger fish. On my coast, there was not much good fishing. Periodically, we caught things, but it was tougher. Yet, when you went to Hanauma Bay, an ocean preserve on the other side of the island, there were billions of fish–at any rate there were a lot! I wondered then what would happen if the coast was blocked off into mile long sections and every fourth or fifth mile was off limits for fishing for a mile out into the ocean for a year. I bet the fishing would be better in all the open fishing quadrants!
I do recall a day when God smiled on us. My Dad and my kids and I were on the Makaha beach almost at the end of the road. We noticed a commotion in the water which turned out to be whales and dolphin and tuna. They jumped and cavorted in our site for about 20 minutes! It was a huge gift!
So yesterday, I was reading about the trouble there is farming tuna. Some like yellow fin tuna, others like blue fin tuna. I like canned tuna and tuna fish sandwiches. Looks like the Aussies and the Japanese are getting it figured out, but, they still have a long way to go. Also, those horrible oil rigs in the gulf seem to grow a lot of gunk on their legs. The gunk in turn seems to support a lot of fish. Putting those ideas together, I thought it would interesting to go out into the sea in areas out of normal traffic and creat some huge no fishing zones. In those zones floating mile long rafts with ropes hanging down a hundred feet into the ocean could be installed to create habitat for the fish. The rafts would be anchored to the ocean floor by some sort of bungee cord system which would permit the normal ravages of tides and storms to pass by leaving the eco system in place. It seems to me some good protected areas would be great for the overall good of the environment, commercial fisheries and the sport.
The two biggest questions are of course: How do you fund construction and maintenance and how do you enforce the “no fishing within 1000 feet (or whatever is determined to be appropriate.) I imagine it would be necessary to be withing the legal limits of a country with the capability to protect the project and demand the big ocean going fisheries of any number of countries stay well away. Also, I imagine it could be done cooperatively with several universities and private ventures. Short term licenses could pay to fish within a certain zone. The thought is, the presence of a food chain of significance would creat a fish population over a much greater area than the several miles of the preserve.
I know this is a huge project, but then, I also think there should be a ten foot diameter pipeline from all the flooding points of the major rivers which moves excess flood water from flood zones to areas of chronic water shortages. We have interstates with huge right of ways. There are streams and rivers which could be filled to move the water inexpensively. You get the idea, a grand scheme which I have no potential to implement–in either case. Never-the-less, creative ways to enrich our world, environment and lives should be on all of our minds. Who knows which ones will catch fire?
Speaking of creative ideas, Duane Markley’s uncle worked on a prototype fishing pole back in the early 30’s which involved a spring in the pole. The design worked ok, but was not completely functional. A bit over ten years ago, Duane saw the original idea and put his mind to work on it. Low and behold, his uncle’s germ of an idea took root, grew and now, we have a whole class of exciting new emmrod fishing poles! That is the power of an idea. Take it and grow it!
To see Duane’s work, check it out at www.mycompactfishing.com, www.emmrodfishingfun, www.emmrodidaho.com, www.emmrodeasternwashington.com, www.emmrodfishing.info, www.whybuyemmrod.com, www.emmrodfunstore.com.
Tags: Barracuda, blue fin tuna, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Fishing fun, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, tuna, yellow fin tuna
Posted in Environmental issues | 3 Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
At this point in my life, I am having a hard time recalling exactly when I took this trip. It would have been in 1962 or 1964. So, I was about 12 or about 14. My parents were missionaries in the Philippines. We lived in the second largest Island, Mindanao. Even then, the seeds of lawlessness which pervade that part of the country were there, never-the-less, it was somewhat of a fairyland in my mind. I loved it! One summer, I took a trip to Balut Island with Ken Marriott to visit the island where he worked as a translator. While the drive took almost 13 hours, it was only a bit over 100 miles. The highway was a wide gravel road where you drove in the middle except when passing. At one point, the road was out for some reason. We had to do a detour over a jungle mountain. There might have been some sort of dirt road, but, I clearly recall the bus going in the mud up to its hubs. The fact they got it out of the mud, going uphill, and got it over the mountain is a testament to the “Indomintable” spirit of the Philippinos.
We finally arrived in Cotabato City late in the evening and made arrangements to catch an outrigger canoe to go to Balut Island. I am not sure how far out that was, but, the total trip was estimated at five to six hours. We were leaving about 10 or 11 pm. The canoe was about 25 feet long, two and a half to three feet wide and about 2 feet deep. There was a bamboo cross piece about 1/3 of the way back and about 2/3 of the way back. At the ends of the bamboo and about 10 feet or a bit more out on each side there was an outrigger made from a couple pieces of bamboo. As most of the readers here are fishermen and women, I know you are seeing cane poles in your mind. There are lots of kinds of bamboo. Virtually 80 percent of several of the houses I lived in was made from about three or four kinds of bamboos. In this case, the bamboo was about 5 to 6 inches thick and probably 30 feet long before being trimmed down for the outriggers. About midway in the boat, there was a diesel inboard engine. Sorry motorheads, I have no more information on that subject beyond it turned a propellor somewhere that made the outrigger canoe go. The helmsman sat in the back and steered with a rudder.
Well, we finally pushed off the sandy beach and headed out onto the flat, moonlit sea. Soon, the combination of diesel fumes, the monotonous rocking of the boat and the steady hum of the engine lulled us all to sleep–likely including the helsman. BANG! With a shuddering crash, we came to a halt. As the moon had gone down and the sky was pitch black, a lantern was lit and we discovered we had ploughed through the outrigger of another canoe and our bow was nestled neatly on the side of their canoe. Needless to say, There were four very unhappy Philippino men blaming each other for the accident. Truth was, no one had lights on their boats and it was pitch black out. After about 15 minutes, they parties resolved their differences and pushed apart. Their outrigger was broken, ours had been knocked loose with the ratan lashingings broken. So, I climed out on the far outrigger and one of the Philippino’s climed out and retied the broken lashings. We continued on our way arriving at Balut Island as the sun was rising. The end to a perfect night!
