This is the second day of our Shinas Beach adventure. I got up at 3:00 am to the sight of the beautiful moonlight. Behind our tents is a beautiful lagoon that is home to mud crabs. Blue crabs are coming to the lagoon with the tides too. I wore my headlight and headed to the lagoon. It’s time to play tag with those crabs.
Too Early Birds Don’t Get the Worm
Sir Darwin is also awake when I got out of our tent. He later followed me to the lagoon but we came too early. It is still low tide and the crabs are still in hiding. The only ones we saw are small fishes and hermit crabs.
After about an hour of searching and finding nothing, we headed back to camp. Sir Darwin stayed at the camp while I took out my fishing gear and went out to the beach.
Even the fishes are missing in action. I did not even get a nibble on my baits. The sun broke out of the east but the fishes decided to stay in bed. I went back to camp empty handed. No food to put on the plate but with a heart full of joy. The calmness and peacefulness of the place is just so relaxing. Disappointment is not a welcome idea.
Back to Camp, An Early Bird Caught the Crabs
Sir Darwin and I are just too early for those crabs. While I am out fishing on the beach, Narz went to the lagoon by himself. With the right timing and a good amount of patience, he is able to catch the crabs that we came here for.
He caught one that is so big, that it became the highlight of our adventure in Shinas Beach.
At about 6:00 am, everyone is awake. The fishermen prepared their gears. It’s time for another main event. We will go fishing on the jetty at Shinas Port.
On the Jetty
We took Narz’ car to the jetty. There are six of us: Sir Erick, Sir Darwin, Sir Balai, Narz, Utoy and me. We met a slight problem once we got to the jetty. The wall is not made of cement that we expected so there is no paved pathway to go to the end. It is made of jackstones which means we had to be very careful in going thru each boulder or else we could get injured.
To make the story short, we made it halfway to the jetty without any incident. We started casting our lines. We changed from fresh bait, to lure, to another lure, but to no avail. The fishes might still be sleeping or maybe we were all just running out of luck.
We Were Late to the Party
We thought that we had the jetty to ourselves but as we went on fishing, or rather casting, two guys emerged from the end of the jetty. They are Pinoys two who were also fishing the waters there. They told us that they came there at about 4:00 am. Just when we thought that we came there too early.
The guys told us that at first they thought we were locals because they saw us “crawling” thru the jackstones.We came to know that they are also working as teachers in a Technical Vocational school in Shinas.
The best thing in our encounter with these guys is they shared some pro fishing tips with us. They told us that we were using the wrong bait and also the wrong size of hooks. They also mentioned that we are casting at the wrong area as we are throwing our baits to places where there are no fish.
Here They Come…
After being schooled by our kabayans, we changed our rigs based on their advise. We changed hooks and we used the baits that they gave us. The fishes, however, still won’t bite. We are thinking of calling it a day and we decided to pack it up once our new friends are out of sight. We don’t want them to see us going home without a catch.
I saw them ride their bikes and pedal away which is our cue. As I was about to reel my line, I felt a bite. I pulled the line but it got stuck in the rocks. Thinking that I hooked a rock a planned on just cutting the line. But I noticed that something is pulling my line. I found out later that I hooked a grouper.
Spirits went high. The fishes suddenly started coming. Sir Balai caught two fishes. Narz caught another grouper. Sir Darwin got three of them. Sir Erick caught Utoy’s slipper that fell between the rocks.
At about 9:30am, we went back to camp with our haul of the day. Our breakfast is ready.
Best Lunch Ever
This is the only lunch that we will have here in Shinas Beach so that could be one reason why this is the best lunch ever. The other reason is that we are about to partake the fruits of our labor. Our chefs are so good that they were able to prepare 3 dishes out of our catch.
The Lowest of All Tides
The water receded in the afternoon and we saw just how low the tide can go. The distance that we took now to reach the waterline is almost doubled. As optimists that we are, we tried to cast our lines again but the fishes might have really agreed on a strike. Not even for a single bite.
Our group combed the sands for clams and there is also none of them. Poor us, we will only have crabs for dinner.
We just took our time appreciating and taking in the beauty of the place. Some other guys came to the beach. Some of them went fishing while others just went walking by the shore.
It is not just people who enjoy the shores of Shinas. We found lots of birds too. There are seagulls and herons. There are also flamingoes that hunt for small crabs and fishes on the beach and on the waters.
Back to the Lagoon
Our battle on the shore was lost, so we retreated back to the lagoon where we have recently found success. We came in two groups. Narz, Sir Balai and I in one group. Sir Darwin and Sir Erick followed. We caught a lot of crabs but none bigger than the Big One that Narz caught earlier.
After about an hour of chasing the crabs, we went back to camp excited for dinner.
The Crab Wrestling Incident
On our way back to camp, we are expecting to come to a table ready with a special dish of crabs. But there is one problem. The Big One is still alive and the ladies, all three of them cannot handle its power. They decided to wait for us boys so we can attack it will all our combined forces.
So we washed those crabs, heated the pan and then sauted some garlic. The first to go inside the pan is the Big One. The pan is hot and so the giant goes inside. It didn’t show any resistance at all so I said maybe that’s it. The Big One accepted his fate and we can just go on cooking it uncovered.
But I was wrong. Maybe at the moment it felt the heat, it started to claw its way out. I tried to pin it down with a laddle but it is just too strong. Sir Erick tried to cover the pan, but it was too late. In a split second, the Big One is out of the pan and trying to escape. It was chaos all around.
After an hour of search, I got a hold of him again. We washed it while I was holding it. We returned it to the pan. To make sure it won’t escape again, Narz pinned the cover with an axe. Sir Balai stood on guard while holding a hammer for added security.
It was a fun night. The Big One brought us laughter and filled our bellies.
Later in the night, it was talking and laughing and little gossips of course. We retired to our tents to rest and be prepared for the next day ahead.
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