Puerto Azul, Rain and More Rain

I woke to a cold, drizzling 3 a.m. Sunday... 
Conditions and common sense dictated that I remain in bed and not succumb to the insane notion that this was to be a great day for fishing. 

The debate in my head began as a murmur but gained volume as the arguments progressed. Finally, the din was too loud so I got up and dressed.

I gathered my tackle and raided the fridge for provisions. As I exited the house, mother nature decided to have some fun and turned young drizzle into full fledged downpour. Freezing rain ran down my neck, jogged along my spine and walked through just about everywhere making sure  to leave nary a dry spot on my body.

Finally, I was on my way. The cold soaking I received only bolstered my belief that this was to be a day for catching. I checked my cell and saw a message from another inmate of the angler's insanity ward. It read " kuya Bong saan ka fishing". It was sent at past 3 a.m. Obviously, this angler still had some sanity left in him for he texted late. True blue diehard inmates would call not text at 2a.m.

I drove the 50km. to Naic where the last stop for civilized provisions was located. The 7-11 here was well stocked and provided me with the much needed cholesterol, sugar and sodium for my trip. The only thing they lacked was ice but I figured with mother nature doing her best to keep temperatures around me below freezing, i really wouldn't need ice. 

After a couple more kilometers I arrived at my destination. Conditions had brightened, the dark curtains were pulled back revealing potentially good weather with the breaking dawn. I learned later that this was just an intermission in the day long "Noah and the 40 day/night deluge" movie remake.

The water was slightly silted- conducive conditions for talakitok and other predators to come into the estuary. you didn't need a tide to trigger feeding as a slow continuous flow was coming from the swollen stream. The same flow carried with it fast food trays of fish goodies which attracted both prey and predators. 

I tied on my noisiest lure dressed in the loudest colors- A vibe bait in firetiger. A real attention getter.

I cast it out over the shallow rock bottom and started a slow retrieve. I wanted the lure ticking off the rocks right in the kill zone. That first cast turned into a first strike as something arrested my lure's progress. The aggressor attempted to make a run as it felt steel bite down into its jaw. 
Unfortunately for it, an Abu Gunnar raring for its first catch was at the other end. The reel gave no quarter and in seconds, the jack was lying on dry land. 

Back to work went the gaudy lure and a couple of casts later, another attempt to accost it. The Abu turned on the burner- cranking in the fish, an estuary grouper, with no effort.

In a few minutes more, AntonV arrived. The bite had slowed as the tide began running out adding strength to the push of freshwater from the stream. We cast around but had no more takers.

The rains started again. First it was a light playful tease but this soon turned into full scale bullying. Mother Nature decided we needed a good cleaning. First she put us through the wash cycle. Loads of freezing water poured on us from all directions. Then after she had drenched us to her satisfaction, she started the spin cycle- cold wind blasting our already frozen bodies.

Yet we cast, stiff fingers working our reels. Hope was there but ebbing along with the tide.

Gaia put us through two more wash/dry cycles and this cleaned us out of any remaining piscatorial urges. We decided to call it a day...