Here are the PS’s!
#1. The guys in the boat we hit had the hugest red snapper like fish I had ever seen. Must have weighed 50 pounds or so.
#2. Looking at the map, we may actually have gone to General Santos vice Cotabato. In my mind, it was Cotabato City, but looking at the map, because Balut island is just off the point of Mindanao, that makes more sense to me.
#3. Otherwise, this is all a true story, not just a fish tale. For those, you need to get an Emmrod fishing system appropriate to your needs, head out into the wild, catch a few fish and send me an email with your fish stories!
Check out the Emmrod products at www.MyCountryhomes.com, www.Emmrodfun.com, www.Emmrodfunstore.com, www.EmmrodIdaho.com Thanks for visiting us! Dave
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, Emmrod, Fishing fun, Mindanao, night fishing, ocean fishing, out rigger canoe, Pacific Ocean Fishing, red snapper
Posted in Growing up in the Philippines | 5 Comments »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
I’m not telling you to throw away your other fishing poles but, you just might!
How many kinds of hammers are there? Carpenter, Jeweler, at least 3 kinds of ball pien, rubber, Claw, club, sledge, joiner’s mallet, and so on. Is any one better than the other or more or less of a hammer than the other? No, each is a tool designed for its special functions. We can say the same for pliers, irons, golf clubs, cars, trucks and fishing poles. That leads us to Emmrod!
There are as many fishing poles as you can imagine, in fact there are about half a dozen different basic Emmrod fishing poles! With mixing and matching parts, you can create an even larger pool of choices! So, what makes Emmrod Special?
DURABILITY! This pole just does not break! The Rod part of the pole is Made in USA Stainless Steel. Other parts are made in around the world and assembled in Spokane Washington by a Family owned and operated business. Great care is given to make sure each pole meets the highest standards. The company has been in business building these poles almost a decade and has actively listened to their customers and made changes to continually improve the Emmrod Fishing System. We back up Emmrod with a great guarantee!
COMPACTABILITY! One of the biggest problems with fishing is the hassle of getting from your house to your boat or river bank to fish. With each additional person that problem increases. How many times have you broken your rod slamming it in the door, driving over it, or stepping on it? How many times has your wife had an additional ear piercing from your favorite hook on a pole squeezed between you as you drive? With Emmrod, you can literally put an entire family’s fishing gear in a small backpack! No hassle in dis-assembly or reassembly. Ladies, if your husband does not support you in your fishing hobby, keep in mind, the Packer easily fits in a midsized purse. You can tell him “Honey, I am off to the mall” and he will never know you went fishing!
PACKABILITY! We talk about less clutter and space. That is so important for the hunter, backpacker, Extreme Fisher, survivalist or airplane pilot or crew member who wants a surival pack or anyone who wants to be able to have a lot of capability but does not have room or weight allowances to permit taking a lot of equipment. The Packer breaks down to about 12 inches of space and just a few ounces of weight! Other models breakdown into different sizes but all are very compact.
ADAPTABILITY! How many times have you cursed the fact you have to drag three or four different poles to your favorite fishing area to accommodate the different types of fishing you are going to do? With Emmrod, you may still want to take some different poles, fly fishing pole, bait casting reel pole and spinning pole for example, but, they all fit into a much smaller bag and you can buy several different rod tips to vary your fishing pleasure.
CASTABILITY! The Packer is a 2 foot pole with the action of a 6 to ten foot rod. The spring assist in the stainless steel rod and the minimal number of eyes, usually just one, so reduces friction on the line that you can match or exceed the casting capability of much longer rods. You can cast over head or from the side and in places where there just is no room to handle a long pole.
SHOOTABILITY! What? We are not hunting! True! But, when we fish, often we find ourselves in a place where standard casting is just not going to work. Even underhand casting may be difficult. In these cases, you can grab the end of your pole, bend it back, aim and let her fly. This will work easily up to and sometimes farther than 50-60 feet! Obviously, how heavy the weight is and how much you practice are factors.
HOOKABILITY! I know, just like most of my “Bility” words, this is not a word either, but you understood it! In virtually any use, the spring in the rod helps set the hook, but, in trolling, ice fishing or any use where the pole is not held in your hand, we see this magnified. The fish bites and pulls the rod, the spring pulls back and Mr. Fin is on the line!
DECLUTTERABILITY! I mentioned this in the compatibility paragraph, but, just think how much happier the non-fishing spouse is going to be when all of the gear shrinks down to a drawer or bucket or two instead of taking up the entire garage ceiling or wall space. Be it the garage, the car or the boat, being able to pack a family’s worth of fishing gear in a small spaceis going to make everyone happier. No tripping, no breaking, no huge packinging or unpacking hassles. Less time getting ready, more time fishing!
FUNABILITY! Everything about the Emmrod is designed to give you more time fishing and better luck fishing. The less time in take down or set up or packing, the more time fishing. The more accurately you place your bait, the more you catch. The more durable your fishing system, the less you spend. Add it all together, more time fishing at less expensereally equals a lot more fun. After-all, fun is what fishing is all about!
My Web Sites: www.MYCOMPACTFISHING.COM www.Emmrodfun.com www.Emmrodfunstore.com www.EmmrodIdaho.comet.al.
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, backpack fishing, compact fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Emmrod Fishing System, Fishing fun, florida fishing, Fly fishing pole, kayak king, mountainer, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Panama Fishing, Philippines. Emmrod, small fishing poles, survival fishing, The Packer
Posted in Fishing Equipment | 44 Comments »
|
