Posts Tagged ‘ocean fishing’
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 Emmrod, Fishing Equipment, Uncategorized, Why Buy Emmrod Fishing System? | 46 Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
Back in late 1975, I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. This was a pretty good assignment for a regular military job. I was lucky and spent most of my 26 years with Uncle Samuel in off the wall jobs out of the mainstream of routine military life. I did not really enjoy the 5 am Physical Torture (PT) sessions and spending 12 hours a day doing a job that could be done in much less time. Never-the-less, for a regular military job, it was pretty good with a number of out of the ordinary jobs to keep it fun. One of these was a three month trip to Panama. This was before President Carter did the unthinkable and gave up the Canal Zone. So many stories to tell about such a short period of time.
There was Rock Hunting because of the candy store nature of rocks in this area. Agates, amethyst crystals, quartz crystals, petrified wood, petrified coral. The list is really endless. As a rock hound, I was in heaven! Also my good friend PSLW and his family were there so that was good. He and I were in the same unit in Vietnam, then Thailand so it was great to reunite. The work was really fun and interesting too. But, the FISHING!!! We were on the Pacific side of the Ismuths which means we were on the side with great fish. I fished off the shore and caught some nice fish. Considering I did not know what I was doing that was great. I also broke a tip on a borrowed rod. Very embarrassing. (You can save yourself some embarrassment by getting an Emmrod fishing system where you are just not going to break the rod tips! Check them out at www.MyCompactFishing.com )
The crowning joy of the trip was a weekend fishing excursion. First day was a total bust. I probably chummed a good part of the journey by giving up what I had eaten the previous couple days. The fish did not like it either. But, that night, we hove to at some island getaway. We had a collective bet. Whoever caught the biggest fish won all the bucks in the pot. Frankly the fishing was pretty crummy but about 1030 pm, I got a big strong hit. For about an hour, I fought this monster fish without having any idea what it was. Finally, I pulled it into the boat. It was a beautiful sting ray! No wonder it was so hard to pull in. All that wing work!
I called the guy who held the pot. He grumbled something about it not really being a fish. It should not count. Moan, moan moan, grumble, grumble, grumble. But, finally, he paid me the pot. With joy I counted it out. NINE BUCKS! Retirement was near!
Well, 34 years later I still remember that experience with joy. My only regret was not just letting the ray go. It was a lot of fun but we had no use for it. So, that is the moral of the story. If you ain’t gonna eat it, your buddy ain’t gonna eat it and the poor family down the street ain’t gonna eat it, let it go.
PS. The next day, we hit a school of “Whahoo.” For about 2 hours we drove around in circles until we were sated with bringing in these big barracuda like fish. I think we caught about 20 or so. These guys were delicious! Great nice round steaks of white meat that hardly had any fish smell at all. How fun!
If you ever get offered a Central American fishing trip, take it!
Tags: Barracuda, Central American Fishing, Emmrod, Fishing fun, florida fishing, ocean fishing, Pacific Ocean Fishing, Panama Fishing, Sting Ray Fishing
Posted in Barracuda, Central America, Emmrod, Fishing, Fishing Equipment, sting ray | 8 Comments »
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
One of the joys of the Emmrod system is the ability of each user to adapt it to their special need. Over my trip to Salt Lake with Jim Markley, we talked about Mel L. and his exploits fishing from the dock in Florida. Mel, if I misrepresent anything here, shoot me a note and I will make the appropriate change.
Mel’s goal is to catch the biggest shark with the smallest pole! He has done a pretty good job so far catching sharks in the five foot long range. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Mel’s basic gear is the Emmrod Packer Pole (You can see all the products Emmrod sells at www.MyCompactFishing.com ) with the Rugged Flex Rod. Emmrod says the Rugged Flex Rod is warranted for fish up to 50 pounds. Mel’s argument is you can catch any fish with any rod if you take enough time and use the drag in conjunction with the pole you are using. It sure seems to work for him!
 Check out his Emmrod Packer Pole! You can see the Emmrod Packer Pole w/ the green handle no less! Mel is using the double tipped Rugged Flex Rod ($49.95). Here in lies the joy of the Emmrod system. Typically, we would sell this pole with a 4 or 6 coil Rod for those fishing for larger fish. We would use the 7 or 8 coil rod for those fishing for smaller fish. But not for Mel! NO! He is not content with puny 25 or 30 pound fish, he wants some of those big guys! So, he just steps up to the double tip rod. Imagine pulling in these 50+ inch fish with your Emmrod Packer! Or, for that matter, with ANY pole. I recall landing some “Portegee Marlin” off the Waianae coast, Oahu, Hi. I am not sure if they were barracuda, but they sure looked like it. I think the ones we got were about 2 feet long–it has been about 17 years so the memory is somewhat hazy. Even the 18 inch scar on my leg where one of the fish bit me when I brought him into the boat has faded away into nothing. IF you ever help someone land one of these guys, DON’T grab them by the tail and swing them into the boat. They really do not appreciate that. Their teeth are like razors and I found that out right away!
 Another one of Mel's conquests! I am having a hard time staying on point tonight folks. Sorry. So, back to Mel’s tackle. If you look closely, you will see he is using a large bait casting reel similar to what the trolling boats that go out after big fish use. He has the harness that wraps around his shoulder to his waist so he can use his body strength to help wear out the fish and ultimately land them. This is what is so cool about Emmrod. Do you have something you want to fish for in particular? If we do not make a specific product for that use, I bet you can mix and match the different Emmrod poles and rods to create the perfect tool for your target fish. (You hold the poles and the Rods are the stainless steel tips you insert into the poles.)
 Another great catch! So folks. Figure out what you want to catch and we will help you do it. Fishing is all about fun and if you check the New Funky Waggers dictionary, you will see this definition: Fun. Emmrod! Check us out and see lots of photos and some videos at www.MyCompactFishing.com
Some of the Emmrod Products are: The Packer, The Packrod Casting and The Packrod Spin Casting, The Mountaineer, The Kayak King, The Rugged Flex, The Gulfmaster and Gulfaster II, The Stream Master Fly Rod. New innovations are coming on line all the time. Some of the website names I use are: www.EmmrodFun.com, www.WhyBuyEmmrod.com and www.MyCompactFishing.com. The will all take you to the same location so type in anyone and check out the products and the blogs.
 
Tags: 8 coil fishing rod, Barracuda, dock fishing, Emmrod, Emmrod fishing pole, Fishing fun, florida fishing, ocean fishing
Posted in Barracuda, Emmrod, Fishing, Fishing Equipment, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
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