Fishing Voyage in San Vicente: One list off my bucket

Fishing trip is one that is on my bucket list. I have always wanted to see how fishes are caught (at least in mass).

Anyway, I was in Brgy Sila, San Vicente Samar and due to travel next to Biri Island. The plan was to stay in San Vicente for this night, to catch the morning trip from San Vicente to San Isidro, but there is no boat going San Vicente. Brgy Captain Roland meanwhile mentioned they will go fishing, and if catch is good, they will deal the fish in Allen, or if not, they will send it through another boat, which will go to Allen. Either way, we can get to Allen.

We left at around 5pm; no rinse and no lunch til this hour. We did not want to cause any delay to these people making a living, so we said, we are just fine without rinsing, and we are just fine holding hunger til later.

The boat moved and slowly... very slowly, we progressed into the open sea. The boats are all beginning to come out as if a race.

We were moving quite slowly, and I am not getting why. I asked, and he said, every boat is looking at every other to strategize the position. Boats normally follow those boats that make a good catch.

It was about 6:30 when our boat found it’s spot. The net was laid in just 30 minutes. From there, it was waiting time.

Everyone was just out looking into the sea, until after around 1 hour, i noticed each talking. Was it a sign it was ready? I asked.

Indeed! When the styro floaters are nowhere to be found, then, there is enough weight of fish that had pulled them down. Of the 18 styro floaters, only 3 are visible. It’s time to pull it up.

That was too quick.

Until now, i have not known how these nets catch a fish. I have this assumption that the net is shaped like a catch basket, but i don’t really see a catcher in their net. It was just like a curtain laid on the water.

As it was pulled, i see that the fish gets into the net until their gills tangles with the nylons of the net. That’s how it is. The first few pulls were a little rare, but the later ones (perhaps since the net have stayed underwater for a while, are far thicker.It took them about 3 hours to fill four basins of fish (each estimated to be 80 kilos and sold for P1000-P2000 depending on the volume of fish that arrive at the buyer).

I felt sleepy and was about to find my spot in the boat, when another smaller boat came our way. The men, one adult on his early 40s and 3 other youngs, on their late teens, jumped and approached our captain. They wanted to buy some of our fish to put on their baits to catch the big fishes.

After the transaction, they headed back to their boat and through their trip.

I went back behind the boat to look for my sleep spot. I slept right on top of the engine, inhaling the smore from the generator. That was the best I could get.

I was too conscious that they’d finish and be hesitant to wake me up, so I kept my sleep light. Every once in a while, i’d get awoken and check out if they are probably cleaning up, but none of the 3 wake ups I’ve done.  The later they get, the more fish are being thrown. Their containers are all filled up.

At around past 3 am, I woke up and they were done. All 12 containers full of fish, and there’s some more in the net bait. We had to pull out as the fish had to be brought to the market.

I am looking forward to another fishing trip somewhere, but this time, for several days out in the water.