Monthly Archives: October 2011
Night Fishing for Catfish
On normal days at the local hole in the Mabacan River you can sit for hours and not hook a single catfish. Recently I was tempted by a friend’s comment that the eels feed at night and so a friend and I tried out night fishing the hole. The action was twice what it was during the day and we hooked two cats, a turtle, and a paitan in an hour. Then just this evening I braved the rain and fished again. I hooked one of the biggest native hito I have caught (around 12″, lol) in the first 30 mins I fished. So far no eels, but at least I have learned that instead of sitting in the hot sun all day waiting I can fish at night and half much more fun. Hope this helps. I hooked all the fish on texas rigged nightcrawlers. They seem to be the preferred food for the fishes in our river. Sorry for no picture. I had my hands full with my light, my rod, and my umbrella 🙂
Red Bellied Tilapia (Tilapia Zillii)
Common Name: Tilapia,
Local Name: Tilapia (Tagalog); Tilapia (Cebuano)
Max Size: 40 cm
Biodiversity: Freshwater, Brackish
Depth: 1 – 7 m
Fishing Season: All Year Long
Minimum Size Limit: 6 inches
Recommended Bait/Lures: Worms, Masa (doughbait), algae; flies
IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated (NE)
I went fishing this morning in the Mabacan River hoping to catch some carp that I have heard inhabit our area. I was not able to catch any carp, though I was able to hook this tilapia on a doughball and corn. I think I am now convinced that these are Red Bellied Tilapia in our river. There may be other species as well, but this is the only one that I can identify with certainty. These are an introduced species.





