Fishing The Philippines

Some of you may have noticed that our site was down for about a month recently.  No, this did not have to do with our incredibly slow internet here in the Philippines 😀  We had a small issue with the domain renew, but we are happy to announce that we are back and looking forward to posting more helpful fishy content! 😀

You mean a lot to us and so please do feel free to contact us and share you experience fishing here in the Philippines or abroad.  We still have plenty of fish species to add to our site here so if you happen to catch a fish here that is not listed please email us and let us know.  We would love to feature you and your catch and add it to the database here.

Tight Lines and God Bless!

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Latest issue of our FTP magazine is posted. Check the FTP Magazine page on the bar above to download your free copy today 🙂 Happy Reading!

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Large Mouth Bass

Common Name:  Bass, Black Bass, LMB

Local Name:  Tawis (Tagalog);  ?? (Cebuano)

Max Size:  97 cm (10.1 kgs)

Biodiversity: Freshwater (introduced)

Depth: Surface  – 7 meters

Fishing Season:  All Year Long

Minimum Size Limit:  12 inches

Recommended Bait/Lures:  Shrimp, small fish, worms, lures

IUCN Red List Status:  (LC) Least Concern

Largemouth Bass were introduced into the Philippines at the turn of the century by Americans who wanted to propagate a sport and food fish in the islands.  The bass were successfully stocked into lakes Lumot and Caliraya, two hydroelectric reservoirs in Laguna.  Later bass were also seeded in the Pantabangan reservoir in Nueva Escija.

Bass have done well in the country though confined mainly to these three lakes.  They remain a top angling species for anglers on the island of Luzon.

Due to the challenging terrain around all three reservoirs, most angler fish for bass from boats.  Bass can be caught all year round though the best time of year to fish for them are the months of March to May.

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Philippines Record:

(This is the largest largemouth bass caught in the Philippines on rod and reel that FTP has received record of to date.  If you know of one larger please contact us.)

4.58 kgs  Caught in Pantabangan Reservoir, Nueva Escija in 2007 by Annie Gonzales.

Have you enjoyed following our website?  Starting soon we will be adding a newsletter to our site which we will be emailing quarterly to anyone interested in additional infomation about fishing in the Philippines.  We plan to feature various fish species, fishing techniques and destinations around the country as well as add some additional tips and tricks. There will also be a brag board where we post photos from our followers from that quarter.

If you would like to receive the FTP (Fishing The Philippines) newsletter, please let us know via email at:

Benaiah.fogle@gmail.com

We welcome your comments suggestions and involvement in our website as we seek to promote sport fishing in the Philippines and teach the next generation how we can preserve and enjoy our waters and what’s in them!

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FTP would like to highlight progress in the country that is being made to protect the waters of the country as well as to promote sport fishing.  Dipolog City in Mindanao is making great progress in this area.  One such step forward was the passing a Barangay ordinance in the city’s central Barangay that established a 100 meter No Net Zone around the city’s breakwater.  The breakwater is one of Dipolog’s prime sport fishing destinations where anglers can catch many species of saltwater and brackish water fish.  Among these are the elusive Freshwater Snapper, known locally as Tandungan, Black Snapper, Mangrove Snapper, Rabbitfish, Tarpon along with many others.  The breakwater sits at the mouth of the Dipolog River and is under the jurisdiction of the city’s central barangay.

This ordinance was passed in 2006 while Angler and Tackle shop Owner Kenny Ong was the Barangay Captain.  The ordinance not only protects the anglers breakwater but also serves to minimize conflict between anglers and net fishermen.  Since its passing in 2006 this ordinance has been enforced and the breakwater has been protected against illegal net fishing within its 100 meter no net zone.  Because of this the Dipolog Breakwater has continued to be a prime sport fishing spot with the many Dipolog Anglers having caught prize fish since the establishment of the ordinance.

Steps like this are invaluable to the sport fishing community here in the Philippines as they help protect and promote healthy fishing practices.   FTP would like to see more anglers partner with LGUs around the country to implement and enforce initiatives like this one.  Hopefully in the near future anglers together with the LGUs can enforce such laws as the no electrofishing law in streams and rivers, as well as begin initiatives like a fish stocking programs to help increase the number of gamefish in rivers and lakes throughout the country.  We hope that this will be an inspiration to you and also remind you that you can make a difference.

Do you know of any similar ordinances or work that is going on in your area?  Let us know and we will highlight it and bring more awareness!

Below are attached copies of the documents for those interested in reading more on this: