Sports Fishing and Diving in Camiguin Channel and Macajalar Bay
Mike Banos
May 23, 2006
Saltwater fishing for subsistence, commercial, scientific and recreational generates over $1 billion worldwide in direct expenditures every year. The fishing industry in the Philippines contributes 4% of the country’s GNP with an average turnover of PhP50 billion annually, based on an annual production volume of 2.4 million metric tons, and provides direct employment and livelihood for over one million Filipinos. For tuna, the Philippines ranks 7th among the top tuna producing countries in the world, both for fresh/frozen tuna and canned tuna.
No fewer than 2,000 varieties of fish abound in the seas around the islands and inland bodies of waters. Among its most important commercial fishes are milkfish, anchovy, herring, sardine, mackerel, grouper, snapper, cavalla, mullet, barracuda, mudfish, and caesio.
A Department of Agriculture fisheries division report says some 45 of 54 major species of Philippine fishes are found in nearby Macajalar Bay which is contiguous with Camiguin channel and seas around Camiguin. Already, some local resort operators have started providing their pleasure boats with big game fishing gear.
Local diver Roel Uy, who runs a dive resort in Balingoan, Misamis Oriental (an hour and a half drive from Cagayan de Oro where you take the ferry to Camiguin) said the waters off Camiguin and Macajalar Bay abound with barracuda, jacks, wahoo, skipjack (bonito or tulingan) and tangigue which are good fighting fish for sports or leisure fishermen.
The best time to go after these big fish is around November to April which is the schooling season for tamban, bolinao and malangsi although wahoo and tuna (bariles) are usually more plentiful from September to April while barracuda, jacks and tanguige are usually found in these waters all year round.
You can catch barracuda in shallow coastal areas around Camiguin, Burias and Jigdup shoals, White island, Jasaan to Medina, Misamis Oriental” Uy said.
Jacks are plentiful around Balingoan shoal, Sipaca Reef to Kantaan, Camiguin and Mantigue island while wahoo and skipjack, locally known as bonito or tulingan, can be caught anywhere as long as the appropriate baitfish such as bolinao and tamban are available. Look for tangigue in shallow coastal areas around Camiguin, Burias and Jigdup shoals and in the area from White Island, Jasaan to Medina.”
Another new hot spot is the marine sanctuary around Mantigue Island near Camiguin where whale shark hunters from Pamilacan, Bohol used to butcher whale sharks they caught around the island and Bohol sea.
So far, I think what's new is the Mantigue marine sanctuary which has become the best spot to see schooling fish since it became a marine protected area, Uy added.
Just starting out? Won’t cost you an arm and a leg to give it a try. A motorized banca can be rented anywhere from P500-1,500 a day (depending on the size) although Uy also rents out a dive boat from the family resort (30’long x 8’beam) at P7,500 per day plus fuel for the more well-heeled which anglers find suitable for fishing due to its wide working deck.
For those just starting in the sport, rods and reels can be rented for as little as P500 per day which already includes a fighting belt, gaff and lures.
We use trolling reels with 30 to 50 pound test lines rigged on a rod rated for 50 pound lines,” Uy said. “But serious sports anglers usually bring their own rigs, like Migs de Leon who uses much bigger (and expensive) set-ups which can take 80 to 100 pound test.”
For lures, we use a wide ranges from rapala to skirted plugs, dead bonito or sawasig.
So far, in Camiguin and East Misamis Oriental, I confident to say my 88 pound tuna is one of the biggest catches based on the line to fish weight ratio,” Uy tells of his biggest catch. “But I was just plain lucky in the area where I caught it (where?) and I had an ideal set-up.”
For those who yearn for a good fighting fish, however, Uy recommends angling for jacks (or trevally) which can grow up to 35 kgs. in the area and reign as the "fightingest" fish among the local species.
Tuna fishing in the Misamis Oriental and Camiguin areas is best done at night, off the deeper parts off Salay, Misamis Oriental and Camiguin, between Camiguin and Cabadbaran and others “ Uy said. “Of course, serious anglers won’t tell you where their favorite hot spots are but there’s a big chance that those tuna you see on sale in the Cogon market were caught in those areas.”
Big fish diving along the Camiguin channel and around Camiguin island could also give other more popular Philippine big fish diving destinations such as the Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea, Southwest Miniloc in El Nido, Lighthouse Point in Cabilao Island near Bohol and Yapak in Boracay Island a run for their money.
Mario Jugador, who heads the dive tours in Uy's resort, recommends no less than 14 dive sites along the coast of Misamis Oriental and around Camiguin island which offer guaranteed sightings of true pelagics such as marlins, tunas, and manta rays as well as large reef and shoreline dwellers like barracuda, jacks, eagle rays, stingrays, surgeon fish, red snappers, groupers, turtles, sweetlips and the occasional reef shark.
Among these are Agutaya Reef, also known as White Island, Jasaan, Constansia Reef, Sipaka Point, Talisayan Shoal, the Sta. Ines wreck dating back to World War II, Medina underwater springs, Punta Diwata, and Manongul, off Bgy. Mantangale, Balingoan, all in Misamis Oriental; and the Old Volcano, Sunken Cemetery, Jigdup and Burias Shoal, Cabuan Point and Mantigue Island in Camiguin.
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No fewer than 2,000 varieties of fish abound in the seas around the islands and inland bodies of waters. Among its most important commercial fishes are milkfish, anchovy, herring, sardine, mackerel, grouper, snapper, cavalla, mullet, barracuda, mudfish, and caesio.
A Department of Agriculture fisheries division report says some 45 of 54 major species of Philippine fishes are found in nearby Macajalar Bay which is contiguous with Camiguin channel and seas around Camiguin. Already, some local resort operators have started providing their pleasure boats with big game fishing gear.
Local diver Roel Uy, who runs a dive resort in Balingoan, Misamis Oriental (an hour and a half drive from Cagayan de Oro where you take the ferry to Camiguin) said the waters off Camiguin and Macajalar Bay abound with barracuda, jacks, wahoo, skipjack (bonito or tulingan) and tangigue which are good fighting fish for sports or leisure fishermen.
The best time to go after these big fish is around November to April which is the schooling season for tamban, bolinao and malangsi although wahoo and tuna (bariles) are usually more plentiful from September to April while barracuda, jacks and tanguige are usually found in these waters all year round.
You can catch barracuda in shallow coastal areas around Camiguin, Burias and Jigdup shoals, White island, Jasaan to Medina, Misamis Oriental” Uy said.
Jacks are plentiful around Balingoan shoal, Sipaca Reef to Kantaan, Camiguin and Mantigue island while wahoo and skipjack, locally known as bonito or tulingan, can be caught anywhere as long as the appropriate baitfish such as bolinao and tamban are available. Look for tangigue in shallow coastal areas around Camiguin, Burias and Jigdup shoals and in the area from White Island, Jasaan to Medina.”
Another new hot spot is the marine sanctuary around Mantigue Island near Camiguin where whale shark hunters from Pamilacan, Bohol used to butcher whale sharks they caught around the island and Bohol sea.
So far, I think what's new is the Mantigue marine sanctuary which has become the best spot to see schooling fish since it became a marine protected area, Uy added.
Just starting out? Won’t cost you an arm and a leg to give it a try. A motorized banca can be rented anywhere from P500-1,500 a day (depending on the size) although Uy also rents out a dive boat from the family resort (30’long x 8’beam) at P7,500 per day plus fuel for the more well-heeled which anglers find suitable for fishing due to its wide working deck.
For those just starting in the sport, rods and reels can be rented for as little as P500 per day which already includes a fighting belt, gaff and lures.
We use trolling reels with 30 to 50 pound test lines rigged on a rod rated for 50 pound lines,” Uy said. “But serious sports anglers usually bring their own rigs, like Migs de Leon who uses much bigger (and expensive) set-ups which can take 80 to 100 pound test.”
For lures, we use a wide ranges from rapala to skirted plugs, dead bonito or sawasig.
So far, in Camiguin and East Misamis Oriental, I confident to say my 88 pound tuna is one of the biggest catches based on the line to fish weight ratio,” Uy tells of his biggest catch. “But I was just plain lucky in the area where I caught it (where?) and I had an ideal set-up.”
For those who yearn for a good fighting fish, however, Uy recommends angling for jacks (or trevally) which can grow up to 35 kgs. in the area and reign as the "fightingest" fish among the local species.
Tuna fishing in the Misamis Oriental and Camiguin areas is best done at night, off the deeper parts off Salay, Misamis Oriental and Camiguin, between Camiguin and Cabadbaran and others “ Uy said. “Of course, serious anglers won’t tell you where their favorite hot spots are but there’s a big chance that those tuna you see on sale in the Cogon market were caught in those areas.”
Big fish diving along the Camiguin channel and around Camiguin island could also give other more popular Philippine big fish diving destinations such as the Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea, Southwest Miniloc in El Nido, Lighthouse Point in Cabilao Island near Bohol and Yapak in Boracay Island a run for their money.
Mario Jugador, who heads the dive tours in Uy's resort, recommends no less than 14 dive sites along the coast of Misamis Oriental and around Camiguin island which offer guaranteed sightings of true pelagics such as marlins, tunas, and manta rays as well as large reef and shoreline dwellers like barracuda, jacks, eagle rays, stingrays, surgeon fish, red snappers, groupers, turtles, sweetlips and the occasional reef shark.
Among these are Agutaya Reef, also known as White Island, Jasaan, Constansia Reef, Sipaka Point, Talisayan Shoal, the Sta. Ines wreck dating back to World War II, Medina underwater springs, Punta Diwata, and Manongul, off Bgy. Mantangale, Balingoan, all in Misamis Oriental; and the Old Volcano, Sunken Cemetery, Jigdup and Burias Shoal, Cabuan Point and Mantigue Island in Camiguin.
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